Most important blue jay is Jose Bautista

[BlueAlex]

http://espn.go.com/blog/spring-train...-jose-bautista


On the day Jose Bautista hurt his wrist, the Blue Jays were 45-44 and were six runs away from leading the entire sport in runs scored.

From that moment on, they went 28-45, scored the fewest runs in the American League and tied for the third-fewest runs scored in either league.



Great Article by Jason Stark and it seems like Espn is writing more and more about the Blue Jays since there big trades acquistion. I am glad the blue jays are getting noticed aroudn the league and if Bautista goes down than this team will not make the playoffs. Everything revolves around Jose and hopefully Jose has a monster year.

[wagnall]

I think he is an important part of the team. 2010 and 2011 he carried this team on his back, and last year even though his BA was down, he still had a good OBP and OPS plus he was on track to win the home run race again before he got injured.
This year, he is surrounded with some much better players than before, esp, with EE finding himself last year. I think some of the pressure is off, not that he will say or show by his play. If he is on, he makes us better, if he is off, there is more talent now to pick it up.
JMHO

[JMac4PM]

and in other news the sky is blue!!!

Obvious news is obvious... didnt need to write an article on it lol

[Halladay]

Jose is the teams leader and MVP but lets not kid ourselves, in the past this team was good enough to be an 85ish win team. Not good enough to make the playoffs. Now, there's all-stars left and right, plenty of depth, plenty of pitching etc. Just a deep team. The pressure for Jose to be that .950 OPS guy and to carry the team is no longer there. He's just one of many faces. It's a good thing.

[jbkbluejayfan]

Bautista is definitely the glue guy to keep this team together this year. He has the respect of the non dominican core form last year (Lawrie, Arencibia, Rasmus, Lind) as well as all of the new guys. My one worry is if he starts to struggle and whinning to umpires, it could put a major damper on the mood of the team. If he puts up comparable numbers to 2011 and 2012, he will win the American league MVP and we will be in the playoffs. If he doesn't the coaching staff will have to help keep his ego in check. I can't think of one player that is even close to his importance this year.

[nithanyo]

Bautista will have to set the tone offensively. Without him we go from one of the best offenses in baseball to below average. He will be the most important hitter on the team.

[Tkwod5]

im worried that joey bats really did serious damage to his wrist. i dont think it will ever be the same due to the amount of torque he places on it it will keep getting reaggrevated. however, with that being said - we definitly need his bat in the lineup on a daily basis

[GrumpyOldMan]

Bautista is a huge factor for our offense, and our most important hitter. Hopefully he will get some DH time to get some extra rest this season as the jays have a lot more depth now. I also think Jose Reyes will be very important to the team. We haven't had a legitimate leadoff hitter in a long time. He is the table setter who should help the rest of the order get going. It's going to be fun to watch this team.

[jbkbluejayfan]

Quick tid bit on Jose pouting already this spring training. Hopefully Gibbons can talk some sense into him before the season starts.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/201...ista_attitude/

[wagnall]

The guys not pouting, he's pissed off and does not want to be at TC but at the WBC. A guy with his dedication and drive would play on a broken leg if they let him. Most of the regulars are gone, I think he just wants to be playing big boy ball instead of TC.

[town123]

Hayhurst is a weenie. Jose has always shown his displeasure with balls being called strikes.

[R. Johnson#3]

Yeah he's already been having hissy fits for a while. He needs to grow up. Regardless of that though, he's a great player.

[albertajaysfan]

The guys not pouting, he's pissed off and does not want to be at TC but at the WBC. A guy with his dedication and drive would play on a broken leg if they let him. Most of the regulars are gone, I think he just wants to be playing big boy ball instead of TC.

Last year though he was getting in the umps face and overreacting. That is not a sign of a professional or classy player. As a team leader he needs to get over that stuff. You can't control the umps but you can control how they feel about you.

I still remember the best thing I ever did when I played ball was ask the umps after I swung at a pitch that was borderline if it would have been a strike if I didn't swing. I seemed to get a lot more calls from umps than other players. Why? Because I made it clear that I respected their judgement and decisions. Show respect to get respect, pretty simple.

[ByShine]

I don't mind when I see players over react to ump's decision for a right cause (Like brett lawrie). I would actually encourage it. How can you complain about players who are trying to win ball games regardless if it's classy or not.

[wagnall]

Last year though he was getting in the umps face and overreacting. That is not a sign of a professional or classy player. As a team leader he needs to get over that stuff. You can't control the umps but you can control how they feel about you.

I still remember the best thing I ever did when I played ball was ask the umps after I swung at a pitch that was borderline if it would have been a strike if I didn't swing. I seemed to get a lot more calls from umps than other players. Why? Because I made it clear that I respected their judgement and decisions. Show respect to get respect, pretty simple.

I agree, sometimes he goes a little over, but if he went too far, they'd toss him. And he isn't doing anything that other players from bench guys to the elite players do. Just have to watch Plays of the Week during the season and watch someone blow up. I've seen guys like Pujos , Cabrera, Votto and other stars do the exact same thing as Bautista SOMETIMES does. . Not everyone sees it because its somewhere else. That is why when Bautista is up to bats, everyone stops and watches. When he's done they go to the fridge for a refreshment.