Not Badd at All: Akil Baddoo’s First Week for the Ages
Full disclosure from this devout Tigers fan: I had never heard of Akil Baddoo before December 10, when Detroit made the 22-year-old outfielder the third-overall pick in MLB’s Rule 5 Draft last December.
So I did what most of us do. I looked to see if he had any cards.
He did, including 2018 Bowman Chrome, 2018 Panini Elite Extra Edition and 2019 Bowman Sterling, all when he was with the Twins.
Injuries – including Tommy John surgery on his elbow – dogged Baddoo through the 2019 season, and he never played above A-ball with the Twins.
When making the draft announcement, the Tigers touted the prospect’s athleticism and the potential upside he could be in the club’s rebuild. It cost them $100,000, with MLB’s stipulation that a player taken in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on the drafting team’s 26-man roster the entire season … or be offered back to the player’s original team, in this case the Twins, for $50,000.
So essentially, a $50,000 gamble. A drop in the bucket, all things considered.
Baddoo entered spring training wearing an offensive lineman’s #60 number on his jersey (he had worn #36 in the minors), and proceeded to play himself onto the Tigers roster with five home runs and a slash line of .310/.442/.714 in 24 games during the spring. The Tigers were going to hard-pressed not to keep him when the final big-league roster was announced, and it was no surprise that he went north.
SO CLOSE …
I almost saw Baddoo’s major league debut live at the ballpark. It was close, but didn’t happen.
I was at Saturday’s game at Comerica Park with my wife, and saw the Tigers beat the Tribe to go 2-0 on the young season. I was hoping to see Baddoo enter the game to see what the spring hype was about. And he almost did get in, walking to the on-deck circle to pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the eighth with Detroit up. The third out was recorded, however, and although he was there in plain view, Baddoo never entered the game.
But he started the next game, and slugged the first pitch he saw as a major leaguer for a home run, with family in attendance on a sunny Easter Sunday afternoon. Topps recognized the feat with a Topps Now card that sold 4,182 copies in a 24-hour period. Topps also offered autograph cards with varying degrees of numbering and colors, ranging from being #’d/99 all the way to a 1/1. Every level sold out, and the lowest priced copies ($79.99) sold out in minutes.
While the sales window was closing on that card, Baddoo started for the Tigers on Monday, April 5, against his former organization. Although Detroit lost 15-6, it was Baddoo’s grand slam late in the game that provided the lone highlight for the Tigers. By the end of his second game in the majors, Baddoo had two home runs and five RBI.
Topps produced a second Topps Now card to commemorate the grand slam selling 3,890 in 24 hours.
On Tuesday April 6, Baddoo entered the game late and, in the bottom of the 10th, lined a single to right to drive in the winning run. That meant a third consecutive Topps NOW card and a second round of autographs … all 378 that sold out with more than 20 hours left in the buying window.
And then Wednesday, he gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the second inning with a line-drive RBI-triple to right-center field. He later picked up an outfield assist in left field when he threw out Andrelton Simmons trying to stretch a single into a double. Despite having never played above high-A ball, Baddoo has looked comfortable and not overmatched. He was a second-round pick of the Twins in 2016, out of Salem High School in Conyers, Ga., so he never had college game experience, either.
That’s what has made his first week’s performance – however long it lasts – so fun to watch. We know the game is littered with fast starts and notable storylines that play out in the first week of any new season, only to see those players and their stories fade away.
Yet no matter how the Akil Baddoo story plays out, he’s had one of the greatest – if not THE greatest – four-game starts in major league history. And so far that’s been worth three straight Topps Now cards and a sellout of 756 autographs. With more coming in later products.
What a week.
I’ll still take Trevor Story’s 6 homers in his first 4 games in the majors over this guy.