Tigers bench Javier Baez after another brutal mistake

Detroit Tigers shortstop Javier Baez. Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Tigers bench Javier Baez after another brutal baserunning mistake

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 4/14/23

The Javier Baez experience in Detroit has not been off to a great start, and things might have hit rock bottom on Thursday night when he was benched by manager A.J. Hinch for another brutal baserunning mistake.

Baez lost track of how many outs there were in the second inning when he broke from second base on a routine fly ball hit by Akil Baddoo.

Javier Baez got pulled from the game after forgetting how many outs the Tigers had.

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Baez clearly thought there two outs and did not hold near second base, allowing for an easy double play to end the inning.

That came not only after he was slow to leave the batter's box on his double earlier in the inning, but also came just one night after he was guilty of another bad baserunning mistake when he failed to tag up on a play.

Any one of those mistakes would be bad enough on their own for a big-league player with Baez's level of experience. But all of them happening in a 24-hour period is the type of thing that will get you benched.

Baez was replaced at shortstop by Jonathan Schoop.

Baez is in the second year of a six-year, $140 million contract he signed in free agency before the start of the 2022 season. His debut season in Detroit was one of the worst of his career offensively, and he is not off to a great start this year. He is not only struggling at the plate but he also got benched just two weeks into the season for baserunning blunders.

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