Javier Baez was up to his old tricks again last night at the World Baseball Classic. He helped lead team Puerto Rico to a 4-3 victory over the Netherlands in a semi-final match up in front of 24,865 crazed baseball fans at Dodger Stadium last night.
The win means Puerto Rico will face the winner of the US/Japan semi-final game and if that game is anything like last night's gem, fans are sure in for a treat.
Fans at Dodger Stadium saw first hand why Baez has taken on the nickname of "El Mago" (the Magician) since his arrival in Chicago in August of 2014. Cubs fans have become accustomed to the crazy defensive plays, the wild slides, the huge home runs, and the lightning quick hands that Baez has displayed the past few seasons and last night, it was on display for the world to see.
Javy first dazzled the crowd in the fourth inning when he pulled a Matrix-type slide to avoid the tag during at attempted steal of third base. (I'm sure you appreciate the irony of this situation as it's usually Baez who is the one doing the tagging.) Baez was initially called out on the play but once it was reviewed, the tape clearly showed that some how Baez avoided the tag which overturned the ruling and he was eventually ruled safe.
Insane.
Once he was done dazzling fans on the base paths, Javy then showed off more wizardry in the field. With Puerto Rico holding a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth inning, the Netherlands' Shawn Zarraga ripped a double to the wall in left-center field. While Wladimir Balentien scored the tying run from second base easily, Jonathan Schoop had no such luck in his attempt to bring the go-ahead tally home from first.
What makes this play so damn impressive is the accuracy of Javy's cannon throw to home plate. According to Statcast, Baez fired an 89.6-mph strike to the plate to retire the runner and keep the game tied. To put that in perspective, Statcast tracked only two harder assists from second basemen in 2016, both at 91.3 mph. I'm 100% pulling for the American team to defeat the Japanese in their semi-final match-up because I can't wait to watch Team Puerto Rico a.k.a. Team Swag show the American team how to have fun playing baseball. And to be honest, I just really want to see Javy do more shit like this on the field.
Too much sauce.
