J.R. joins the Bluefish for his first season in the Atlantic League and 11th of professional baseball. Last year, the former Major Leaguer split time with the Triple-A affiliates of the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers, appearing for both the Memphis Red Birds and Albuquerque Isotopes, respectively. In 23 combined games he batted .230 with six home runs, and 16 RBI.

The 30-year-old was a member of the Houston Astros from 2007-2011. The catcher has played in 155 Major League games totaling 22 doubles, 11 home runs and 50 RBI. In 2007, after being called up in September he started off his career very strong by compiling a .375 batting average in 14 games with one home run, 12 RBI, five doubles and only one strikeout in 40 at bats.

The backstop has had a very solid minor league career that also included playing for the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. He had his best minor league season in 2006 with the Single-A Lexington Legends posting a personal best 12 home runs and 19 doubles in 81 games. Prior to the 2008 campaign he was rated the Astros best prospect in the minor leagues. Over the course of 484 career minor league games, the Texan owns a .284 batting average with 49 home runs, 96 doubles, 238 RBI, 271 runs scored and a .380 on-base percentage.
J.R. was selected by the Astros in the 20th round of the 2004 amateur draft.