Of the four major sports, Major League Baseball has by far the largest Latino population.

More and more, we're seeing Latin American players thrive in American baseball leagues, specifically MLB baseball. Some of most notable players in the American and National League are from Latin America.

Earlier this season, the Toronto Blue Jays (who play the furthest from Latin America) set a Major League record by having six players born in the Dominican Republic in their starting lineup.

But the Blue Jays aren't just recruiting, signing and drafting players from Hispanic countries; they're thriving off their bats. Unbelievably, the top seven hitters for the Blue Jays are all born somewhere other than the United States.

The top seven hitters for the Blue Jays are:

  1. Melky Cabrera, 144 hits
  2. Jose Reyes, 116 hits
  3. Jose Bautista, 112 hits
  4. Dioner Navarro, 93 hits
  5. Edwin Encarnacion, 91 hits
  6. Brett Lawrie, 64 hits
  7. Juan Francisco, 58 hits

Cabrera, Reyes, Bautista, Encarnacion, and Francisco are all Dominican-born. Navarro hails from Caracas, Venezuela, and Lawrie is from Canada.

Not only are foreign-born players on the Blue Jays dominating in total hits, but they're contributing in other ways, as well. Cabrera has a team-leading .311 batting average, and Reyes is leading the Jays in stolen bases with 20.

Although Edwin Encarnacion is fifth on the team with just 91 hits and a .277 batting average, he has hit the long ball better than anybody else on the team. His 26 home runs lead the Jays, and rank third in all of baseball. Jose Bautista also leads this roster with 74 walks, 29 more than the next player, Encarnacion, who has 45.

The Toronto Blue Jays are currently 60-54. The Baltimore Orioles are in first place, leading the American League East by four wins over the Blue Jays. Despite not leading the division, the Blue Jays are still in the driver's seat of the second wild card spot in the AL. They lead the New York Yankees, Kansas City Royals and Seattle Mariners by two wins for the wild card. The Blue Jays haven't made the postseason since 1993, when they won the World Series over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Latino influence on Major League Baseball has been absolutely enormous. Various hitters, pitchers, and fielders have been leading the league in statistical categories for years from the Latin American community. Some of the largest Hispanic contributors include the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia.

And that influence, the Blue Jays hope, could be a driving factor as Toronto aims for their third-ever World Series championship this fall.

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