For the first time since he began on this incredible journey, there is reason to wonder where Jose Bautista goes from here.
Not reason to think about signs from the stands helping him hit home runs. Not reason to consider the questions of artificial help. But reasons about where he is as a ball player since injuring his ankle in mid-July and subsequently being beaned by the Baltimore Orioles.
The Bautista who went to the all-star game as the home run leader in all of baseball, remains in the lead. Just barely. He didn’t dress for the Blue Jays on Saturday. He played poorly in the field on Friday. He’s basically stopped hitting with power since sliding into third base and badly twisting his ankle against the New York Yankees.
Since then, Bautista is batting just .189, with more walks than hits, and just two home runs in 74 at-bats. This is the first physical test for him in this miraculous time.
When he hit 54 home runs a year ago, there was doubt he would ever do that again. But then he had 31 by break and 50 seemed almost inevitable.
The new Blue Jays, with Brett Lawrie at third base and Colby Rasmus in centre field, have done fine through this Bautista difficulty. They’ve won 13 of 23 games in that time. Now, another challenge from Bautista: Six weeks to find his power stroke again.
Six weeks to determine who he is again, and where he might be going.
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