Javy Baez’s Tigers career hits new low with very public benching

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javy Baez was benched by manager A.J. Hinch on Thursday night for forgetting how many outs there were while on the base path.

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javy Baez is not off to the best of starts to the 2023 season. At the plate, he was batting .122 and recorded an OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) of .328. The numbers are bad, and unfortunately for Baez, he had two blunders in one inning on Thursday night against the Toronto Blue Jays.

In the second inning, Baez thought he hit a home run and was late out of the batter’s box, but the baseball hit the top of the wall, forcing him to settle for a double. Right afterwards, Akil Badoo hit a flyout to center field for the second out. Baez, meanwhile, thought there were already two outs on the board and decided to run to third. That allowed outfielder Daulton Varsho to throw Baez out at second base for the double play.

In the bottom of the third inning, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch removed Baez from the game and replaced him with Jonathan Schoop.

Tigers: Javy Baez benched for base-running blunder

Again, not an ideal situation and start to the season for Baez, who was given a six-year, $140 million contract by the Tigers just last year.

Last year, Baez slashed .238/.278/.393 while recording 17 home runs, 64 runs scored, 67 RBI, 132 hits and 147 strikeouts in 144 games.

Now, entering Thursday night, the veteran shortstop ranks in the first percentile in slugging percentage (.146) and barrel percentage (0.0), in the second percentile in expected weighted on-base percentage (.202), and in the sixth percentile in expected batting average (.173). These statistics come courtesy of Baseball Savant.

After thinking a double was a home run and forgetting how many outs there were, Baez found himself on the bench after less than three innings on Thursday.