Baez’s ascent another Cubs success story

CHICAGO — Like many Cubs fans, actor John Cusack breaks into a sweat every time he hears Javier Baez’s name in a trade rumor. He’s had more practice than he’d like with this routine the past few years, but it is only making it sweeter to watch Baez blossom into a special player.

Cusack, a huge Chicago sports fan, was a believer in the Cubs infielder back when he was so raw that you wondered if he would develop into more than just a guy you’d want for the Home Run Derby.

At the end of the Cubs’ Hot Stove activity last offseason, Cusack was as excited that Baez was still in the organization as he was about newcomers like Jason Heyward, John Lackey and Ben Zobrist..

“My instincts say [that] could be the best non-move they could make,” Cusack, who grew up loving how Jose Cardenal always ran hard down the line, texted me. “I have a feeling he can become a superstar. When his bat explodes …”

And Cusack is right. The upside to Baez is enormous, even if he remains only a semi-regular for baseball’s winningest team. The 23-year-old from Puerto Rico (via Jacksonville, Fla.) was in the lineup at second base on Friday after coming off the bench to play third late in Thursday’s 11-inning victory over the Cardinals.

Baez’s bat still runs hot and cold, but he’s so skilled in the field and on the bases that he’s making major contributions to baseball’s best team on almost a daily basis.

It’s a blast to watch Baez play. Sometimes he even seems to amaze even himself.

Cubs manager Joe Maddon slipped Baez into Thursday’s game with a double switch in the ninth inning, when he brought in closer Aroldis Chapman in a 3-3 tie. The Cardinals’ hitters were clearly dialed up to hit the first strike they saw, because Jedd Gyorko and Greg Garcia both lined fastballs (clocked at 100 mph and 102 mph, respectively) to Baez.

Gyorko, a right-handed hitter, pulled a 105-mph rocket directly at Baez, who caught it out of self-defense. Garcia, a left-handed hitter, was late with his swing and didn’t make quite as solid contact, but the ball still came at Baez in a hurry. He grabbed it off his shoetops for the second out, then flashed a big smile to the dugout and even umpire Dan Bellino, the closest witness.

“He’s a game-changer on defense,” Maddon said earlier this month. “There has been more of a consistent approach to his game at times, better than I’d seen last year. …

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