The Tigers starting the season strong I could have called. The Tigers starting the season in first I might have called. The Tigers starting the season with one of the best records in the AL, I'd have seen that as a possibility. The Tigers starting the season as one of the top teams in the AL, led by a late-career Javier Baez performance? I'd have called you a bullshitter.
Javier Baez might have the strangest career of any 'star player' of the last several years. The first two years of his career, his MLB stats were so poor that Cubs fans were going 'oy, enough of this guy'. Then in 2016 he essentially usurps Ben Zobrist's role as 2nd baseman so Zo can spend more time in the outfield, by 2017 he's starting everyday at 2nd and by 2018 he's one of the biggest stars in the game. People, when dismissing Baez during his shit period in Detroit, were easy to say 'oh, he only had one good season anyway'. No, he had like 3. 2018, where he was inches away from an MVP, 2019, where he was slightly limited but still MVP caliber, and 2021, where he was killing it for the Cubs and not too bad for the Mets. It's just...once he got paid, the quality dropped, and the last two seasons he was maddeningly off. The Tigers fans were actively cheering for his injuries because that meant Jace Jung or Trey Sweeney could get starting time.
And yet now that everyone stopped waiting for Javier Baez to be great at baseball...of course that's the moment he wakes up. And it lines up perfectly. The Tigers need a veteran hitter figure, centerfield opened up for him, they're already competitive. It couldn't have worked out better for him. Right now Baez is hitting .308 with 19 RBIs, 3 homers and a 1.7 WAR. Defensively he's a ton more comfortable in the outfield than he was at second. He's not striking out as often, he's fixed whatever was wrong with his swing and he's back to being an excellent contact bat. Baez is one of many Tigers who've spontaneously 'found it', alongside Spencer Torkelson, Zach McKinstry, Dillon Dingler and Gleyber Torres. Casey Mize I would also throw into this category, but he just got hurt.
The Tigers' overall success was something I was hoping would happen for a while, and I'm really happy that it's finally upon us. We have a Tigers lineup where Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter can all be relied upon for home runs. We have a rotation where Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, Casey Mize and Reese Olson can all keep runs down. The bullpen is still excellent, and Tommy Kahnle has made an excellent RP1. And right there in the middle is Javier Baez. This was the Tigers' long-game plan; it didn't happen immediately, but they were always building to it. And now that it's here, it's very exciting.
The Tigers, right now, have the strongest team in the division, though the Royals are slowly gaining thanks to an excellent week. We're now going to find out if this version of the Tigers has legs, and if they can truly outlast the competition. That'll be a fun development for sure.
Coming Tomorrow- His team just won 8 straight, and he's outrunning everybody on it.
Baez's early Cub struggles got quickly forgiven when they won the WS. And him playing so well when the firesale began was a big factor in the Cubs getting Pete Crow-Armstrong. Still, us fans were scratching our heads at his Detroit decline and hoping he'd figure it out. So far so good.
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