MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Joshua Báez, a dynamic outfield prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, packed a punch Tuesday evening with a rare four-home run game for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.
Báez enjoyed a three-run blast in the first inning, a two-run homer in the third inning and two solo shots in the 5th and 8th innings. He drove in seven RBI on his 4 home runs in Memphis’ 12-5 win over the Nashville Sounds.
Báez becomes the first player with a four-homer game in the minor leagues this season and one of just six to accomplish that at the minor league level over the last decade. There have been 116 instances of a minor-league four-homer game dating back to 1889, according to Baseball Reference, so on average, that happens less than once a year.
At the Major League level, where competition is considerably tougher, a four-homer game is even more rare, only accomplished by only 21 players ever. Last season, however, three Major League stars enjoyed four-homer nights: Kyle Schwarber, Nick Kurtz and Eugenio Suarez.
The standout night improves Báez to 23 homer runs and 58 RBI with a .282 batting average and .976 on-base-plus-slugging percentage at Triple-A Memphis this season. He is currently ranked as MLB Pipeline’s 65th best baseball prospect and third-best in the Cardinals’ farm system.
With his numbers and pedigree, one might think Báez is knocking on the door of his Major League debut. He has certainly built a strong case for a promotion soon. The trickiest part for the Cardinals, perhaps, is figuring out how to get him regular opportunities in an outfield that features Jordan Walker and Lars Nootbaar regularly at the corners.
Báez could theoretically see some frequent or semi-frequent opportunities at designated hitter or centerfield, but with either – especially the defensive learning curve of centerfield – there’s a fine balance the Cardinals must walk to prioritize him in immediate future and long-term future plans.
That said, if the Cardinals want a hot bat deeper into the season for a surprise playoff push, Báez’s production at Triple-A simply cannot be ignored. A callup only makes plenty of sense for the youth-driven Cardinals, but a lot of that decision will depend on if there’s a path for regular opportunities. For now, it’s wait and see.
The St. Louis Cardinals improved to 40-31 with back-to-back wins over the San Diego Padres to start a brief homestand and have a chance to complete a sweep and move to an elusive 10 games over .500 on Wednesday.