Joshua Báez Named Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day
The Cardinal Chronicle
Joshua Báez Named Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Joshua Báez did not need a three-hit night to own Friday’s spotlight.
Sometimes one swing carries the weight of the whole box score.
Báez went 1-for-4 with 473-foot grand slam and a walk as the Memphis Redbirds outlasted the Iowa Cubs, 10-9, Friday night at AutoZone Park. For that big swing, Báez is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Player of the Day.
His home run was his 29th of the season, and it pushed his RBI total to 73. That is serious middle-of-the-order production, and on a night when Memphis needed every run it could find, Báez delivered the biggest blow.
The Redbirds trailed early, answered with a five-run third inning, fell behind again, and kept fighting back until they walked it off in the ninth. It was not a clean game. It was not a quiet game. But it was the kind of game where run producers matter, and Báez gave Memphis exactly that.
His four RBIs were the difference in a one-run win.
Báez also drew a walk, and Iowa later chose to intentionally walk him. That tells its own story. When a hitter has that kind of power sitting in the box, opposing managers start doing the math very carefully.
Memphis had several offensive contributors. César Prieto went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a walk. Thomas Saggese reached base four times, scored twice and stole two bases. Ramon Mendoza added a triple, two RBIs and two walks.
Peoria’s Ian Petrutz also made a strong case with a double, a home run and two RBIs in the Chiefs’ 9-3 win at South Bend. Jesús Báez had a good night for Springfield, going 2-for-5 with his eighth home run and two RBIs.
But Friday belonged to Joshua Báez.
Twenty-nine home runs. Seventy-three RBIs. A four-RBI night in a 10-9 Memphis win.
The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day: Joshua Báez, OF, Memphis Redbirds.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Joshua Báez, Memphis Redbirds | St. Louis Cardinals