Javier Báez's second season with the Detroit Tigers is not going any better than his first. Thursday night, the shortstop was pulled from Detroit's game against the Toronto Blue Jays (GameTracker) in the second inning after forgetting how many outs there were, and getting doubled off second base on a fly ball to center.
Báez was on second base after doubling earlier in the inning. He watched the flight of the ball at home plate and was slow getting out of the box, apparently believing he'd hit a home run, but the ball hit the top of the wall. A batter later, he forgot he go back to second on Akil Baddoo's lineout. Here is Báez forgetting the number of outs in the inning while at second base:
Following the inning Tigers manager A.J. Hinch made his way down to Báez in the dugout and discussed something with him briefly. Jonathan Schoop came out to play defense in Báez's place in the next inning.
This is not the first time Báez has been pulled from a game for forgetting the number of outs in the inning. While with the Chicago Cubs on June 21, 2021, Báez was pulled by manager David Ross after getting doubled off first base because he thought there were two outs when a fly ball was lifted to left field. Báez just put his head down and kept running.
"We just got to make sure we're focused and locked in during the game," Ross told the Chicago Sun-Times after the game. "Sometimes our frustrations can distract us a little bit. We had a good conversation, I think that's behind us. Javy's really important to this team and he's a leader on this team and sets a good example every time he's on the field."
The Tigers gave Báez a six-year, $140 million contract last offseason. He hit .238/.278/.393 with several lapses on the field and on the bases in 2022, and he took a .100/.163/.100 batting line into Thursday's game.
