Jose Bautista Becomes 9th Player in Blue Jays' History with 1,000 Hits

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista joined the 1,000-hit club Sunday by going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, becoming just the ninth Blue Jay ever to reach quadruple-digit hits with the franchise, per Sportsnet Stats.

Bautista has played in all or part of the last 10 seasons with Toronto, seeing action in 1,103 different contests prior to Monday's series-opening game against the New York Yankees. Over that span, he's collected 266 home runs and 708 RBI in addition to his 1,000 knocks.

The slugger posted some tremendous seasons for the Blue Jays over that span, leading the league in home runs in both 2010 and 2011 and earning an All-Star nomination every year from 2010 to 2015. He also provided a memorable moment for the franchise and its fans in 2015 with a three-run, go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of the team's American League Division Series Game 5 win over the Texas Rangers.

Unfortunately, the veteran's production has slowed recently. While he was on pace for decent power numbers in 2016, Bautista missed a significant portion of the season due to injury and finished the year with just 22 home runs over 116 games.

The biggest dropoff, however, has come in the form of his batting average. After hitting .250 or better in five of his previous six seasons, Bautista hit just .234 last year and owns a .178 mark with just one home run through 25 games this year.

Bautista has supplied the franchise with plenty of production over 10 seasons, but his decline and age (36) led to the club offering just a one-year contract for 2017. Unless he improves those numbers the rest of the way, it wouldn't be surprising if the Blue Jays ultimately decide to move on after the season concludes.

On a positive note, he's hit .318 with a double, three RBI and five runs scored over the past week. Perhaps he's beginning to turn a corner after a slow start.