Blue Jays: Who had the best offensive three-year stretch?

4. Jose Bautista – 2010-2012

Fans young and old are well aware of the power numbers that Jose Bautista had during his time as a Toronto Blue Jay, especially from 2010 and later.  However, had you told anybody in 2009 that the soon-to-be 29-year old Bautista would become one of the greatest home run hitters in the game over the next few seasons, you probably would have been laughed at.

After the 2009 season, Bautista earned a career batting average of .238, struck out twice as many times as he walked and had averaged16 home runs over a 162-game season during his career.  When the 2010 season started, things began the same, as the first 26 games started with 24 strikeouts and a batting average of .206, while hitting just four home runs.

However, once May rolled around, Bautista heated up and didn’t cool down for the next six seasons.  In the final 135 games that year, Bautista would post a slash line of .271/.393/.661 while slugging another 50 home runs for 54 on the season and brought his strikeouts down to his walk totals.

Bautista would follow 2010 up with what I believe was his best season of his career.  His home runs dropped by 11 down to 43, however, his batting average increased by 42 points and his on-base percentage increased by 69 points thanks to a league-leading 132 walks.  Bautista would take home his second consecutive Home Run Title, along with his second Silver Slugger Award.  The Dominican native would miss nearly 70 games in 2011 due to injury but would still have more home runs over that three-year span than any other player in franchise history.  Bautista would finish with 124 home runs while posting a slash line of .271/.400/.593 and have the second-highest OPS in team history (.992).