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Detroit Tigers' Javier Báez on pace for best season since 2019. What's the secret?
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- Detroit Tigers' Javier Báez on pace for best season since 2019. What's the secret?
Javier Báez is taking steps toward reviving his career in his fourth season with the Detroit Tigers , hitting .313 with an .827 OPS through 29 games. It's still early, but the 32-year-old is on pace for his best full-season performance since 2019, when he finished second in National League MVP voting with the Chicago Cubs .
Small victories.
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That's the secret.
"We've talked about small victories with him," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said May 6 on MLB Network Radio's "Power Alley," co-hosted by Mike Ferrin and Jim Duquette . "That might be winning pitch one, or that might be simply swinging at the right pitches where he does some damage. If we do that over time, you're still going to mess up and chase, or you're still going to mishit some balls and ground out, but over time, it's going to really pay off."
JEFF SEIDEL: Javier Báez impacting Tigers wins, soaring like a bird, cranking homers
Javier Baez of the Detroit Tigers reacts during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California on May 4, 2025.
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Over the past three seasons, the free-swinging Báez — who underwent season-ending surgery on his right hip last September — had been in a steady decline with the Tigers, eventually earning a reputation as one of the worst hitters in baseball during the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. His OPS dropped from .671 in 2022 to .593 in 2023, then plummeted to .516 in 2024.
In 2025, Báez looks like a completely different player.
He is swinging less and hitting more , all while robbing extra-base hits as a center fielder after transitioning from shortstop to fill a need for the Tigers.
"I was asked about his power as early as last week," Hinch said, "and I kept saying, if we just have quality at-bats — define that by winning the first pitch, hitting the ball hard, staying inside the strike zone — then eventually the power comes."
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The power recently picked up in three games in a row: April 30 in a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros , May 1 in a 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels and May 2 in a 9-1 win over the Angels. In those three games, he struck out just once in 13 plate appearances.
The home run from Báez against the Astros was a grand slam in the third inning for a 7-1 lead.
It was his first homer of the season.
"That, to me, is contributing to wins and having these small victories and not getting obsessed with what he's not doing," Hinch said. "Let's start talking about what he is doing. It's fun to see when he contributes to wins."
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Báez is already worth 1.0 fWAR — fourth among Tigers position players, behind only Spencer Torkelson (1.2), Dillon Dingler (1.2) and Zach McKinstry (1.1) — through 28 games.
His updated full-season projection: 4.7 fWAR over 130 games, ranking 48th among 495 position players . That would mark the third-best season of his 12-year MLB career, trailing only 2018 (5.8 fWAR) and 2019 (5.6 fWAR).
"Our hitting department has done a great job of staying the course with him and trying to give him small victories," Hinch said, referencing hitting coaches Michael Brdar, Keith Beauregard and Lance Zawadzki . "Those small victories are now turning into pretty good production. Obviously, you can't control the results. We can only do the process. I really like how Javy has methodically gone about it."
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Aside from buying into small victories, Hinch believes the Tigers' winning environment — along with the addition of former New York Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres — has contributed to what is the beginning of a career resurgence for Báez.
The Tigers entered May 8 at 23-13, with the best winning percentage (.639) in the American League.
"When Javy got here, we hadn't put up a ton of wins, and we had a really hard time getting on track," Hinch said, "and that didn't help that environment. It also just didn't help him stay focused. And then you start talking about a winning team. Last year, he watched it for the last two months of the season and into October. When he comes back to spring, we're a different team than when he left. For him to contribute in any way, I think that boost of energy, of environment, of expectations, of winning has really helped him."
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The Tigers' team mentality this season: Find a way to contribute to a win.
Right now, Báez is doing just that.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers' Javier Baez on pace for best season since 2019
