Joshua Báez, that dude from the St. Louis Cardinals, wrote himself into the MLB history books in the most insane way possible on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. This guy, playing left field in his MLB debut, became the *first player ever* to smash three home runs in his first three big-league at-bats. Seriously, who does that?
Three Swings, Three Bombs, Total Chaos
Talk about making an entrance. Báez didn’t just hit a homer, he hit his first one on the very first pitch he saw in the big leagues. We’re talking a colossal 449-foot bomb, halfway up the bleachers in center field. Then he didn’t stop there. He went deep again to left field, and then, for his third at-bat, he tattooed one to right field. That’s all-fields power from a rookie making his first appearance. Unbelievable.
And get this, all three of those dingers came off Chicago Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd. You gotta wonder what Cubs manager Craig Counsell was thinking, leaving Boyd in there to face Báez a third time. The guy had already taken him deep twice in a tight 4-3 game, and Boyd was pushing 90 pitches. To add insult to injury, Boyd gave up another homer to Jordan Walker not long after Báez’s third blast. Rough day at the office for Boyd, legendary day for Báez.
History Books Got a Rewrite
This isn’t just a cool story, it’s straight-up historic. Báez is only the eighth player in baseball’s Modern Era, since 1900, to hit multiple homers in his regular-season MLB debut. He’s actually the third to do it *this season* alone, following Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter on Opening Day and Arizona’s Jose Fernandez on March 31. But Báez went a step further, and that’s the wild part. Only two other players, Bob Nieman back in 1951 with the St. Louis Browns and Keith McDonald in 2000 with the Cardinals, hit homers in their first two MLB at-bats. McDonald did it across two games, a pinch-hit on July 4th and then another on July 6th. Báez, though? All three in his first three, *in the same game*. That’s a different level of ‘wow’.
Minor League Monster Becomes Big League Beast
Honestly, though, maybe we should have seen this coming. This dude was tearing up the minor leagues before he got the call. Báez was leading all minor leaguers with a ridiculous 36 home runs, all of them coming at the Triple-A level. His slash line wasn’t too shabby either, hitting .256/.328/.573 in 103 Triple-A games. Baseball America had him ranked as the 56th-best prospect in baseball in their August rankings, calling him one of the best power-hitting prospects in the minors. No kidding, right?
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was quoted Friday saying, “There’s an edge to it. There’s a confidence to it, and he has a work ethic that’s fun to watch too. He knows how to get after it. He wants to win, and it’s fun to inject that into this clubhouse because we have a lot of guys tha…” Sounds like this guy is the real deal, on and off the field.
So, what’s next for Báez and the Cardinals? Well, if this is how he starts, baseball fans everywhere better buckle up. You can bet every pitcher in the league is going to be studying his tape, trying to figure him out. But for now, the St. Louis faithful witnessed history. You gotta feel good about injecting that kind of raw, explosive power and competitive fire into the lineup as the season pushes forward. Keep an eye on Báez, because something tells me he’s only just begun.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
Leave a Reply