Tigers bench Javier Báez after pair of embarrassing baserunning mistakes
Javier Báez hit his first extra-base hit of the season Thursday. Somehow, it turned into one of the most embarrassing innings of his MLB career.
The Detroit Tigers shortstop was pulled in the second inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays after a pair of misadventures on the base paths, starting with a hit that he clearly expected to be a home run. Báez took a second to admire the ball and slowly made his way out of the box before realizing that the ball would stay in the park.
Báez was nearly thrown out at second but managed to squeak out a one-out double.
The next play was even worse for the 30-year-old Báez.
Akil Baddoo hit a line drive to deep center, which was easily catchable for Blue Jays center fielder Daulton Varsho. That was the second out, but Báez apparently thought there were already two outs.
Instead of sticking close to second, Báez was already on third when Varsho made the catch, handing Toronto an easy double-play. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch was not amused, as he called Báez for a one-on-one meeting in the dugout tunnel after the top of the third inning and pulled him from the game.
Javier Baez got pulled from the game after forgetting how many outs the Tigers had. 👀
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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 14, 2023
Báez, who is in the second year of a six-year, $140 million contract, was replaced in the lineup by Jonathan Schoop, who took over third base while Nick Maton moved to handle shortstop. The Tigers won 3-1.
Tigers manager on benching Javier Báez: ‘It’s a message to our whole team’
After the game, Hinch told reporters that he could’ve benched other players for baserunning mistakes in this series but decided benching Báez would send the loudest message, via MLB.com’s Jason Beck:
“Javy happened to be the runner that made the big mistake where I made the move, but it’s a message to our whole team that we’ve got to clean that up,» Hinch said.
Meanwhile, Báez indicated that he focused too much on his hitting and made the second blunder because he was hitting sixth in the batting order. Before Thursday, he had hit second in the lineup three times, third in the lineup five times and once in the fourth and fifth slots. Thursday marked Báez’s first time hitting sixth:
«My mind is everywhere right now. I’m just trying to focus on my hitting and my timing and all this stuff.
«The only reason I lost the count of the outs, it was because I was hitting sixth. I thought I was the third batter in that inning. That’s the only reason.»
Báez might have his reasons, but Thursday was still a bad look. The Tigers’ second-highest paid player (behind only Miguel Cabrera) is currently hitting .122/.182/.146 with three runs and a single RBI in 12 games.
This also isn’t the first time a manager has benched Báez for forgetting how many outs there were, as Chicago Cubs manager David Ross did the same thing when the shortstop made a blunder in 2021.
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