Searching for Javier Baez Comps

In Commentary And Analysis by GW22 Comments

MLB: Spring Training-Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs

The Cubs promoted 20-year old Javier Baez to AA Tennessee this past weekend after a scorching half-season or so in Daytona. Baez's power output in the Florida State League was pretty incredible, as he hit 17 homers in a very pitcher-friendly league despite his young age. Last season, he hit 16 homers in 80 games spread between Peoria (in the Midwest League, which is also very hitter friendly) and Daytona. It's hard to deny that he has some of the best power in all the minor leagues, Miguel Sano and Joey Gallo notwithstanding. It's also really hard to overlook the fact that he strikes out a lot and walks far less than you might expect. 

The "comparable player" most often tossed around for Baez is Gary Sheffield. And Baez's swing does look like Sheffields's. To me, though, it's an unsatisfying comparison. Prospects tend to get comp'ed to hall of famers because we as fans have easy access to the way that great players looked on the field. A pitcher who throws effortlessly from the stretch tends to get compared to Greg Maddux even if Rodrigo Lopez would be a better fit. I like to think of this as the Charlie Morton problem. At some point prior to the 2010 season, Morton decided to completely ape Roy Halladay's delivery. The problem is that he was still Charlie Morton. If a top prospect comes along with a similar windup and repetoire one of these years, which of Morton and Halladay do you think he will be compared to?

While Javier Baez might look like Gary Sheffield, the output isn't remotely similar. Sheffield hit for a ton of power, of course, but he rarely struck out, even in the minors, and he walked at an average rate. So what happens if we de-emphasize the visual aspect of the comparison and weigh the outcomes more heavily?

Major League Comps

ian desmondIt's not that difficult to find to find at least semi-productive major leaguers who display a similar skillset as Javier Baez at the plate, though most of them don't play shortstop. The names that jump to mind are Michael Morse, Mark Trumbo, pre-2013 Chris Davis, Alfonso Soriano, and (gulp) Tyler Colvin. All these guys have struggled mightily with not enough walks and too many strikeouts throughout their careers, but can absolutely crush. They are also, for the most part, hulks who hide on defense in corner spots. Baez is only 6'0" or 6'1", depending on who you talk to, and 200 pounds. The Cubs have said they think he will remain a shortstop. As we move up the defensive spectrum, the names that fit the bill become more rare. Third baseman Will Middlebrooks might qualify, though it remains to be seen whether he can stick in the majors. Adam Jones is a bit closer, but he is definitely a notch above any of the names mentioned thus far in terms of making making contact. Carlos Gomez seems to work, given his power surge in the past year and a half. 

At shortstop, the one comparable that stands out to me is Ian Desmond. Desmond is also bigger than Baez, but he is athletic, plays a mediocre shortstop, and has all the requisite K's and dingers. Bill Hall works if you squint, though he managed to increase his walk rate to a nearly league average level after a couple of years in the bigs.

Minor League Comps

While the above names have pretty similar outcomes at the major league level, if you look at their minor league numbers, they tend to diverge significantly. Most managed close to an average walk rate in the low minors, even if they struck out a lot. On the other hand, few of them come close to the power that Javier Baez has shown at such a young age. Take Desmond for example. He managed to make it to AA in his age 20 season despite not being a highly regarded prospect, and his career line through that season featured 6% BB's and 20% K's, but only a .104 ISO. He was sent back to A+ at 21, and managed to up his walk rate considerably (10.6%), and show more power (.164 ISO).

It would be satisfying, if not particularly meaningful, to find a player who put up similar results to Baez through age 20 and went on to a successful pro career. I looked through the leaderboards at high-A over the past decade or so trying to find someone who looked like a reasonable comparison. It turns out that it is really hard to find a big-leaguer who hit for as much power while walking as infrequently as he does with the strict age/level criteria that I imposed. For the most part I ignored everyone who flamed out in the minors, as this wasn't a rigorous exercise wherein I tried to estimate Baez's probability of major league success. Peanut Williams, Jarek Cunningham, and Motorboat Jones comps aren't going to do anyone any good. I just wanted to at least one decent player with the similar boom or bust stat-line at a similar age. It turns out this is a pretty difficult task.

