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Javier Báez injury: Detroit Tigers shortstop to undergo season-ending right hip surgery
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- Javier Báez injury: Detroit Tigers shortstop to undergo season-ending right hip surgery
CHICAGO — Shortstop Javier Báez will not play another game for the Detroit Tigers in the 2024 season.
Báez, 31, needs right hip surgery.
The season-ending procedure — arthroscopic right hip surgery — is expected to happen next week, but the Tigers did not reveal the date or surgeon.
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Báez hit .184 with six home runs, 12 walks and 69 strikeouts in 80 games in 2024, completing the third season of a six-year, $140 million contract with the Tigers.
He is still owed $73 million on his contract in the 2025-27 seasons.
GLORY DAYS: Javier Báez returns to Wrigley Field with Tigers, thinks 'every day' about 2016 Cubs
Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers hits a two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners to take a 2-1 lead during the eighth inning at Comerica Park on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2024, in Detroit.
The Tigers placed Báez on the 10-day injured list Friday with lumbar spine and hip inflammation, immediately following his return to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs . Before Monday's game at the White Sox , the Tigers transferred Báez to the 60-day injured list as a result of the season-ending surgery.
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Báez, who played for the Cubs from 2014-21, has been one of the worst hitters in baseball across his three seasons with the Tigers, hitting .221 with a .610 OPS in 360 games. His OPS has fallen in each of the three seasons, from .671 in 2022 to .593 in 2023 to .516 in 2024.
He previously spent time on the injured list in 2024, from June 9 through July 7, with lumbar spine inflammation . He has suffered from lower back pain for several years . The new hip injury is connected to the recurring back injury.
This story will be updated.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Javier Báez has Detroit Tigers season cut short with right hip injury
