Sultan of Swing

Everyone knows the story about Jose Bautista coming out of nowhere, what most are overlooking is how godly his numbers really were the past 2 seasons.

No batter in the MLB has the ability Bautista does to hit strikes hard and lay off of pitches outside the zone.




Now think of the pitcher, your looking at Bautista in the batters box and you know if you leave one up in the zone it could be out of the park fast. You try and jam him, his lightning quick bat is able to get to all inside pitches and drive them. You try to get him to chase, he has the best eye in the game. If you try and nibble the outside corner, his ability to battle and get the count in his favour is outstanding. Now any player can hit with a 2-0 count but not many players get the count in their favour as often as Jose. When Bautista is at bat, the game is in his hands.

Not only is he the homerun king in back to back seasons, he is the leader in the clubhouse, has a rocket arm in right field (can pick it at 3rd aswell) and he can take a walk with the best of them to give his team mates the opportunity to hit with runners on base. His OPS lead the league last year after finishing in 5th in 2010, OPS is arguably the most important offensive statistic. His slash line was remarkable in all stats, in 2011 .302/.447.608 with an OPS of 1.055.

Although Bautista does have a nice quick swing, it is the situations he is able to use it in which makes him the Sultan of Swing.

It is sad most of baseball is overlooking such a great talent. Why not give the Jays a Sunday night game. Let the MLB see its best hitter on the big stage. Or will he carry the jays to a play-off spot?

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