11/05/24
August 24, 2010
Toronto Sportswriter: Is Jose Bautista Cheating?: Jose Bautista's numbers this season raise the question of whether the Toronto Blue Jays slugger is chemically enhanced, Toronto Star sports editor Damien Cox suggests in a blog post. "How is it exactly that at the age of 29 he's suddenly become the most dangerous power hitter in baseball?" he asks. "This is a player, don't forget, who never hit 20 homers before in a Major League season." He has 40 this season along with 95 RBI and a .600 slugging percentage.
I'm so tired of the PED story.....sorry wrong thread, nevermind.
posted by dviking at 04:48 PM on August 24, 2010
Damien Cox is a bad hockey reporter.
He's an even worse baseball reporter.
His post is strictly to draw eyeballs to the Toronto Star, which has had a history of writing inflammatory baseball articles.
Jose Bautista was scouted as a power prospect.
He has had his development delayed by first being a Rule 5 draft pick (meaning he spends useless time on the MLB bench when he's younger, instead of development time in the minors), then he went to Pittsburgh (not known for developing quality hitters during his time there).
If you add on two years of lost development, then his age 29 power surge wouldn't be that much different than other players who have had age 27/28 power surges (there are MANY of them through the history of baseball).
Examples:
George Foster - 23 more HR at age 28 than he ever hit before
George Bell - 16 more HR at age 27 than he ever hit before (or after)
Jim Gentile - 25 more HR at age 27 than he ever hit before
Gorman Thomas - 13 more HR at age 27 than he ever hit before
Carl Yastrzemski - 24 more HR at age 27 than he ever hit before
I thought the whole point of the "testing" was that people wouldn't have to speculate about who is/isn't using.
Also, it's not like this year is something out of the blue.
Check out what happened in September 2009 (10 HR, .609 SLG). That just happens to coincide when Bautista says Cito Gaston and Dwayne Murphy started tinkering with his swing.
posted by grum@work at 05:36 PM on August 24, 2010
That just happens to coincide when Bautista says Cito Gaston and Dwayne Murphy started tinkering with his swing.
That was my first thought upon reading the article, that the coaching staff was probably working on his timing and/or swing at some point. That and Cox was just trolling for eyeballs...
posted by MeatSaber at 05:49 PM on August 24, 2010
I'm not saying his dirty, but I do understand the speculation. That's the legacy of the steroids era for you. Cox is a cock, but he can't be the first person to think this.
I think the difference is, you see his power at points along the way, but without getting a great amount of consistent at-bats up until late last year, (and sometimes in 2007 with Pittsburgh). He did hit 29 homers in the minors one year, too IIRC.
Honestly, if he's on the PEDS, it has slipped by my bullshit detector. He has a very violent swing that it seems is almost entirely based on the timing needed to hit a fastball, and then he makes adjustments from there. He swings as hard at a two strike pitch as he does at the first pitch. He also walks a hell of lot now (leads league) and they aren't often intentional, which indicates to me that he sticks to his plan more often than not.
I suspect that next season (for whatever reason, most teams haven't made the adjustment and just plain not thrown him any fastballs) he'll hit a lot less, but the power will still be there. More like 25-30 homer power, though.
This is his career year. I would be very surprised if he could keep anything approaching those numbers up in any future season.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 06:04 PM on August 24, 2010
Cito has a long history in bringing out big power years for hitters. I can't help but think that Bautista is a result of Cito's teachings.
posted by jc at 08:34 PM on August 24, 2010
It's such a shame that a player can have a monster season and eyebrows be raised... but on the flipside, because of the steriod era, I'm not surprised at all by the suspicion concerning Bautista.
Just be glad that he doesn't look like this Bautista, otherwise he'll be in major trouble.