Chicago Cubs: Javier Baez embodied ‘Carpe Diem’ all season long

Thanks to the popular film ‘Dead Poet’s Society’, we all know ‘carpe diem.’ This season, Chicago Cubs MVP candidate Javier Baez seized each and every day.

Thanks to Mr. Keating’s (the late, great Robin Williams) lecture on making the most of one’s opportunities in the movie, Dead Poet’s Society, we are all very aware of the meaning of the Latin phrase, carpe diem.  In 2018, Javier Baez got a chance to play every day, and darned if he didn’t take Keating’s advice and seize his day. Over and over again, all season long.

The most important and relevant statistic I can give you about the likely runner-up in the National League MVP race is that he played in 160 games for the Chicago Cubs in 2018.  While you may think that his 34 home runs, 111 RBI or even his 5.3 WAR per Fangraphs (and an even higher 6.3 WAR according to Baseball Reference) are more telling statistics, I would tell you none of those would be possible without him appearing in 160 games.

I’m not going to belabor the point that Cubs skipper Joe Maddon likes to move guys around and change lineups, thus limiting youngsters’ potential and productivity.  We have been down that road before, and while there is certainly merit in discussing the pros and cons of playing every day versus getting sporadic rest throughout the season, it’s a story for another day.

Chicago Cubs: Baez did it all – and did so all season long

Baez came out of the gates hot in 2018 and actually remained pretty consistent throughout the season, only having a few mini-slumps and problem areas.  He slashed .280/.333/.630 in March and April, sending a message to the National League that he was ready to put together a fine year.

That being said, we’ve seen Javier Baez look like the best player in baseball before (namely the early part of the playoffs in 2016 when he carried the Cubs and won co-NLCS MVP honors), but he hadn’t been able to sustain that success over the course of a couple months, let alone a full season.

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Baez dipped a bit in May, slashing .262/.274/.495, but still managed to hit for some power and drive in runs despite not walking for large stretches of time.  While everyone in baseball, including the guys in the Cubs dugout, was busy being baffled by his ability to hit well without walking, Baez decided to go on a tear in June and July, hitting over .300 with a nearly .600 slugging percentage during the heart of summer.

Maybe more amazingly, his OBP was north of .350 for those two months combined.  He did all this while other members of the Cubs scuffled or were beset by injuries, at times keeping the team afloat with his antics.  And, I did say antics; or maybe you didn’t see Baez steal home not once, but twice during his mid-summer tear. He also secured himself a spot on the NL All-Star team (and hit in the Home Run Derby) for his troubles, a first for Baez.

Baez fell off ever so slightly in August, but still managed to slash .288/.328/.577 as the Cubs started their usual second-half surge a little later than usual.

He entered August as the presumptive favorite in the NL MVP race, with many pointing to his defensive versatility and sorcery as an advantage over every other candidate.  Unfortunately, Baez posted a month that looked a lot like his May, all while Christian Yelich was busy becoming radioactive to the tune of .370/.508/.804.

Those aren’t mistakes.  Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.

Yelich literally was on base over half the time he came to the plate in the last month of the season and carried the Brewers to the NL Central Crown, much to the chagrin of every Cubs’ fan. And so, while Baez will most likely finish second in the MVP balloting to Yelich, there’s no shame in that given the kind of season both had.

Chicago Cubs: Hit everywhere and learned to lay off trash

Baez had an MVP-caliber season and yet, one of the quirkiest stats regarding his 2018 season might be the fact that he batted in every position of the batting order at some point during the season (he actually had at least six plate appearances in every spot, so it’s not even like he had just one pinch-hitting at-bat in spots).  In fact, he had at least 50 plate appearances in six different spots in the batting order, an almost unfathomable statistic given the kind of season he had.

He also had an incredible year going the other way and hitting with authority all over the field  (shameless plug for Javy’s potential 2019 season here).   His ability to foul balls off and lay off a few more sliders enabled him to eventually get better pitches in some at-bats, and he made sure the pitchers paid when they did screw up and throw him a strike.

Take, for instance, his at-bat in the eighth inning of the Wild Card game against the Rockies with the Cubs trailing 1-0 and basically unable to muster anything on offense.  Down 0-2 with two outs and Terrance Gore standing at second base after running for Anthony Rizzo, the Baez we had come to know would have flailed away and the inning would have been over.

Baez, however, was a different man in 2018. He stayed back on a slider that painted the black on the outside part of the plate and laced it back up the middle to knock in the only Cubs’ run in 13 innings of play in the Wild Card game. (Sorry, I know.  Painful memories)

In the end, Baez walked away from 2018 (so far) with a Fielding Bible Defensive award for his defensive wizardry at multiple positions, as well as the Silver Slugger at second base. And, while the MVP award will be announced on Thursday, there’s always the chance he walks away with a really big piece of hardware (though, as noted, it will probably go to Yelich).

It was the kind of season that Cubs’ fans have been dreaming and drooling about since first setting eyes upon Baez.  Everyone knew Baez had all the potential in the world; it was just nice seeing him putting everything together in 2018 and seizing his day through the season.

The bottom line for Javier Baez in 2018 was that he was able to play, play with energy, and he responded with a sensational year. Now, the real magic trick will be seeing if he can pull a similar rabbit out of his hat for 2019.

As Cubs fans, we’re certainly all ready for whatever magic show Baez is ready to perform; here’s hoping the rest of the team partakes in the magic show as well. Maybe he will even stand up on top of the dugout after a World Series win at Wrigley Field and yell something like, “O, Captain, my captain” as his final nod to Mr. Keating and his advice on “Carpe Diem.”

On second thought, he’s only 25 and that movie came out in 1989; he’s probably never even seen it. I’m just glad he seized the day.