Javy Báez’s best night for Tigers had him looking like Mike Trout in center field

"Javier Báez hit a grand slam against the Astros and might be good now" are not words that Tigers fans have ever thought they would say, but "Javier Báez hit another homer and made a stunning play in center field against the Angels" might have them beat.

Báez has had a shockingly good start to the season, and some fans are already claiming that they've believed in him all along. While this has to be patently untrue, because Báez never once gave fans reason to believe he was going to turn into El Mago again in his first three seasons in Detroit, even the most fervent Báez hater has to admit that he's actually been contributing this season.

On a team full of young players, he easily could've played the veteran diva and refused to let go of his spot at shortstop. Instead, he took the move to center field gracefully and has even looked surprisingly good out there.

On Friday night, with the Tigers down by two in the bottom of the fifth, Jorge Soler hit a nuke off of Casey Mize after already getting to Mize in the bottom of the third, when he belted a two-run homer to give the Angels the lead. The second traveled 391 feet and looked like it was going to be out of the park.

Instead, there was Báez, reaching up in a full extension, perfectly timed, to snatch the ball and end the inning for Mize. It was eerily similar to plays that Angels living legend, Mike Trout, made in his prime.

Javy Báez blasts another home run then robs a homer against Angels in Tigers' 10-4 victory

Báez also hit his second homer of the season in the top of the third against Yusei Kikuchi, matching Logan O'Hoppe's go-ahead solo home run off of Mize. Gleyber Torres followed Báez with another homer to give Detroit the lead, which was then spoiled by Soler in the third. The Angels extended their lead to with an RBI single for Kevin Newman, but the Tigers' offense was unleashed in the top of the eighth.

Andy Ibáñez and Zach McKinstry (now on a 10-game hitting streak) both knocked in a run apiece, and then Dillon Dingler broke it open with a three-run go-ahead homer. Ibáñez added another RBI to his tally in the top of the ninth, and then Spencer Torkelson decided to kick the Angels when they were down with a two-run homer of his own to put the Tigers' first 10-run game of the season in the books.

Again, it'd be going way too far to say anything like "Javy Báez is so back," but the early returns have certainly given fans some reason to believe that he actually might not be a daily reminder of one of the front office's biggest whiffs of all time.