Javier Baez is the most exciting player in baseball, but if you're a Chicago Cubs fan you also know he's probably the most frustrating to watch. He's a magician on defense and on the bases and no one can question his power at the plate. Yet, as far as his hitting approach goes all you can do is take the good with the bad.
The good is Baez's 14 home runs, which leads the Cubs to go along with 46 RBIs and a .519 slugging percentage which also are team-highs. However, there's the bad. Through his 63 games played so far this season, Baez has a .286 OBP.
In 252 plate appearances through June 13, Baez has a total of eight walks. Out of those eight, four have been intentional walks.
Andrew Simon, a research analyst for MLB.com, dug up some incredible numbers to put into perspective just how ridiculous a season Baez is having in 2018. The conclusion? Baez is on pace to easily set a few all-time MLB record and boy are they ridiculous.
Via MLB.com.
In the modern era, no player has finished a qualified season with twice as many home runs as walks. In fact, the only player to have pulled off that feat while collecting even 300 plate appearances was Mel Hall, who homered 12 times against six walks for the 1990 Yankees. Highest single-season ratio of HR to BB Min. 600 PA, since 1901 1. Dante Bichette (1995 COL): 1.82 (40 HR, 22 BB) 2. Rougned Odor (2016 TEX): 1.74 (33 HR, 19 BB) 3. Alfonso Soriano (2002 NYY): 1.70 (39 HR, 23 BB) T-4. Adam Jones (2014 BAL): 1.53 (29 HR, 19 BB) T-4. Andre Dawson (1987 CHC): 1.53 (49 HR, 32 BB)Baez drew a walk during the Cubs' series against the Milwaukee Brewers this week, bringing his total to eight on the season. So right now Baez's HR to BB ratio is at 1.75, (14 HR, 8 BB) but considering he's only walked twice since April 11, I'd say he'll get plenty of more dingers before walks that will bring that ratio above Dante Bichette's 1.82. Before we go on to the next stat, Simon pointed out how three of the five players in that list finished top-3 in MVP voting. Andre Dawson, as Cubs fans will know, won the 1987 National League MVP, while blasting 49 home runs and only walking 32 times. Here's the next category Baez could be joining at the end of the season.
There's still a long way to go for Baez, but he could become the sixth player to have more intentional walks than unintentional walks in a season with at least 600 plate appearances (intentional walks have been tracked since 1955, according to Baseball-Reference.com). Highest single-season ratio of IBB to UIBB Min. 600 PA 1. Bill Russell (1973 LAD): 1.43 (20 IBB, 14 UIBB) 2. Barry Bonds (2004 SF): 1.07 (120 IBB, 112 UIBB) T-3. Vladimir Guerrero (2006 LAA): 1.0 (25 IBB, 25 UIBB) T-3. Steve Garvey (1982 LAD): 1.0 (10 IBB, 10 UIBB) T-3. Warren Cromartie (1979 MON): 1.0 (19 IBB, 19 UIBB)Again, Baez is currently at eight walks, four of those being intentional. Also, I can't help but laugh every time I see a Barry Bonds stat. 120 intentional walks in 2004? hahahahahaha how absurd. Last, but certainly not least, Baez could have the highest slugging percentage with an OBP below .300 in MLB history.
Highest SLG with a sub-.300 OBP Qualified season 1. Mike Jacobs (2008 FLA): .514 SLG (.299 OBP) 2. Dave Kingman (1976 NYM): .506 SLG (.286 OBP) 3. Rougned Odor (2016 TEX): .502 SLG (.296 OBP) 4. Adam Duvall (2016 CIN): .498 SLG (.297 OBP) 5. Butch Hobson (1979 BOS): .496 SLG (.298 OBP)Right now, Baez has a .519 slugging percentage with a .286 OBP. What does all this mean? Well, it's pretty simple. When Baez hits the ball he's doing a lot of damage, but as we've seen him slump for several weeks now, there just hasn't been enough contact by Baez. He's always going to be aggressive, but maybe a little more patience at the plate could help. Until that changes, Cubs fans will just have to say it's Javy being Javy and in all honesty that's not always a bad thing. You know, more of that though, please.
