Baez in 2018

Sammich

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I am loving Baez this year. Drafted in 2011, and not playing in the majors until 2014, I think we are finally seeing his potential.

This is potentially his first season to have over 500 ABs, but in the limited numbers we have seen over the past 5 seasons, his SLG and OPS percentages have consistently improved every year.

Love having guys like him around when guys like Rizzo, Russell, etc. are either struggling or injured.
 

anotheridiot

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he is awesome, but he wont take a walk so the other 85% of real cub fans want him benched or traded.

Nice to see you bring up Rizzo, who like goldschmidt are not hitting their weight but get all the support.

Last night Baez hit into another double play, and even though a run scored (again) he gets no RBI. I bet there have been at least 5-7 outs he has made without getting an RBI this year, he rarely gets credit for even getting the ball in play and not striking out in that position.
 

TL1961

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Of all the talk I have seen on this forum, positive, negative or neutral, I can't recall a single post calling for Baez to be traded.
 

AddiMuscle

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I don't know why there is this standard that every position player needs to sparkling at the plate. IMO saving runs defensively is sometimes more valuable than scoring runs offensively.
 

CubsFaninMN

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As far as Baez's desire or ability to take a walk, just recall that when he took a walk about a week ago (this was before his two-walk game), Maddon and Javy both said, without checking in with each other, that Baez only took ball four because he was jumping out of the way of a ball that otherwise would have hit him in the ankle. Javy's comment on it? "If the pitcher's throwing it, I'm swinging at it."

So, keep in mind, this is not just a situation of a guy who would take a pitch if he thought he couldn't barrel it. This is a case of a guy who goes to the plate with the mindset that, if the bat could possibly, somehow, get to where the ball is (i.e., if the ball isn't like 5 to 6 *feet* outside the zone), he is going to swing.

So -- it's not like a case where the guy just doesn't have a good sense of the strike zone. Javy *intends* to swing at every pitch. That's an attitude (not sure, but maybe due to a macho ethic?) that can't be coached away easily. So, I doubt he ever develops into the OBP type of player SABRE would demand he be before being recognized as a great player...
 

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