Chicago Cubs: Javy Baez, Willson Contreras are exactly what baseball needs

Chicago Cubs Javier Baez and Willson Contreras were named All-Star starters for the 2019 MLB All-Star Game. Here’s why together and separately, they’re exactly what MLB needs.

For the first time in the history of Major League Baseball, the game will be played on the continent of Europe this weekend when the Boston Red Sox “host” the New York Yankees in London, England.

It’s perhaps one of the biggest indicators of just how global the sport of baseball has become. MLB has already played regular season games in Japan, Australia and Mexico. But despite MLB International’s headquarters being situated in London, it’s the first time that an MLB game will take place on the other side of the pond.

To be frank, it’s not really a surprise that MLB hasn’t set foot on a diamond in Europe before. Though there’s no doubt at the very least a small scattering of fans throughout the continent, baseball’s biggest fans outside of the United States reside in East Asia, the Caribbean, Central and South America.

Nearly 30 percent of current MLB players are Latin-born, including Javier Baez (Puerto Rico) and Willson Contreras (Venezuela) of the Chicago Cubs.

Major League Baseball has done a wonderful job of establishing itself deep in the culture of Latin countries, and it’s shown by just how many Latinos take the field each day.

The makeup of the game is just one more way that baseball is truly America’s national pastime. Roughly 18 percent of people living in the United States are Hispanic. Studies estimate that that figure will grow to roughly 30 percent by 2060.

So it’s pretty perfect that 25 percent of the NL All-Star Game starters are Cubs players born in Venezuela and Puerto Rico.

Baez and Contreras have come to embody Major League Baseball in 2019. They’re fun, they’re animated and they play the game with every bit of their heart. It’s what fans want to see…unless they’re not on your team.

Fans want to see Baez wagging his finger at Yasiel Puig. Or Jon Lester losing his head at Joe West. Fans want excitement, passion and personality more than ever.

It’s exactly why Baez and Contreras are exactly what baseball needs now. They’re human highlight reels who regularly leave even the most casual fan in awe at the next superhuman thing that they do each week.

Baseball won’t be saved by a stoic Ron Swanson who comes to work every day and casually does his job while showing little emotion. It will be saved by the Leslie Knopes, the passionate players who challenge how the game is played and what is allowed.

Four years after the MLB labor strike of 1998, baseball was revitalized by a great home run race full of excitement between two big personalities. Twenty years later, baseball is in dire need of another renaissance.

Thankfully, there’s guys like Baez and Contreras taking the field each day and leaving fans wondering what’s going to happen next.

Get used to it, baseball fans. Players like Baez and Contreras are the future of baseball.

And baseball couldn’t be luckier.