Báez finding power stroke with HRs in back-to-back games

DETROIT -- The daily search to find Javier Báez on the Tigers’ lineup card has been growing long for a while, to the point that his days in the top half of the order seem like another era rather than just last year. Still, the sight of Báez batting ninth on Wednesday in Cleveland was nonetheless jarring.

For all his struggles, Báez hadn’t started a game batting ninth since 2017, his second full season with the Cubs. Yet, with his struggles over the last couple seasons, it wasn’t a surprise to him.

“The numbers are there. I'm hitting ninth and eighth for a reason,” Báez said. “I have to get myself back wherever I need to be to help the team. If it's [batting] sixth or seventh or whatever, doesn't matter. I just have to help the team better.”

With home runs in back-to-back games, he’s getting there.

Until Bligh Madris’ eighth-inning RBI single provided the Tigers’ final tally in Friday’s 9-3 loss to the Twins, Báez had accounted for Detroit’s last five runs over a two-game stretch, all on two swings. His three-run homer off Gavin Williams’ hanging slider provided all of the Tigers’ offense in Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Guardians.

One night later, he sent another breaking ball into flight, this one a Pablo López sweeper, for a two-run homer into Comerica Park’s left-field seats. It couldn’t completely erase Detroit’s early deficit, but it brought the Tigers back within a run before the Twins pulled away against rookie starter Keider Montero.

After going a career-high 183 plate appearances homerless since his first home run of the season on April 14, Báez has homered in back-to-back games for the first time since May 4-5, 2023, when he was a fixture batting third in Detroit’s lineup. The home runs are his only hits the last two games, but he has put six balls in play with exit velocities over 100 miles per hour, including a 110.1 mph line drive to left -- his hardest-hit ball since May -- that Manuel Margot ran down for an out.

“It’s just nice to see him smile a couple times on the field, especially on the offensive side,” manager A.J. Hinch said, noting his deft stop and throw from the ground to retire Royce Lewis in the fifth inning. “It is good to see him do some things on both sides of the ball and come away with some success. …

“We really just want quality at-bats, and we think the results will follow. So that’s a good couple nights for him.”

He has one strikeout in the last two games, a called third strike against Williams leading off the fifth inning Thursday, and even that was a source of encouragement for him.

“Didn't feel proud of it, but I was proud that I didn't chase out and just swing at everything,” Báez said. “I had a plan. He just beat me in that at-bat. I took the same plan into the next at-bat and I hit the ball well. That's all I care about right now, to get my timing down and have good swings on balls in the zone.”

This has long been the challenge for Báez, whose 44.6 percent chase rate entering Friday ranked among the bottom percentile of Major League hitters according to Statcast, much like his 44.0 percent chase rate last year and 47.5 percent chase rate in 2022.

The difference now, Báez said, is a comfort level waiting for the ball a split second longer to let it travel deeper into the zone and give his eyes a little more chance to recognize the pitch.

“It's at the point where I've been wanting for the last three years,” he said. “I'm just feeling really good, seeing the ball well and just letting it get deep in the zone and recognizing it pretty good.”

Just as important, he’s also feeling healthy after battling lower back issues for a good stretch of the season, an issue he addressed during his month on the injured list. He’s doing daily exercises to keep it loose, and he said it’s just about normal.

Time will tell if Báez can keep this up. He has had hot stretches before. But after seemingly hitting rock bottom with his drop to the bottom of the order, he said a strong stretch run would mean a lot.

“I just have to play better, obviously,” he said. “If I can stay hot, I think we're going to have a good second half.”