Javier Baéz's spectacular collapse and extraordinary recovery.
Detroit's Baez Bounces Back: From Baseball Meme to Tiger Hero
Once upon a time, Javier Baez was a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner, and the electrifying "El Mago" who helped the Chicago Cubs break a century-old curse and snag a World Series title in 2016. In late 2021, the Detroit Tigers shelled out a whopping six-year, $140 million contract to secure him as their cornerstone star, promised to transform their rebuilding project into playoff glory. But the mega-signing quickly turned sour. Debilitating injuries and poor performances earned Baez a spot in the baseball history books - as a laughing stock.
For two and a half grueling seasons, Baez's struggles at the plate and inadequate defense turned him into a mockery of the game. His bizarre, haphazard swings at pitches miles outside the strike zone drew giggles from fans across the league. By the end of the 2024 season, he ended with a dismal .184 batting average, serving as a bleak punctuation mark to his most abysmal season since his first year in the major leagues a decade prior. In August 2024, Baez's season was cut short by his persistent hip and lower back troubles.
In Detroit, fans are notoriously reserved when it comes to voicing their displeasure with underperforming stars and teams. But Baez's struggles were so monumental that they drew noticeable boos at Comerica Park. Baez shrugged it off, telling CNN Sports, "The fans are going to be fans. They give their opinions when they count and when they don’t. I do play for the fans, but not for their opinions. I know what I can do, and I know what I've done."
Weirdly, Detroit's highest-paid player's absence coincided with an unexpected surge by the Tigers that propelled them into the MLB playoffs. Baez remained with the team, watching from the dugout as they made one of the most improbable playoff runs in recent memory. Entering spring training, Baez faced significant doubt about his future with the Tigers.
However, the 32-year-old Puerto Rican has turned things around in the 2025 season, silencing the boos and filling the stands with cheers. He celebrated ten years of service in the majors on Tuesday with two home runs, reaching a significant milestone with panache. "It's really fun, man," Baez told CNN Sports about his team. "They have a lot of fun here. We always stay together. And you know, that was one of the reasons why I came here. I saw the other prospects coming up, and this was going to make a good team in the future. And you know, the future is - obviously, we doing it right now."
The seeds for a successful 2025 were sown during the focus of 2024. Early in that season, inflammation in Baez's lower back forced him onto the injured list for nearly a month. He returned for most of July but faced more issues with his lower back and hips in August. The difficult decision was made to shut him down for the rest of the year on August 26, after a return to Wrigley Field, where he had played for the Cubs for more than seven seasons.
"It was really hard, man, for me to get out the lineup, and to be out for the last two months of the season," Baez said. "It was really difficult to take that decision, but I knew I needed to."
Arthroscopic surgery on Baez's right hip aimed to relieve the inflammation in his lower back and the considerable pressure his swing put on his core and lower back. Baez's powerful, free-swinging nature, combined with the immense strain of repetitive twisting, had limited his performance in Detroit. His swings, while still forceful at an average of 74.8 miles per hour according to MLB's Baseball Savant statistics service, had grown expansive over time, leaving him disconnected from the magic that made him "El Mago."
In 2025, Baez altered his approach, shortened his swing, closed off his batting stance, and moved up in the box, as shown by MLB's analysis tool Baseball Savant. These subtle tweaks, along with playing with less pain, have allowed him to feel comfortable at the plate once more. "Everything is getting better - as a team, as an organization, as an experience," Baez told CNN Sports. "But you know, the only difference for me is being healthy. I'm feeling healthy. I feel good. I'm making adjustments, and, you know, I'm playing better. I'm playing better for myself, and I'm playing better for the team."
A rebuilding team can take time to experiment with newcomers on the major league level. Contending teams, however, don't have that luxury. With Baez's hefty price tag and the Tigers' drive to seize October glory in 2025, the front office and manager AJ Hinch faced a pressing question: Could the franchise afford to let Baez prove that these last few years were a fluke, rather than an ominous sign of impending decline?
Hinch breathed a sigh of relief as Baez's improved play came quickly once the season started. The Tigers' success in 2024 without Baez leading the charge allowed him to approach the 2025 season with less pressure. This relaxation has translated to a more relaxed Baez who plays for the team rather than trying to bring them playoff glory on his own.
Baez termed himself one of the league's highest-paid role players, willing to do whatever it takes to win. Shortly into the offseason, Hinch emphasized to Baez the need for versatility from the veteran. Baez obliged, willingly moving from the shortstop position to more than 30 starts in centerfield, a position he had never played before in an MLB game. Even when the bat finally came around, it took time for Baez's reputation as an automatic out to fade away.
With a few early-season struggles, Baez found his footing in late April, and the hits came en masse. In the May 13 nationally televised game against the Boston Red Sox, Baez demonstrated his incredible talent in a single game, inducing a throwing error for the team's second run, hitting a three-run home run in the sixth inning, and adding another three-run bomb five innings later to secure a walk-off victory.
"Certain players in big moments do big things, right?" said Andy Dirks, a former Tigers outfielder and the team's current color commentator on FanDuel Sports Network Detroit. "It doesn't matter what the numbers are, all that stuff. It's like certain players are just in the big moments and can do great things. And Javi is one of those guys that if you put him in the spotlight ... he excels."
By June, the Tigers stood tall atop the baseball hierarchy. And Baez appeared resurgent. Though his stats fall short of his illustrious past and the top players in the league, Baez's numbers have improved compared to 2024, setting him up for a solid claim to a career-best season at the plate since 2021.
More importantly, his impact on the team itself can't be measured by mere statistics. "If you watch him, he's a pro," Dirks told CNN Sports. "Like the way he goes about his business, there's not a lot of highs, not a lot of lows. And when you get a guy like that, he's the kind of guy that can work through some of those issues, make the adjustments he needs to make, and then continue to have fun playing baseball..."
Javier Baez's struggles in Detroit, once a source of laughter, have now been overshadowed by his resurgence in the 2025 MLB season. Despite initial doubts about his future with the Tigers, Baez has silenced the boos and filled the stands with cheers, showcasing his talent in a single extraordinary game against the Boston Red Sox in May.
