Detroit Tigers vs Cleveland Guardians in AL wild card for MLB playoffs
On “Days of Roar,” Evan Petzold and Chris Brown discuss the Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Guardians in the AL wild-card series, plus Riley Greene.
CLEVELAND — Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Báez has started all three games in the American League wild-card series against the Cleveland Guardians during the 2025 MLB playoffs.
It’s because of his defense.
But as it turns out, he has also been the Tigers’ best hitter in the postseason.
Nobody expected that.
“I think Javy is underrated in playing the game,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “When we think of Javy, I think a lot of people think about the big swing — some of the big connections and some of the big misses. It’s the El Mago mystique.”
In Games 1 and 2, Báez had four hits — all singles — in seven trips to the plate against the Guardians. He also finished the regular season with six hits — five singles — in 16 plate appearances during his last four games.
What is the secret to his success?
Right now, Báez isn’t trying to swing for home runs.
“When you have good contact and good timing, you don’t worry about that,” Báez said. “I’m trying to see the ball and stay back and just compete.”
Not only is Báez getting hits, but he’s getting hits with runners in scoring position. To do so, he has shortened up his swing and focused on hitting singles to right field, abandoning his free-swinging approach.
“That’s smart baseball,” Hinch said, “because it’s really hard to take your monster swing and connect. You might if he makes a mistake. But I love that he’s toned it down to the point of taking what the game is giving him.”
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To close the regular season, Báez drove in one run in the 4-2 win over the Guardians on Sept. 25, one run in the 4-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 26 and three runs in the 4-3 loss to the Red Sox on Sept. 28. Without him, the Tigers would’ve scored just three runs in those three games.
Báez also drove in the Tigers’ only run in Game 2 of the AL wild-card series Wednesday, delivering with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning. He hit a fastball from right-hander Tanner Bibee for a ground-ball single up the middle to tie the game, 1-1.
The Tigers ended up losing, 6-1.
“Seeing the situation, the bases were loaded, so I got closer to the plate,” Báez said. “If I get a hit, then we score. I made him throw me a fastball. We got to compete.”
In Games 1 and 2, the Tigers went 2-for-23 with runners in scoring position — including 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position and 15 runners stranded in Game 2.
Somebody other than Báez needs to step up in Game 3.
“We’ve got to take care of our situations when we’re on offense,” Báez said.
The Tigers counted on Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Spencer Torkelson and Gleyber Torres to produce runs over the past six months, but in the past three weeks, the lack of clutch hitting has defined the Tigers’ struggles.
Báez doesn’t deserve any blame, though.
“We got to come back tomorrow and fight,” Báez said, setting his expectations for Game 3 in a winner-take-all clash with the Guardians. “If we get our situations done on offense, the game is going to be different.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.
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