The Brutal Decline of Javier Baez 

He's one of those guys that need to have fun while playing. Lately, it seems like he has just been going through the paces.

This is such a sad thing to witness. Baez played ball the way fans loved to watch. He ran hard, he manufactured runs, he played defense all over the field, he showed emotion, he had fun. He made baseball look like a fun sport.

The saddest part is that Baez’s stats for this season are slightly outdated. His stats have gotten even worse, as his OPS+ has plummeted from 79 to 68.

im begging people to realize that this happened to every well hitting tiger on the roster from last year because of the 2022 hitting coach scott coolbaugh, the man destroyed the swing of jonathan schoop, eric haase, javier baez, spencer torkelson, akil baddoo, austin meadows, and jeimer candelario all in one year got fired and then this year with the padres has clearly caused damage even to the superstars on the padres roster, at this point bro belongs in federal prison for what hes doing

No matter what happens, that swim-slide will always be remembered. Dude brought a whole new level to base running

Baez and Bryant both looked like future hall of famers. The fact both of their careers fell off a cliff during their prime years is incredible.

I don't see him with the same energy since he signed with Detroit if the Mets signed him I'm 100% sure that right now he would be one of the best players since he and Lindor are a good duo

I met him at my work today. Hes a super chill guy, hope he turns it around.

2018 Baez is the most fun I have ever had watching a player. I’d love to see that fire and joy for the game return

No matter what he will always be a hero in Chicago after 2016. Same goes for Bryant and Rizzo

Baez has and is my favorite player since he came into the league. I miss the old him but I love the video. Good job man. Rip cubs javy

As a Tigers fan watching him last year was brutal for a lot of us but the team overall was bad. This year has been different in a good way but also still not near where we hope he can be at. The lower K rate is great, and he had a great stretch offensively for about a month after he was benched earlier this year. Recently he has tapered back off a bit but i hope he can remain at least somewhat consistent this year and I'll take it for now. Just have to ride the roller coaster with him at this point.

Javy reminds me of Roy Jones Jr. Their biggest weapon is superhuman athleticism. Javy could solve any problem with his natural athleticism. But when his athleticism begins to decline, he cannot figure himself out.

Great video man. My favorite of yours so far

He has changed so much and I love your videos they are so good❤

I hope he can find his love for the game again. I think if he opts out and goes to a contender, he starts to play like his old self

As a Mets fan, I wondered what would happen if we kept him in NY

I do believe if he woulda stayed with the Mets who would have been much better, something about the chemistry with Lindor i feel ignited something in him. Thats a variable thats never give enough credit too.

I wonder what could’ve possibly been going on pre-2020 that could’ve improved the hitting skills of stars like Javier Baez, Cody Bellinger, Christian Yelich and caused them to fall off a relative cliff after it stopped… 🧐

He took the money and stopped having fun because his Tiger's teams have been bad. He needs to be having fun and surrounded by exciting talent for him like those Cubs teams to be at his best. He's like an energy conduit. If he isn't having fun and feeling competitive; he seems to lack focus.

I was at the Sox V. Tigers game today and even the south side showed him no mercy every time he came up to bat.

The way he smacked the catchers mask after striking out in that one clip had me rolling 😂 made the video worth watching to the end for me

Yeah. Love the fire and magic from the early days. Hope he can come back to shine again one day.

he swings at everything thrown at him and the team that happened to be the highest bidder for him happened to be a lousy detroit squad. of course he was destined to fail.

Gotta give Mike Valenti credit…he was screaming “don’t sign this guy, he’s terrible” well before the Tigers signed him. I thought it was Valenti just being Valenti but he was so right on this one

I’m a Tigers fan and Javy is one of the most frustrating players I’ve ever watched day to day. I can’t remember a player with worse discipline. But in the field he’s still El Mago, making jaw dropping plays regularly. I think the best the Tigers can hope for is to get elite defensive production and hide him at the bottom of the order. Signing Javy and trading Isaac Paredes for Austin Meadows are Al Avila’s parting gifts to the Tigers that keep on giving.

Not playing in front of fans during covid was the start. Playing in really poor fan bases the past 2 years was the final nail in the coffin

His mistake was signing with Detroit. He’s a player who feeds off of crowd energy. Detroit struggles with attendance.

I remember how fired up discussions were at the barber shop debating who was better, him or Lindor. Now there's no arguing who's had the better individual career thus far.

Just saw Javier play in Pittsburgh August 2nd against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played the entire game and actually had the game winning hits. My grandson of 9 years old, loves him and he is favorite player. He wanted him to throw him a ball at the end of the game but didn't acknowledge him. He was very disappointed.

He made baseball fun and interesting again. His family story is inspiring, so I’m rooting for him. It can’t be easy to play elite ball after so many injuries.

He’s playing down to the team that he’s on. The problem is what contender is going to trade for him?

