Javier Baez has been on a heater lately. And I have streamed him and utilized him in DFS contests. Do I feel dirty? Absolutely, but I got no shame in my game. I knew that I was going to write him up for this week’s OMT, especially because I knew there were plenty of dirty folk like me out there. In ESPN leagues, Baez was added in over 25% of leagues. When I started writing this piece, all I could think about was NSYNC and the above video. The intro to the video is absolutely perfect. It’s as if someone has been puppeteering Baez because he’s been #NotGood for quite some time. The lyrics hit the spot too:
“Don’t wanna be a fool for you”
“I know that I can’t take no more. It ain’t no lie. I want to see you out that door”
“Baby, bye, bye, BAEZ!!!”
Over his last 30 plate appearances, Baez is slashing .429/.467/.893 with four doubles, three home runs, nine runs, 10 RBI, and one stolen base.
“Don’t wanna be a fool for you”
The strikeout rate is only 20%, but the ISO is .464 with a .474 BABIP!!!
He’s obviously gonna regress and Hot Schmotatoe is an understatement, but let’s dig in deeper juuuuuuuuuuuuuust in case.
The lauch angle of 14.5 degress is good and the 13.6% barrel rate is excellent. The average exit velocity is only 87.3 mph, though, and the hard hit rate is only 31.8%.
He’s pulling the ball 54.5% of the time, which is very good. His career high is 48.3%, which he accomplished during his rookie season. The line drive (27.3%) and fly ball (40.9%) rates are way up while the ground ball (31.8%) rate is way down. Those numbers have typically been around 18%, 34%, and 47% respectively.
The chase rate is high at 42.6% while the swinging strike rate of 14.6% is Baez-esque. The 90% contact rate in the strike zone is the outlier of outliers.
The average bat speed of 72 mph is down 2 mph from the prior season. The swing length, though, has decreased from 8.6 to 8.1 feet. Baez has increased the percentage of squared-up contacts and swings.
None of the above is surprising, but we are thorough here at Razzball HQ. And into shits and giggles.
For those of you who picked up Baez, I’m pretty sure you were walking leash-less. If any went out and bought a leash thinking about a long-term commitment, I’d save it for someone else. Baez is hitting in the bottom of the lineup and is going to regress hard.
By the time this piece goes live, Baez will be playing the last game of the series in Coors Field. Then he faces Patrick Corbin. After that, it’s Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. You never know how long heaters can last, but after the Corbin matchup seems like the best time to say:
I streamed him this week when Yordan went on the IL at the last minutes…its worked out, but agreew it the sentiment.
We are dirty folk
At Razzball wouldn’t you be into *finger to mouth* shifts and giggles?
Great article SON. As a Baez streamer, i needed this. Thank you!
No, thank you!
Baez is 56% rostered in Y!, and 25% since last week. I am so not getting sucked into this.
And thanks to you Son, “Bye Bye Bye” is stuck in my head now. But I figure that it’s in the good cause of a Public Service Announcement…
Lol. Welcome to my world!!