The St. Louis Cardinals last year has been operated with a focus on acquiring players for the future of the team.

This spring, the Cardinals have gotten their first true look of many of those promising players in Grapefruit League competition. One of the players who showed the most promise this spring saw his time with the major league roster end Monday.

St. Louis made several roster moves, including a move to option outfielder Joshua Baez to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

Baez is one of six Cardinals top 100 prospects (per MLB Pipeline) and is ranked No. 87 on the publication's list.

The 22-year-old has been one of the standout performers of spring training for St. Louis. He most recently hit a home run in a game against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday.

Baez slashed .333/.417/.762 with a 1.179 OPS and hit three home runs with five RBIs in 10 Grapefruit League games this spring. All three of his homers came in his last three games.

Baez, who was picked in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of high school, had his contract selected by St. Louis on Nov. 18, 2025. The move was done to protect Baez from the Rule 5 draft at MLB winter meetings, but various injuries and uncertainty toward's the team outfield led to some speculation Baez could play his way onto the major league roster.

One of the Cardinals projected starting outfielders, Lars Nootbaar, will likely be out for a small portion of the regular season after undergoing double heel surgery this offseason.

However, Nootbaar is expected to be the team's starting left fielder this season when he returns healthy and the organization has several other players with more experience than Baez further up on the depth chart.

Currently, FanGraphs projects Nathan Church to fill in for Nootbaar in left field, Victor Scott II to play center field and Jordan Walker to play in right.

St. Louis has also given Jose Fermin and Thomas Saggese, who are typically infielders, reps in the outfield. Both those players are currently projected to break camp on the bench, according to FanGraphs.

Baez's stint in Triple-A this season will be his first at the level. Last year, across 117 games in High-A and Double-A, Baez slashed .287/.384/.500 with an .884 OPS and hit 23 doubles, three triples and 20 home runs with 79 RBIs. He stole 54 bases in 63 opportunities.

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