Detroit villain gives Javy Baez even more motivation to expand the strike zone

Ever since Javier Baez joined the Detroit Tigers in 2022, he has taken a hit to his offensive numbers and has never fully recovered. 2024 has been no different. Although injuries have only allowed him to appear in 57 games this season, Baez is hitting .185 with one home run and 25 RBI.

Baez is notorious for swinging at pitches well out of the strike zone which one would think could be the cause of these underwhelming numbers.

In his 11th season in the MLB, it could be that the 31-year-old has surpassed his days of offensive production. However, there are statistics that indicate there is an answer to his struggles. Shockingly, he may need to swing at more pitches.

Javy Baez gets green light for even more swings from Detroit villain

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press, a somewhat maligned figure among fans in the city, brought up Baez's numbers with runners in scoring position and situations where that's not the case. And according to the data, he actually swings more with ducks on the pond and the numbers he's yielded as a result have actually been better.

In his last 193 games played, Javier Baez has a .333 batting average and .858 OPS with runners in scoring position. In these situations, he swings at 58.8% of the pitches he sees. When faced with any other scenario, Baez is hitting .178 with an OPS of .472. His swing rate without runners in scoring position: 53.3%.

By looking at these numbers, it appears that Baez should be more aggressive when runners are not in scoring position. By taking too many pitches, he is digging himself a hole by falling behind in the count where it is naturally harder to put together a quality at-bat.

Baez himself was unaware of these numbers but openly admits to taking pitches in certain situations.

"I don't know how to follow stuff like that but that's good to know. That's something that I might get into a little later in the future to know about numbers and stuff. I just want to be good in general." Baez said.

Baez recently returned from an IL stint on July 8th so he is still trying to get back into the groove of the MLB grind. Once he is back into his routine with the Tigers, expect to see him swing early and often in hopes to increase his offensive production.