When Javier Baez first came to the big leagues in 2014, it was a well-established fact that his cumbersome strikeout rates would be coming with him. And they did. Baez posted a strikeout rate of 41.5 percent in 2014, accompanied by a stat line as dull as Joe West’s name: .169/.227/.324 in 229 plate appearances. But […]
Tag: Javier Baez
That’s So Cub: The Biggest North Side Moments in this Month of May
Sometimes, you just get bored. Sometimes it happens when you’re forced, by dint of an iron-clad social convention and a pronounced lack of anything else to talk about, to ask about your co-workers’ Memorial Day plans for the umpteenth time, and sometimes it happens when you suddenly find that you’ve written the same piece for your Baseball Site one […]
Javy Baez Is The Skynet of Prospects
Javy Baez’s rookie season followed the pattern laid out by most Cub phemons. That is to say, it began with talk of Gary Sheffield and Miguel Cabrera but ended with Corey Patterson, Felix Pie, and Brooks Kieschnick. Back then, going through a list of Cub prospects was like reading Kevin Costner’s IMDB page. You could pick […]
Tales of a Baserunning Ballclub: Cubs Running Wild
Late in Sunday’s 13-inning affair, overshadowed by Javy Baez’s walk-off fireworks, the Nationals’ defense succeeded in throwing out Jason Heyward at home plate. Michael Taylor corralled the ball perfectly on one hop in right-center field and fired a throw to the cutoff man; the cutoff man, Danny Espinosa, flung the ball to catcher Wilson Ramos, […]
Zobrist, Baez, and Beyond: Turning Versatility into Opportunity
As we inch closer and closer to the Cubs breaking camp, there’s a quiet development happening in Mesa, nearly as quiet as the mime who led team warm-ups on Tuesday. According to ESPN’s Doug Glanville, Cubs bench coach Dave Martinez has been fielding a certain request from a number of young players: “Teach me another position.” […]
Baez at Nine: The Cubs’ Most Versatile Player
It’s been talked about at length through the offseason and into spring training, and the early part of the spring training schedule hasn’t done anything to cool it down. Javier Baez is playing the part of Ben Zobrist, circa 2008, on this Cubs team. We already knew he could bring out a golden glove at shortstop, […]
Chaos in the Outfield Brings Relative Clarity to Cubs’ Infield Situation
The Cubs’ unexpected trade of Chris Coghlan and re-signing of Dexter Fowler blew up expectations for the outfield. They are now (happily) muddled, and I (happily) left that hard stuff for Matthew Trueblood to sort out. On the infield side, though, these moves actually serve to clarify the Cubs’ roster. Several players whose roles were unclear […]
Javier Baez, Eye Level, and Guessing at the Bottom of the Zone
Two years ago, Javier Baez was not a good major-league hitter. Over 229 plate appearances in 2014, he put up a .169/.227/.324 triple-slash line, with nine home runs and a glaringly awful 41.9 percent strikeout rate. That’s really, really bad. But things got better. Last year, although he hardly reached his ceiling, it’s fair to say that […]
A Paranoid Look at Javier Baez’s Offseason
I’ve cracked the case, you guys: Javier Baez is getting traded and I’ve got proof. The front office has been trying to keep this a secret for months, but I’m here to expose the conspiracy. I even had to dig into some Spanish-language sites to get you the full scoop. If you don’t hear from […]
Life at the Margins in the Cubs’ Outfield
The Cubs, it appears, are done with their major offseason moves. That’s not a bad thing—lord knows they’ve done enough already—but it does mean that the present period, running roughly between the end of Cubs Convention and the beginning of Spring Training, lacks a certain something when it comes to news. Namely, news. But that doesn’t mean that […]