After missing a month due to a back injury, Javier Baez is back in the Tigers' lineup for the start of this week's series against the Guardians. And "getting used to my body again" after an anti-inflammatory injection for stiffness and pain in his lower spine.
"It was like having a flat tire," Baez said before Monday's game in which he was starting at shortstop and batting seventh. "Now I’m straight and feeling good. My swing feels much better."
After landing on the injured list in June, Baez said that his back was bothering him off and on this season. He hit .183 with one homer in the first 53 games, his latest nosedive since signing a six-year, $140 million deal with the Tigers in 2021. He did go 4-for-12 with a homer and a double in four rehab games in Triple-A Toledo, slight hope that he can start to produce in the second half.
Asked Monday how long the back had been hampering him, Baez said, "To be honest, I don't know. I don’t know how to explain the pain there."
"I don’t know what to call it because I don’t feel pain, it just didn’t let me swing back to the pitcher and lean back on my timing and my contact point. After (the rehab), I feel normal. In Triple-A I went in and hit the ball straight out to center field and off the wall. That’s my timing and that's what I was looking for, so hopefully I just keep my timing and swing in the strike zone," he said.
Ryan Kreidler, who hit .125 in 19 games in Baez's absence, was sent back to Toledo on Monday, while recently-recalled outfielder Parker Meadows hit the 10-day injured list with a hamstring strain. Recently-demoted outfielder Akil Baddoo was recalled along with Baez to fill out the Tigers' roster.
Now that he feels right again, the 31-year-old Baez said his goal for the rest of the season is to "stay healthy and try to be smart about my body, and not try to play through it when I don’t need to."
"And hopefully I end up the season pretty strong," he said.