In an otherwise mostly forgettable loss to the Pirates today, there was one bright spot of enjoyment – well, two: Javy Baez went deep twice.
The first shot, which came early enough in the game to give the Cubs a second inning lead, was a monster blast:
Calm like a Javy bomb. #EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/OrZzVkFBnK
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 10, 2018
No-doubter off the bat (423 feet), and Baez’s first homer on the season. Talk about an oopsie of a pitch location. Although it’s funny: for many hitters, throw 93 mph in the upper third of the strike zone is not a bad pitch at all. Against Javy Baez, that’ll get you punished. And you also get a little Sammy Sosa hop thrown in there for good measure.
Baez’s second homer, which came late enough in the game that it was mostly just a “oh, hey, that’s cool” thing, was more of a rocket. It’s not embeddable, but you can watch it here. It’s funny, because it was also a mistake, and also a 93 mph fastball, but this one was at the very top of the strike zone. Still didn’t matter.
That shot was 109.8 mph off the bat, which appears to be his third hardest hit ball of the season. Thanks to the homers, an unusually low .200 BABIP this year, and a 13.2% BB rate, Baez’s line on the season is now a strange .194/.342/.548.