Bautista joins elite company with 300th career HR
Jose Bautista, the recently activated Toronto Blue Jays right fielder, joined some elite company Tuesday at Minute Maid Park, where the 35-year-old smacked a third-inning solo shot off Houston Astros right-hander Lance McCullers to become the 10th active player with 300 career home runs.
Player | HR | Debut? | G | OPS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alex Rodriguez | 696 | 1994 | 2780 | .930 |
Albert Pujols | 580 | 2001 | 2377 | .968 |
David Ortiz | 528 | 1997 | 2353 | .930 |
Miguel Cabrera | 431 | 2003 | 2042 | .959 |
Adrian Beltre | 429 | 1998 | 2666 | .813 |
Carlos Beltran | 414 | 1998 | 2405 | .847 |
Mark Teixeira | 403 | 2003 | 1821 | .871 |
Ryan Howard | 371 | 2004 | 1538 | .857 |
Prince Fielder | 319 | 2005 | 1611 | .887 |
Jose Bautista | 300 | 2004 | 1475 | .861 |
Bautista, who has launched more homers (240) since the start of 2010 than anyone else in the majors, is now the 10th Dominican-born player to reach 300 career homers, too, joining Albert Pujols, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Miguel Tejada, Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, and Sammy Sosa.
"It’s always a friendly reminder that you’ve been doing this a long time and you’ve enjoyed some success," Bautista told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi after his club eked out a 2-1 victory.
On Tuesday, in his eighth game back since missing six weeks with a hyperextended toe, Bautista's monumental blast traveled an estimated 402 feet and left his bat at 110 miles per hour, according to Statcast, a personal record for the six-time All-Star.