MiLB Player of the Day: Jesús Báez
The Cardinal Chronicle
Minor League Player of the Day: Jesús Báez
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Jesús Báez gave Peoria something worth remembering on a night when the scoreboard did not cooperate.
Báez is The Cardinal Chronicle’s Minor League Player of the Day after hitting his 14th home run of the season Saturday night in Peoria’s 6-4 loss to the South Bend Cubs at Four Winds Field.
The home run made history.
With the swing, Báez became the Chiefs’ High-A era single-season home run record holder, breaking the mark he had tied earlier in the series. It was also his third straight game with a home run and extended his season-long hitting streak to 12 games.
That is more than a good week.
That is a player forcing his way into the conversation.
Peoria fell behind early Saturday after South Bend jumped out to a five-run lead in the first inning. The Cubs hit three home runs in the opening frame, putting the Chiefs in a difficult spot almost immediately.
But Peoria did not go away.
Tre Richardson III got the Chiefs on the board in the second inning with his 11th home run of the season. Then Báez followed in the third with a line-drive shot to center field for home run No. 14.
That swing cut into the deficit, but it also did something bigger than change the score.
It changed the record book.
Even in a loss, those moments matter. Minor league baseball is about winning games, but it is also about tracking development, growth and production that carries forward. Báez has been doing that. The power has shown up consistently, and now it has shown up in a way that gives him a place in Peoria’s High-A history.
That is not a small thing.
The Chiefs made one more push in the ninth inning, with Richardson adding an RBI double and Sammy Hernandez following with an RBI single to cut the deficit to 6-4. Peoria brought the tying run to the plate, but South Bend closed it out and clinched the Midwest League West first-half title.
So the night belonged to South Bend in the standings.
But the individual headline belonged to Báez.
Tre Richardson III deserves strong mention after homering, adding an RBI double and helping fuel the ninth-inning rally. Jeremy Rivas had two hits for Memphis, and Trey Paige homered again for Springfield.
But a record-setting home run wins the day.
Báez has been one of the hottest hitters in the Cardinals’ system, and Saturday added another layer to that run. A 12-game hitting streak. Three straight games with a home run. Fourteen home runs on the season. A new Peoria High-A era record.
That is the kind of production that cannot be ignored.
Old School Take
There are losses where you still circle a name in the box score.
Saturday night, that name was Jesús Báez.
Peoria lost the game, and South Bend celebrated the division title. That is the scoreboard.
But Báez hit his 14th home run, broke the Chiefs’ High-A era single-season record, and kept one of the best offensive runs in the Cardinals’ system moving forward.
The team lost.
The player took another step.
That is why Jesús Báez is The Cardinal Chronicle Minor League Player of the Day.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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