Webmaster problems: this morning, all the posts on the site disappeared. Poof. Gone. Except they weren’t *really* gone, they just appeared to be gone to everyone who tried to see any of them (including me). The fix – well, hopefully it’s fixed – was one of those tricks that seems so silly and simple that you’re like, “why would this fix this enormous problem?” So that’s good, I guess, but I’ll forever wonder … why did it happen in the first place? From all appearances, it materialized out of nowhere.
We’ll see if today’s series opener against the Cardinals gets going. It’s very ugly in Chicago today. Ugh. This early-season weather – all across baseball – has been atrocious.
I love seeing Javy Baez’s teammates offering their perspective on his unique brand of baseball, and more than one guy using the single word “joy” (ESPN). That’s how fans receive it, too: dude just brings us joy. An exemplary quote from Kyle Schwarber:Â “It’s just fun to watch him play baseball. He always has so much fun out there. It doesn’t matter if he’s 0-for-20 or 20-for-20 or has four homers in two games or whatever …. I get wowed by him all the time. It’s great to have him on our side because he plays with joy.”
Outside of Shohei Ohtani, who is unique beyond compare right now, is there a more exciting player in baseball than Baez? Seriously, who does more *WOWOWOWOW* stuff out there on all sides of the ball?
As for the production this year, Baez has come through in some huge spots and he’s got a 120 wRC+, which, with his defense and baserunning, would make him an extremely valuable player. How he’s gotten there has been deeply strange, though, as his .191/.309/.574 line suggests. You get there with an absurdly low .164 BABIP, a surprising (and intentional-BB-fueled) 10.9% walk rate, and a 44.1% hard contact rate that props up a 5th-best-in-baseball .383 ISO. Basically, Baez is absolutely crushing the ball when he hits it, is having terrible luck, but is still getting good results overall.
Former big leaguer Doug Glanville with some more perspective on culture and baseball’s unwritten rules:
FanGraphs offers its take on the crazy Cubs win:
Among the fun facts in there: no ball hit like Javy Baez’s bases-clearing, game-tying double (in terms of launch angle and exit velocity) has ever reached the wall. Thanks hard ground and slick conditions!
When the Cubs and Braves make up their postponed series finale on May 14, they will honor Jackie Robinson, as they were supposed to do yesterday (Cubs.com).
Fancy pillows, camping gear, and dash cams are among your Deals of the Day at Amazon today.
NEWSLETTER
