Miguel Cabrera said it all. But first, so did Ryan Brasier. As Javy Baez rounded the bases after climbing the ladder for a Brasier fastball and clubbing it over the left field fence to put the Tigers ahead of the Red Sox in the eighth inning Monday night at Comerica Park, Brasier shook his head and muttered to himself, "You gotta be fuc*ing kidding me."
The ball wasn't just above the belt. It was well above the strike zone, nearly letter high, designed and executed to put Baez away. But Baez beat Brasier to the spot, and the Tigers beat the Red Sox 3-1 because of it. This is what great players do. This is how they change games. This is why the Tigers are paying Baez $23 million a year.
If it makes Brasier feel any better, Tucker Barnhart gets it. The Tigers catcher has been there himself. He broke in with the Reds the same year Baez broke in with the Cubs and watched him wreak havoc on Cincinnati's pitching staff for the next seven seasons. Baez has more homers and more RBI against the Reds than any other team. Asked if he would have simply tipped his cap after watching Baez get on top of a fastball like Brasier's, Barnhart said, "After you throw your mask down, yeah."
"He's special, man," Barnhart said. "I saw it for a long time from the other side, so when I watch him do that stuff it makes me smile that it's not happening to me anymore. I love playing with him. He's a special player and you see it every night."
Through four games with the Tigers, Baez is earning his keep. He's played a central role in both of their wins, with a pair of game-winning hits and some sparkling plays in the field. He made a diving stop on a grounder up the middle and threw a bullet from his knees to take a hit away from Christian Vazquez Monday night. His athleticism allows his Gold glove to shine. And as A.J. Hinch pointed out, the notorious free-swinger even worked his first walk of the season.
"We talk about the difference-maker that he is, just overall a really good day," said Hinch.
Cabrera had a strong night himself, notching a pair of hits to pull within nine of 3,000. He's watched the Tigers lose a lot of games like this one over the past five seasons, a torn-down team lacking stars in big moments. In the biggest moment Monday, the Tigers' brightest star delivered. Cabrera was speaking for all of Detroit when he opened his post-game press conference with three words followed by a burst of feel-good laughter: "Thank you, Javy."
Baez's breakout year with the Cubs came in 2016, Cabrera's last great year with the Tigers. When Baez nearly won National League MVP two years later, Cabrera was well into his decline -- and the Tigers were well into theirs. His arrival in Detroit has boosted a proud franchise and its legendary player. Miggy was all smiles Monday night talking about his new teammate. And he was hardly surprised that Baez went after a pitch most hitters would miss and sent it 400 feet over the fence.
"It's Javy Baez. He's able to expand the zone a little bit and still have great contact. It was up and a little bit in and he got it," Cabrera said, grinning. "He got it."
Hinch, likewise, was rather unimpressed by Baez's bomb. He said he's seen him hit too many homers on too many bad pitches to still be amazed. And that's the hallmark of a star, to turn the ridiculous into the routine, to turn 'Holy sh*t!' into ho-hum. He wears orange cleats because he relishes the spotlight. He gets away with it because the spotlight loves him back.
"If you've seen Javy over the last few years, his whole career, he's going to be Javy and we're going to take that and run with it," said Hinch. "Big moment, small moment, you throw something near the vicinity, he's going to take a swing at it. And when he does damage like that it's pretty electric."
Baez, a Silver Slugger winner with more homers over the last five seasons than all but one big-league shortstop, played it coy when asked about his latest dinger. He said he was "sitting on the fastball" and was "just kind of lucky that I got to it." Then he said something about a cause bigger than himself, putting Tigers baseball back on the map.
"Hopefully there are more and more moments like this with other guys and they can get used to controlling those emotions in big (spots)," Baez said.
Even Baez's emotions seemed to get away from him early on Opening Day. He was swinging out of his shoes in his first two at-bats, striking out both times. After a brief pep talk from Hinch, he took a little off with the game on the line and slammed a ball off the right-field wall to give the Tigers the win. He put it all back on when he cleared the wall in left Monday night.
"The key for me is to slow everything down," Baez said. "I'm a guy that can be really focused or I can swing at balls out of the sun."
No one's complaining when he hits them to the moon.
"We had a chance to win the game," said Cabrera, "and thank God for Javy."
