News
Still a Jay, Bautista's slam backs Marcum
Right fielder hits 31st homer as righty strikes out 10 vs. Tribe
By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com
07/31/10 12:20 AM ET
TORONTO -- For Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, pulling Jose Bautista from Friday's game in the eighth inning was simply a way to give the slugger some rest. For Bautista's fans in Toronto, it was a brief moment of panic.Earlier in the Blue Jays' 8-1 romp over the Indians, Cleveland replaced Austin Kearns with a pinch-runner. Kearns had been traded to the Yankees. When Gaston sent Travis Snider to first base to run for Bautista, rumors and speculation began to swirl.
"Is that right?" Gaston said with a chuckle.
Bautista, whose fourth-inning grand slam supported a stellar showing from starter Shaun Marcum and helped catapult Toronto to its fourth consecutive win, is still very much a Blue Jay. After the win, Bautista expressed a desire to remain with the Jays beyond Saturday's 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline, too.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos is well aware.
"He knows that I'm happy here and I'm having a great year," Bautista said. "Why mess with success? It'd be weird if I was asking for a trade. Everything will take care of itself."
Multiple times this week, Gaston has said publicly that he would like to see Bautista remain with the Blue Jays (54-49). If the decision were up to Bautista's teammates, they would prefer to have the emerging star stick around as well.
"Honestly, I think he's going to be around," Blue Jays first baseman Lyle Overbay said. "He's too valuable right now. He can play all the positions and they've got something that they can control. It makes sense to keep him."
Bautista's value continues to rise at a rapid rate.
Since returning from his first All-Star Game, Bautista has hit .397 (23-for-58) with seven home runs, seven doubles and 23 RBIs in 14 games. He has five home runs in his past five games, five multihit showings in a row, and an eight-game hitting streak.
"It's never ending," Overbay said. "It's fun to watch."
When Bautista is not throwing runners out from right field -- he leads the American League with nine outfield assists -- he is launching baseballs out of the park at a furious pace. The grand slam he belted on Friday gave him a Major League-leading 31 home runs on the year.
"He's been on some kind of tear," Gaston said. "Great for him. He's a great teammate around here with these guys and just a great guy to manage. You can't say anything bad about Bautista. Everything I see and everything that he does around here is all good."
Unless Bautista's teammates are tired of him hogging the spotlight.
"I told him, 'Thanks. Keep driving in all the runs,'" joked center fielder Vernon Wells, who hits behind Bautista in the Blue Jays' lineup. "It's hard to follow up what he's doing."
Friday's win also included a third-inning homer from Fred Lewis, run-scoring hits from Edwin Encarnacion and Yunel Escobar, and an impressive outing from Marcum (10-4). The right-hander limited the Indians (42-61) to one run on three hits over seven innings, even though he was fighting flu-like symptoms.
Marcum, who was perfect through the first four innings, finished with a season-high 10 strikeouts and no walks, becoming the Jays' first 10-game winner of the year. The pitcher became increasingly sick as the night wore on and left the ballpark immediately after his start.
That just meant more attention for Bautista, who admits he is having a blast.
"It's great," Bautista said. "When you come to the park and you're doing so well, you can't help but to enjoy it and have fun. That's why this year has felt like it's gone by so fast for me."
In the fourth inning, Bautista stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded, one out, and the Blue Jays holding a 3-0 lead. Bautista turned on a 1-2 fastball from Indians right-hander Justin Masterson, sending it rocketing deep over the gap in left-center field.
After dropping his bat, Bautista leapt out of the batter's box, his arms flying out to the side in a display that looked similar to the home run hop that Sammy Sosa made so famous years ago with the Cubs. Bautista said it was more akin to Carlton Fisk's homer for the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.
"It was sort of like the Boston guy," Bautista said with a laugh. "I was trying to push for the ball to get over the fence instead of keep it fair. ... It was more, 'Get out! Get out! Get out!'"
Bautista willed the baseball over the wall and his stock rose once again.
As valuable as he is to the Blue Jays at the moment -- the right fielder leads the club with 79 RBIs -- Bautista still is not sure what his future holds. Toronto could try to take advantage of his career year by prying a package of players away from another club.
As the Deadline approaches, the Giants and Phillies are two clubs that have been linked to Bautista in trade rumors.
"Hopefully they keep me around," Bautista said of the Jays. "You can't help but hear stuff. Sometimes your friends or your agent, somebody will say something about it. I'm trying not to look at it too much so I can keep my focus on playing every day."
The Blue Jays could also approach Bautista about an extension, but there have been no discussions about such a move to this point. Bautista, who is under contract for $2.4 million with one year of arbitration remaining, is more than willing to put off contract talks if it means he can stay with Toronto.
"I have one more year of arbitration," Bautista said. "I have no problem with the process. I'm used to it. I've already been [through it] three times, so I know what's going on."
Bautista also knew what was going on when he was pulled for a pinch-runner.
"I figured they wanted to get Snider in there," he said. "I didn't think about a trade or anything like that at all."
Jordan Bastian is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
