Top Blue Jays Player #6: Jose
Bautista
Position: Right
Field
Seasons With the
Jays: 9 (2008—Current)
MLB Awards: Silver
Slugger (2010, 2011, 2014)
All-Star Game
Selection: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Stats**: Games Played 1027 Batting Average .262
Base Hits 939 Runs
Scored 650
Home Runs 255 RBIs
673
Doubles
183 Triples 12
Stolen Bases 49 Walks 680
**Statistics as of July 26th, 2016
J.P. Riccardi has to be given
credit. The former Toronto Blue Jays’ general manager who was under constant
criticism from fans and media during his tenure in Toronto, was the one who
pulled off the trade of the century when he sent Robinzon Diaz to the
Pittsburgh Pirates on August 21st, 2008 for a mediocre outfielder
name Jose Bautista. An outfielder who would become one of the best sluggers in
all of baseball over an eight-year span, become a six-time All-Star and lead
the Jays to their first division title in over two decades.
But it didn’t start out well for
Bautista. Drafted in the 20th round by the Pirates in 2000, he was
claimed by the Baltimore Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft in 2003. After playing 16
uneventful games with Baltimore in 2004, he was placed on waivers and claimed
by the Tampa Bay Rays. Twelve games into his Tampa career, his contract was
sold to the Kansas City Royals, where he played 13 games. And then he was part
of a three-team trade that sent him back to the Pirates.
He played in 400 games over five
years with Pittsburgh (.241 average, 43 homers, 159 RBIs over that span) before
he was picked up by Toronto. In only 21 games for the Jays in 2008, Bautista
batted .214, hit three home runs and added ten RBIs.
Not much changed in 2009, except
he played 113 games with Toronto, spending time in left field, right field and
third base. His offensive numbers were unimpressive (.235, 13, 40) but that was
about to change in 2010.
Much has been made about
Bautista’s rapid rise to superstardom between 2009 and 2010. There have been
unproven steroid allegations—he has never tested positive, despite being
bombarded with tests more than any other player in baseball.
But 2010 was a breakout year for
him indeed. He set the Toronto club record for most home runs in a season (a
league-leading 54) breaking George Bell’s 23-year old mark of 47 in one year.
He also knocked in 124 runs, batted .260 and won a Silver Slugger Award. In
2011, he again led the league in homers (43) and also led in walks (132),
slugging percentage (.688) and finished third in voting for the American League
MVP award.
Injuries caught up with him in
2012 and 2013 playing 92 games and 113 respectively. But the numbers were
nothing to sneeze at (.241, 27, 65 and .259, 28, 73). He still made the All-Star
Game those two seasons and if he had been able to stay healthy, would have
easily hit the 40-home run mark both years.
He was healthy in 2014 and he
smacked 35 home runs and 104 RBIs and batted .286 while the Jays started
showing signs of being a contender. Bautista was very vocal about his
displeasure in the team’s management not making any trades to help bolster the
roster for the playoff run. That changed in 2015.
Toronto captured their first
division title in 23 years last year, and Bautista, along with Josh Donaldson
and Edwin Encarnacion, led the charge. While Bautista’s average was a little
low at .250, he still hit 40 home runs, drove in 114 while leading the league
in walks (110). In the ALDS against the Texas Rangers, it was his dramatic three-run
home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the deciding fifth game that
propelled the Jays to a 6-3 victory. For the series, Bautista batted .273, with
two home runs and five RBIs.
In the ALCS against Kansas City,
while most of his teammates struggled to handle the Royals’ pitching in a
six-game series loss, Bautista managed a .316 batting average, two homers, six
RBIs, four runs scored while being walked seven times.
While Bautista’s days as a Blue
Jay may be numbered (he is a free agent after 2016) there is no questioning the
production and leadership he has brought to the club since his arrival in 2008.
There is also no questioning his position on this list and it could be argued
he should be higher.
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