Last night sucked (How’s that for a lede? #Journalism).
The Cubs not only lost to the Dodgers, falling down 0-2 in the NLCS, but they lost in dramatic fashion, after a few disappointing and confusing managerial decisions. In terms of heartbreaking Cubs losses over the years, getting walked off in the NLCS with John Lackey on the mound and Wade Davis in the bullpen is probably right up there near the top (or the bottom, whatever).
But there were still some good moments from that game, and, naturally, two of them were supplied by Javy Baez (a.k.a. EL MAGO). The first came with one out in the bottom of the 4th inning, when catcher Austin Barnes lifted a pop-up down the right field line. Off the bat, it felt like the type of pop-up that, if fair, falls for a hit like 90% of the time.
Except, El Mago worked his way around Anthony Rizzo and the umpire, while avoiding Jason Heyward to make this back-breaking play:
Never fear, @javy23baez is here! #NLCS pic.twitter.com/1U5BYpob72
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2017
Just. Wow.
You can argue that he over ran that ball, ultimately making it look a bit harder than it should, but give how far he had to go and how many large humans were in the area I can’t say that was a gimmie. Those pop ups spin back toward the field, after all.
As the announcer points out, that ball would’ve been fair, had Javy missed it, and the next batter reached base on a walk, so this was a pretty important moment in the game. You know, at the time.
The next great Javy moment from last night came just two batters later, once Yasiel Puig reached first base on a walk and attempted to steal second. I can understand why he tried it with Jon Lester on the mound, but also, nah … Contreras and Baez are such a devastating stolen-base-preventing combo:
Despite a great jump and a big, slow, 76 MPH curveball, Willson Contreras let go of a rocket, and Javy Baez applied a vintage #JavyTag for the final out of the inning:
The Boop and Dance, by El Mago. (gif via @NBCSCubs) pic.twitter.com/cA8fE0zs7Z
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 16, 2017
Duck, duck, goose. pic.twitter.com/yPMbDVZxle
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) October 16, 2017
And while the tag was the highlight of the play, I have to give a special shoutout to Contreras, who was brave enough to undergo an experimental surgery replacing his arm with an actual cannon:
https://twitter.com/statcast/status/919736374168825857
See? There were some nice moments, too.
Related promotional note:
Heads up: *some* sizes of the awesome JavyAir shirt are back in stock, and if it's like last time, they won't last: https://t.co/AoTv7dXVRa pic.twitter.com/e1SjcC9ULY
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) October 16, 2017