Jack's Take: Javier Báez Still Moves The Needle In Chicago

CHICAGO – There's not much excitement at Rate Field most days. 

Tim Elko's walk-off on Thursday provided some for the 11,630 in attendance. But the White Sox are still just 20-43. Summer weather has arrived late, if at all. Attendance is down so much that fans who buy upper-deck seats are redirected to the 100-level during many games. 

Opening Day, Pope Leo XIV’s mural unveiling, and Thursday’s news that Jerry Reinsdorf could eventually sell the team to Justin Ishbia have drawn perhaps the most media coverage of any game or event this season.

So any level of noise stands out.

The loudest reaction during the first three scoreless innings of Tuesday's game, attended by 12,308 spectators, came when Detroit Tigers utility man Javier Báez stepped to the plate. The former Chicago Cub is still hated by the hundreds, maybe thousands, of White Sox fans who booed him Tuesday. 

Many Tigers fans surely disliked Báez, too, when he was worth just 2.1 wins above replacement and batted .221 across the first three seasons of the six-year, $140 million contract he signed going into the 2022 season. But that sentiment among Detroit supporters seems to have shifted, as Báez has helped the Tigers win an MLB-most 41 games.

Cheers from Tigers fans rivaled the southsiders' boos as Báez lined a single into right field, meeting Shane Smith’s 97.3 mph fastball on the high and outside corner. Later that inning, as Báez took a meager lead off first base, one spectator tried to egg him on by yelling, “Hey Baez, run!” 

After all, he’s nicknamed “El Mago,” Spanish for “the magician,” and has highlight reels strictly dedicated to base-running wizardry and fancy tags. So it’s not crazy to ask him to stir up some excitement. Those chirps continued for every Báez at-bat in the series.

On Wednesday, after he took a changeup that missed the zone low but was still called a strike, a fan yelled, “Swing! Get the bat off your back, Javy!” He listened, fouling off the next two pitches before scorching a ground ball up the middle with an exit velocity of 106.5 mph for an RBI single. That gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead in the top of the first.

Báez had a high-pressure at-bat on Thursday, trailing 2-1 with one out and a runner on first in the seventh inning. As White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz made a mound visit with starter Sean Burke, who needed one more out to achieve the longest start of his major league career, boos rained down from the stands. 

Báez took a big hack and made hard contact, 98.1 mph off the bat, eliciting a reactionary gasp from part of the crowd that thought he may have tied the game. But he got too far under the slider, and it wound up being a lazy fly out to center field. Báez slammed his bat in frustration and trotted toward first base as White Sox fans let him hear it. 

He got another chance in a tie game in the top of the ninth and lined a single into right, but Dan Altavilla struck out Riley Greene and induced a lineout to end the inning. He finished the series 5-for-17 with one run, and RBI and 2-2 series split against the White Sox. 

The week displayed a few things about Báez. He may not be the All-Star, Silver Slugger and Gold Glove winner he once was with the Cubs. But he still moves the needle in Chicago. And he’s at his best on a winning team, especially when he plays the villain role.

That’s what makes Báez great at times. When he returned to the south side in his first season with the Tigers in 2022 – in the midst of a dismal individual and team season – he agitated White Sox fans by slowly trotting around the bases after a home run, holding his ear to the booing crowd. With the Cubs, he relished the big moment against any team as packed Wrigley Field stands chanted, “Ja-vy, Ja-vy.”

But needing to be motivated – by jeering opponents, or his own team’s success, rather than himself – could also be seen as a flaw. As the Tigers had losing seasons in 2022 and 2023, so did Báez. That carried over into 2024, and he played just 80 games due to a season-ending hip injury. In 2020, he had by far his worst season with the Cubs, as fans weren’t allowed in stadiums to cheer him on, or boo him, due to COVID-19.

Now the Tigers have the best record in MLB, though, and Báez has performed much closer to his old self. Through 52 games, he’s still slashing .270/.301/.427 with six home runs and 30 RBIs, despite regressing from a May 13 OPS of .870. He’s even playing center field, happily, as well as his old posts at shortstop, third base and second base. 

Of course, how fans treat Báez is not what determines his success. He’s too good of an all-around player for that to be the case. But having observed much of Báez’s career, it seems to be a factor, however small.

The 12th year of his MLB career has been something of a revival for the 32-year-old, who’s closed his stance and has had better timing at the plate. Perhaps it’s because of that hip surgery, too. Or because the Tigers have turned into a World Series contender, Báez wants another ring, and others are trying to stop him.

Maybe that will be his old team, the 38-23 Cubs, and what a scene that would be at Wrigley Field.

“Obviously, feel great for the Cubs that they're playing really good baseball too,” Baez said Monday at Rate Field. “But honestly, just trying to stay healthy myself and trying to play the whole season. Hopefully we play against them in the playoffs.”