The last three days have been a whirlwind for Javier Báez.
He was benched by Detroit Tigers manager A.J. Hinch for mental mistakes in the middle of Thursday’s game. He worked two walks and reached base four times in Friday’s game. He won a 12-pitch battle, refusing to swing at pitches outside the strike zone, en route to a clutch two-run double in the eighth inning of Saturday’s game.
The Tigers won all three games.
“I know who I am,” Báez said after Saturday’s 7-6 win in extra innings. “I know what I can do. They can say stuff out there that I don’t control. That’s them. It’s easy to go on social media and crush on me or anybody that’s struggling. It’s not easy to do it here. But it is what it is. Like I said, I know who I am and what I can do. I’m going to keep doing me and hopefully playing better.”
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After the Báez-led three-run eighth inning, the Tigers and San Francisco Giants were tied at six runs entering the 11th inning. The Giants turned to left-hander Taylor Rogers; Hinch countered by pinch-hitting his future Hall of Famer.
Miguel Cabrera, one of the best right-handed hitters in baseball history, stepped to the plate with the free runner, an extra innings rule, on second base. A wild pitch advanced Spencer Torkelson to third base.
What was Báez thinking about?
“That we were winning,” he said.
Báez noticed Cabrera, as well as the other right-handed hitters on the bench, started swinging in the batting cage to prepare for pinch-hit opportunities. Giants right-hander Anthony DeSclafani pitched into the seventh inning, and the first three relievers were righties.
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Finally, a left-handed pitcher took the mound.
Cabrera stole the show with a walk-off single.
“Who better than him?” Báez added.
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In the past three days, Báez has seen his batting average increase from .100 (4-for-40) to .184 (9-for-49), and his on-base percentage increase from .163 to .259, and his on-base-plus-slugging percentage increase from .263 to .504. That’s a significant turnaround in just 11 plate appearances.
It started with a wake-up call from his manager.
“He’s in a really good place because he’s locked in and doing some really fun things,” Hinch said of Báez. “He’s not going to be perfect. We don’t expect him to be perfect, but we expect him to lock in and help us, and man, is he playing really good the last two days.”
Ever since Hinch benched Báez, thus sending a message about “mental mistakes” to the entire team, the star player — who signed a six-year, $140 million contract — has been laser focused.
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In Saturday’s win, Báez struck out in his first two trips to the plate despite — aside from one pitch — controlling the strike zone. The 30-year-old, a 2016 World Series champion with the Chicago Cubs, returned to the dugout after the second strikeout, and the fans at Comerica Park booed him. They’re tired of watching him chase down-and-away pitches.
But Báez didn’t lose his cool.
He stayed focused.
In his fourth at-bat, Báez faced right-hander John Brebbia with nobody out in the eighth inning. The Tigers, trailing by three runs, had Nick Maton (single) on second base and Riley Greene (walk) on first base.
Báez fell behind 0-2 in the count but took the next two pitches for balls, evening the count at 2-2. He then fouled the next five pitches before running the count full, 3-2, by taking a down-and-away slider for a ball. After another foul, Báez swung at a 12th-pitch slider that stayed inside the strike zone. He hit the ball over left fielder Blake Sabol and to the wall for a two-run double.
“I think that at-bat shaped the whole game,” Cabrera said. “He is the MVP of the game.”
Later in the eighth, Báez scored on Spencer Torkelson’s single to tie the game at six runs.
“He’s locked in trying to do a lot of things,” Hinch said. “It’s not always going to go his way. He’s not always going to swing at every strike or take every ball like any player around the league. But he can be electrifying at any given moment.”
Playing clean defense, making smart decisions on the bases, drawing a couple walks, staying inside the strike zone, working deep into counts and even realizing when his teammates started preparing for pinch-hit opportunities. All examples of a more focused version of Báez in the past two games.
It’s a managerial win for Hinch.
It’s a personal win for Báez.
It’s a huge win for the Tigers.
“I just got to be more in the game,” said Báez, reflecting on getting benched Thursday in Toronto. “That was it in that moment. I know what we can do here, and we just got to play better. That’s it.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.