What should the Cubs do with Javier Baez?

Javier Baez went 3-for-4 on Monday, but his struggles all season to this point leaves the Cubs with a tough decision.

On Monday against the rival Cardinals, Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez went 3-for-4 with a run scored. But that only put his batting line at .205/.246/.365 for the season with six home runs and 18 RBI.

Baez has never taken many walks (4.8 percent career walk rate), and that’s no different this year with seven walks in 167 plate appearances. But he is striking out more this season, with 55 strike outs and a 32.9 percent strikeout rate compared to a 28.4 percent strikeout rate for his career.

Baez has played in 41 of the Cubs 42 games entering Tuesday, starting 40 times. Days off aren’t easily given or asked for in this 60-game sprint of a season, but Baez has played every inning of 36 games.

Baez hit third in manager David Ross’ lineup through the first month-plus of the season, with a .202/.246/.371 slash-line, five home runs and 14 RBI through the end of August. He was bumped down to the cleanup spot on Sept. 1, and he’s hitting .219/.242/.344 over eight games through Monday. Monday was his first multi-hit game since Aug. 24, which are his only two multi-hit games in his last 27 contests. Over those 27 games, since Aug. 12, he’s hitting .178/.222/.307 (.246 BABIP) with 35 strikeouts in 108 plate appearances (35.2 percent strikeout rate).

After Monday’s game, while calling out the Houston Astros cheating, Baez blamed his lack of production on not being able to use video to make in-game adjustments. He’s not the only one to dislike the league’s ban on the use of video during games, but it also feels like a convenient crutch to use as an excuse.

So what should the Cubs do with Baez?

Monday’s three hits were all singles, but Baez also did not strike out in a game for the first time since Aug. 21. Strikeouts are not stigmatized in today’s game, but Baez needs to make more contact. His showing on Monday could be a sign of better things to come.

But this short season makes stubbornly dealing with player’s cold streaks hard. Baez has struggled for over half the season now, and his batting average has been within striking distance (an 0-fer game or two) of the Mendoza line for nearly a month.

Giving Baez a day off (or at least not starting him once) this week might do him good, but it could also break his rhythm if he’s ready to go on a hot streak. The better answer, shy of a hidden injury where a rest might be good, is to bump him down to something like sixth in the batting order.