St Louis Cardinals rookie Joshua Baez made quite the impression as he wrote himself into the MLB history books on his debut in the majors.
Baez, the star prospect whom St. Louis called up Friday, left fans amazed when he went on an insane home-run blitz during the Cardinals’ 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday.
The 23-year-old became the first player to hit a home run in each of his first three at-bats in the majors.
To add to the surreal debut, the left fielder smashed the first pitch he ever saw in the majors about 450 feet for his first homer of the game – and his major-league career.
He flashed a grin to the St. Louis dugout as he began his home run trot. But the smiles did not end there.
His next at-bat ended with a solo shot down the left-field line and the third, on his ensuing at-bat, went the opposite way, giving him five RBIs.
St Louis Cardinals rookie Joshua Baez made quite the impression on his MLB debut
The 23-year-old became the first player to hit a home run in each of his first three at-bats
The rookie hugs his mother Yris on the field following his historic debut performance
Major League Baseball said Baez was the first player in modern baseball history to hit three home runs in his debut. The league cannot say with certainty whether the feat happened before 1901 due to a lack of game logs.
‘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.’
Called up from Triple-A Memphis before the game, Baez had 30 members of his family in attendance at Wrigley Field. The traveling party, which included his mother, Yris, gathered on the field for photos afterward in spite of rain.
‘It’s just unreal,’ Baez said. ‘To not only get a hit, but three home runs? It’s crazy.’
Baez showed plenty of power in the minors this season. When he was called up, he was leading all Triple-A hitters with 34 home runs, including four multihomer games.
He’s the ninth player to make his major league debut for the Cardinals this season.
Báez also is the 11th St. Louis player to homer in his first career at-bat (the last was Lane Thomas in 2019) and sixth in club history to homer on the first pitch. Former pitcher Adam Wainwright last did it in 2006.
‘He hit three different pitches for home runs. He had a great game. He beat us for sure,’ Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
