Chicago Cubs' Javier Baez Goes Naked for ESPN 'Body' Issue Cover

Chicago Cubs infielder Javier Baez is also featured in The Body Issue. In fact, he was featured on the publication's very first cover to be shot with an iPhone.

"Going into this, our 9th year of producing BODY, we wanted to do something creatively that we have never done before," editor-in-chief Alison Overholt explained. "We wanted fans to have that moment of awe again where they say, 'Wow. How did they do that?'"

She continued, "We were seeing the incredible images iPhone users post on social media tagged with #shotoniphone and our team said, 'That's it. How about we do a BODY shoot on iPhone?' With Javier on board with us, this cover—and the entire shoot—turned out as beautifully as we imagined."

Photographer Dylan Coulter added, "While this was very different from any shoot I had ever done, it was both creatively challenging and rewarding, and I was incredibly impressed with the capabilities of iPhone 7 Plus."

We were seeing the incredible images iPhone users post on social media tagged with #shotoniphone and our team said, 'That’s it. How about we do a BODY shoot on iPhone?'" ESPN The Magazine editor-in-chief Alison Overholt said in a press release. "With Javier on board with us, this cover – and the entire shoot – turned out as beautifully as we imagined."

Dylan Coulter used the iPhone 7 Plus to photograph Báez in the desert an hour outside of Phoenix, Arizona. In the same release, Coulter called the experience "different from any shoot I had ever done," which seems reasonable.

The final cover image product featured Báez turned in a makeshift batting cage, bat raised. His World Series Championship bicep tattoo, including the Cubbies logo, bulges prominently.

Báez posted the coveted shot to Instagram this morning with the caption, "Every body has a story." Truly.

Past issues have included covers like then-Dallas Mavericks Amar'e Stoudemire slam-dunking a basketball in a pool (2010) and then-New Yorks Knicks Tyson Chandler standing in a strategically-lit, otherwise-dark room (2012)