During the first half of the season, Detroit Tigers slugger Javy Baez was playing well. He made the move to the outfield and held things down. He also held a 2.2 bWAR ahead of the All-Star break, which led to him being an All-Star for the first time since the 2019 season.
However, things would start to take a turn for the worse, both for the Baez and the Tigers. He has shied away from being the player he was in the first half, and Detroit has lost its comfortable lead in the AL Central, and now has its back against the wall.
The blame does not solely get directed at Baez, but he is part of the reason the club has lost its luster. He has struggled at the plate the last few months and erased a quality first half of the season.
Tigers' Javy Baez tagged as American League's 'Least Valuable Player'
With the regular season coming to a close soon, The Athletic's Jayson Stark came out with a list of his season awards. Outside of the regular awards like MVP and Cy Young, Stark also puts together awards like the "Cy Yuk Award' and the AL and NL " Least Valuable Player," in which Stark tags Baez.
"That's when it hit me: All-Star Game starter Javy has turned into Perennial LVP candidate Javy right before our eyes. And hard as I tried, I was unable to look the other way."
Stark goes on to mention the tough stretch Baez has been on at the plate. His last home run, which came on August 2nd, was nearly two months ago, and he has not hit an RBI since August 15th.
Outside of Baez, other players in the running included Tyler O'Neill of the Baltimore Orioles and Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox. On the NL side of things, Stark points to a combination of Marcell Ozuna, Ozzie Albies, and Michael Harris II.