Baez blasts 2 homers as Cubs rout Rangers
SS first North Sider to achieve feat in season opener since 2003
Jordan Bastian
@MLBastianARLINGTON -- The crowd forming a half-circle in front of Javier Báez's locker was substantial, even before the Cubs' shortstop arrived at the Globe Life Park clubhouse. David Bote, sitting at the neighboring stall, glanced over his shoulder at the pack of cameras, microphones and notepads and smirked.
"You guys waiting for me or Javy?" Bote quipped.
Following Thursday's 12-4 romp over the Rangers on Opening Day -- a game powered by a pair of home runs from Baez -- the gathering was indeed awaiting the star shortstop. Throughout Spring Training, Baez insisted that he could be even better than his breakout National League MVP runner-up showing last year. Talk about an opening act.
In the fourth inning, Baez snapped Chicago's lineup out of its scoreless spell with a swing that chased a swiftly dropping curveball from Texas lefty Mike Minor. Abandoning the strike zone is nothing new for Baez, but he has become more skilled at still finding the sphere with the thick part of his bat. That was the case on this breaking ball, which sailed out to left-center to put the Cubs on the board.
"Let Javy do Javy, and I think good things happen," Cubs starter Jon Lester said.
Baez struck again in the fifth, when Chicago posted a workmanlike offensive effort to swing the game's momentum. There were runners taking extra bases. There was a hustle double by rookie Mark Zagunis -- a surprise addition to the Opening Day lineup. There were walks, a run-scoring groundout and an infield single.
And then there was Baez, hammering an elevated first-pitch fastball from old friend Jesse Chavez out to right for the period on the Cubs' six-run outburst. He became the first Cubs player to have at least two homers on Opening Day since Corey Patterson in 2003.
Where was that pitch?
"Right where I wanted it," Baez said with a grin.
That splash of humor also revealed the exceptional level of confidence that Baez is carrying with him into this year of "reckoning," as Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein defined it in December. It was also Epstein who said in October that the offense broke in the second half of last season, when the Cubs lost the division in Game 163 to the Brewers a day before winter arrived via a Wild Card Game defeat to the Rockies.
Even with mostly the same cast of characters, Epstein also expressed that the flaws could be fixed. Manager Joe Maddon embraced a more hands-on approach in the spring with the situational hitting workouts. The players focused on an opposite-field mentality when appropriate. Kris Bryant -- who hit his first homer of the season in the eighth -- got healthy. Patience was preached. And behind the scenes, Baez worked on honing in on sections of the strike zone.
Everything was on display in the season-opening victory, in which all nine starters recorded at least one run and eight notched at least one hit. Baez served as the catalyst.
"I feel more confident at the plate. I'm being smarter with a plan," Baez said. "About the lineup, you can really put me anywhere. We've got guys here that can hit leadoff, third, fourth, last. It doesn't matter -- as long as I'm in the lineup. I want to be out there and try to do my best."
On Opening Day last year, Baez was slotted into the order as the eighth hitter. As the weather warmed, so did the aggressive infielder, who ended with 34 home runs and a National League-leading 111 RBIs. He eventually found a home in the heart of the lineup and finished as the runner-up to Christian Yelich in balloting for the league MVP.
"Last year at this time, he was hitting really low in the batting order," Maddon said. "There wasn't that same kind of a vibe coming out of him like you're seeing right now. He ascended to the middle of the batting order last year, and right now he cannot be more confident. It's impossible."
One reporter went as far as asking Baez about this year's MVP race.
"This year it's really early -- the first day," Baez said. "Let's see how it goes the first half."
Before Baez arrived, Bote did chat with reporters.
He was, of course, asked about the star one locker to his left.
"That's Javy being Javy," Bote said. "The dude's a superstar. It's awesome."