Tigers President: Javier Baez benching was a ‘turning point’
Javier Baez has not had a great tenure with the Detroit Tigers since signing a six-year, $140 million contract to join the team. On April 13, Baez was benched against the Toronto Blue Jays for a base running blunder that represented an all-time low in his time as a Tiger. Since that day, Baez has rebounded with his best baseball thus far into his new contract.
Detroit Tigers president Scott Harris has pointed to Baez’s benching as a turning point in the Tigers’ 2023 Season.
“My takeaway from that whole benching incident was that (Tigers manager A.J. Hinch) did a great job of making a tough decision in a really high-pressure moment. But he did an even better job of messaging it,” Harris said in an interview with MLB Network on Wednesday. “It wasn’t just about Javy. We wanted to get to a place where we were playing clean, more competitive baseball in this organization. And that was a real turning point for our season.
Quote via ESPN
Entering Thursday, in the 25 games since Baez’s benching, the shortstop has made massive improvements at the plate. In that period, he has hit .321 with three home runs and 15 RBIs. That is a massive improvement in comparison to his .122 batting average prior.
In total, Baez sits with a slash line of .256/.319/.376 with an OPS+ of 96. Is that great? No, but it is an improvement from his disappointing 2022 campaign that saw him hit .238/.278/.393 with a 93 OPS+. Plus, Baez is now on an upward trajectory for the first time in the Motor City.
At the same time, the Tigers have improved as a team.
“Since then, we’ve been playing a very aggressive brand of baseball, we’ve been pounding the zone, and we’ve been trying to get into better counts on both sides of the ball,” Harris said. “A.J. has done a great job of picking his spots and getting players ready to come through in high-leverage moments. I think Javy is one of the leaders on the team. He sets the tone for the entire team. And it’s been really fun to watch him respond to that moment.”
Quote via ESPN
Entering Thursday, Detroit has gone 14-11 since Baez’s benching which, once again, is a massive improvement in comparison to the squad’s 3-8 start. The Tigers are now second in the AL Central and have a 17-19 record.
It is no secret that Baez and the Tigers need to continue to improve. After all, we are referencing a 25-game sample size. The Baez contract is still awful and the Tigers are still a bad baseball team. That said, those claims have a chance to be disproved if Baez can stay hot.
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