Among all qualified hitters in 2020, only one posted a wOBA lower than Javier Baez‘s .257 and only two had wRC+ tallies lower than Javy’s 57. Gold Glove defense offset overall offensive production FanGraphs scored as the worst in MLB to buoy the shortstop’s performance to a 0.0 fWAR. The stats tell us Báez was, at best, a replacement-level player.
But stats don’t always tell the whole story, which is certainly the case here. I don’t mean that Javy’s anemic numbers were some kind of mirage and that he actually had an okay season at the plate.