A huge thanks to BN’er Bryan (“Fakko”) for video of today’s walk-off homer against Japan. Javier Baez had already homered once today when this happened …
Love that sound. This kid is a stud.
Brett Taylor is the lead writer at Bleacher Nation, and can also be found as Bleacher Nation on Twitter and on Facebook.
Recent Message Board Posts
19 Jun 2013
Baseball's antitrust exemption may be on the table in the San Jose lawsuit, and MLB is talking to players implicated in the Biogenesis scandal.
(5 Comments)
19 Jun 2013
The 27-year-old righty is seeking free agency, and could be another interesting arm for the Cubs to pursue.
(23 Comments)
19 Jun 2013
Davis was a two-way star at Belmont, and could be a solid relief prospect.
(12 Comments)
19 Jun 2013
The righty got $3.1 million from the Cubs earlier this year, and could move quickly through the system.
(30 Comments)
19 Jun 2013
At least last night's slide was called for interference. Jorge Soler hits the DL, Eduardo Sanchez clears waivers.
(155 Comments)
19 Jun 2013
A few Cougars were shining in the Midwest League All-Star Game. Plus all of the other minor league highlights.
(53 Comments)
18 Jun 2013
Jeff Samardzija was better than Adam Wainwright.
(73 Comments)
Copyright © 2013 Get My Bat Media, LLC.
Powered by Hybrid
Bleacher Nation Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Bleacher Nation is not affiliated in any way with Major League Baseball or the Chicago National League Ballclub (that's the Cubs).
WOW
Add Sean Manea (1 hitter through 7, that one hit was a bunt single) and we may have a winner sooner rather than later.
Left and center fielders hardly move.
Guys help me
Where does he play with Castro
Or is Castros friendly contract make him movable?
Thanks
We’re several years away from that and a lot could change, but the most likely scenario right now is that Baez plays third.
my guess would be third. it would be stupid to move castro imo
I want him at 2B. Robinson Cano 2.0
YEP! He’s got Cano’s cocky attitude with the bat speed/power/contact potential offensively and above average to average defense at 2B. Castro/Baez up the middle is a fixture in my imaginary Cubs future.
Castro’s friendly contract, means we will keep him more than he can be dealt. Secondly a 22 year old with 529 big league hits isn’t going anywhere for awhile. As has been posted I’m sure (I only read this post and commented immediately), Castro will be the SS for the next 7-10 years unless the baseball gods rain down good things on the Cubs and even then he wouldnt be dealt but be moved to 2b, lf, or wherever we could put him. Baez is a big kid with a wicked stick, and would be better served for his career to be able to focus on 3b (less defensively minded focus), and swing it. Like Gary Sheffield. stick him at third with his strong arm and quick feet, the one thing he really lacks is true range, which isn’t needed at 3b the way it is at short. Lotta options with our stash of ss, 3b prospects, just gotta hope and pray that stash develops into a problem of finding where to play or deal em
Every time his friendly contract is mentioned another owners angel get her wings and Castro’s agent takes another phone call from Castro telling him he’s fired…. Wonder how long it will take Castro to demand renegotiation ?
I can’t stop watching this video.
I love how non-chap ant he was at home. Learning how to have an ego amongst others that have big egos.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call a “buggy whip” …
Me
Too
Me three. The sound when he makes contact is glorious.
Well anyone who doubts the fact he has undeniable bat speed need to take a look at this. That is some serious whip!
I apologize for missing the first bomb but that made me return to videoing. A lot of pop ups from the cubs. Vitter’s error was terrible, bobbled an easy grounder then nearly threw it into the stands. Baez error was a bad throw down the line and Vogelbach just missed the tag. I know it is always talked about, but Vogelbach’s body type is almost an exact replica of Prince? minus the uniform size from the Milwaukee tent and awning.
Right and Prince can rake…..but can’t really play 1b. Although supposedly he as a little better last year.
I hope to see him in AA sooner then later.
This is one of those instances where confusing “then” with “than” completely annihilates the meaning of a sentence.
I hope for Baez’ sake Daytona doesn’t have do many rainouts this year… I think that threw him off last year
Seriously?
I don’t think that was the only contributing factor but raining out games every other day couldn’t have helped his timing. I’m not buying the talent level got SO much better that he couldn’t hang and hit around .200
What a great video and sound.
My goodness, that is one beautiful swing for a righty!
I hope his attitude and cockiness wont become to severe. What a great congratulatory meeting at home plate with his team -_-
He will be the starting 3B or 2B next year by all star break if not opening day. He is going to CRUSH at Daytona and then move on to double AA rather quickly. AAA and a September call up is within reach this year.
