Javier Báez Miserable Tigers Stint Continues with Benching
Javier Báez’s tenure with the Detroit Tigers has been a dumpster fire. The next chapter of this nightmare saga unfolded during Thursday night’s game against the Blue Jays.
Báez crushed a pitch at the Rogers Center in the top of the second inning that was headed for the walls. He pimped it, acted like he hit it 450 feet and bat flipped while the ball was still flying. It would end up being a double, which he could have legged out to a potential triple if he was running. Whenever managers see a play like that, they aren’t happy with the player, to say the least. Although it’s not a good play, it’s really not the end of the world.
The top clip is the more worrisome of the two. Báez had no idea how many outs there were in the inning. He jogged to third like there were two outs. Manager A.J. Hinch had seen enough, removing Báez from the game.
“My mind is everywhere right now,” Báez said to Evan Petzold after the game. “I’m just trying to focus on my hitting and my timing. The only reason I lost the count of the outs, it was because I was hitting sixth. I thought I was the third batter in that inning. That’s the only reason.”
Ugly Marriage
Man, this is starting to get ugly for Báez and the Tigers. The 30-year-old signed a six-year, $140 million contract with Detroit after the 2021 season. Since he’s arrived, Baez has honestly been awful.
In 2022, he had a full season for Detroit. In 144 games, he hit for a .671 OPS and a 93 OPS+. Báez was amongst the worst in the entire league in chase rate. He also didn’t walk a lot, in the bottom 10% of the league in that category, according to Baseball Savant. Some will reference his defense as his strength, but even that wasn’t as good in 2022 as it was in recent years, as he sported -4 defensive runs saved playing shortstop, according to Fangraphs. When you’re striking out a ton, not hitting for power, not walking, and playing average (at best) defense, you have a recipe to be a pretty awful player.
“Anybody can make a mistake. At this point, the way we’re playing, and the way I’m playing, it’s obviously going to be worse,” Báez said. “If I’m hot and I have seven homers and I make that same mistake, I would have stayed in the game. But I got no excuses.”
More of the same concerning trends were prevalent for Báez to start 2023. In 45 at-bats, he has a grand total of five hits. His first extra-base hit of the season was the double he didn’t run on. The former Cub and Met only has one RBI as well.
One Foot Out Of The Door
Báez has an opt-out after the 2023 season with the Tigers. He has to be gone after this season. Báez clearly hates being in Detroit. He signed this massive contract with them for the big bucks but forgot a key factor: the Detroit Tigers haven’t been a good baseball team in the last decade.
Báez loves playing under bright lights. He is the type of player who feeds off big games and winning baseball — something Detroit hasn’t seen in years. The Tigers are going nowhere. They’re 3-9 and already 5.5 games back of the first place in the AL Central, and it’s still only April 14.
He doesn’t belong on this Detroit team whatsoever. Detroit needs to trade him. They can get a good return if they ship him off at the deadline. Trade Báez to a contender, a team that’s ready to buy and improve their squad. Maybe he could end up as a New York Met again. Aside from the strikeouts, he performed pretty well in 2021 in Queens playing alongside his friend Francisco Lindor.
Hypotheticals aside, this marriage is bound to come to an end. It sucks that Báez is wasting his own, and Detroit’s time. Remember when Detroit was kind of okay in 2021 and everyone thought Báez was going to be the X-factor in 2022? That feels like a really long time ago.
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