In the past few years, Javier Baez has earned the title of “defensive stud” for the Chicago Cubs. Since the Cubs drafted Baez in the first round of the 2011 draft, he’s seemed to be one of those players you keep in the lineup for defensive purposes. In his first couple seasons, he was placed in either the 8 or the 9 spot, as Joe Maddon was unsure about his production at the plate.
During his spectacular season, Maddon has had him bat everywhere, and his experiment has been working. Javy has kept a hot bat throughout the first half and has torched his way into the league-leading spot for RBI’s among second basemen. His transition from being a subpar hitter at the MLB level to being a league leader in RBI’s for his position has been absolutely insane. Javy’s helped the Cubs to a 49-35 record in 2018, as well as boosting every single one of his offensive stats from his production earlier in his career.
| Year | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | SB | AVG | OBP | OPS |
| 2018 Stats | 301 | 54 | 86 | 16 | 61 | 15 | .286 | .321 | .876 |
| MLB Career Stats | 1480 | 208 | 387 | 63 | 219 | 43 | .258 | .302 | .749 |
He’s showing no signs of stopping this play anytime soon. Baez has increased his BA by nearly .030. This increase has put a lot of trust into his bat and allows Maddon to experiment with moving him into the top-4 spots. Baez has also almost doubled his HR production AND has increased his OPS by about .200. .876 is a great OPS for any player, especially when they’re labeled a “defensive stud.”
If Javier Baez can keep this magical display going throughout the remainder of the games this season, I believe that the Cubs could feed off his success and use his firepower to fuel another fantastic championship run. Chicago already has their star players in Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Jon Lester. Add another flaming hot bat into that mix, and you have yourself a powerhouse lineup that is capable of doing BIG things.