Javier Baez hit another monster homer yesterday for the Cubs. It almost seems silly to qualify a Baez homer as a “monster” homer, because he doesn’t seem to hit cheap ones. (In fact, though, you’d like to see him get tons of cheap ones in his career – that’s the point of having huge power. Sure, the 400+ foot blasts are fun, but the one that just barely goes 330 feet is worth just as much on the scoreboard, and Javy should get those when, for another player, it would be a mere 280-foot fly out.)
In any case, here’s Javy’s blast from yesterday:
Yes, there are significant holes in Baez’s swing right now, but if you miss down the pipe, he won’t.
The game saw Baez’s strikeout rate go back under 40%, and saw his strangely unique line raise to .216/.256/.486, which is a 103 wRC+. All in all, I’m still fairly happy with what we’ve seen.
Jorge Soler is maybe heating back up after a BABIP-induced down period. Last night, he homered for the Iowa Cubs to deep center field. Here’s a snippet of Soler’s three-run bomb via MiLB.tv (which is awesome, by the way). If there is a more complete video made available, I’ll update:
Jorge Soler crushed a three-run shot last night for the Iowa Cubs (via http://t.co/qT4woXCKZc). https://t.co/Ptpdn8QrlM
— Brett Taylor (@BleacherNation) August 23, 2014
He has such a strong swing. Power for miles, generated largely by his immense physical strength, and a good knowledge of the pitches he can drive. That was a first pitch fastball to which Soler said, “Yes, please.”
And, once again, a sad ending to the homer post: Kyle Schwarber’s homer – his third in the last five games – is not on video. Next year, he’ll probably be at Tennessee and we can regularly watch Schwarbombs. Just be happy in knowing that, after a “slump”, Schwarber’s line is up to .286/.400/.508 at Daytona (would be tops in the FSL if he had enough at bats to qualify), better than any Cubs prospect in recent memory in the FSL besides Kris Bryant, with 25 walks and 32 strikeouts. Do not sleep on Schwarber’s bat. It is crazy good.