Entering this season Jose Iglesias’ status as the Red Sox shortstop of the future was is serious doubt, coming off of a 2012 that saw his batting average stand at .118, the second-worst in Red Sox club history for someone with as many as his 77 plate appearances (catcher Ed Connolly batted .075 in 1931). But things have certainly changed for the now-23 year-old from Cuba. The infielder has been a stand out offensively for John Farrell’s crew, raising his average 331-points over last season to an astonishing .449 through his first 87 trips to the dish. Obviously we don’t expect this to continue, but in the name of good fun, here are some tidbits about the incredible Iglesias.

• He currently has the American League’s longest active hitting streak at 14 games which puts him one behind David Oritz for Boston’s longest streak of the season (Ortiz's 27-game streak was spread over two seasons).
• Although he’s batting .440 during the streak, his average has actually dropped from .464 at the start of it on May 27 to .449 where it currently stands.
• The last Sox rookie with a longer hitting streak was Jacoby Ellsbury who hit in 18 consecutive games in September, 2008.
• His .449 average is the highest in the major leagues among all players with at least 87 plate appearances.
• When we say the highest in the majors, we aren’t only talking about this season. If he were to not step up to the dish another time in 2013 (which we know won’t be the case) he would own the highest batting average of any player with at least 87 trips to the plate in modern baseball history (since 1901 when the American League came into existence).
• Currently holding that distinction is Hall of Fame 417-game winner Walter Johnson who went 42 of 97 at the plate in 1925 for a .433 average.
• Toss 19th Century players into the mix and Iglesias only drops to second, behind Levi Mayerle who batted a robust .492 for the National Association’s Athletics in 1871 (he also led the circuit in home runs with four).
• Despite hitting just one home run and seven doubles, his .577 slugging percentage is .001 ahead of NL home run leader Domonic Brown, and also higher than Mike Trout (.550), Evan Longoria (.544), Robinson Cano (.521) and Jose Bautista (.520) among many others. Yet that places him third on the Red Sox behind David Ortiz (.613) and Mike Carp (.680)
• His 2013 batting average and slugging percentage at Triple A Pawtucket are .202 and .319 respectively.