Chicago Cubs: A fan’s take on the evolution of Javier Baez

Chicago Cubs: Perception of Javy’s place on the team 2015-2016.

After the struggles in his first stint in 2014, plus him dealing with a broken finger and the tragic death of his sister, Baez spent most of 2015 in the minors or recovering from injury. Meanwhile, the Cubs were reborn into a juggernaut with Addison Russell and Starlin Castro up the middle.

At the time it seemed like Russell was the shortstop of the future while Castro was getting acclimated at second. Some could argue it felt like Baez would be an odd man out. Could a free-swinger like him be a part of a team that preached patience and approach at the plate?

Baez played in only 28 regular season games in 2015 in September and by then the Cubs were already well on their way to October. The Puerto Rican native did not even play in the postseason until Russell hurt himself in Game 3 of the NLDS. He came up big in Game 4, but he was viewed as a fill-in for Russell.

When the offseason came there was speculation of Baez being a trade chip for pitching (and even a false report of him being traded to Atlanta). Then the signing of Ben Zobrist happened and while Zobrist is one of the game’s more versatile players, he primarily played second base, which further cast Baez’s future into question.

When 2016 started, though, Baez was still on the North Side, playing in 142 games, but still not a solidified starter at one position. His defense was dazzling and he hit .273/.314/.423 with 14 homers while playing a lot of second and third. A productive, versatile infielder to play in 140-ish games in match-ups and/or give guys rest is what he was at that point.