Comments on: Is It Too Early to Throw Around the Elite Tag for Javier Báez? http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/04/30/is-it-too-early-to-throw-around-the-elite-tag-for-javier-baez/ Just another Baseball Prospectus Local Sites site Sat, 16 Feb 2019 21:04:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: JoePepitone http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/04/30/is-it-too-early-to-throw-around-the-elite-tag-for-javier-baez/#comment-22262 Tue, 01 May 2018 05:41:41 +0000 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=23666#comment-22262 Need an “edit” button. The pressure of posting a typo-free message is too great!

]]> By: JoePepitone http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2018/04/30/is-it-too-early-to-throw-around-the-elite-tag-for-javier-baez/#comment-22261 Tue, 01 May 2018 05:26:16 +0000 http://wrigleyville.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=23666#comment-22261 Yes, it IS too early to throw around the elite tag for Javy Báez. Waaaaaaaay to small of a sample size at this point. We need to see how the league adjusts to the “new” Javy, as well as how well Javy adjusts to the new Javy. Does he start to forget what got him this hot start and begin to swing at everything under the sun again? He has not walked since April 11, when he was batting 7th and also hit two home runs for the second game in a row. Now, nary a walk since he was moved up in the lineup.

Mind you, I love love love watching Javy play. He IS the funnest player in the major leagues and he plays with a joy that makes the game as magic to watch as the best of his glove work. But we all have seen him follow up a stretch of stellar play (NLDS and NLCS in ’16) with a prolonged stretch of bewildered puzzlement at the plate (2016 World Series). He has begun whiffing on the low and away sliders again over the last few days instead of shortening his stroke and swinging at 3-2 pitches in the zone. Do you remember the stat a while back that showed that Javy swung at the 3-2 pitch 100% of the time? He’s starting to show that again.

I’m NOT saying that he is NOT elite. I’m saying it’s way too early to say he his. Nice clit-bait title, though. It worked on me.

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