The Wait Is Over: Joshua Báez Is Headed to St. Louis

The Cardinal Chronicle
The Wait Is Over: Joshua Báez Is Headed to St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The wait is over.

After months of watching one of the most powerful bats in the organization punish Triple-A pitching, the St. Louis Cardinals are calling up outfielder Joshua Báez from the Memphis Redbirds, according to reports Friday afternoon.

For Báez, it will be his first opportunity in the Major Leagues.

For the Cardinals, it should be much more than simply rewarding a prospect for a tremendous season.

It is time to find out what Joshua Báez can do against Major League pitching.

And he has certainly earned the opportunity.

Báez leaves Memphis hitting .256 with a .901 OPS, 34 home runs, 90 RBIs, 79 runs scored and 21 stolen bases.

Those aren't numbers that require much interpretation.

Thirty-four home runs and 21 stolen bases represent the kind of power-speed combination the Cardinals simply do not have in abundance, and Báez has accomplished it as a 23-year-old facing Triple-A competition.

Even more encouraging has been the way he has responded throughout the season.

There have been hot streaks. There have been stretches when the swing-and-miss resurfaced. There have been adjustments, counter-adjustments and plenty of reminders that Báez remains a developing hitter.

But every time his season appeared to be leveling off, he found another gear.

Just Thursday night, Báez launched his 34th home run of the season, providing Memphis with its first run in a 3-2 extra-inning loss at Durham.

One day later, the call every prospect dreams about finally came.

From Raw Power to Major League Opportunity
The Cardinals selected Báez in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft with the 54th overall pick.

From the beginning, nobody questioned the tools.

At 6-foot-3 and approximately 220 pounds, Báez possessed tremendous raw power, a strong throwing arm and enough athleticism to offer intriguing upside in the outfield.

The question was whether he would make enough contact to allow those tools to play consistently.

That question hasn't completely disappeared.

Nor should anyone pretend it has.

Báez will strike out in the Major Leagues. He will chase pitches he shouldn't. There will be nights when experienced pitchers exploit holes in his approach that Triple-A pitchers couldn't.

That's baseball.

The important thing is that Báez has made enough progress for the Cardinals to determine that the next stage of his development belongs against Major League competition.

There comes a point when Triple-A can teach only so much.

Báez has reached that point.

A Season That Became Impossible to Ignore
Báez's 2026 season has included one of the most memorable performances in Memphis Redbirds history.

On June 16, the anniversary of the death of his father, José Manuel Báez, Joshua hit four home runs in one game, becoming the first player in Redbirds history to accomplish the feat.

It was an extraordinary baseball performance wrapped inside an emotional family story.

And it became the centerpiece of a season in which Báez transformed himself from an intriguing prospect with enormous raw power into a player knocking loudly on the Major League door.

Now that door is opening.

The Nootbaar Trade Created the Opportunity
The Cardinals' decision to trade Lars Nootbaar to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline changed the equation.

Suddenly, there was an opening in the St. Louis outfield.

The Cardinals initially chose not to immediately fill that opening with Báez, allowing him to remain in Memphis while managing the timing of his promotion.

That patience was understandable.

But once Báez continued producing and the calendar moved deeper into August, there wasn't much left to accomplish by keeping him in Triple-A.

The Cardinals can also potentially preserve Báez's rookie eligibility for 2027, provided he remains within Major League Baseball's limits on at-bats and active-roster days.

That's good roster management.

But now that he's coming, the emphasis needs to change.

Don't Call Him Up to Sit
This is the most important part.

Play him.

Don't call Joshua Báez to St. Louis so he can get three starts a week and spend the rest of his time watching Major League baseball from the dugout.

Put him in the lineup.

Give him meaningful at-bats.

Let him face right-handers. Let him face left-handers. Let him see velocity. Let him see Major League breaking stuff. Let him experience the adjustments pitchers will immediately make against him.

And when he struggles — because virtually every young hitter does — resist the temptation to pull the plug after a bad week.

The Cardinals aren't bringing up a finished product.

They're bringing up a talented 23-year-old with 34 home runs, 90 RBIs and 21 stolen bases who has earned the chance to take the next step.

The objective over the remaining weeks shouldn't simply be squeezing a few extra victories out of Báez's bat.

It should be learning something.

Can the power translate?

Can he control the strike zone well enough?

Can he make the necessary adjustments after Major League pitchers identify weaknesses?

Where does he fit defensively?

And perhaps most importantly:

Can Joshua Báez establish himself as an everyday piece of the Cardinals' 2027 lineup?

Those questions can no longer be answered in Memphis.

Another Piece of the Next Cardinals Core
The Cardinals have spent much of 2026 talking about transition, development and building the next sustainable contender.

Eventually, those words have to turn into Major League opportunities.

Báez represents another step in that process.

Jordan Walker is already there.

JJ Wetherholt has arrived.

Other highly regarded prospects are moving through the farm system behind them.

And now one of the organization's biggest power bats is getting his opportunity.

Nobody should expect Báez to arrive and immediately become a finished middle-of-the-order Major League hitter.

That's unfair to the player and unrealistic about the difficulty of the jump from Triple-A.

But Cardinals fans should be excited about what he represents.

Power.

Youth.

Athleticism.

Upside.

And something that has occasionally been in short supply around Busch Stadium:the possibility that every swing could change the game.

The Cardinals have spent long enough wondering what Joshua Báez might eventually become.

Beginning now, they get to start finding out.

Welcome to St. Louis, Joshua Báez.

The next chapter begins in the Major Leagues.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
Preserving the Past, Promoting the Present, and Projecting the Future.

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Photo Credit: Joshua Báez, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB