It was just a bruised heel.
But 43 at-bats later, it started to look more like a sore shoulder, specifically, that sore shoulder that never got better and derailed Kris Bryant’s 2018 season even as he played through it.
Javy Baez’s bruised heel the 2019 version of Bryant’s shoulder?
The Cubs’ shortstop has two answers to that notion.
The short answer: “No.”
The longer answer to whether it’s affecting his hitting came during a 5-for-6 outburst that started in the sixth inning of the victory against the Angels on Monday and continued through a three-hit performance in the 6-3 win over the Rockies on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
“That was the reason I came back so fast,” he said, “because it didn’t bother me.”
Baez still has discomfort and expects to deal with that indefinitely as he continues to play.
Baez’s home runs in each of the last two games, including a two-run shot in the sixth Tuesday that extended a one-run lead, might have eased one concern. And his sprint around first and slide into second for a double Monday, and his mad dash and dive into first for an infield hit in the eighth Tuesday might have eased the other.
“Running in a straight line or swinging, rotating my feet, doesn’t bother me,” said Baez, who was 8-for-43 (.186) with 21 strikeouts
immediately after the injury until the two-game surge.
“I think it did bother me going out of the box a little bit at first, but once I kept working on it, it felt better. But it doesn’t bother me at all right now.”
He said it’s 95 percent healed and doesn’t know how long it’ll take to fully heal as he plays on it, but thinks it’ll be soon as long as he doesn’t aggravate it again, as he did during pregame work Friday (causing him to miss last Saturday’s game).
Manager Joe Maddon said Baez’s recent slump had a characteristic that crops up in most of his slumps: chasing pitches.
“He could go bad for a couple days and you don’t worry about that,” Maddon said. “He doesn’t overthink it. I knew he wasn’t going home beating himself up about it. He wasn’t trying to reinvent himself. He knows it’s coming back to him. He knows he’s good. I love that.
“Everything that he did tonight was spectacular.”
That included what looked to be his typical agility in the field and his usual injury-defying work on the bases, including hitting the ground hard twice when he scored in the second inning and on the infield hit in the first.
“I like to play hard,” said last year’s National League MVP
runner-up
Even with his bruised heel, whiplash baserunning and body contortions after driving his long home run to center, whatever might look risky in Baez’s hard-nosed style of play, what’s clear is that the Cubs would find life in the NL Central far more difficult than it already is without their inspirational leader.
“He’s just the most exciting player in baseball,” said new teammate Carlos Gonzalez, who drove in two runs against his former team, including the double that drove home Baez. “He does things on the field that there’s no explanation for.”
If Baez can keep the heel from slowing him down, and Gonzalez’s two-game first impression is any indication about what’s coming the rest of the season from him, the Cubs’ recent lineup woes might at least level off.
“He’s already made a huge impact, been a huge lift for us,” winning pitcher, Kyle Hendricks (6-4) said of Gonzalez.
“I just told him I’m glad I don’t have to face him anymore,” said Hendricks, who earned his fifth consecutive victory with another seven strong innings.
