The sensational trapped of Puerto Rican Javier Báez On the central property on Thursday night it seems that he amazed his teammates more than to the player himself of the Tigers de Detroitafter triumph 10-4 against Los Angeles Angels.
Is that several of the members of the Tigers, who at the time enjoy The best brand in the American league with 20-12, They praised the Puerto Rican for their execution on both sides of the game, since before stealing the quadrangular potential to Jorge Soler in the fifth inning, he had connected one to give his team the 1-1 draw in the third.
But what caused greater astonishment was Báez’s spectacular defensive movement in the central garden, because until last year he had served as a player of the painting, mainly as a campocorto.
Báez, on the other hand, expressed a mixture of emotions for both actions, the offensive and the defensive, although it seemed to highlight more trapped by the difficulty it implies.
“Honestly, both are great. Connecting it feels better”Báez told questions from the United States press after the game.
By the way, it was his second consecutive game connecting home run, after going blank during the first month of contest.
“Catching one, I think, is more difficult, but it feels great, better concentration. That is what I felt at that time; simply concentrate where the wall was, and know when to jump.”
Before this season 2025, Baéz had only acted in the gardens in four games, but never in the central.
And the last time he patrolled one of the forests, was in the shortened pandemic campaign in 2020, when he was still playing for the Chicago Cubs.
“I thought I was going to give (the ball) on that small screen that is there,” Báez added. “But I got to the wall quite well and I had the opportunity to measure it.”
Báez, 32 years old and in the middle of his twelfth season, has had an offensive awakening in 2025 even though he had not connected home runs, until he premiered with a hit with the full bases (grand slam) On Wednesday in Detroit’s 7-4 victory over Houston’s stars.
At the moment, with an average of .291, The Bayamonian is the fourth best batter of the team among those who play daily and have at least 80 shifts to bat. It is second in Detroit in doubles, with six, and fifth in total hits, with 25.
It also adds 12 races pushed with nine scored and a percentage based on .330 and an OPS of .760.
For this same date in 2024, Báez was hitting just .191 with a home run and only nine pushed, with a rickety percentage based on .237.
Before finishing your premature participation in the last season for a hip injury, Báez barely shook six windows and hit .184 with an OPS of .516 in 80 games.
It was another poor offensive production since he arrived at the Tigers in 2022. Only in the first year he totaled double -figure homers, with 17. That same season, on April 26, 2022, it was the last time Báez became averaging .300 or more batting in a campaign, until 2025, when he has been around or exceeded that percentage during the first month.
Now, Báez is impacting the game of tigers in many ways.
“Javy is an incredible athlete and always wanted to steal a home run,” said Gleyber Torres, second base of the Tigers. “So when I saw Javy Jump, I felt very sure that I was going to catch the ball.”
