Javier Baez is everything that's awesome about baseball. He's the most exciting player in MLB and once again he showed off his ridiculous talent at the World Baseball Classic on Tuesday night.
Baez is the tag wizard. He's made it an art form, catching would-be base stealers with a lightning fast drop of the glove at second base. Chicago Cubs fans have seen Baez pull off the no-look tag plenty of times during his career so far, but Baez took it to the next level playing for Puerto Rico against the Dominican Republic.
The no-look tag itself looks smooth as hell, but adding a finger point to Yadier Molina for the outstanding throw before the base runner even gets to the bag is phenomenal. Fans always complain about how they wish athletes were more real and not try to appease others by being generic.
Well, this is as real as it gets. Javier Baez sweats swagger. This man is amazing to watch. Baseball is better for having him play the game.
Remember, Baez had to work his ass off after his MLB debut when he was awful for six weeks in 2014. He didn't make the team to start the 2015 season and when he was killing it at triple-A he suffered a hand injury. That setback didn't stop Baez, who was called up late in the year and made the postseason roster. Exactly one year later, Baez explodes on to the scene during the Cubs' World Series run and now everyone knows who he is. This tweet sums it up perfectly.
Sports are supposed to be fun, right? There isn't anyone more fun to watch than Baez and for Cubs fans, we're extremely lucky because we see this all year long. By the way, I'm all in on the WBC now. The intensity is off the charts and as close as you get to a playoff atmosphere.
