Toronto Blue Jays: Jose Bautista heating up at the right time
With Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki returning against the Texas Rangers, the Toronto Blue Jays will need Jose Bautista to keep swinging a hot bat like he has the past couple of weeks.
In the last 14 days, no hitter on the Toronto Blue Jays, player has enjoyed more success than Jose Bautista. In the last two weeks he is fifth in home runs with five, third in RBI with 13, and striking out at a 12.5% rate, which is second on the team to Kevin Pillar.
Bautista’s performance has taken such a drastic turn, that he is back to being the dependable hitter the team was looking for at the beginning of the season. There is no denying he struggled out of the gate and that he was having a tough time making contact on the ball especially for extra bases.
He was striking out at a 27.3% rate in the first month of the season. He also had an ISO (average number of extra bases per at bat) of .067, a BABIP (average of balls hit in play) of .246.
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To show how much of a 180 degree turn that his production has taken; Bautista is hitting an ISO of.422 and a BABIP of .394. This means that he is hitting for more power and he is getting more balls in play.
As seen with the number of home runs he has hit in the last two weeks, Bautista is seeing his power return and his timing has improved. He is making harder contact with the ball with a 42.1% rate of hard-hit balls batted. He has also been making more contact by pulling the ball, which was a big part of his success in 2010 when he had a career year.
Bautista has been one of the most important contributors to the Blue Jays offence this month and with Troy Tulowitzki and Josh Donaldson expected to return, it is important he continues to produce. There will be an adjustment period for Donaldson and Tulowitzki, since they have missed significant time with injuries.
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A 30-home run season is not out of the question for Bautista and you have to wonder how much more he could have had if he had a better start? There are also concerns about his injury history, but hopefully he can remain on the field long enough to prove to those who thought we were past the days where he could be a reliable player offensively, that they are not over just yet.