Joshua Baez had an historic MLB debut for the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He hit a home run on the first pitch he saw and added two more in his first three at-bats. The 23-year-old outfielder's first home run went 449 feet to center. His second went to left and the third was launched to right. He is the eighth player to hit multiple home runs in their MLB debut. Joshua Baez
"I was born in Boston and then my family moved to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic when I was an infant," Baez told the Peoria Journal Star in 2024. "I didn't really play baseball until one day my mom took me to a practice there. There were 100 kids there, and they were great, I was scared and struggled and I remember striking out a lot." Joshua Baez
When he was 12, he won the state home run derby and won the state's season home run crown. Joshua Baez
At Dexter High School in Masschusetts, coach Dan Donato said he hit a 550-foot home run during the Area Code Games that cleared the scoreboard and left a Class-AA pro ballpark in Hartford. Joshua Baez
He was picked in the second round in the 2021 MLB draft by the Cardinals, 54th overall. Joshua Baez
Before being promoted to the Cardinals, he hit 34 home runs and had 90 RBI for the Memphis Redbirds in the International League. Overall, he had 78 home runs in the minors. Joshua Baez
Others to hit multiple home runs in their big league debut are: Jose Fernandez (Arizona), Chase DeLauter (Cleveland), Trevor Story (Colorado), JP Arencibia (Toronto), Mark Quinn (Kansas City), Bert Campaneris (Oakland), Bob Neiman (St. Louis Browns). This article originally appeared on The List Wire: 6 things to know about St. Louis Cardinals rookie Joshua Baez