I have generally trained myself not to be super concerned when Javy Báez, in the moment, demonstrates discomfort after some play. He does it a lot, and then 9 times out of 10, he’s totally fine. And that other time, he usually toughs it out in a reasonably effective manner. I think he’s just a guy who is very comfortable showing it when something is like, “Ow, that kinda stung for a moment. OK I’m fine now.”
So when Báez looked a little singed at one point yesterday running the bases, I wasn’t immediately concerned.
And I wouldn’t say I’m now more concerned, but, since he’s out of the starting lineup, I’d say I’m modestly concerned:
Ross says Javy is dealing with some minor hamstring tightness. Feels like he could play. Available off bench, if necessary/needed. But Ross felt it was best to give the shortstop a day to rest.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) April 26, 2021
I’d like to hope that, since Nico Hoerner is up right now and the Cubs want to get him starts anyway, that was something of a tiebreaker in terms of not pushing Báez. Not that you would straight up choose to play Hoerner over Báez, but if you kinda already wanted to give Báez a day and if you kinda already wanted to make sure Hoerner was playing every day, well, boom, there you go.
And again, that’s why I’ll tell myself I’m not worried about Báez, even though hamstrings usually keep a guy out for multiple weeks at a minimum, if you start talking about a mild strain. We’ll assume it’s not that.