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The Javier Báez renaissance is in full swing and it continued Tuesday night. Baez slugged two three-run home runs against the Boston Red Sox, including a walk-off blast down two runs in the 11th inning (DET 10, BOS 9). The win improved the Detroit Tigers to an American League best 28-15. They've won 10 of their last 13 games.

Here is Báez's two-homer night. When he's playing well, few players are as fun as El Mago.

Tuesday was Báez's second career walk-off home run. He had one with the Chicago Cubs way back on May 8, 2016, against Blake Treinen and the Washington Nationals. 

Báez also drew a walk and scored on catcher Carlos Narváez's throwing error on a pickoff play Tuesday. The big game raised his season batting line to .319/.357/.513 with five homers and 27 RBI. He's driven in 23 runs in his last 14 games. Seven weeks into 2025, Báez is performing as well as he did at his peak with the Cubs years ago.

Most impressively, Báez is doing it as a center fielder, not as a shortstop. The Tigers have three outfielders on the injured list (Parker Meadows, Wenceel Pérez, Matt Vierling) and the team had him play the outfield in spring training just to increase his versatility. He made his first career start in center on April 21, and has started 16 of 21 games in center since.

"We're here to help the team," Báez said about playing center field last month (via MLB.com). "Everybody's available to help the team. There's many times here to play different positions, and we have a lot of guys that can do it. If I can stay healthy, I'll do whatever, man. I can even catch if you need me."

The sample size is very small, but Báez does rate well defensively in center. He entered Tuesday's game with plus-4 defensive runs saved and plus-2 outs above average. Báez has plenty of athleticism and speed. The question was what would his jumps and routes look like? So far, they've looked pretty darn good.

This is Year 4 of Báez's six-year, $140 million contract. The first three years were a complete disaster. Báez hit .221/.262/.247 with 2.1 WAR those three years, including .184/.221/.294 and minus-1.1 WAR in 2024. There was even some thought the Tigers would eat the rest of his contract this winter and release him, and move on. 

The Tigers are glad they didn't do that now. Báez has been a key contributor on the league's best team, and he's playing well enough to earn All-Star Game consideration. All-Star selection is still a few weeks away though. For now, Báez is having a resurgent season after looking like a lost cause a year ago.