Joshua Báez, who electrified the baseball world back on Aug. 15 by homering in his first three MLB at bats, was removed from Wednesday's game because of tightness in his left side. The 23-year-old slugger was taken for an MRI after the game to check for structural damage.
The St. Louis Cardinals are hopeful that an MLB season that started with three big bangs from electrifying slugger Joshua Báez doesn’t end prematurely because of injury.
Báez, who opened his MLB career by homering in his first three at bats on Aug. 15, was removed from Wednesday’s game in the bottom of the eighth inning because of tightness in his left side, Cardinals’ manager Oliver Marmol said after the game. The San Francisco Giants got a two-run homer from Drew Gilbert on the first pitch of the 10th inning and held on to beat the Cardinals 6-5 in the finale of the three-game series at Busch Stadium.
Báez, 23, was taken for a magnetic resonance imaging test after the game to determine if he suffered any structural damage in his ribcage or oblique areas – injuries that would likely end his first season in the big leagues well before the scheduled regular-season finale on Sept. 27 in Milwaukee. Until there is a firm diagnosis, the Cardinals are listing the first-year player as day-to-day.
The 6-foot-3, 225-pound Báez got the start in left field on Wednesday, and he went 0 for 4 with four fly outs before being replaced by Bryan Torres in the 10th inning. Torres walked in the 10th as the Cardinals loaded the bases, got within 6-5 on a sacrifice fly by Thomas Saggese and saw the game end when Nathan Church lined out to right field with the potential tying run at third base.
Báez, who hit 34 homers at Triple-A Memphis prior to being promoted on Aug. 15, sent a jolt through the baseball world by smacking home runs in the first three at bats of his career at Wrigley Field. He hit the first pitch he ever saw in the big leagues for a long homer to center field, battled back from an 0-2 count and drilled a line-drive homer into the bleachers in left and went the other way for an opposite-field long ball to do something no player in MLB history has ever accomplished.
Báez, a second-round pick in 2021, struggled badly in his first three professional seasons before making huge strides in 2025 while thriving with High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. Earlier this season at Triple-A, Baez posted a .901 OPS in 103 games while smacking 22 doubles and walking 37 times to go along with his 34 homers and 90 RBI.
In 29 games with the Cardinals, Báez has hit .230 (23 for 100) with seven doubles, seven homers and 18 RBI. While the Cardinals have some concerns about his 33 strikeouts in 108 plate appearances, it is the four walks that is more alarming. His lack of patience at the plate has led to his .278 on-base percentage and his OPS dropping to .788.
“He’s confident in what he knows, but he likes having conversations about what he doesn’t (know),” Marmol raved. “You can have a real conversation with him and he loves talking baseball. He loves to compete, he doesn’t scare and he’s going to be really good.”
