Javy Baez has had his share of troubles since signing a six-year, $140 million contract with the Detroit Tigers (including with one of the worst chase rates in baseball). But if he decides that baseball isn’t his thing, he can always look into cricket.
He showed some potential on Monday.
During Game 1 of a doubleheader against the Cleveland Guardians, Emmanuel Clase got Baez to fly out to center field on a 92 mph slider that Clase never would have expected Baez to even get a piece of. That’s because the pitch bounced shy of the plate. It just didn’t stop Baez from both making contact and putting some decent distance on the bouncing ball.
Emmanuel Clase getting Báez to flyout to CF.
On a Slider that bounces. 💀 pic.twitter.com/ZJ8d1PDcRE
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 15, 2022
Clase’s reaction was especially great. He was laughing about how Baez managed to hit that slider off the bounce.
Clase's reaction. pic.twitter.com/hm2Q09o8US
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 15, 2022
MLB fans were impressed with the hand-eye coordination — even if Baez’s plate discipline continues to leave a lot to be desired.
This was how Twitter reacted
I genuinely can’t. https://t.co/FdNzBmbuXr
— mize’s recovery enthusiast (@donniekellybaby) August 15, 2022
It’s like cricket https://t.co/iRWnSWJXvr
— AJ Curtis (@ajcAbroad) August 15, 2022
Wow. Still managed to get under it 😂 https://t.co/VO3e0IUSqd
— Ryan Ford (@LegacyFordo) August 15, 2022
Nobody understands cricket! You gotta know what a crumpet is to understand cricket! https://t.co/qfPE8ehssu
— Karl the master of confusing tweets (@karlthelurker) August 15, 2022
The ball bounced!!! He swings at everything! 🐅 ⚾️ https://t.co/nrULS7skyL
— Rob Fischer (@thefishnation) August 15, 2022
Javy on an 0-2 count is swinging at ANYTHING, man. 😂 https://t.co/OAH5PflyaP
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) August 15, 2022
baez ranks 15th worst out of 144 qualified hitters at o-contact % lol https://t.co/FfZF9RGevN pic.twitter.com/PIVU9qe7Z3
— Jordan in Finland (Fantasy Baseball Oligarch) (@RosenJordanBlum) August 15, 2022
Wicket. https://t.co/3iqvzlwFpA
— Phil Murphy (@Phil_Sports) August 15, 2022
I mean if nothing else this is insane bat control https://t.co/dzqCjYF8Er
— Jon Tayler, Top 0.1% On OnlyJons (@JATayler) August 15, 2022
To quote quote Jim Price, “Wow.” https://t.co/iKN8h5ma6E
— Mario Impemba (@mario_impemba) August 15, 2022
This is as Baez as Baez gets! https://t.co/KGPTS5zVGy
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) August 15, 2022
Update: Baseball is still cool. https://t.co/FR7GMuZ6xF
— Babe Truth (@veryhotsoup) August 15, 2022
When they say Javy Baez swings at everything, they really mean it.
