Wednesday, June 01, 2011
Quiz results: Bautista bombs
Posted by Greg SimonsJose Bautista homered "only" once over Memorial Day weekend, but he still has 20 blasts in 55 team games through Tuesday, putting him on pace for 59 long balls on the year.
That puts his projection right on the edge of two of the categories we asked you to choose from when speculating how many home runs Bautista will hit this season. Here are the voting percentages you, our readers, provided:
HR Total Percentage Less than 40 1.8% 40-49 30.5% 50-59 48.0% 60-69 13.6% 70-plus 6.1%The plurality of voters expects essentially a repeat of last season's 54-home run campaign, while nearly a third expect a notable drop-off from Bautista in the next four months. Nearly one fifth of those responding said Bautista would join the elite company of 60-homer hitters, and an optimistic small percentage think 70 long balls is attainable.
It's crazy to realize that these kinds of numbers are being bandied about when discussing a player who before 2010 had never eclipsed 16 taters. However, opportunity and some tweaks to his hitting style have positioned Bautista as the game's current king of clout.
Sit back and enjoy the show, and see how high his homer total climbs.
Greg Simons continues to hold out hope that some major league team will have need of a past-his-prime left-handed shortstop. If you know of such an opportunity, or want to contact him for any other reason, he can be reached at gregbsimons AT yahoo DOT com.