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Cardinals promote slugger Josh Baez to debut at Wrigley

By Thomson Reuters Aug 15, 2026 | 10:22 AM

The St. Louis Cardinals promoted slugger Joshua Baez to make his major league debut on ​Saturday against the rival ‌Cubs in Chicago.

The 23-year-old outfielder leads all Triple-A batters with 34 home runs and 90 RBIs through 103 games this ‌season ​at Memphis. No ⁠one else in ⁠Triple-A had more than 27 homers or 74 RBIs through Friday.

Baez, a Massachusetts native, is batting .256 with ​22 doubles, 21 stolen bases and 79 runs scored while ⁠making at least ⁠20 starts at all three ​outfield positions.

MLB Pipeline ranks Baez as ​the Cardinals’ No. 3 prospect behind ‌catcher/first baseman Rainiel Rodriguez and left-hander Liam Doyle. Both of those players are with Double-A Springfield.

In ⁠2025, Baez became just the sixth minor league player since 2005 to record at ⁠least ‌20 home runs and ⁠50 steals in a season.

Since ​being ‌drafted by St. Louis ​in the ⁠second round in 2021, Baez has batted .251 with 78 home runs, 275 RBIs and 149 stolen bases in 452 games in the minors.

–Field ​Level Media