The nightmare scenario is Brandon Wood, of course, who it 43 homers in the Cal League at age 20, yet to-date has only managed to earn 750 plate appearances at the big league level. Through his age 20 season, Wood managed 8% walks, 22% strikeouts and a .243 ISO. Translated from the Cal League to the less hitter-friendly environment in Florida, these numbers probably aren't that far off from Baez's 5% BB, 22% K's, and .248(!) ISO. Keep in mind that Baez's 694 professional plate appearances thus far are dwarfed by Wood's 1400+ through age 20, so a bit of regression should be expected in all three categories for Baez relative to Wood. Wood was also a pretty highly regarded prospect, making BA's list prior to his breakout year in 2005 and for three years thereafter.

Surely we can write off Wood's numbers as a Cal League artifact and find someone to make this exercise more optimistic, right? Well, try this one on… Matt Kemp. Kemp spent his entire age-20 season in the Florida State League. Through that season, he posted  a 5% walk rate, 20% K's, and a .211 ISO in 1100+ plate appearances. Kemp was never that highly regarded as a prospect, as he managed to crack the top 100 only once. In his age-21 season he upped his walk rate considerably and made it to AAA. At the Major League level, Kemp has struck out a lot, but essentially managed a league-average walk rate to go along with good power while playing a below-average center field. Kemp is much taller than Javier Baez, of course, at 6'4", but we are letting that take a backseat here.

This is not to say that Javier Baez will follow Kemp's path and turn into an all-star. I simply wanted to find someone who produced similar outcomes at such a young age: allergic to walks, poor contact, and prodigious power, who turned out to be a good player. Along the way, I was hoping to perhaps come up with a better comp than Gary Sheffield for those of us that focus more on outcomes than appearances. I think that Desmond and Kemp work in that regard.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS VS  CHICAGO CUBS

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  1. Tommy

    I did a piece like this a few months ago, looking at only BA top 100 prospects. Not gonna spam my shit, but out of 642 hitters that ranked on BAs top 100 lists since 1990, only 77 walked as infrequently as Baez in A ball, and of those guys, only 20 or so struck out as often. The best player of that group was Preston Wilson….

    I can’t get to it at work, but if you’re interested I can filter the spreadsheet by Baez’s High-A splits and give you a list of those names, but it’s slightly better. Chris Davis is on that list for sure, but cants remember anyone else

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  2. Author
    GW

    @ Tommy:

    yeah, i was only looking through age 20, occasionally age 21 and not restricting it to top100 guys. Davis checks in at 8%, 23%, .257 in low-A ball at age 20, his first season. Through age 21, it’s 7%, 26% and .286, and he made it to AA.

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  3. Aisle424

    From Keith Law’s chat today:

    BassmanUW (Chicago)

    Was the Javier Baez call up too soon? Sure, he showed a lot better walk and strikeout rates in June, but it was just one month, and aside from one amazing game it’s not like he put it all together consistently. I get the idea of getting him out of Daytona before the inconsistent and often wet weather of the late summer there, but I still would have liked to see at least another month of continued good performance at High A before a call up.

    Klaw (1:07 PM)

    I agree with you. By the way, great FO exec quote on hearing that Baez homered in his first AA at bat: “Did they not get the scouting report?”

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  4. Aisle424

    More:

    Kyle (Bloomington)

    Thoughts on the Cubs International FA strategy of signing everyone and accepting penalties next year?

    Klaw (1:15 PM)

    Given the uncertainty in that market, and the long time to payoffs on even the best signings, the strategy has good logic behind it.

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  5. Aisle424

    More:

    Kevin (chicago)

    Is Junior Lake a guy? or just a potential utl player?

    Klaw (1:29 PM)

    A potential utility player should be able to play a couple of positions. I have seen no evidence that he can play any of them.

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  6. Aisle424

    Even more:

    Colin (Chicago)

    Think the Cubs will get a top 100 guy or two when they eventually deal Garza?

    Klaw (2:04 PM)

    I’ll guess one, but no way on two.

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  7. josh

    I agree with what someone said earlier about Garza being a potential piece to compete next year. I still think they will deal him, though. There’s a chance they don’t mean to even try to compete for two more years and that we’re jumping the gun. Maybe the 5-year plan was “build for 5 years, then start to compete.”

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  8. SVB

    I didn’t think they needed roadkill scrapers in SC since good carcasses don’t last long down there?

    Oh, I’m not scraping them, we aren’t letting them get run over a second time, because they are too hard to cook then.

    You’ll only be a short drive from Asheville, NC which probably has the highest number of breweries per capita of any city in the US. Enjoy!

    Except I’m going to be Clemson-remote. Come see me at the Beach!

    congrats. the most beautiful women on the planet hail from south carolina.

    That’ll come in handy.

    Thanks guys. I’m pretty excited to get out of PR and start something new.

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