Javier Báez benched: Tigers shortstop pulled from game after forgetting how many outs left in inning

Báez was doubled off second base by the Blue Jays

Javier Báez's second season with the Detroit Tigers is not going any better than his first. Thursday night, the shortstop was pulled from Detroit's game against the Toronto Blue Jays (DET 3, TOR 1) in the second inning after forgetting how many outs there were, and getting doubled off second base on a fly ball to center.

Báez was on second base after doubling earlier in the inning. He watched the flight of the ball at home plate and was slow getting out of the box, apparently believing he'd hit a home run, but the ball hit the top of the wall. A batter later, he forgot to go back to second on Akil Baddoo's lineout. Here is Báez forgetting the number of outs in the inning while at second base:

Javier Báez got a late start out of the box watching his drive to LF that hit off the top of the wall for a double. Then he apparently forgot how many outs there were on Akil Baddoo's fly out to CF, resulting in an inning-ending 8-4 double play. The baserunning mishaps continue. pic.twitter.com/JJCDKWMiGk

— Jason Beck (@beckjason) April 13, 2023

Following the inning, Tigers manager A.J. Hinch called Báez into the tunnel behind the dugout and briefly discussed something with him. Jonathan Schoop came out to play defense in Báez's place in the next inning.

"It's not really even all about Javy. I think if you watch the last couple series, we've made a number of mental mistakes," Hinch said after the game. "The one thing we can control is our preparedness and our readiness. Javy happened to be the runner that made the big mistake where I made the move, but it's a message to our whole team that we've got to clean that up."

This is not the first time Báez has been pulled from a game for forgetting the number of outs in the inning. While with the Chicago Cubs on June 21, 2021, Báez was pulled by manager David Ross after getting doubled off first base because he thought there were two outs when a fly ball was lifted to left field. Báez just put his head down and kept running.

"We just got to make sure we're focused and locked in during the game," Ross told the Chicago Sun-Times after the game. "Sometimes our frustrations can distract us a little bit. We had a good conversation, I think that's behind us. Javy's really important to this team and he's a leader on this team and sets a good example every time he's on the field."  

The Tigers gave Báez a six-year, $140 million contract last offseason. He hit .238/.278/.393 with several lapses on the field and on the bases in 2022, and took a .100/.163/.100 batting line into Thursday's game.