Brett Bateman just became the second-fastest player in Blue Jays history to 30 hits.

He got there in 22 games, trailing only Bo Bichette, who did it in 21 games.

That's remarkable company for a rookie the Blue Jays got almost as an afterthought in the Kevin Gausman trade.

Bateman is hitting .330 since his Aug. 7 debut, and Toronto has gone 15-7 in his 22 games, reaching base in all but four of them.

He already ranks sixth on the team in WAR this season, despite having barely a month in the majors.

His three-hit game Thursday in Toronto's 6-3 win over Cleveland pushed the Blue Jays a game closer to a wild-card spot.

Teammates have taken notice just as much as the numbers have.

Why teammates and coaches trust him completely

"That kid, he's special, very special," Nathan Lukes told Sportsnet's Hazel Mae after Thursday's win.

"There's a reason why he's our leadoff hitter. He gets on base and does all the small things right," Lukes added. "I love playing next to him."

Manager John Schneider echoed that sentiment in his own way.

"You never know when you'll find a dude. It's whatever handful of games, but he has the potential," Schneider told MLB's Keegan Matheson.

Bateman had said from the start he wanted to "make things happen and be that spark plug" for a team that badly needed one.

Nobody expected this kind of instant impact when Gausman went to Chicago at the deadline, especially not from a player who barely registered as a headline name in that trade.

Whether this pace is sustainable over a full season is a question for another year. Right now, Bateman is doing exactly what Toronto needed, right when it needed it most.