The Killer Bs:Turn Cardinals Farm System Into a Home Run Race
The Cardinal Chronicle
The Killer Bs:Turn Cardinals Farm System Into a Home Run Race
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur
Two Báezes, two levels and just three home runs separating the most prolific power hitters in the Cardinals minor league system.
The St. Louis Cardinals have themselves a home run race down on the farm, and appropriately enough, it belongs to the Killer Bs.
Joshua Báez and Jesús Báez have spent the 2026 season punishing minor league pitching at Triple-A Memphis and Double-A Springfield, respectively. With the season moving into its final stretch, only three home runs separate the two.
Joshua Báez leads with 33. Jesús Báez is right behind him with 30.
Different players. Different levels. Different offensive profiles.
Same last name. Same organization. And a whole lot of baseballs disappearing over outfield walls.
The Killer Bs by the Numbers
Joshua Báez has played 101 games for Memphis, batting .254 with an .895 OPS, 22 doubles, three triples, 33 home runs and 87 RBI. He has also stolen 20 bases, reinforcing what has made his season so intriguing.
This is not merely a big slugger running into home runs. This is a genuine power-speed season.
Joshua Báez, AAA: 101 games, 33 home runs, 87 RBI, .254 average, .895 OPS, 20 stolen bases.
Jesús Báez, AA: 89 games, 30 home runs, 80 RBI, .260 average, .866 OPS, six stolen bases.
Jesús, meanwhile, has been every bit as dangerous at Springfield.
Through 89 games, he is batting .260 with an .866 OPS, adding 16 doubles, 30 home runs and 80 RBI.
And here is where the race becomes particularly interesting.
Although Joshua owns the three-homer lead, Jesús has actually homered at a slightly faster rate.
Joshua has hit one home run approximately every 12.2 at-bats.
Jesús has gone deep approximately once every 11.9 at-bats.
So this thing is not over.
Not even close.
Joshua’s March Toward 40
Joshua Báez has already made 2026 his breakout season.
Thirty-three home runs, 87 RBI and 20 stolen bases from a 23-year-old outfielder at Triple-A will get your attention.
The power has always been part of the scouting report. The question was whether Báez could translate those considerable physical tools into consistent production as he climbed the organizational ladder.
This season, he has answered that question emphatically.
The strikeouts remain part of the profile — 133 in 402 at-bats — and they remain something he will have to manage against major league pitching. But when Báez connects, few players in the Cardinals organization can match the damage.
He is now seven home runs away from 40.
That is rare territory in any minor league season, and it gives every remaining Memphis game a little more meaning.
Don’t Forget About Jesús
Then there is the other Báez.
Jesús may not have received quite the same attention nationally, but his 2026 season deserves plenty of it.
Thirty home runs in only 89 games from a Double-A shortstop is eye-opening by itself.
But perhaps the most encouraging number on his line is not the 30 home runs.
It is 63 strikeouts in 358 at-bats.
Compare that with Joshua’s 133 strikeouts in 402 at-bats, and you begin to see two very different offensive approaches producing remarkably similar power numbers.
Jesús has combined his power with considerably more contact. His .260 average edges Joshua’s .254, while his .866 OPS trails Joshua’s .895 by only 29 points.
And he is doing it while playing shortstop.
That combination of position, power and contact makes Jesús one of the more intriguing position players in the Cardinals system.
63 Home Runs — and Counting
Together, the Killer Bs have produced:
63 home runs.
167 RBI.
142 runs scored.
38 doubles.
26 stolen bases.
That is serious production from two players who entered the season at different stages of their development.
And now they are racing each other.
There is not a trophy waiting for whichever Báez finishes with the organizational home run crown. There will not be champagne sprayed in the clubhouse.
But there is something worth appreciating here.
For an organization that has spent considerable time rebuilding the depth and impact talent in its minor league system, two young hitters battling for the home run lead with more than 60 bombs between them is exactly the kind of development the Cardinals needed to see.
Who Wins the Race?
Joshua has the lead.
Jesús has the slightly better home run pace.
Joshua has the Triple-A experience and the 20 stolen bases.
Jesús has the lower strikeout rate and is producing his power while playing in Double-A.
Trying to pick a winner might be missing the point.
The Cardinals already won this one.
One Báez reaching 30 home runs would have represented an outstanding season.
Having two of them do it — with enough baseball remaining for both to add substantially to those totals — is something else entirely.
Joshua Báez and Jesús Báez.
The Killer Bs.
And for the final weeks of the minor league season, Cardinals fans have themselves a home run race worth following.
The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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