Bautista agreed to a five-year contract extension worth US$64 million before the 2011 season. He began the season as the starting right fielder for the Blue Jays, with Edwin Encarnación playing third base. Bautista walked 28 times in the month of April, breaking a club record that was set when Carlos Delgado collected 26 bases on balls in April 2001. Bautista was unanimously selected for the Blue Jays' Player of the Month award, and was also named the AL Player of the Month for the month of April (his third such award in four months, dating back to the 2010 season).