Báez shines with glove, but offensive woes continue

DETROIT -- Harold Castro instinctively ducked after his diving attempt at White Sox leadoff hitter AJ Pollock’s fourth-inning grounder in the hole Tuesday night. Castro knew what could be looming behind him. The ensuing grab and throw from Javier Báez deep in the hole at shortstop wasn’t all that low, but it was strong, hitting first baseman Kody Clemens on the fly well ahead of Pollock.

The latest bit of defensive wizardry from Báez brought one of the loudest cheers of the night from fans at Comerica Park. His quick reaction to snare Luis Robert’s hard-hit liner with runners at the corners in the eighth inning -- a ball with a .760 expected batting average, according to Statcast -- was also appreciated.

By contrast, the boos after Báez took a called third strike from Joe Kelly in the bottom of the eighth were notable. Some were undoubtedly for the call on a borderline pitch; others were frustrated over a hitless night for Báez in a 5-1 loss to the White Sox.

This is the yin and yang for the Tigers' shortstop right now. Báez’s defense, despite some miscues, has helped stabilize the shortstop position in Detroit after it was held by a revolving door of candidates over the past few years. His offensive woes have made him the face of a Tigers lineup that has scored 168 runs over 61 games this season, a 2.8 run-per-game average that would rank second lowest for a full season in baseball’s live-ball era (since 1920). The 1942 Phillies averaged 2.6 runs per game.

“It’s tough,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said of the team’s struggles. “Other than that, I don’t really know what to say. You come to the park each day and approach each game like it’s a new day. We just have to forget about this and move forward.”

Tuesday’s loss continued the Tigers’ struggles against Dylan Cease. The fourth-year starter improved to 10-0 with a 1.91 ERA in 11 career starts against Detroit. He’s 17-21 with a 4.56 ERA in 60 career starts against the rest of the Major Leagues.

Detroit’s seven hits off Cease actually tied its single-game high against him. Five of those hits -- and six of the Tigers' nine hits total -- came from Victor Reyes and Harold Castro, who hit first and second in Tuesday’s lineup. Detroit’s lone run scored on an errant pickoff throw from Cease that allowed Reyes to give the Tigers a brief lead in the first inning.

The rest of the hits from Reyes and Castro went for naught. Detroit’s 4-5-6 hitters combined to go 1-for-11 with four strikeouts. A day off for Miguel Cabrera didn’t help, but Willi Castro struck out three times, all on breaking pitches. Báez struck out twice.

“We had pressure on him in the first, second and fifth -- so, three of his five innings,” manager A.J. Hinch said of Cease. “And quite honestly, it’s probably the most pressure we’ve had on him since I’ve been here. But we didn’t get the big hit.”

The efforts from Báez to become a more disciplined hitter are evident as he struggles to lay off sliders that have plagued him all season. He declined to offer at two off the plate in the first inning to work into a 3-1 count. He was a ball away from what would’ve been the second bases-loaded walk of his career, but Cease spotted a 97 mph fastball on the outer edge to run the count full. Then he challenged Báez over the plate with the same fastball and induced a swing-and-miss.

Báez came back up against Cease with runners at the corners in the fifth and worked a 2-2 count, again shrugging off a slider well off the plate. This time, he connected with a slider off the edge and lined out to left.

The Tigers knew they were getting a streaky hitter when they signed Báez last November. His aggressive hitting can produce hot stretches that can carry a team and cold snaps that can weigh one. Even for Báez, this has been trying. He ranks among the bottom one percent of hitters in whiff (40.6 percent) and chase rates (46.9 percent). The former is nearly identical to last year, but more of the misses have come outside the zone. Báez's contact rate in the strike zone is 76.4 percent, which would be his highest for a season since 2018.

Báez’s .520 OPS ranks 156th out of 156 qualified Major League hitters. Detroit has four of bottom six hitters on the list in Báez, Jonathan Schoop, Jeimer Candelario and Spencer Torkelson.

“I know you’re tired of me saying, ‘Win today’s game,’” Hinch said, “but the reason is because this sport will drive you into misery if you keep looking at these numbers. They’re not good, and they’re not going to be good tomorrow, regardless how good of a day we have. We’ve got to focus on the game at hand and put a lot of good games together to climb out of this.”