The hottest home run hitter in Major League Baseball right now is not Josh Hamilton. It’s not Adam Dunn. It’s Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays, who just hit his league-leading 24th home run Monday night against the Boston Red Sox. Take a look at this 2-run blast over the Green Monster:
What’s amazing is that Bautista has now hit 12 homers in the month of June to surpass all other sluggers.
Right now he’s on track to hit about 50 homers in 2012, if he keeps up the pace. The Dominican has been dominant at the plate for the past three years, hitting 43 dingers in 2011 and 54 long balls in 2010.
Strangely, Bautista never hit more than 16 home runs in any season prior to that, since joining the Majors in 2005. Either he’s found his batting eye or he’s eating a lot of spinach. Or it could be that he just needed time to develop, like many home run hitters. In any case, it’s a joy to watch him crush the ball over the fence.
