Cardinals' Joshua Báez Makes MLB History with HRs in 3 Straight At-Bats to Open Career

Highly touted St. Louis Cardinals prospect Joshua Báez entered Major League Baseball with a bang on Saturday.

The power-hitting outfielder slugged home runs in each of his first three MLB at-bats, becoming the first player in history to achieve the feat:

According to Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer, Báez was only the third player in MLB history to homer in his first two major league at-bats, joining Keith McDonald of the Cardinals in 2000 and Bob Nieman of the St. Louis Browns in 1951.

Before his debut on Saturday, Báez talked about making good on a promise he made to his late father by playing in the big leagues, which is something his father never got the opportunity to do (beginning at the 2:44 mark of the video):

The 23-year-old Báez stepped to the plate for the first time with the Cardinals leading 1-0 in the top of the first inning, and he crushed a two-run bomb to left-center field on the first pitch he saw.

Chicago tied the game at 3-3 on a Michael Conforto three-run home run in the second inning, but Báez put St. Louis back on top in the fourth with another long home run to left field.

Báez's third at-bat brought more of the same, as he cracked another two-run homer, this time to right field, to extend the St. Louis lead to 6-3.

While nobody could have expected Báez to begin his MLB career in such grand fashion, hopes were high when the Cardinals called him up from Triple-A on Friday.

Ranked by MLB.com as the No. 59 overall prospect in baseball, Báez was enjoying a spectacular season at Triple-A Memphis before the call-up.

In 103 games, Báez was slashing .256/.328/.573 with 34 home runs, 90 RBI, 21 stolen bases and 79 runs scored.

Entering play on Saturday, the Cardinals were 61-61 on the season, putting them 3.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks for the final wild-card spot in the NL.

Needing a potential boost in order to close the gap and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2022, the Cards turned to Báez.

While the Cardinals will need to play great team baseball for the next month and a half in order to get back to the postseason, Báez clearly breathed some new life into the team on Saturday.