He’s a lot further along than Orie or Kelton at this stage —- he’s where Ron Santo was and that ain’t bad
Baez is not remotely close to being what Santo was at that age. When Santo was a year younger than Baez, he dominated AA. In particular, Santo already showed that he had an excellent batting eye, walking in 10% of his PAs. (Due to the bigger strike zones, 10% was even better in 1959 than today.) That went along with a K-rate of 10%: in fact, Ron actually walked 2 more times than he K’ed!
Obviously, nobody talked about that then: it was another 20 years before people finally figured out that batting eye was a basic tool. But that had a lot to do with why Santo was able to play well in MLB when he was Baez’s current age, and why Santo was so successful for as long as he was. I am one who remains very concerned that Baez’s lack of a batting eye is going to prevent him from being much more than Corey Patterson.
cue “Price is Right tuba” sound
Again, Santo had 878 plate appearances at AA and AAA before he was called up. There’s just no way to wishful think one’s way around the fact that Baez still has work to do in the minors.
Awesome!!!!!!!!!
We have alot of position players to be optimistic about, however not so with pitching in minors. I will be glad when we are just as excited about future pitching stars in Cubs organization. I really can’t wait to see these guys in the majors winning games.
The problem is by the time any decent pitchers arrive the hitters will be gone. Hard to build a roster that excels in all key areas at the same time. It’s like what the bears are doing right now by beefing up their offence which is gret but their dude fence which has been gret is now aging and will soon be a weak point.
Having a management team that can put a full balanced roster together would be great. Epstein might be able to do it but it will take at least five years
That’s the $64 question— how to develop while putting a decent club on the field— hope its sooner than 5 yrs so I can enjoy it—- need more dictatorship and less consensus building– reminded of that scene in the beginning of Money Ball when he told his scouts to take a hike and he took over and told them how it’s going to be—- Theo still has time to watch the movie a few dozen times before season starts
Hi,
We were at the game today but left early. There were a few Japanese fans pounding on drums and i finally lwft with a headache.
I was anxious to see Vogelbach for the first time. He went to Bishop Verot, HS in Fort Myers where my youngest went for her first two years. He looks like a big fat kid, hard to imagine he lost 40#. He was described to me by a scout as “not very athletic” and I would tend to agree. Honestly, he was said to have been slotted in the 3rd or 4th round, I can just imagine the hooting and hollering when Hendry drafted him in the second round. Hopeully he will play well enough to be traded because he is not going to move Rizzo out in the next decade.
We have seen Soler and Baez several times this month. At times they seem baffled and over matched with breaking pitches; and at times they absolutely pound the ball. Baez hit a line drive home run earlier this week that didn’t get 30 feet off the ground and exited just to the left of the batter’s eye in CF. Both are getting some good experience.
After seeig the final score, we wish we had stuck around.
I was not pleased when I saw on the Cubs site that they mentioned that Baez called his walk off. Not the idea he called it, but it does him no good to have that kind of publicity. He has already been plunked a few times by the opposition and doesn’t need to enhance a cocky reputation.
regards,
5412
first of all, why do people leave baseball games early? why even bother going at all? im 19 and ive only been to 2 games Cubs games in my life (and one of them was the last game of the season in 04 when Sosa didn’t play). I think its so stupid and disrespectful when people leave games early.
second, you show be thrilled that we have a guy who can call walkoff blasts like that. I don’t understand why people care if Baez gets planked from time to time. If he is okay with it, then you show be too
Id rather have a guy who is cocky and hits walkoff blasts compared to a timid player. confidence is a good thing
Santo was cocky and he did ok …. Just wish he was more respected by the Cubs at the end of his career
first of all, why do people leave baseball games early? why even bother going at all? im 19 and ive only been to 2 games Cubs games in my life (and one of them was the last game of the season in 04 when Sosa didn’t play). I think its so stupid and disrespectful when people leave games early.
second, you show be thrilled that we have a guy who can call walkoff blasts like that. I don’t understand why people care if Baez gets planked from time to time. If he is okay with it, then you show be too
Please be respectful to 5412
id rather not. he comes off as arrogant and disrespectful
yeah and your handle and responses have been sooooo respectful and so not arrogant
Ahhhhh……to be 19 again….without a care in the world, responsibilities or a clue.
Don’t forget all the knowledge and answers to all the worlds problems when your 19
If I had a time machine….I would go back in time, find my 19 yr old self…and punch me in the face for being an idiot.
Yup starting with allowing myself to drink crappy beer.
