He does it with his glove. He does it with his legs. And he does it with his bat. I mean, of course we know about that third one, but Javy Baez does such incredible things with the glove and the legs that sometimes it’s easy to forget that his breakout at the plate this year is easily the most impressive thing he’s doing.
Last night, with a two-run double and a three-run homer, Javy Baez not only increased his slash line to .293/.328/.571 with a 134 wRC+ – best on the Cubs and 12th best in the NL – he also increased his first half RBI total to an unthinkable 71.
That’s tied for the most in the NL, and trailing only JD Martinez in all of baseball. No, RBI are not the best predictive stat and they are heavily reliant on the guys ahead of you, but man, it’s still a sign that Baez has been crazy ACTUALLY productive. He’s scored 60 runs, too, which is the 18th highest mark in MLB. (Yes, the Cubs score a lot of runs.)
To put Javy’s RBI number into context, as Michael pointed out on Twitter, Kris Bryant had two more RBI *ALL OF LAST SEASON* than Baez has right now.
So, let’s enjoy Baez’s big night at the plate, ripping a two-run double and driving a three-run homer out the opposite way. Even when he’s “only” at the plate, Javy is still El Mago:
Which tool(s) did @javy23baez show off last night?#EverybodyIn pic.twitter.com/moz0MlmVzV
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) July 15, 2018
Watch it fly, Javy. Hopefully you’re enjoying this stuff as much as we are.