CHICAGO — For the first time in three years since his departure from the Chicago Cubs, Javier Baez took to the diamond at Wrigley Field, and it went just about as well as his career has gone since he was traded away from the North Side.
In the second inning, with runners at first and second with one out, Baez strolled to the plate for his first at-bat at Wrigley Field since July 29, 2021.
For those wondering, Baez finished that game, a 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, 2-4 with a stolen base.
In a sign of respect, home plate umpire D.J. Reyburn walked out from behind home plate, preventing the pitch clock from starting so Baez could take in a standing ovation from Cubs fans around the stadium.
Moments later, Baez wildly swung at a sweeper well off the outside corner of the plate, and he headed back to the bench with his 66th strikeout of the year.
He struck out again in the fifth inning.
Then again in the seventh inning,
Then, after a Spencer Torkelson double led off the top of the ninth, Baez came to the plate as the tying run with two outs in a 3-1 game.
And just like his first at-bat back at Wrigley Field, he swung at a sweeper low and outside of the zone for strike three, and the Cubs took home their 62 win of the season.
Baez finished his return to Wrigley Field 0-4 with four strikeouts, otherwise known as a golden sombrero in baseball circles.
The term “golden sombrero” was originally derived from another sports term called “the hat trick” in the late 1970’s, which represents scoring three goals in hockey. Since four is bigger than three, the consensus was that a bigger hat was needed to represent the infamous accomplishment so, the sombrero was chosen to take its place.
“Not really. I’m different every day, playing-wise. I can be really hot and focused at the plate, and then the next at-bat or next game, I can be all over the place,” Baez said before the game, when asked if he still feels like the Javier Baez that burst onto the scene with the Cubs during the 2016 playoffs. “That’s something I keep focusing on, on being the same guy, playing-wise.
“I’m the same guy every day, but playing-wise, I’ve got to focus more so on my timing and myself and making the pitchers throw more strikes than normally, but it’s hard. It’s hard to do with these pitchers throwing hard and throwing 100. I think it’s up to me to really feel confident and trust [myself] at the plate and let it happen.”
Heading into the Detroit Tigers Tuesday matchup against the Cubs, Baez was hitting .185/.223/.298 with a .522 OPS and a -1.2 WAR in 78 games for Detroit this year.
On the other side of the diamond, Javier Assad tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball to the tune of six hits and one walk with seven strikeouts across 95 pitches to earn his sixth win of the season.
Cody Bellinger went 2-4 with a two-RBI double in the fifth, and Dansby Swanson launched a 387-foot solo home run an inning later to pace the North Siders at the plate.
The Chicago Cubs look to take the rubber match of their three game series against the Detroit Tigers Wednesday, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. CT, and Jameson Taillon tabbed to start on the mound for the Cubs.