Chicago — There was a time, maybe it was in 2020 or early on in 2021, as he was approaching the end of his arbitration years with the Cubs, that Javier Báez felt he might never leave the city of Chicago.
“We were really close at some point,” Báez said before Thursday’s game. “But then everything that happened around the world with the pandemic. It changed everything for everybody. It’s not judgement for that. I’m happy. Everything happens for a reason.
“And who knows if I would’ve stayed what would’ve happened?”
Although Guaranteed Rate Field is across town from where Báez spent the first seven and half years of his career and celebrated a World Series championship with the Cubs in 2016, this was his first time back in the city since he was traded to the Mets on July 30, 2021.
“That was just the business side,” he said. “I’m pretty sure a lot of people wanted me to stay. The fans, I still get messages every day about me coming back to Chicago. But there is always the business side. It’s something we understand. Anybody can go through it.
“It was kind of hard at the beginning. But now that we’ve gone through it, it feels great to be where we’re at.”
Báez tried to go for a walk downtown Thursday morning. He didn’t get very far before fans recognized and surrounded him.
“I couldn’t really walk so I went back to the hotel,” he said, smiling. “It feels great for my family (to be back in Chicago). We grew up here. My son was born here. It’s special for my family to be here.”
Still, the circle probably won’t be complete until he steps back on the field at Wrigley.
“It feels like I’m home,” he said. “But at the same time, we’re playing the White Sox. It’s kind of weird. Still, it’s special to be here.”
An inexact science
Tigers pitching prospect Wilmer Flores isn’t technically a case study in how to develop young starting pitchers, but, in a way, he is.
Flores is 21 years old and Thursday was selected to play for the American League in the Futures Game during All-Star weekend. It’s just his second year of professional baseball having thrown a whopping 11 innings of college ball at Arizona Western.
The mission for Tigers vice president of player development Ryan Garko and director of pitching Gabe Ribas is to systematically and healthily prepare him to throw between 180-200 innings at the big-league level year after year.
“Every organization right now is trying to find that magic sauce,” Garko said. “Innings floors and innings ceilings. He threw 85 innings last year and then pitched more at the Arizona Fall League (12⅔ innings). Load management is something we talk about frequently.”
Flores, between High-A West Michigan and Double-A Erie, has pitched 58⅔ innings this season. But he’s not pitched more than five innings in any of his 15 appearances, nor has he thrown more than 80 pitches.
The organization, as it does with all the pitchers in the system, closely monitors Flores’ biomechanics looking for signs of stress and fatigue. His pitch plan is tailored to those biomechanical readings.
“We’re just looking for markers of fatigue in players,” Garko said. “And as we see them, we adjust. We’ve mixed in some cut starts. With Wilmer, normally he’s five innings and 90 pitches (maximum). But every once in a while we will go to a cut start where it’s three innings and 40 pitches. And that’s known from the start, Wilmer knows it.”
This isn’t necessarily a new tactic. Coaches and instructors in the minor leagues and developmental leagues have long used six-man rotations or piggyback starts to cut innings and reduce workload on young pitchers.
Tailoring it to the biomechanics, having that data readily available at lower levels of the minor leagues is new, especially in the Tigers’ organization.
“I don’t think teams as a whole, we don’t know what that does,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said. “Scientifically, we’re trying to figure it out. There is a certain comfort in controlling innings. How successful it is, that’s still up for debate.”
Take Casey Mize as an example. In terms of load management, in terms of smartly building him up, limiting him to three-inning starts at the end of 2021, in terms of the player being steadfastly committed to arm care — they did everything right.
And yet, Mize is on the injured list, recovering from Tommy John surgery. Still, you have to search for the right formula for each player.
“We try to have that ebb and flow of his fatigue and his energy,” Garko said of Flores. “By looking at our different markers, we’re trying to make sure we get him to his innings’ floor — that’s the first goal — and then hopefully to his ceiling.
“But your ultimate goal is to create a starting pitcher who can throw 180-200 innings. With Wilmer, we’re picturing out years down the road being a starter, being a guy who can take the ball and give us some innings.”
Around the horn
Hinch said Wily Peralta’s hamstring strain graded out between a 1 and a 2. He will be shut down at least two weeks before he can resume throwing.
“It will be difficult for him to be back here in July,” Hinch said.
… Starting pitcher Matt Manning (shoulder) is expected to throw a multiple-inning bullpen in Lakeland Friday. Hinch said if he comes through that well, he should be able to resume his rehab assignment. It hasn’t been determined where he would start, Lakeland or Toledo
… Reliever Kyle Funkhouser, out all season with a shoulder injury, is scheduled to throw bullpen Friday.
cmccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky
Tigers at White Sox
First pitch: 8:10 p.m. Friday, Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago
TV/Radio: BSD/97.1
SCOUTING REPORT
LHP Tarik Skubal (5-7, 4.06), Tigers: He said he’d been fighting himself, but he also felt he was close to getting back to right. He’s lost his last four starts, allowing 19 earned runs in 19 innings. The most obvious thing that’s deserted him in this stretch is his command. He’s walked 12 after walking 12 in his first 12 starts. His velocity has dipped in his recent outings, as well.
RHP Lucas Giolito (5-4, 4.90), White Sox: After a rough month of June, his last two starts have been more up to his standard, allowing three runs in 12 innings with 13 strikeouts and three walks. He still gets a lot of swing and misses (32%) but opponents are hitting .280 and slugging .502 against him. His changeup, once his money pitch, is now his third most-used pitch.