Tag: Javier Baez

Guardians announcer rips Javier Baez after Tigers shortstop took a hit-by-pitch personally

Boom, roasted.

We’ve been over this a million times: Javier Baez swings at a lot of pitches that are out of the strike zone, which is a meme that never dies.

It’s gotten quite rough, to the point where he’s hitting .182 right now, which is all kinds of bad for a player who once had a .290/34/111 season.

So when Baez got hit in the backside by a Nick Sandlin pitch and started walking toward the hurler, the Guardians announcer remarked, “Look, Javy. You’re hitting WAY under .200. Nobody’s hitting you on purpose.”

Boom, roasted. But he’s right! Can’t argue with that.

Watch this:

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Video: Knife-wielding man attacks former pro MMA fighter, promptly slammed on pavement

An attacker was unpleasantly surprised when Javier Baez, a former MMA fighter, subdued him with a massive body slam and choke on pavement.

Omar Marrero made an unwise decision when he decided to allegedly attack a man with a knife in Miami the morning after Halloween.

Former pro MMA fighter [autotag]Javier Baez[/autotag] said he was sitting in his car outside of his apartment around 4 a.m. Wednesday when Marrero hit his window with the knife.

When Baez got out, Marrero charged him with a second large knife and was promptly planted on the pavement, a surveillance video of the alleged incident released by Baez shows. Baez restrained the alleged attacker until Miami-Dade police arrived, who arrested Marrero.

Marrero was charged with two battery felonies and has pleaded not guilty.

“Once I started putting the choke in, he just started letting it go,” Baez told WPLG Local 10. “No one is worried about anything else but breathing when you’re losing air. … I’m trained all my life. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I wrestled in college. I’ve got eight pro fights. At MMA Masters, I’ve got great training partners.”

Baez, 34, fought from 2011-2018 and had a 5-2-1 record with appearances in various Florida regional promotions, according to his Tapology page.

The Javier Báez swings at everything meme has reached new heights

It’s the joke every MLB fan makes.

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:

This also doesn’t help:

MLB fans roasted Javier Báez after he struck out on another pitch in the opposite batter’s box

He looks lost out there.

There have been some terrible contracts handed out in recent years across MLB. Whether it be deals for Stephen Strasburg or Christian Yelich, the buyer’s remorse is real in those unfortunate front offices. And you just know that the Tigers aren’t pleased with how the six-year, $140 million signing of Javier Báez has panned out.

It’s getting tough to watch at this point.

After a pair of All-Star seasons with the Cubs, Báez started showing signs of decline in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He was dealt to the Mets in 2021 and was able to leverage a solid 47 games into a massive deal with Detroit. Even at his best, Báez has had one of the worst strikeout rates in MLB but was able to make up for it with solid power numbers.

That’s no longer the case. His power is gone, and his lack of plate discipline is becoming a meme.

During Monday’s game against the Phillies, Báez struck out twice to drop his average to .219 on the season. His eighth-inning strikeout against Seranthony Domínguez was particularly embarrassing with Báez swinging at a slider that never came close to the plate and would have hit a left-handed batter. This has been a recurring theme for Báez. Like, it’s bad.

Báez has among the worst chase rates in baseball, and it shows. He simply cannot stop himself from swinging at sliders over the opposite batter’s box.

Javier Baez made an unreal slide dodge to steal third base at the World Baseball Classic

“El Mago” has done it again!

There’s a reason Javier Baez earned the nickname “El Mago” during his baseball career. And he showed just why during Puerto Rico’s Sunday night game against Israel during the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

With Puerto Rico already up 2-0 in the bottom of the first — thanks to a two-run double from Baez earlier in the inning — the team was looking to extend their lead even more. After a called strike with two outs in the inning, Baez got a good jump off of second to make for third for the steal.

Catcher Ryan Lavarnway tossed a great ball to third, and while it was a bit low, it seemed as if Baez might be caught. Instead, however, Baez dexterously dodged out of the way on the slide, moving his arm up and around Noah Mendlinger’s tag to make it to third safely.

What a move! Baez would then later get home to extend Puerto Rico’s lead to 3-0 by the end of the first inning. Talk about doing it all for your team!

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The Tigers’ Javier Báez embarrassingly swung at a bouncing pitch and MLB fans had so many jokes

Fun fact: You don’t have to swing at every pitch.

While he can be one of the most electric and fun players in baseball at his absolute peaks, no one can deny that Javier Báez has some incredible lows.

When the Tigers (+1.5) took on the Guardians on Tuesday night, Báez had another unfortunate moment to forget. This time at the plate. As Detroit tried to rally from a 5-0 deficit in the eighth inning, James Karinchak let loose a soft, bouncing pitch. It was a pitch that most hitters probably wouldn’t have swung at under the circumstances.

Unfortunately, Báez’s patience, or lack thereof, got the best of him, and he embarrassingly took a swing at a ball that literally hit the dirt in front of him to strike out:

Oh, man. That’s brutal. The beauty of choice as a hitter is that you don’t actually have to swing at every pitch. In fact, that’s often encouraged for good offense! In this specific moment, that reality appeared to be lost on Báez, as the Tigers lost 5-2.

