I'm rooting for Detroit Tigers' Javier Baez to succeed with new approach, even if it's unlikely

Let me start with this: I’m rooting for Javier Báez.

I’m rooting for the Detroit Tigers’ struggling shortstop for two reasons. The first is, I want to see if the Tigers can pull off their grand experiment and fix a player who has been broken and getting worse over the past two years.

But I’m also rooting for Báez as a person, because he has handled his struggles honorably and professionally. He is a lightning rod for criticism, yet he hasn’t lashed out at anyone or become a cancer or even a sullen presence in the clubhouse.

He has remained a good teammate and acknowledged his struggles. He committed himself to the offseason plan of strengthening his lower back and core while working with Tigers trainers and coaches in Puerto Rico and Florida. He faced live pitching in the offseason instead of typically waiting until spring training.

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At 31, Báez is trying to turn back the clock by changing his violent swing and recapture something close to all the success he had in eight seasons with the Cubs that produced 140 home runs and made him the National League’s RBI leader in 2018.

In this way, Báez exemplifies the best of the human spirit, the drive and the will to overcome failure and improve. He speaks often about wanting to see the ball better and regaining the trust in his swing.

“I'm feeling better in my low back and my core,” he told reporters Saturday in Lakeland, Florida. “It feels pretty good right now. I've been swinging. I've been seeing live pitches. It hasn't bothered me a lot, so hopefully, it stays that way.”

The Tigers are in the midst of a rebuild with a few young foundational pieces surrounded by many players with unknown potential and several prospects waiting in the wings. A solid if unspectacular pitching staff is supposed to take the pressure off the weak offense.

The albatross that was Miguel Cabrera’s contract and anemic production is gone, but even with it last season the Tigers still finished second to Minnesota in the American League Central. And even with Báez’s massively disappointing season at the plate that produced a .222 average, nine homers, 59 RBIs, a .593 OPS and a 62 OPS+ (second lowest among qualified major-league hitters), the Tigers were just 10 games away from winning the division.

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Báez’s struggles leaked into other parts of his game, leading to an early season benching after a big baserunning blunder in Toronto, which he admirably owned up to. But it reminded me of the old line by John McKay, the late Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach: “We didn't tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.”

Now just imagine if this all works. If the stronger muscles, the new commitment, the different approach all comes together and Báez just comes close to his baseline production in Chicago. Maybe something like 22 homers, a .262 average and a .777 OPS. Imagine what that would do to helping speed along the Tigers’ rebuild, if not their playoff chances in a weak division.

Báez already has.

“There is a lot of talent here,” he said. “The way people describe us depends on how we play. We played good as a team last year.”

Then Báez said something that tells you a lot about who is he as a player, a person and a teammate.

“It didn't go well for me,” he said, “but we played better than the year before.”

It’s rare to hear any athlete admit a struggle so bluntly, but it’s even rarer to hear it uttered in the same sentence that praises those around them.

I know it’s hard for some people to muster sympathy for rich professional athletes like Báez, who is woefully underperforming while he has $98 million and four years left on his contract. But the effort is clearly there and if the results follow, if Báez and the Tigers succeed at making him a better player this season, it would be a marvel that would surely prompt massive interest in the team’s methods.

The problem is that that baseball usually doesn’t work this way, especially as players age. There are too many tendencies and analytics that the Tigers and every opposing pitcher will be aware of when Báez steps up to the plate.

Baez’s dreadful lunges at sweepers led to laughable GIFs and a .097 average against that pitch in 2022, which improved to .189 last year. But the biggest indictment was his .177 average against four-seam fastballs last season. And if you can’t hit a fastball in the majors, it’s time to look for another job.

While I’m rooting for Báez to succeed and make himself into a better version of himself by accessing the most inspiring element of the human spirit, the reality is that human nature makes us creatures of habit compelled to stay the same. Just ask yourself how much weight you’ve lost lately or how those piano lessons are going or how much of that language course you’ve finished.

Unfortunately for Báez, he happens to be a human.

On the first day of spring training at Joker Marchant Stadium, it was observed that Báez had changed his routine from the previous year of parking his $250,000 Lamborghini Urus under palm trees beside a bed of flowers. Along with all the offseason changes came a new spot in the regular parking lot.

One day later, Baez moved his car back under the palm trees and next to the flowers.

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Why I'm rooting for Detroit Tigers' Javier Baez; success is unlikely