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Chicago Cubs: Capitán Fantástico takes center stage
It’s no secret that Javier Baez is Chicago’s Most Valuable Player for the 2018 campaign even if he loses out to Christian Yelich for N.L. honors. Despite a career-high 144 strikeouts, El Mago continued to wow fans of the game with flashy defense and clutch hitting.
Over the course of 606 at-bats (another career-mark), Baez launched 34 homers, 111 RBI, nine triples, 40 doubles and 176 hits. All while slashing .290/.326/.554/.881. Following Addison Russell‘s suspension, El Mago has emerged as the team’s next everyday shortstop.
We’ll save that discussion for another day. Either way, Baez’s 2018 let the rest of the league know that this club has more heavy hitters than Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Willson Contreras, and Kyle Schwarber.
Not to discredit the rest of the offense. Baez has proven to be worthy of all the praise that is being thrown his way.