LAKELAND, Fla. -- The changeup from Blue Jays starter Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos sent Javier Báez swinging, splitting the end of the Tigers shortstop¡¯s bat as he fouled off the ball. While the end of his bat flew into foul territory behind third base, B¨¢ez stared out to his brother-in-law and shook his head as he walked to the first-base dugout to get a new bat.
¡°I¡¯m going to talk to him about it,¡± B¨¢ez said. ¡°I didn¡¯t face the changeup before against him. When I looked down, I saw [the broken bat].¡±
Berr¨ªos got the best of the battle, jamming B¨¢ez into a ground-ball double play with a 95.8 mph fastball. By the time B¨¢ez came back up to bat for a second time, Berr¨ªos was out of the game. B¨¢ez jumped the first pitch he saw from lefty Ryan Yarbrough, a sinker, and blistered it into right-center field at 101.9 mph for an opposite-field double before being lifted for pinch-runner Andy Ib¨¢?ez.
It was the first hit of the spring for B¨¢ez, and it came in his first game at shortstop since he underwent hip surgery last August. The latter was the final step in what has been an extensive return-to-play progression. The former might be more important in how much he plays there once the season begins.
¡°Our goal this entire offseason has been getting him healthy and out of rehab, get his mind away from being injured and needing something to get fixed,¡± manager A.J. Hinch said. ¡°I think we¡¯re headed in that direction, and now the play on the field is going to speak to what his role is.¡±
The Tigers know B¨¢ez can play shortstop when he¡¯s healthy. His defensive metrics can fluctuate from year to year, but his athleticism, awareness and grasp of the position are fairly consistent. The Tigers need to see how he can hit, how much a healthy hip matters in his swing, and what he can do for a predominantly left-handed lineup that could use another productive right-handed bat.
¡°When Javy is healthy and staying in the strike zone and getting on base, he can help a team win,¡± Hinch said. ¡°We had a really good thing going with the young group that we had [down the stretch last season], but obviously Javy can make a team better.¡±
That young group included rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney, who took over as the everyday shortstop for an injured B¨¢ez barely a week after his MLB debut. While B¨¢ez returned to shortstop on Monday, Sweeney batted leadoff as the designated hitter in an effort to get him a few at-bats while keeping him out of the field. He¡¯ll be back at shortstop for Tuesday¡¯s game against the Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla., then get Wednesday off ahead of Thursday¡¯s team off-day.
Sweeney had his own hitless spring going, 0-for-9 over his first four games, before a broken-bat double in his first at-bat Sunday against the Pirates broke the skid. Sweeney followed that with a home run in a lefty-lefty matchup, then had two more hits Monday.
¡°I didn¡¯t feel like anything was wrong,¡± Sweeney said Sunday. ¡°I knew my timing was off. I feel like that¡¯s the main thing. That¡¯s usually always a thing in spring, getting back on time. I feel like if there¡¯s an issue with me, it always lies with the timing. I wasn¡¯t losing confidence or anything like that. Just stay confident and trust myself and let it come.¡±
That approach, Sweeney said, hasn¡¯t changed now that B¨¢ez has been taking ground balls with him at short and will begin getting game action there.
¡°Nothing¡¯s changed,¡± Sweeney said. ¡°I don¡¯t have too much experience right now. I¡¯m just focused on getting better. Being around Javy and Gleyber [Torres] and guys like that, it¡¯s only going to help me.¡±
With Sweeney batting left-handed and B¨¢ez hitting from the right side, the two complement each other well for a potential time share. But with potential platoons at third base and center field, the Tigers have to figure out how many roster spots they can reserve for mixing and matching. They¡¯d also have to determine how much playing time is fair to allow Sweeney ¨C whom president of baseball Scott Harris referred to last month as a potential everyday shortstop ¨C to continue his development while also giving the team its best chance to win.
With B¨¢ez back, the Tigers have about three weeks to work this out.