He was always a victim of the new era of mechanics and analytics. Some guys are not able to make the proper adjustments to their swings and plate approaches, i.e. Paul Dejong, Kris Bryant. Once the league figures them out, and they haven't learned to adjust with consistency, they start to go from stars to mediocre players. Once their offense is dead, their confidence is shattered and it shows in their defense. Baez had immense talent, but he came up to play behind the likes of Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo, and Jason Heyward. The more pitchers got to see him and solve him, the less he was able to adjust and improve his talent.

The one “star” Detroit desperately needs to give away for a bag of chips

he just needs to go back home to the cubs and he'll go back to normal just like Kris Bryant home cooking always helps in the end

“He’s still an elite defender” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 As a Cubs fan thank you Detroit, god thank you.

He was great for the very short time on my Mets and I wanted to resign but they dodged a bullet.

Great vid just wish the music wasn’t quite so loud

He needs to be on a good team. If he's on a bad team he plays with no passion.

I still have a lot of hope for him. He would be a fantastic all around player if he could just be more patient at the plate. Not that this means anything, but he's still one of the better players on the tigers, his defense helps us out a lot, he's still good for those clutch plays on defense and running the bases, when he can get on base. I think he'll get there, may never be a slugger but I'd like to see him work on his plate discipline, put more balls in play

Latest example vs The Diamondbacks: Baez "the rally killer" stikes out in three pitches by taking a fastball right down the middle and unsurprisingly swinging at back-to-back HIGH (way out of the zone) 4 seamers. What happened to him?

As a cubs fan he was infuriating. You could see what he was truly capable of if he’d just not swing at garbage and be patient but he never would. Two good seasons out of him really made things worse as everyone knew what he could be. He just won’t adjust his game.

I'm a big fan of Javy and the Tigers. I frankly don't think he's in a slump because he isn't amused. He's probably past his best years but he's still got much to give and needs to step up for his team. I hope he does, soon.

He'd benefit a lot from the tigers getting better and winning more games. I think hes better when it matters than when it doesn't.

As a Cubs fan, the almost MVP season felt like a real coming out party for Javy. His fielding is magical for sure, but the dude just is not patient enough at the plate and like others have said it is a confidence game for him. If he isn't having fun he isn't performing. To go from the pinnacle of a World Series to the Tigers I'm sure has not done anything positive for him.

I’m a diehard Tigers fan and seeing what he did in Chicago and New York, I was excited to get him. However, last year and this year he’s been very bad overall. He has his streaks of hitting 300 for a week or two, but then after that his slumps are weeks longer and he bats around .180, it just really hurts to see him swing at everything and do nothing. He swung terrible a lot in Chicago too but he also hit 25-35 homers and drove in around 80! This year, he’s batting .220 with 3 homers, it’s hard to watch and at this point I hope we trade him or release him if possible. It sucks to say because he was one of my favorite players

he's not having any fun in detroit and you can see it in his play

You should make more videos like this, for example, you should do one for Carlos Santana.

Will this be a full-length video?

I don't think he was as motivated or as happy as he was playing in Chicago after getting traded to the Mets much less the Tigers

Not to mention injuries but its a hard place to come back from injury and be expected to be an all star right away give baez more time he’s still a valuable role player and needs to work on hitting

When you start looking baseball as a job instead of having fun this is what happens. It’s a sports that we play since kids just have fun.

I really wish the Mets would of signed him. He really had his best stretch playing there. I think he loved the intensity of the crowd and enjoyed playing with his friend Lindor. Someone mentioned he likes being coached, so you could add that it's possible the Mets coaching staff was helpful

I’m pulling for him.

Javy was both the most exciting and the most infuriating player I've ever seen play for the Cubs.

I’ve never admired a video so much. I’m a White Sox fan. Thank you

agencia de publicidad gracias 🙏

If you are an unbiased fan, you probably saw his stark decline coming. Has always been an all or nothing player, and right now his production is at nothing. Seems to happen to more and more players with how baseball has evolved from contact and fundamentals, to power, speed, and flashiness…

I think it started right after he lost the MVP to Yelich. Imagine having been the talk in all of baseball for 80% of the season then to have it taken away from you for a dude with only a few months left. Plus the bias given how the Cubs dropped and then you had that tiebreaker against Yelich which also didn’t help. So of course he’s gonna free swing since he’s been overworking himself which has led to his decline

I think Joe Maddon brought the best out of him players like this need true leadership

Somewhere in Korea, Will Craig is smiling! LETS GO BUCS!

hey, ik this is random but im jus coming here to ask how you get mlb clips because every time i try to post them i get copyright strikes.

Great video…we can lose the music next video tho chief

Why did the Tiger's sign him you may ask? BeCaUsE hE's FuN. Yes, former MVP and all that, but from history and metrics alone, how do you not see this drastic decline happening? Plus, you got him on a team where he feels like he has to be the one to make all the plays and opportunities to happen. I believe he is both putting too much pressure on himself, and is not listening to the people who are trying to help him. I can imagine a lot of his old teammates are trying to give him advice and such, but I feel like he just doesn't want to listen and thinks he is doing what's best. I think if he asked guys like Goldschmidt (people who have been top-tier players and team leaders on a terrible team), and see what he can do to improve.

