Javier Baez's impact on Tigers goes far beyond walk-off heroics

The entire city of Detroit is lining up to offer its humblest apologies to Javier Baez, whose three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th lifted the Tigers over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.

It's just the latest chapter in what's been a remarkable comeback story: Left for dead after a miserable first three years in Detroit, Baez has been a new man in 2025, raking at the plate while seamlessly transitioning to center field after an entire career spent at shortstop. At this point, you could make the argument that he's the team's best player not named Tarik Skubal.

But for as great as Baez has been on the field this year, he's been arguably even more valuable off of it. And while everyone else was focusing on his walk-off heroics, his own manager wanted to draw attention to the contributions fans might not see.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.

A.J. Hinch reveals just how valuable Javier Baez's 'shining example' has been

A.J. Hinch has been through it all with Baez at this point; he was there when Baez arrived in 2022 with sky-high expectations and a six-year, $140 million contract, and he's at times had to administer some tough love when his star player was looking completely lost at the plate. No one has a closer understanding of what Baez has been through over the past few years, and no one is more acutely aware of the sacrifices he's made to turn his Tigers tenure around.

So when reporters asked about Baez after Detroit's walk-off win on Tuesday, Hinch didn't want to focus on his exploits at the plate. Instead, he focused on what Baez has meant to what is still a very young Tigers clubhouse.

“He’s all in,” Hinch told MLB.com. “We ask the guys to be all in, and here’s a guy who’s been through a lot in his time here. … He continues to battle, continues to fight and continues to try learning a new position, abbreviated playing time at the beginning of the season to now every day, wearing him out."

This Tigers team is precocious, to put it mildly, and while they got their feet wet in the postseason in 2024, there still isn't a ton of veteran leadership on this roster. Hinch is a heck of a leader, but there's no substitute for a player who has been there before and can get everyone to follow his example — which is exactly what Baez, a World Series champion, is doing.

“He is a shining example of what we're trying to do here, which is be available to do anything and everything you can for a team to win,” Hinch said. “And that's easy to stand in front of a group and say it. It's easy to get young guys to be hungry. But this dude's got a Gold Glove. This guy's been a world champion. He has been the center focus of a team before. He's like, 'Sure, I'll do it.' And that is priceless.”

It would have been all too easy for Baez to crumble based on how his first three years in Detroit played out; he was getting booed back to the dugout with every swinging strikeout on a slider in the dirt, and the Tigers didn't seem to view him as a part of their long-term plans. Instead, he dug in, revamped his approach and has become a whole new player — and an example to his teammates about what they can achieve if they commit themselves the way their most veteran member has.