Over his career, Jose Bautista is hitting .267 with an on-base percentage of .359 when he leads off. In case you were wondering, most of those numbers are from his bench-warming years, back when he was a super utility player and not one baseball’s premier sluggers.

In fact, Bautista has not been the leadoff hitter since 2010, when he had 55 plate appearances as the tip of the spear. At the time of this article’s writing, Bautista has had 39 very productive plate appearances leading off this season, putting up a .308 average and a .372 on-base percentage, with four homers and nine runs batted in. It’s a small sample, but it’s a good one - so far.

Bautista can hit in the leadoff spot because Bautista can hit in any role. He takes walks, hits for power, has decent speed and understands the function of each at-bat from a strategic mindset. But what makes him such a good choice for that role for the Blue Jays right now is that there are other bats in the lineup that can do damage in high-leverage scenarios, allowing the team to use Bautista’s versatility to be more of a catalyst than a thumper.

Pure sabermetrics puts your best hitters at the top of the order because of their ability to impact the game by virtue of having the most at-bats. Joe Sheehan argued in a 2013 Sports Illustrated column that “The best modern analysis of lineup order - as published in The Book, by Tom Tango, Mitchel Lichtman and Andy Dolphin - points to one conclusion: a team’s best hitter should bat second. Doing so clusters the best hitters more efficiently, putting more runners on base for the big sticks in the middle of the lineup.

“But most significant, it gets the best hitter more at bats. Each lineup spot gets about 18 extra plate appearances a season more than the spot below it …”

Sheehan was focusing on Canadian slugger Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds when he detailed his argument, going on to say that if you put your best hitter in the No. 2 spot you are effectively getting four extra games’ worth of at bats out of him. That number multiples again when you move that player to the leadoff spot.

“Lineup creation is a mix of art and science, with more than a little psychology thrown in,” Sheehan wrote in a 2010 piece on St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa moving slugger Albert Pujols from third to fourth in his batting order. “The most important factors, however, are simple: get your best players the most at-bats and have your power guys bat with runners on base.”

The way a lineup turns over during a game means that the person who bats first should get the most chances to hit. The number-two hitter should get the most chances to hit and drive runs in, assuming the leadoff hitter does his job. Then the baton is passed to the third hitter, who is focusing more on damage, then the fourth hitter, and so on. For the current Blue Jays, this would look something like Bautista, followed by Josh Donaldson, Michael Saunders, Justin Smoak, Edwin Encarnacion, etc.

The term “best hitter” is nebulous and highly contextual. Over the past few seasons, the title of best has shifted among Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Kevin Pillar, Saunders and - though it’s hard to remember now - Troy Tulowitzki. All of them are very talented, though not all of them are showcasing it at present.

Among all these the bats the best option for leadoff is Bautista, who tops the American League in walks and offers one of baseball’s highest on-base percentages. Given Bautista’s eye and supporting numbers, it’s not odd that he's leading off. It’s odd that he asked to do it.

The Jays’ lineup has been shuffled more than a few times during Bautista’s tenure as premier bat and franchise face, with Bautista often being the loudest detractor. In fact, back in 2013, when the Jays shuffled Bautista into the No. 2 spot - a role saberists feel is the place where the best of the best hitter should be - Bautista balked at the idea of changing from batting third, saying, “I feel comfortable there. I’ve enjoyed success there. Why change?”

Most hitters wouldn’t openly question a manager to the media like that, but most hitters aren’t Bautista.

For the record, I’ve never been a big fan of the logic behind routine-based productivity as it pertains to batting orders. I can’t, however, deny that players buy into it. Analysts also buy into it, and they made a big stink about Jackie Bradley Jr.’s recent 29-game hitting streak coming to an end because Red Sox manager John Farrell switched him to the leadoff role. The prevailing hot take was you should never mess with what a player feels comfortable doing when it’s working.

Interestingly, by batting leadoff, Bradley Jr. actually had more chances to continue his streak the day it ended, not fewer. If a great hitter becomes impotent because of a simple lineup change, is he really that great a hitter? Or do we simply have a bad habit of over-valuing comfort and routine, especially when streaks are in question?

But I digress. The Blue Jays as a whole needed a change that could help them break out of a slump. Bautista stepped up to the plate, literally and figuratively. So far, it’s working.

Still, one has to wonder why Bautista changed his stance on batting order in this season of all seasons.

If you’re Bautista, on the hunt for a $150-million contract, you don’t want to be shifted to a situation that’s going to take away from your ability to prove your worth. Raising his on-base percentage and taking walks doesn’t benefit him like hitting homers in leverage situations does. It doesn’t hurt him, per se, but it’s not how he’ll earn his golden contract.

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Bautista may have more chances to make an impact on the game now, but his chance to drive runs in will rely on the end of the order’s ability to get on base. He’ll be cleaning up when guys such as Pillar, Russell Martin, Ryan Goins, Darwin Barney and Devon Travis are on base. This puts Bautista is an awkward position: He can’t fail at getting on base and/or hitting solo homers, thus diminishing his earnings potential. But he also doesn’t want to excel so much that he’s stuck in the leadoff spot because it’s “what’s best for the team.”

Bautista’s optimal scenario is one wherein he helps get the team hot, then passes the leadoff baton to someone more suited for the role, preferably Pillar or Travis. The sooner he gets back to a position where he can drive in runs, the better his chances of landing a massive deal that will see him well compensated into the twilight of his career.

After all, wherever he goes next, he won’t be going there to bat leadoff.