Tigers president says benching Javier Baez was turning point for season

The Detroit Tigers are playing better baseball over the past few weeks, and president of baseball operations Scott Harris thinks he knows the reason.

Harris said manager A.J. Hinch's decision to bench big-money shortstop Javier Baez after a series of base-running blunders was the turning point for the team's season. 

Baez was benched on April 13, when the Tigers were only 2-9 on the season, for losing track of the number of outs in the inning and running into a double play. That came one game after he was slow leaving the batter's box thinking a ball was going to be a home run when it was not. 

Since that game, Baez has been on a tear at the plate, while the Tigers have gone 15-10 as a team. 

Harris also sees a difference in how the team has played since then.

Here is a part of what Harris said about that during an interview with MLB Network (via ESPN).

"It wasn't just about Javy. We wanted to get to a place where we were playing clean, more competitive baseball in this organization. And that was a real turning point for our season. 

 "Since then, we've been playing a very aggressive brand of baseball, we've been pounding the zone, and we've been trying to get into better counts on both sides of the ball. And A.J. has done a great job of picking his spots and getting players ready to come through in high-leverage moments. I think Javy is one of the leaders on the team. He sets the tone for the entire team. And it's been really fun to watch him respond to that moment."

Baez is in the second year of a massive six-year, $140 million contract he signed in free agency a year ago. 

So far, it has been an extremely disappointing deal for the Tigers and that sequence earlier this season might have been rock bottom for it. 

Since his benching Baez is hitting over .320 and has dramatically improved his offensive numbers from where they were two weeks in.

Even with a 17-19 record overall the Tigers are still only 2.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins for first place in the American League Central. 

Whether the Tigers can maintain this level of play and if Baez's benching was a true turning point remains to be seen, but Harris clearly sees a difference in how the team has played since then.