Joshua Báez, the star prospect whom St. Louis called up Friday, made history during his MLB debut Saturday, launching home runs in his first three at-bats in the Cardinals’ 8-4 win over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
Báez became the first player in league history to hit three homers during his debut, according to MLB’s Sarah Langs, and he provided the boost the Cardinals expected when they brought up the outfielder — ranked as the organization’s No. 3 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline — for the regular season’s stretch run.
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“It’s just unreal,” the 23-year-old Báez said. “To not only get a hit, but three home runs? It’s crazy.”
His afternoon started by taking the first pitch he ever saw in the majors — a four-seam fastball from Chicago starter Matthew Boyd — 449 feet to center field.
Then, in his second at-bat, Báez waited, getting to a full count to lead off the fourth frame before sending a 77 mph changeup over the left-field fence.
That second homer already put him in the conversation for a historical debut, as he became the ninth player in MLB history to collect two homers in his debut, according to Langs.
But Báez, the Cardinals’ second-round pick in 2021 out of Dexter School in Massachusetts, kept going and took his third homer off Boyd opposite field — just tucking the homer over the fence at Wrigley Field to drive in Alec Burleson and extend St. Louis’ lead to 6-3.
“There was a calmness and a smile, like, ‘I’m here,’” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s rare for me to pick my head up to enjoy parts of it. He didn’t exactly give us an option but to actually take a step back and enjoy the heck out of what was going on there.”
With a chance at a fourth homer in the eighth, Báez lined out to left field.
Báez, just 23 years old, led Triple-A with 34 homers across 103 games with Memphis before getting called up, and he became the second player in MLB history to hit his first three homers in the same game — joining the Tigers’ Seby Zavala in July 2021.