Im suprised you didnt talk about his 2023 WBC success since he was awarded the best 2nd baseman in the WBC, great video regardless though!

as a cubs fan I miss him. I could see his plate discipline a serious problem and basic plays like KB would always be a problem

Rip to his sister. I hope he gets better.

Giving $100 million to a dude with a 50% chase rate and character/motivation issues is batshit

he crushed a home run. he got all of that pitch and it barely landed into the basket. The wind was gusting in that day. it was so hype

He was always just a different type of Puig 😂

Javy needs to calm down in the box and start taking some pitches.

I would argue that Giancarlo Stanton's demise is a bigger story!

Makes me want to cry. I enjoyed watching his fire for the game.

chill on the bass brother, trying to blow out my soundbar here, take the music volume down by about half as well

As a die hard tigers fan and a real baez fan since his early cubs days. He has shown signs of improvement this season but definitely not consistent. I don’t hate a player but many people want him out of Detroit already. When we’re playing fun baseball he’s a huge reason but when we’re down, he’s a huge part of that as well. Today, while during a mound visit he didn’t even go into it as most infielders do. He’s turning into a real me guy and nothing else

PCA is a good player in AA this season.

Dude I actually miss his prime sooo bad 😢😢😢

A lot of people got it wrong on javy. His problem is his chase rate that's it

Can’t believe Cubs got PCA for him

As a Padres fan, really need a trigger warning at 1:47 seeing Cory Spangenberg’s name 😅

This video could have been made multiple times already. I'm interested in a video about the home run outfits and celebrations. Seems like a lot of bad teams are doing them. Hitting a HR shouldn't be the primary goal for a lot of players.

Seems like the old curse of the Cubs, who are my favorite team, has been passed on to many of the key contributors of the 2016 WS Champion team. Just look at Javi, J-Hey, Kris Bryant, Jon Lester, and Aroldis Chapman! Ben Zobrist is my favorite player and look what happened to him and his life😢! It's heartbreaking to see El Mago and the rest struggling...

As a Detroit fan for over two decades, I want to be mad at Baez but I can’t. The Sox needed everyone off of their payroll, and he looked nowhere near as bad with them as he does in 2023. There was very little warning this regression would could so suddenly or how bad it would be. But at the same time, he’s probably thinking the same thing. His next best chance isn’t slipping away, it’s going down in flames. He wants to be flashy and keep up with the old days, but he doesn’t have it in him at Comerica at least. (It is a bigger park and the bane of “just beyond my own wall” home run hitters.) Hinch having his flyouts at least advance a runner is the best case solution for this worst case scenario. Baez is good enough to launch them high and delayed, but he’s sniping shit shots rather than being last in the lineup to drive in the RBI’s. They’ve all come with him closer to the middle/end of the lineup. He’s going through it like a journeyman this year. It’s rough to see.

Fortunately for him he had an opt out after the 23 season. The season he posted a sub 600 OPS over 136 games….yikes. Needless to say he didn’t opt out pf the 98,000,000 guaranteed money but I promise he doesnt spend his offseason in Detroit

I really hope Baez can turn it around. He's one of my favorite players in baseball, and he was great for the Mets. I still have hope for him, I think he will start to improve after the All-star break, at least I'm hoping.

I always assumed he had the right coaches behind him at the Mets that were encouraging him to improve his game. Whether that's true or the improvement was a blip I guess we might see in time.

Guys who don't walk and strikeout a ton are on borrowed time. They might hit for a high enough average early in their career to offset, but the moment their average dips their entire batting ability collapses.

His swing is way too wide, and he chases everything. I'm more shocked that he didn't get figured out sooner.

He swings like I do in MLB the show.

Wasn't this video from a few weeks ago? Or was that another one?

The brutal decline 😂 his bank account says otherwise!

Great video, but there are officially way too many metrics in baseball. It's a streaky sport, and I honestly believe he is not actually as good as the one MVP season indicated. Led to a massive rise in ego which coincided with half-assed attempts at most things once his god-awful bat has been exposed for what it is.

He's homesick for the Cubs!!

Baez will figure it out #TeamJavy

He did a cano , got the bag and he checked out

Tigers loved having the miggy contract on the books so much they wanted another one

Nobody thought he'd be a productive player into his contract with whoever it is Detroit Tigers I think

“To this day still sports a large tattoo of her on his right shoulder” … bro do you think he’s gonna laser that shit off? 😂

I think Baez just needs a purpose to play well. Playing for the tigers, he probably doesn't have that fire in him. Just making good money to play on a team going nowhere

I’m gonna be honest here, I had this playing in the background so I wasn’t giving it my full attention but I didn’t hear one mention of his amazing base running against the pirates.