Stats of the Day: Bautista, before and after

Blue Jays slugger's latest display adds to incredible career turnaround

April 18th, 2016

Here are five interesting items from around the big leagues this weekend …
• In Toronto's 5-3 win over Boston on Sunday, Jose Bautista doubled and homered. Consider the extraordinary turnaround in the career of this six-time All-Star: Among players with at least 2,000 plate appearances over the course of their first six seasons, Bautista's .400 slugging percentage is tied for 816th out of 1,300 players since 1920. Among players with at least 3,000 plate appearances from their seventh through 13th seasons, Bautista's .557 slugging percentage is tied for 34th (with Willie Stargell), among 597 players since 1920.

• Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller each faced and fanned three batters as the Yankees won, 4-3, on Sunday. For the year, Betances has struck out 62.5 percent of the batters he has faced, while Miller has fanned 70.6 percent of the hitters who have stepped in against him. Last season, the duo made the Yankees the first team in history to have two pitchers with at least 50 innings and K percentages as high as 38.

• On Sunday, Bryce Harper hit his sixth home run of the year and 103rd of his career. The homer gave Harper at least one in four straight games, tying an Expos/Nationals record accomplished 11 previous times, most recently by Adam LaRoche in 2012.

• In Boston's 5-3 win over Toronto on Friday, David Ortiz offered a bit of the usual -- an RBI double -- and a slice of the unexpected -- a stolen base. With the steal, Ortiz became the 84th player in the modern era to have a home run and a stolen base in an age-40 (or older) season. Ortiz, who joined Alex Rodriguez in the club for 2016, is one of four Red Sox to do this. Going backward: Rickey Henderson in 2002 (eight steals, five homers), Ted Williams in 1960 (one, 29) and Cy Young in 1907 (three, one).

• On Saturday at Wrigley Field, Jake Arrieta limited the Rockies to five hits and a walk over eight scoreless innings and came away a winner in a 6-2 game. Arrieta extended his home scoreless streak to 48 2/3 innings, and he has not allowed a run in six straight home starts. By innings, the run is the longest of its kind since 1962-63, when Ray Herbert had a 54-inning run. Arrieta improved to 3-0 for the season to become the 16th Cubs pitcher since 1913 to have at least three wins through the team's first 11 games. He is the first to do this since Greg Maddux in 1992.