The St. Louis Cardinals’ NO. 3 prospect Joshua Báez couldn’t have had a better tribute for his late father on Tuesday. Báez’s father, José Manuel, was a baseball and softball player and was the main strength behind Báez in taking up the sport as a profession. Tuesday was his third death anniversary, and the most Báez could have done was put in a good performance. He preferred to be great and scored 4 dingers for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.
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After the game, Báez got emotional, recalling his dad in the historic night.
“I was just feeling him the whole time,” People.com quoted Báez, 22. “I think that he guided me today to be able to do that.”
The Cardinals’ No. 3 prospect connected for a moonshot in the first inning when he scored a three-run homer off the Nashville Sounds’ Brett Wichrowski. A nasty slider met with a 108.2 mph exit velocity resulted in a shot over the fence. In his next at-bat, a 408-foot laser went over the centerfield off a fastball by the same pitcher. The pitch was well above the strike zone, but it didn’t matter for Báez.
His third came in the fifth when a solo hit went over the fence off a slider by Kaleb Bowman. The last one was in the eighth inning, totaling 1,510 feet of home runs on Tuesday. You are not alone if you feel it is insane. “He hit that one to the stars,” Memphis broadcaster Alex Coil said. “He hit that one to his dad.”
“It’s not about me at all,” he added, “but hinting at some supernatural presence, hitting the ball past the moon and Mars, the meteoric rise, that home run, that swing and how he watched it off the bat, all of it, it was really cool to see.” According to MLB.com, a four-homer night made Báez the 14th minor leaguer since 2005 to do so. For the Redbirds, he is the first.
The best moment in Báez’s career came on a night he never expected to experience. “Today was just really emotional,” Báez said. “I was just trying to push through, and it’s just insane I was able to hit four home runs in one night.” “It’s very emotional,” Báez’s mother, Yris, agreed. “I knew he was here with him from the sky down. He was able to give him the strength. I could feel it through the whole night.”
Báez had his best career season last year when he finished with 20 HRs. This year, he already surpassed that, standing with 23 HRs so far. It may be just about time that the Cardinals call up their hot performer.
The Cardinals may not rush with Joshua Báez
The Cardinals are currently second in the NL Central with a 40-31 record. The team ranks 13th in terms of average (.245) and 15th in terms of total runs (326). So, maybe they don’t have the sudden need to promote Báez, but if the divisional rivalry gets intense in the late season, a promotion would be on the cards.
“I’m in Memphis,” Joshua Báez said. “I’d rather be nowhere else right now, because the team needs me. We’re in a playoff push, and that’s exactly what I’m trying to do.” While he is focused on Memphis’ playoff push, his current .282/.345/.631 slashline offers a great value for the Cardinals. However, Báez’s higher strikeouts could pose a hurdle in his promotion.
Currently, Báez’s strikeout % stands at 31% and 7 BB%. This would be something a deal-breaker for the Cardinals. According to MLB insider Gabe Simonds, a batter with a 30%+ SO rate would not be productive enough despite his insane power-hitting. It would be better for the Cardinals to wait with their top prospect and develop him further for a better MLB debut, maybe the next year.
