2/15/2023 0 Comments Chicago cubs shortstop![]() His experience coaching them, including Cleveland Indians catcher Roberto Perez, helped Clark - and by extension the Cubs - understand Baez’s shy and quiet off-the-field personality. Clark was previously the head coach at Lake City Community College in Florida where he worked with numerous Puerto Rican players. Clark’s understanding of Baez and his Puerto Rican background made Wilken feel it wasn’t a risky pick. However, he felt any perceptions that Baez had a gunslinger style of play were unfair. Wilken knew there might be some doubters outside the organization. “I’m in, we’re going to take this guy,” Wilken recalled telling Tom Clark, the Cubs’ northeast area scout, afterward. A mammoth home run in the Athletic Coaches Association All-Star Game in Sebring, Fla., and a brief conversation he had with Baez after sealed the decision. ![]() “But I don’t think the scouting community really knew how good of a baseball player Javy was and I don’t think he ever got the credit for it because he had some tools that were eye opening.”Ībout 10 days before the 2011 MLB draft, Wilken knew he wanted to pick Baez. “(Baez) had this real wild but huge swing and monster power, great arm and there were a lot of things he did very well,” Wilken said last week. Tim Wilken, then the Cubs director of amateur scouting, saw Baez for his upside rather than the risks that came with his potential flaws.
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