Joshua Báez honors late father in historic Cardinals debut: ‘He’s super proud’

CHICAGO — As rain fell on Wrigley Field late Saturday afternoon, Joshua Báez posed for photos with more than 30 friends and family members dressed in St. Louis Cardinals gear. In the middle of the iconic ballpark, they celebrated a spectacular major-league debut and honored the man who could not make it to this emotional moment.

Báez had introduced himself to this long-running rivalry with a bang, becoming the first player in baseball history to hit three home runs in his first major-league game. A crowd of 39,834 witnessed this overpowering performance in an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs, to the point where Cardinals fans generated more noise at the Friendly Confines, cheering on their latest big-name prospect.

Báez, though, felt a different kind of buzz throughout the game. He noticed a bee that seemed to shadow him in left field, attaching itself to the brim of his cap and projecting a kind of supernatural quality.

In the postgame scene, he found his mother, Yris Báez. Through an interpreter, she said she cried with her son, remembering his promise to make it to the majors in memory of his late father.

Joshua Báez’s mother, Yris, was on hand for his MLB debut on Saturday. (Paul Beaty / Associated Press)

Jose Manuel Báez, a man nicknamed “El Bronco,” died three years ago. Marking the anniversary this season, his son hit four home runs in a June 16 game with Triple-A Memphis. The tributes continued on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

“I had a bee that was with me every single inning in the outfield,” Báez said inside Wrigley Field’s narrow visitors’ clubhouse. “I found it strange. At first, I was a bit scared, but then I kind of let it go and I knew that it wasn’t going to sting me. I kind of took that as if he was the bee, because it was right on me every single inning.

“I just know that he’s super proud, and that he’s here with me right now in spirit.”

Báez, 23, has developed into a loudly talented, 6-foot-3, 220-pound slugger. The Cardinals had selected him in the second round of the 2021 draft out of Dexter Southfield, a prep school in the Boston area, and awarded him a $2.25 million signing bonus.

Báez needed parts of five seasons in the low-to-mid minors before finally reaching Triple A this year. In his first exposure to that level, he produced 34 home runs, 90 RBIs and 136 strikeouts through 103 games with the Memphis affiliate. That confidence carried over to the sport’s highest level.

JOSHUA BÁEZ!

The @Cardinals prospect homers on the first Major League pitch he sees! pic.twitter.com/iczpVNQYEt

— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2026

Báez hammered the first pitch he saw in the first inning, sending Matthew Boyd’s 93.4 mph fastball an estimated 449 feet over the wall in center field for a two-run homer. In particular, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol noticed the reaction.

“The look he gave the dugout was a statement in itself,” Marmol said. “There’s a calmness and a smile to ‘I’m here.’

“It’s the grin of he knows he’s good, and he knows how much work he’s put into this to get to this spot. It’s not an easy road when you look at what it’s taken for him to get to the big leagues.

“And then the second and third is just ‘Holy s—.’”

This barrage didn’t come during garbage time or against an inferior opponent. Báez blasted all three home runs off Boyd, an All-Star last year and Chicago’s Opening Day starter this season. Since being activated off the injured list in late June, Boyd had been 6-0 with a 2.43 ERA in his nine previous starts.

Báez stayed patient in his second at-bat, driving Boyd’s changeup into the left-field bleachers for a solo homer in the fourth inning. The St. Louis fans scattered throughout the stands cheered loudly in the sixth inning when Báez lined Boyd’s slider into the right-field bleachers for his third home run.

Joshua Báez
Joshua Báez!
JOSHUA BÁEZ!!!

The @Cardinals rookie has homered THREE TIMES in his MLB debut pic.twitter.com/4FTBDw4dZx

— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2026

“He’s a good player,” Boyd said. “There’s a reason why he’s called up, and I know that he had some recognition coming up, too, in terms of his status. He had a great year and hit a lot of home runs in Triple A.

“Hats off to him. I got something to learn. And Lord willing, we’ll be competing against him again at another point.”

The Cubs-Cardinals rivalry, which originated in 1892, has waned a bit in recent years as the Milwaukee Brewers have taken control of the National League Central. The Cubs are currently in a strong playoff position, still trying to catch the first-place Brewers, while the Cardinals are now one game above .500 and staying in the wild-card picture.

Báez will have to continue to make adjustments and settle into a new routine, but he gave Cardinals fans a glimpse of a potentially promising future. He could be a game-changer for a traditional franchise in a transition period.

The Cardinals drafted Joshua Báez in 2021. (Photo by Jessie Alcheh/Getty Images)

“He’s just grown into the player that he needs to be,” said St. Louis right-hander Michael McGreevy, Saturday’s winning pitcher and a homegrown talent who was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in Báez’s 2021 draft class.

“We aren’t shocked. I mean, we’re shocked that three homers in three at-bats happened. But we know the power. We know the hit tool is there. He’s a great kid. We just couldn’t be happier for him.”

Báez became the 11th player in Cardinals history to homer in his first major-league at-bat, and the sixth to hit a home run on the first pitch of his first major-league at-bat. Wrigley Field, a National Historic Landmark built in 1914, had never seen a debut this smashing. And no hitter across the last 150 years had made this kind of a first impression.

“It’s just something that you always dream about,” Báez said, “but you never know how it’s going to unfold.”