Joshua Baez had a strong overall season with the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. Now, he’ll look to stick on the Cardinals’ big-league roster, as the club will promote him for his MLB debut on August 15.

A Look at Baez

It’s taken some time for Joshua Baez to develop into an MLB-ready talent. The Cardinals made Baez a second-round pick in 2021 out of Dexter Southfield in Brookline, Massachusetts, just outside the city of Boston. However, it took him until 2024 to get out of Low-A, and 2025 to get to Double-A.

Baez didn’t put up wildly terrific offensive numbers before the 2025 season. He slashed .218/.341/.383 with seven home runs and 31 extra-base hits three seasons ago in Palm Beach, and then slashed .225/.306/.388 over 71 games with Peoria. But then, things turned for him in 2025.

After he hit .317 with the Chiefs over 38 games, Baez hit 16 home runs and stole 34 bases for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. He also cut down on the strikeouts, posted a very respectable swing-and-miss rate, and elevated on pitches with consistency. All of that led up to what was a very good 2026 with Triple-A Memphis.

Baez left the International League with 34 home runs over 103 games, leading all players in Triple-A. Overall, he slashed .256/.328/.573, and the 23-year-old also tallied 21 steals for the club.

It’s legitimate above-average power, and Baez had a knack for drilling not just balls right inside but also pulling balls away from him, as well. High and upright stance with the hands above his shoulders.

The Cardinals outfield prospect, despite the great pop, is one of the more perplexing prospects in all of Minor League Baseball. Much of the reason why it’s not easy to figure out what kind of hitter Baez exactly will be, particularly with respect to the hit tool.

Baez had an elevated swing-and-miss rate on virtually every single pitch type this season. A 30% Whiff% on four-seam fastballs (explains the uptick in Whiff% on pitches up in the zone), a 43.9% Whiff% on sliders, and a 53.3% Whiff% on splitters, although he saw far fewer of those than registered changeups (33.3%).

Now, swing-and-miss is not the be-all, end-all for hitters, particularly ones with pop. Why? Well, while a high Whiff% can put hitters behind in counts often, it can’t exactly kill unless it’s strike three. Plus, a disciplined approach and understanding situations matter too. And that was another problem for Baez.

As we noted throughout the year, Baez loves to expand outside of the strike zone. That’s obvious just from looking at his 8.0% BB%, not the highest for a power hitter. It was around 36% in May. It did come down, though, as the year progressed, which can be seen below.

Between June 15 and August 14, he sported a Chase% of 30.4%.

Defensively, the Cardinals gave the 23-year-old looks at all three outfield positions, mostly split between center and right field. Baez also started 21 contests in left.

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated that Joshua Baez would be in the lineup on August 15 against the Cubs. Baez is already on the St. Louis 40-man roster.

Analysis

Now that we’re into mid-August, it’s prospect call-up watch time. September 1 used to be the benchmark. But with limited call-up space after September 1, those days are over. But why now is important, as we’re at the point where fewer than 45 days are left in the regular season, meaning rookie eligibility for the 2027 season can be left intact.

For PPI reasons, that is important.

Back to Baez, there was improvement in the areas where the 23-year-old needed to get better. He was awfully aggressive at the plate to begin the 2026 season. And while that part of his game may not go away, his swing decisions trended in the right direction as the season progressed.

The Cardinals’ outfield picture for 2027 and beyond has come together nicely over the past few months. No, Victor Scott II didn’t hit well. But Jordan Walker posted a career year, and speedy Nathan Church has produced enough offensively and defensively to make himself a viable piece.

Now, it’ll be up to Baez over the coming weeks to prove that not only can he be more productive than Bryan Torres but also establish himself for the upcoming year.

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