Cardinals Rookie Homers in First Three At-Bats
Cardinals Rookie Homers in First Three At-Bats
The News
Cardinals rookie Joshua Báez hit a home run in each of his first three major league at-bats Saturday at Wrigley Field, becoming the first player in MLB history to homer three times in his debut.
St. Louis beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3.
Báez, 23, was called up Friday from Triple-A Memphis in the middle of a playoff race.
Timeline
The Cardinals promote Báez, their No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline, and option infielder César Prieto to the minors.
Báez takes the first pitch he ever sees in the majors, a four-seam fastball from Cubs starter Matthew Boyd, 449 feet to center field.
Leading off, he works a full count and sends a 77 mph changeup over the left-field fence, becoming the ninth player in MLB history with two homers in his debut, according to MLB's Sarah Langs.
He takes Boyd the other way, tucking a three-run shot just over the fence to drive in Alec Burleson and push St. Louis ahead 6-3.
With a shot at a fourth, he lines out to left.
Reactions
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, speaking Friday when the call-up was announced: "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 that are that way."
What's Next
St. Louis entered Saturday three and a half games out of the final National League wild-card spot, and Báez is expected to stay in the lineup for the stretch run. The Cardinals close their series at Wrigley on Sunday.
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Báez was a second-round pick in 2021 out of Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts. At Memphis this season he hit .256 with a .901 OPS, 34 home runs, 90 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 103 games — a Triple-A-leading home run total.
He is the second player in MLB history to hit his first three career home runs in the same game, joining Seby Zavala, who did it in July 2021, according to the New York Post.
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