Javier Báez
Ednel Javier "Javy" Báez (born December 1, 1992), nicknamed "El Mago" (Spanish for "the Magician"), is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets.
| Javier Báez | |||||||||||||||
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Báez with the Cubs in 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| Detroit Tigers – No. 28 | |||||||||||||||
| Shortstop | |||||||||||||||
| Born: December 1, 1992 Bayamón, Puerto Rico | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| August 5, 2014, for the Chicago Cubs | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through April 18, 2024) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .254 | ||||||||||||||
| Hits | 1,059 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 176 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 597 | ||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Born in Puerto Rico, Báez attended high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The Cubs selected Báez with the ninth overall selection of the 2011 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2014 and played for the Cubs for eight years before he was traded to the Mets in 2021. After the 2021 season, he entered free agency where he then signed a six-year contract with the Tigers.
Báez was named the National League Championship Series co-MVP alongside left-handed starter Jon Lester as the Cubs clinched their 2016 National League pennant en route to winning the 2016 World Series. He is a two-time All-Star, as well as a Gold Glove Award, and Silver Slugger Award winner. He is also the cover athlete for MLB The Show 20. On the international level, he represents the Puerto Rican national team.