SAN FRANCISCO — Javier Baez made it feel like the playoffs more than the 63-degree temperature at first pitch, the Halloween colors all around AT&T Park and a San Francisco Giants franchise holding auditions and playing for the future.
October is Javy Time after last year’s breakout performance, which started Game 1 with the Johnny Cueto quick pitch he drove into the Wrigley Field basket and became a blur of highlight-reel plays. The rest of the baseball world began to see what the Cubs already understood — a sixth sense for tagging, freakish range and arm strength, a fearless attitude running the bases and so much swagger.