Recalling the first Silver Slugger season for Jose Bautista

The Toronto Blue Jays have seven players in franchise history who have won mulitple Silver Slugger Awards. Names like Joe Carter, George Bell, and Carlos Deglado will live in the minds of Blue Jays fans for generations to come.

Among those names is a batter who was given a final chance by the Blue Jays after being floated around with the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. That man would be José Bautista, who would later earn the nickname "Joey Bats." He would go on and cement his legacy as one of Toronto's best in franchise history and it all started in 2010, with his first Silver Slugger award.

Jose Bautista breaks out display of power

Before the 2010 season, Bautista was essentially the man you'd love to face as a pitcher for the easy out. Between 2004-2008 (which includes the year he arrived in Toronto), Bautista was a .239 career hitter. His on-base percentage was .324, slugging .398, and OPS at .722. He hit a combined 46 home runs in 462 games played.

Per every 162 games in that time span, Bautista would average 16.1 home runs, 60 RBIs, 57.5 walks, an alarming 122.4 strikeouts, and a WAR of -1.0. When he was acquired by the Blue Jays midway through the 2008 season, Bautista would end up hitting three home runs in 21 games, with a slash line of .214/.237/.411 and an OPS of .648. Not the best of starts.

The following year would be a bit better, hitting 13 home runs with 40 RBIs and batting .235 with a WAR of 2.9. Then 2010 arrived, and on April 11, Bautista made his first step into what would be a legendary Blue Jay season.

Bautista's clutch two-run homer in the top of the eighth inning helped the Blue Jays win their fifth straight game to open the year with a 5-1 record. He had 12 home runs in May and would finish with 24 home runs by the All-Star break en route to being voted into his first of six All-Star Games. Post All-Star break, Bautista went off in what may be one of the biggest offensive showings by a Blue Jay in the second half of the season.

Joey Bats hit seven home runs to close out July to bring his season total to 31. On September 17, Bautista would break George Bell's home run franchise record with his 48th blast at Fenway Park, cementing himself as the Blue Jays' best home run hitter.

His most memorable day in 2010 was on September 23, when he became the first Blue Jays player in franchise history to hit 50 home runs in a single season and the 27th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. He would ultimately finish with 54 home runs to close out the year.

Along with the 54 home runs, Bautista would finish the 2010 campaign with 124 RBIs, a slash line of .260/.378/.617, an OPS of .995, and a WAR of 7.0. Nearly all those stats eclipsed what he did in the first five years of his career. Not only was he the Silver Slugger recipient for right fielders, he won his first of two Hank Aaron Awards for his strong offensive performance.

It was 2010 that helped Jose Bautista end up on the Level of Excellence as one of the all-time Blue Jay greats. Although Bautista will mainly be remembered for his legendary bat flip in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS, one should never forget the season that elevated him to become the powerful slugger we all know him for.

FanSided (parent company of Jays Journal) has partnered withLouisville Slugger to announce the finalists and the award winners of the 2025 Silver Slugger Awards. The announcements will be done live on The Baseball Insiders podcast and YouTube show.