It’s become a punchline at this point: Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez really does swing at everything.
We’ve seen him wave a bat at a pitch that’s like five feet off the plate. We’ve watched pitches that look like they’re deliberately thrown into the other side of the batter’s box turn into a strikeout. There have been swings at pitches that bounce in front of the plate.
You get the idea. And it’s become a big problem, as he’s batting a woeful .217 with just nine dingers this year.
But it’s also become a meme, and I’ve now seen it used a bunch for bad first pitches like the one we saw from Stephen A. Smith:
man javy swings at EVERYTHING pic.twitter.com/1jj8lgWXdk
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 22, 2023
Live Javy Baez reaction pic.twitter.com/gdcE3ysMbv https://t.co/h5oLPR3IIo
— Jordan⁂ (@Jordan__3210) September 21, 2023
Wow Javy really swings at everything.
Via: @PitchingNinja
pic.twitter.com/ohfyrhrf6Y— Ballgame 👨🏻⚕️ (@BallgameBets) August 10, 2023
Javier Baez swings at this— hard. https://t.co/nTaal2aX6i
— 𝙰𝚗𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚆𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛 | 🗺 (@drewmaniac) September 20, 2023
More proof Javy swings at *everything* pic.twitter.com/pQjqTCaZQb
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) June 22, 2019
Sister Jean K'ing Javy Baez. pic.twitter.com/K8iydA0jwd
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 28, 2022
Ryan Walker vs. Javy Baez. pic.twitter.com/FUESgwbENy
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) July 27, 2023
This also doesn’t help:
javy báez has swung and missed at over three thousand pitches during his big league career and it's been a wild ride pic.twitter.com/bkJq88bD2f
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) September 18, 2023
