When a younger hitter – or a previously struggling hitter – starts finding consistent success down in the batting order, his team’s manager is thrown a dilemma: leave him where he’s having success, or move him up the order to try to take better advantage of that production?
Yesterday, Joe Maddon opted for the latter with Javy Baez, who moved up to the two-hole in the order, and responded with an opposite-field triple to open up the team’s scoring, and then later another hit to the opposite field.
It’s been part of a season-long trend for Baez so far, who is using all fields and scalding the ball (two things his teammates joined him in yesterday). Baez, in his third full season in the big leagues at age 25, is hitting .250/.344/.679 here in the early going, and looking like the guy we always knew he *could* be at the plate, even if it seemed, at times, like it was highly unlikely.
The way Joe Maddon described that extreme potential in Baez’s bat? “You’re seeing the ascension,” Maddon told NBC. “I’ve talked about this for a bit — where the moment he starts laying off the down-and-away slider, he’s Manny Ramirez. He’s got that kind of [ability] at the plate. It’s just a matter of maturing as a hitter, which he will.”
YO.
It’s an especially interesting comparison, given that Ramirez and Baez spent some time together at Iowa and as a Cubs hitting consultant. It’s also not one I would have foreseen, given that Ramirez was always elite at organizing his strike zone (accepting walks, limiting strike outs, punishing certain zones), and Baez came up as anything but. Baez has been improving in that regard, though, and he certainly has power to all fields that is evocative of Ramirez.
There’s also the whole ‘Manny being Manny’ and ‘Javy being Javy’ thing … though the latter is a compliment, while the former was not.
As for hitting him up near the top of the lineup, Maddon acknowledged that he wanted to provide a little “energy” at the top of the order, hence moving Baez up there (Cubs.com). It’ll be interesting to see if that sticks through this weekend at hitter-friendly Coors Field. I don’t love moving Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo even a single spot down in the order, but if Baez is hitting like this? You’re obviously not losing anything by doing it, and, in fact, have a whole lot to gain.
Maddon moved El Mago to 2nd in the order, and it certainly paid off.
Whose game would you compare Javy Baez to, at this point? https://t.co/znpD71Ppl3 pic.twitter.com/eygi2LWPqO
— Cubs Talk (@NBCSCubs) April 20, 2018
Miscellaneous Javy tweets of note/enjoyment:
Aside from the obvious, recent success, Javy Baez's 45.0% fly ball rate this season is much higher than his career 37.6% mark … just in time for Coors Field.
I'd expect him to hit up in the order again this weekend.
— Michael Cerami (@Michael_Cerami) April 20, 2018
Javy Baez with another great game at the plate today vs STL. Triples in the 1st. #EverybodyIn @javy23baez @Cubs @BleacherNation pic.twitter.com/cUq4o766Al
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) April 20, 2018
Now that you mention it, I don’t remember seeing them in the same place at the same time. @javy23baez #elmago #jb9 #EverybodyIn @Cubs @BleacherNation pic.twitter.com/W55nZE1dlt
— MBDChicago (@MBDChicago) April 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/RandallJSanders/status/987344497561554944
Kyle Schwarber tells https://t.co/KIpL9pfpow: "I feel we're always talking about Javy Baez. I'm not going to get tired of it."
Same, Kyle. Same. pic.twitter.com/IIjJGwFQdS
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 20, 2018
Given his daily awesomeness, you are reminded that there are Javy Baez jerseys and shirseys on clearance at Fanatics: https://t.co/BVGsurNJ82 pic.twitter.com/k8TL86rtdi
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) April 20, 2018