Jose Bautista Injures Ankle

Added on Jul 15, 2011 by Scott in

MLB

The major league leader in home runs is a bit gimpy. Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista is being listed as day-to-day after awkwardly turning his right ankle sliding into third base in last night’s 16-7 win over the Yankees. X-rays were negative, but an MRI might be in order to determine if there is any severe damage.

Manager John Farrell confirmed after the game that Bautista caught a spike in the dirt, which resulted in the injury.

“Hopefully this isn’t a prolonged situation where he’s going to miss any length of time,” Farrell said.

Bautista is delivering MVP-like numbers in 2011. His 31 homers are six more than the next closest players, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson. He ranks second in the American League in batting average at .336 and is fifth in RBI with 65.

The 30-year-old two-time All-Star has seen a significant power surge the last two seasons. After smacking 59 homers from 2006-2009, he led baseball in that category a year ago with 54. He’s on pace this season to equal if not surpass that figure. His 31 roundtrippers broke the team record held by George Bell for home runs prior to the All-Star break.

Bautista has found a home in Toronto, his sixth team in eight years. As a rookie in 2004, he became the first player in MLB history to be a member of five different rosters in one season after a series of trades. He inked a 5-year, $64 million extension with the Jays in February that runs through 2015. He also set an all-time record for number of All-Star votes earlier this month, crushing the figure posted by Ken Griffey, Jr. in 1994 by over a million votes.

Toronto’s last trip to the playoffs came in 1993 when they won their second straight World Series. This season they are currently 46-47, 10.5 games behind division-leading Boston in the AL East.

Source: ESPN.com