Thumbs down and clap back: Why Javier Baez has nothing to apologize for

Javier Baez apologized for his thumbs down to the crowd this past week. Andy Nesbitt believes he shouldn’t need to apologize and players have every right to respond back to fans, but mostly, everyone should just relax.

Javier Baez apologized for his thumbs down to the crowd this past week. Andy Nesbitt believes he shouldn’t need to apologize and players have every right to respond back to fans, but mostly, everyone should just relax.

The best photos of Javier Baez, Francisco Lindor giving ‘thumbs down’ to Mets fans at Citi Field

This particular scenario has been brewing for a long time at Citi Field.

New York Mets middle infielders Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez upset fans at Citi Field by flashing thumbs down in their direction.

While beef between players and fans usually occurs between the home fans and the road team, the Mets have always had their own way of doing things. This particular scenario has been brewing for a long time, as Lindor has been on the receiving end of boos all season long.

Lindor has used the negative energy as fuel for his fire in the past but the two players have heard it go on for long enough and now, they’re fed up.

Deesha Thosar, a beat reporter who covers the team, relayed the message from Baez (via NY Daily News):

“We’re not machines, we’re going to struggle. … It just feels bad when I strikeout and I get booed. … We’re going to do the same thing to let them know how it feels.”

Baez, who made his debut with the team less than a month ago in late July and hasn’t had the warmest welcome, wanted fans to have a taste of their own medicine. As he put it, simply put, they are going to get booed when the team has success.

Regardless of where you stand on the issue, Baez has a point. You expect to get jeered when you’re on the road but when you’re at home, a more welcome environment would certainly help.

Lifelong Mets fan and NBA star Donovan Mitchell didn’t seem to mind, anyway. Mets president Sandy Alderson, however, doesn’t agree.

As he noted, fans are “understandably frustrated” by the recent performance of the team. The executive said that he loves New York fans for how “loyal, passionate, knowledgeable and more than willing to express themselves” they are for their team. He added that they have “every right” to express their disappointment with the on-field product.

The players and the organization are “equally” frustrated, per Alderson, but he will hold a team meeting to tell them players cannot be negative towards fans (via Mets):

“In a post-game press conference today, Javy Baez stated that his “thumbs down” gesture during the game was a message to fans who recently have booed him and other players for poor performance. These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with a similar intent, are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Frankly, there are far worse things that have happened within the Mets organization and in comparison, this feels like small potatoes.

However, this somehow isn’t the first time (!) the team has issued a statement about a gesture someone within the organization gave towards the crowd. It’s also not the first time that someone putting their thumbs down at Citi Field has made headlines.

But this time around, we have more photographic evidence. Scroll down for the best photos we could find of the new incidents in question:

Javier Baez got immediately benched after an embarrassing base-running blunder

This didn’t end well for Javy Baez.

One key when you’re playing in a baseball game is to how how many outs there are in said game.

That’s especially true if you’ve made it on base and are looking to help your team score a run.

Well, Cubs shortstop Javier Baez made it to first base in the fourth inning of last night’s Indians-Cubs game and then forgot how many outs there were.

And it did not end well for him.

With just one out in the inning Anthony Rizzo hit a lazy fly ball to left field that was caught for out No. 2. Baez, though, thought there were already two outs so he took off from first at the crack of the bat and was approaching third when Cleveland simply ran the ball in got him out at first.

Check this out:

And yup, he was benched immediately:

Not great!

Baez had this explanation after the game:

MLB fans had reactions.

Javier Baez brilliantly helped the Cubs steal a run by tricking the Pirates into a rundown at first

STEP ON FIRST!

I don’t think it’s even hyperbole to call the baserunning move that the Cubs’ Javy Baez pulled off on Thursday as one of the most remarkable heads-up plays you’ll see in Major League Baseball.

During the third inning of Chicago’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Baez was at bat with a runner on second and two outs. He hit a routine ground ball to third base, but Erik Gonzalez’s throw to first was just wide enough to pull Will Craig off the bag.

Now, Baez really does have to thank Craig’s lack of awareness for what happened next (all he had to do was turn around and step on first to end the inning!), but Baez had the presence of mind to turn the other way and head back towards home as a distraction. What a sequence.

As Baez stopped in his tracks to avoid the tag and headed back to home, Craig decided to follow the Cubs infielder rather than step on first and end the inning. It was a force play. He didn’t need to tag Baez.

As that was going on, Willson Contreras continued running with two outs and crossed home plate while nobody on the Pirates decided to tag Baez or cover first.

So, Baez was able to run to first safely and then advance to second on a bad throw. Contreras’ run wouldn’t have even counted had the Pirates merely stepped on first base or had someone cover the bag instead of ball-watching.

Again, you really do have to credit Baez for his brilliant baserunning here. But the Pirates’ utter lack of baseball awareness here made that all possible. I still can’t believe that Craig didn’t just turn around and step on first. That’s literally all he needed to do.

The Pirates broadcast couldn’t believe it.

That play probably explains why the Pirates have among the worst records in baseball. Just unreal.

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