Rozner: Cubs' Baez comes out swinging

What it boils down to is a lack of respect.

When some of us talk about Javy Baez, we think in terms of the incredible athletic ability, the extraordinary natural talent, the great instincts and — above all else — the excitement he provides on a baseball field.

What he doesn't get enough credit for is the hard work he puts in and his ability to make adjustments.

In other words, Javy Baez is a smart baseball player and he should get more credit for that.

So when we thought about the likely regression in 2019 — nolo contendere — the assumption was that Baez would continue to swing as he did the final month of last season, trying to pull everything and hit 500-foot home runs, caught up in an MVP battle amid a crazy September pennant race.

In defense of Baez, the lineup had gone ice cold and if he wasn't hitting the ball out, the Cubs were struggling to score. He fell victim to the MVP chants and his teammates' inability to support his cause.

Baez went fishing for everything that was thrown and tried to yank everything away. He had a rough September and Christian Yelich went on an insane run, stealing the MVP in the final two weeks of the 2018 season.

When Milwaukee went 8-0 and chased down the Cubs, catching them and eventually winning Game 163 at Wrigley Field, Baez was getting nothing to hit and the Cubs were feeling the strain of the chase.

In the final week of the season, Baez had no homers, 1 RBI, 11 whiffs in 8 games and a .607 OPS, while Yelich hit 5 homers and drove in 17 runs over his last 8 games with an absurd 1.857 OPS.

“I learned a lot about to handle all of that and I think I would do a better job next time,” Baez said in January. “I think controlling myself a little bit better in the situation, I would go way further. I'm making adjustments.”

But few believed it and counted Baez among the possible MVP candidates in 2019.

“Can I do it again? Oh yeah, for sure,” Baez said at the Cubs Convention. “I believe I can have a way better year than last year.”

So far he's on track, having made the adjustments he said he would make.

Last April, Baez posted a .963 OPS — his best OPS month of 2018 — with a .280 batting average, 7 homers, 26 RBI and 18 extra basehits.

After an ugly 0-for-6 Sunday in Arizona, in which he looked more like the September version, Baez nevertheless has a .996 OPS — his best OPS in any month of his career — with a .315 batting average, 9 homers, 22 RBI and 16 extra basehits, with a game left to play in April, Tuesday night in Seattle.

Strikeouts to walks are 31-7, as opposed to 24-6 last April, but that's Baez and that's one thing that's never likely to change.

His 1.8 WAR is second among major league shortstops (Paul DeJong), and there still isn't enough value placed on what he accomplishes in the field or on the bases.

He's Top 10 in the league in virtually every offensive category.

Perhaps most impressive, Baez is hitting the ball the other way more than at any time in his career, and has one of the highest slugging percentages in the game hitting it to the opposite field.

That's the adjustment.

If he keeps doing that, he's got a chance to be in the MVP conversation again and it will go a long way toward keeping the Cubs competitive while they wait for the rest of the lineup to catch up.

Still you have to be impressed with the way Baez has begun the 2019 campaign, playing shortstop, running the bases and hitting just as well as he did a year ago, and in some ways better.

Simply put, the man deserves some respect.