Jose Bautista - Third straight home run crown?

[fenrir]

Despite his slow start this year, he's right now currently the MLB leader in home runs. If he ends up leading the entire major leagues in home runs for the third straight year, that's pretty damn impressive.

EDIT: He also led the majors in AB per HR in 2010 and 2011, and is tied with Dunn for the lead this year.

[GiambiJuice]

Yes. .......

[RaysFan_98]

Still have my suspicions about rather or not he used Roids.

[GiambiJuice]

Still have my suspicions about rather or not he used Roids.

Which is understandable given the unusual trajectory of his career.

[Imapotato]

Bautista has been followed closely and it is ALMOST (never say never) that his flawed swing was the reason he had promise but couldn't deliver and for that the Mets and Pirates hitting instructor and managers are to blame

As soon as he fixed a small mechanically error in his swing, he started hitting slightly under the ball instead of line driving it.

I will go with that until it is proven otherwise

[fenrir]

Still have my suspicions about rather or not he used Roids.

It's understandable suspicion for sure, but all MLB can do is keep testing him and everybody else on a regular basis, and if he passes all his tests, then that's that. Can he be on something undetectable? Absolutely, but then again maybe he's legit. There's simply no way of ever knowing the truth for sure. For now I'll marvel at his excellent home run prowess until I have a legitimate reason to suspect him of using steroids or other illegal performance enhancing drugs.

[PlanetZoltan]

I think hes legit. He has lightning quick hands and can spin like a top on inside fastballs. I say yes on leading the league in HRs again this year.

[dominik]

I think hes legit. He has lightning quick hands and can spin like a top on inside fastballs. I say yes on leading the league in HRs again this year.

His career arc is definitely suspicious. I even started a thread about this a year ago or so. there have been late starts but we never saw a player being a replacement player for several years and then turning into a star in the late 20s.

But I think the approach also has something to do with the improvement. he has said that he now swings earlier. I think he now has just acccepted that he is a dead pull hitter. he now just extremely crowds the plate and waits for a ball middle in and then spins on it like crazy and otherwise takes the pitch.

if a pitch is outside he can still not doo much with it. at the beginning pitchers just threw him outside and he struggled with that mightily. but somehow he could turn it around, I don't know if he crowds the plate even more (to make the middle out pitch into a middle pitch) or pitchers are now missing more over the plate.

I also feel like he was trying to let the ball get deeper and work away at the start of the season but then realized that he is a slugger an not a hitter going back to his old approach of pulling everything.

[Imapotato]

I read his story last season...I believe it was something about keeping his head down and a slight adjustment to his stance that the Blue Jays hitting instructor and Cito Gaston showed him...which shows Cito Gaston is a HOFer

[GiambiJuice]

I read his story last season...I believe it was something about keeping his head down and a slight adjustment to his stance that the Blue Jays hitting instructor and Cito Gaston showed him...which shows Cito Gaston is a HOFer

Really? A manager for only 12 seasons is a HOFer?

[pheasant]

Bautista has certainly found his groove. He put up some huge numbers last year while drawing 132 BB in only 149 games. That's pretty impressive.

[Brooklyn]

...the Mets and Pirates hitting instructor and managers are to blame

.

he was with the Mets? I hadn't heard that and don't see it in his minor league career on baseball-reference. Are you sure?

[Gee Walker]

His career arc is definitely suspicious. I even started a thread about this a year ago or so. there have been late starts but we never saw a player being a replacement player for several years and then turning into a star in the late 20s.

That basically is the career arc of Cecil Fielder, Hank Sauer, Dolph Camilli, David Ortiz, Ted Kluszewski, Cy Williams and a bunch of other power hitters who fail their first shots at the majors because the only thing their managers noticed was a lousy batting average.

[GiambiJuice]

he was with the Mets? I hadn't heard that and don't see it in his minor league career on baseball-reference. Are you sure?

He was a member of the Mets for less than one day before they swapped him to the Pirates. http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...02.shtml#trans

[Gee Walker]

Bautista also was a rule 5 draft in 2004, which must have really messed him up. Baltimore to Tampa Bay to Kansas City, all in the same year, for a guy who had just come from a pretty good year in A ball. Three different hitting coaches, all for a grand total of 96 plate appearances in 2004. No wonder he got messed up.