This is our second blog this week about Javy Báez, because the Detroit center fielder (yes, center fielder!) has simply demanded it. There are players in MLB who can boast a higher WAR or more home runs, but nobody in baseball has surprised like Báez through his first 34 games. Once one of the sport's most exciting young talents with the Cubs, then an absolute washout who OPSed below .600 in back-to-back years, a humbled Báez returned from season-ending surgery last August to a growing team that had unexpectedly fashioned itself into a contender. But rather than be an awkward appendix on a roster that seemingly proved it was better off without him, Báez has pieced himself back together. Now, he's a leading hitter on—I swear this is real—Baseball Reference's World Series favorite. And Tuesday night's performance against the Red Sox was his most endearing yet in a Tigers uniform.
With some wet weather in Detroit and a Tarik Skubal start scheduled for the next day, it wasn't a big crowd that witnessed Javy's heroics live. But Michigan is following the Tigers more closely than it has in any spring for the past decade, and I could feel the reverberations from a thrilling 11th inning all the way out in Brooklyn, where I listened to Dan Dickerson on the radio call during my walk home. It was Javy who was responsible for extras in the first place, scoring from third on a botched pickoff from the Boston catcher early on and then clobbering a breaking ball to left for a three-run shot in the sixth.
In the top of the 11th, Kristian Campbell just barely left the yard to put the home team in a two-run hole. But the Sox never even managed an out in the bottom half. Jace Jung singled to move the ghost runner to third, and that brought up Báez—last in the batting order, but first in the hearts of Tiger fans. Báez had struck out swinging a couple times, chasing the kind of slow knee-high delivery he'd crushed in the middle of the game. But Greg Weissert fed him something meaty on the very first pitch, and he didn't even get time to say "Goodbye, baseball." Javy lifted a gift to the bullpen and celebrated, arms raised, with a slow march to first. The Tigers are now 28-15, tied with the Mets for the best record in MLB.
I'll admit that I didn't expect this. The Tigers' desperate gathering of miracles to just barely sneak into the playoffs late last year was exhilarating but did not seem replicable. However, a couple of pleasant surprises, on top of solid play from their other still-developing talents, have allowed them to levitate above the rest of the league. Báez is one, of course, and another is Spencer Torkelson, the former first overall pick in 2020 who looked like a bust but came back to life with a blistering start to the year. (He's cooled a bit, but snagged another homer on Tuesday.) I had written off both Báez and Tork a year ago. One was an aging ex-star who'd seemingly lost his touch, and the other, I thought, was a cocky kid who didn't have the tools to overcome the unfamiliar adversity of not being the best player on the field. But Báez looks healthy and happy as he's adapted well to his new position, and Torkelson revamped his approach to reclaim his spot. People can change. And this team, one of the most depressing in baseball not so long ago, feels brand new.