I would then introduce myself to single malt scotch.
Three letters the 19 year old me didn’t understand “I P A”
But would I bend time or create a black hole if the current me was wearing cubs Zubaz from zubazapalooza, punched the 19 year old me wearing from back then?
from back then
http://boysofspring.com/baez-delivers-sumo-sized-blasts/
Close up of Baez walk off.
Urlacher to Vikings would be worse than Santo to White Sox
[...] in case you missed it last night, here’s video of the Javier Baez walk-off blast against Japan (full field). Tim over at Boys of Spring also got some video up [...]
The demeanor of Baez as he steps in the batters box is classic… just oozing confidence. And you know that when Garza is playing pranks on his car and he’s tagging around with Sori that the vets just love him.
Hitting a homer of Imamura was a pretty decent accomplishment- the kid is a promising 21 yr old with a high strikeout/low home run rate.
Hi,
Why do people leave baseball games early? I am soon to be 73 years old, have Cub season tickets, and have seen thousands of baseball games in my lifetime. The vast majority of the spring training crowds are seniors and a lot of them leave early.
In my particular case, there were four Japanese fans bangig on very loud drums which finally gave me a splitting headache. So here is my question. Do you sit there watching two teams practice in a totally meaningless game and allow your headache to get worse, or do you leave? Personally I chose the latter, went home, took a nap and had a wonderful dinner with my wife.
Second, I happen to know a good bit about Mr. Baez. While he is a talented athlete, so was Sammy Sosa, Milton Bradley and Marlon Byrd. It takes a lot to have a talented ball player fit in and become a consistent player, including respecting team mates and opponents. Mr. Baez has much to learn on and off the field.
Many are too young to remember Dick Allen or Bob Horner. Quite talented, much too cocky and their careers ended years before they were no longer able to play.
regards,
5412
Ah, the old Dick Allen myth! That he was a clubhouse cancer turned out to be a complete media fabrication. It stemmed from a fight with a racist teammate for which the details were suppressed for years: as the white guy (named Frank Thomas) was popular with the fans and media, they blamed Allen for Thomas being released. (He went after Allen with a bat, which is a no-no.) Allen’s career did not end because of clubhouse problems, but because of leg and arm injuries that caused him to deteriorate rapidly after he was 32.
Horner was badly hampered by injuries his entire career. The final one was another shoulder injury – he had problems with those his entire career – and that was it for him.
Remember, most of what we are told about how guys fit into the clubhouse has nothing to do with how they interact with their teammates and everything to do with how they interact with the media. It also seems to have zero bearing on how they perform on the field.
“Remember, most of what we are told about how guys fit into the clubhouse has nothing to do with how they interact with their teammates…”
You’re absolutely right, Doc. I will be the first to admit that my impression of Soriano as a player led me to feel that he was a lousy teamate (and therefore a problem in the clubhouse). I let my prejuidices about his style of play cloud my opinion of him in all aspects. I’m glad to say that I was wrong on both accounts and hope that he has another strong year in 2013.
It works both ways. Remember how LA Dodger fans were convinced that Paul LoDoca was the “heart and soul” of the clubhouse? It turned out that his teammates hated him! However, he was great with the press. And sometimes you get both with the same guy: Joe Mauer’s rise and fall as a “clubhouse leader” had everything to do with the decline in his popularity with the Minnesota sports media and apparently nothing to do with how he got on with his teammates.
HI Doc,
I agree with you partially. Dick Allen also took of 1/2 the season saying the team was going nowhere and he could live on 1/2 year’s salary. Problems notwithstanding, that is still walking out on his team mates and the fans. Hi sproblems went well beyone the White Sox.
I lived in Atlanta when Horner was drafted and followed him closely. He came right from college to the Braves and did well. He, through his agent, Bucky Woy pulled a fast on one the Braves and renegotiated his contract through a technicality which was totally not following baseball protocol at the time.
Horner also missed more than one game being described as “under the weather”; for which the official term was “Heinikenitis” from those in the know. While all of us enjoyed our beer as young men, we damn sure answered the bell in the AM when it was time to go to work.
More importantly, let’s not lose sight of the message I was trying to convey. Mr. Baez has much to learn. The Cubs were truly blessed when Soriano took Castro under his wing. I hope Soriano does the same with Mr. Baez. Deserved or not, perception and image are very important in professional sports.
regards,
5412
well I don’t really care how old you are, respect the game and the people who would love to have “been to thousands of games”. some of us aren’t so privileged. and as far as being cocky, sosa had a pretty damn good career. so did santo, and countless others. don’t tell another man how to behave.