Hinch says Tigers won't "turn our back" on Javy Baez

Tigers shortstop Javy Baez has three hits this month. He has one hit in his last 21 at-bats. He is far and away the worst everyday hitter in the majors. But Baez is not in danger of being benched, says manager A.J. Hinch. That would only make things worse.

"Let me talk a little bit about (my) comments about players and playing time," Hinch said Wednesday on 97.1 The Ticket, "because I think sometimes that drastic approach is sort of the five-minute freedom where everybody feels good because, 'Ah-hah, the guy’s not playing,’ especially when we get really emotional with player performance. And I try to stay away from that."

When asked earlier this month about the struggling Spencer Torkelson, Hinch reiterated that he could either "move him down the order or he’s going to sit next to me -- and it wasn’t a threat. It’s just a reality of, you’re not going to hit fourth anymore." In the case of Baez, who's spent most of the season batting eighth, Hinch acknowledged that "he is providing pretty good defense at the shortstop position" and that Zach McKinstry has recently gotten a few starts at shortstop as well.

Of course, McKinstry hasn't been much better than Baez at the plate and isn't the same asset in the field. The trouble with Baez, his $23.3 million salary aside, is that his defense has slipped and his offense has cratered. He's been a negative with the glove by metrics like defensive runs saved (minus-1) and outs above average (minus-5) and a black hole with the bat.

Among 166 qualified hitters this season, Baez is dead last in OPS (.420) and wRC+ (18). He's second to last among position players in f-WAR (minus-1.0).
More traditionally, he's hitting .164 with one home run and 13 RBI through 36 games.

Sitting him down, says Hinch, is not the solution:

"There’s a fine line between balance and then being disciplined and just sitting him next to me, because sitting him next to me doesn’t improve timing. He does have a track record of getting hot and he has a track record of being cold. Those are areas where we’re trying to shrink the cold ones and lengthen the hot ones, and playing is often the answer.

"Benchings aren’t because of failure. The benching should be because of effort or preparation or because of a lack of discipline or a lack of focus of some sort. As long as these guys are healthy, we’re going to stay with them. I’m going to sprinkle in some off-days, but to turn our back on him doesn’t make him better."

Baez has three years and $72 million remaining on his contract after this season. He's starting and batting eighth Wednesday in the rubber match of the Tigers' three-game set against the Marlins, and that's where he'll remain until further notice.