Chicago Cubs 2B Javier Baez sustained an injury after colliding with Jason Heyward in the sixth inning of an April 7 game vs. Milwaukee.
A scary moment for the Cubs organization and fans alike as their second baseman Javier Baez runs into a teammate head first. As seen in the footage below, Baez sprinted and tried to make an over-the-shoulder catch with OF Jason Heyward screaming into Baez’s blind spot. While Heyward escaped any possible injury, Baez wouldn’t be so lucky as the collision caused him to head for the lockers.
The fall that pitted Baez to the field scared the crap out of Heyward, the surrounding ballplayers and the fans in attendance. It’s the type of collision that every ballplayer — let alone every athlete — fears. In this case, a lack of communication was the villain and Heyward, of course, wasn’t too thrilled with himself for putting his teammate’s health in jeopardy.
VIDEO: @javy23baez & #JasonHeyward collide trying for a bloop pop-up in short-right field. Javy injured, removed from game. @Cubs #ThatsCub pic.twitter.com/zGtG300tuX
— Billy Krumb (@ClubhouseCancer) April 8, 2017
For right now, it seems as though Baez is all right. But that’s the tricky part of the human body. With so much adrenaline flowing through the bloodstream, it’s hard to dictate the severity of an injury like this. Though it looked as if Baez shrugged it off and walked off the field on his own will, his status is now very concerning. If it’s at all serious, it’ll be a migraine for the Cubs to replace Baez’s batting power and fielding skills.
UPDATE: Baez suffered an eye contusion in the collision.
Javy Báez left tonight's game with a left eye contusion.
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) April 8, 2017
The Cubs have yet to release any updates on his injury, but it might be safe to say that Baez will be out for an indefinite amount of time. Likely to take his place while he recovers will be either Ben Zobrist or Tommy La Stella, both proven commodities for the Cubs at second base.
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Baez would be a crucial component to the Cubs’ sensational 114-win season last year. He would also be one of the fielding engineers of the entire roster. And in this year’s World Baseball Classic, Baez represented Puerto Rico in great fashion. He recorded a .296 batting average, while tracking in five runs on eight hits.