Detroit Tigers fans showed up to Comerica Park on Memorial Day to take in some first-place baseball against the San Francisco Giants. But Javier Baez decided some more fireworks were in order, and decided to deliver them via what is inarguably the ejection of the season so far.
With Detroit leading 1-0 in the top of the fifth inning, Baez confidently took a Hayden Birdsong curveball for what he assumed would be ball four. Home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, however, ruled that it was strike three. From there, all hell broke loose: Baez immediately turned and started barking at Cuzzi, and despite not one, not two, but three teammates/coaches trying to hold him back, he still spent the better part of the next two minutes giving his two cents.
In Baez's defense, that ... sure did seem like a very bad call, well below his knees. Granted, it was a looping curveball that likely crossed the front edge of the plate much higher than where Patrick Bailey caught it, but still, see for yourself:
Of course, this is hardly the first time that an umpire's judgment (or lack thereof) has inserted itself into things so far in the 2025 MLB season, and costing Baez half a game will no doubt only increase calls for the ABS challenge system that made its spring training debut this year.
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Javier Baez erupts after being ejected on awful strike call
Baez has been a huge reason why the Tigers entered play on Monday with the AL's best record at 34-20. Left for dead after a miserable start to his megadeal in Detroit, he's become a whole new player so far this season, revamping his approach at the plate to tremendous results (.799 OPS) while also blossoming into a genuinely positive defender in center field.
Now, Detroit will have to finish its game against the Giants without the benefit of his bat or his glove. Sure, you can criticize Baez for not keeping his cool and letting manager AJ Hinch argue on his behalf. But it has to be tremendously frustrating to feel (rightfully) as though you've earned a walk, only to have the ump punch you out anyway.
Home-plate umpires have gotten better and better in recent years, but veterans like Cuzzi making calls like this is why fans are convinced that roboumps are the future. We got a small taste of that future in the spring, when the ABS challenge system that has been tested in the Minors over the last few years debuted in spring training to hilariously mixed results. Baez would no doubt loved to have had the benefit of that second look on Monday, and who knows, maybe it would've led to a Tigers rally.