Last week the diamond morphed into the octagon as Toronto and Texas engaged in a heated altercation. This week’s player profile looks at the man in the middle of this ordeal – Jose Bautista. He has been the face of the Blue Jays franchise since he was brought in near the end of the 2008 season in a trade with Pittsburgh.
Drafted 599th by the Pirates in 2000, Bautista became a full time major leaguer in the 2006 season where he played in 117 games batting .235 with 16 home runs and 51 runs batted in. He continued to improve the following season, increasing his batting average by nineteen points to .254 with 36 doubles, 15 homers, and 63 RBI’s.
Then 2008 came and Toronto landed what would become their right fielder through to today and the face of the team for the decade. Fast forward a couple seasons and Bautista had one of the biggest breakout seasons in league history. 2010 saw Joey Bats play in all but one game, hit 54 homers and drove in 124 while maintaining a commendable .260 average.
2011 saw much of the same with a 43 HR, 103 RBI performance, but even more impressive was the .302 average that accompanied it. The Jays had truly found a player to build a championship team around. Bautista managed to lead the league in home runs in both of these seasons, earning Silver Slugger awards both seasons. This also began a streak of six consecutive AL All Star appearances. He had rightfully earned the nickname Joey Bats and right to use it as his Twitter handle.
Unfortunately, the injury bug would rear its ugly head in the 2012 and 2013 seasons where Jose was afflicted with a left wrist and left hip bone bruise injuries respectively. Although he only played in 92 games in 2012 he still blasted 27 homers with 65 RBI’s and in 2013 he played in 118 games, knocking out 28 and driving in 73.
2014 would prove that the Jays are a much better team when Jose is 100% healthy and able to play a full season as he managed to hit 35 home runs and drive in 103, with a .286 average that season. Last season was also impressive as he had another season with 40 home runs and over 100 RBI’s.
We all know what Jose can do with the bat, and although his glove may not be as great this year as it has been in the past, he did have four seasons with over ten outfield assists. Teams should still be weary to run on him and he has kept many opposing batters to singles which could have easily been doubles in previous years.
Bautista is a career .256 batter and is encroaching on an impressive milestone of 300 career home runs, currently sitting on 296. He has also driven in 827 over his career and over his past seven games has been on a tear. Any week where a player hits 4 home runs, gets 9 RBI’s, works 6 walks, and has a .304 average, is aces in my opinion.
If this is Jose’s last season in a Blue Jays uniform it will be difficult for fans to adjust to not seeing number 19 in right field. He will forever be engraved in our memories with his infamous bat flip and someday will have a permanent spot in Rogers Centre with his name on the Ring of Honour.
You can follow Jose on Twitter @JoeyBats along with myself @GHam614. Thank you again for checking out my weekly Blue Jay player profile. Next week I’ll take a look at one of the few bright spots of the Jays bullpen in their 21-year-old closer, Roberto Osuna.
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