The Cubs managed to take four of the six games on the home stand, mainly because they swept the Orioles, holding them to only four runs in the series. I must say the Orioles were not impressive for being well ahead in the AL East. On the other hand, the Giants pitching completely dominated the Cubs hitters, who continue to reach double digits in strikeouts even when they manage to eek out a couple of runs and win a ballgame.
There is an interesting article about Javier Baez that is worth a read. It poses the question whether Baez will ever become the player everyone hopes he will if he continues to display a complete lack of plate discipline. Although most people hedge on this issue and the article never really answers the question, the real problem is whether he will be considered a solid star should he ameliorate the strikeouts a little bit, certainly under the over 40% rate he has displayed to date.
In other words, lets say he becomes another Soriano, who is the most comparable hitter to whom he bears comparison to date. Soriano had a good career. He was always suspect in the field no matter where he played. In this respect, Baez is superior, as he does seem to be a better than average infielder. On the other hand, he does not have Soriano's speed on the bases.
For my money, I have to say Baez has to do better to live up to the hype, if only to be consistent with my oft-expressed distaste for Soriano as a player. The thing is, guys like Soriano rarely play for really good championship teams. Soriano's only taste of a championship caliber team came with the Yankees early in his career. He played for the two Cubs teams that were quite good teams in 2007 and 2008, but otherwise for mediocre teams that could tolerate the holes in his game because they were not going anywhere anyway.
So lets hope Baez straightens himself out and learns how to play baseball instead of just putting on a home run show.
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