Joshua Báez Injury Update Delivers Brutal Blow to Cardinals' Lineup

The St. Louis Cardinals will not see young outfielder Joshua Báez back on the field before the 2026 Major League Baseball season comes to an end.

Báez was forced to leave the Cardinals' 6-5 loss on Wednesday against the San Francisco Giants due to tightness in his left side. Initially, Báez's status was classified as day-to-day. While this is the case, St. Louis will not have him back on the field this season. The Cardinals announced on Friday that he has been placed on the 10-day Injured List due to a left oblique strain and César Prieto has been recalled from Triple-A Memphis in response.

The Cardinals Lost Joshua Báez For The 2026 Season

Sep 2, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez (22) hits a 2 run RBI double during the tenth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"INF César Prieto has been recalled from Memphis (AAA)," the Cardinals announced. "OF Joshua Báez has been placed on the 10-day IL (left oblique strain)."

INF César Prieto has been recalled from Memphis (AAA).

OF Joshua Báez has been placed on the 10-day IL (left oblique strain). pic.twitter.com/hpSwhk6J16
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 18, 2026

This is both the right call, and also bad news for the Cardinals at the same time. St. Louis has just nine games left in the season and is a game away from elimination from playoff contention. A loss will make official what has already been the case with the Cardinals not making the playoffs. It has been clear for a few weeks at this point that St. Louis would not be making a trip to the postseason. So, with that being said, not risking further injury with Báez is absolutely the right call.

The goal of the 2026 season has been development for the 2027 campaign and beyond. The Cardinals were able to see Báez in action in the majors for 29 games and it was good enough to be very excited about what he could do in a full season in 2027.

Really, the only negative of this announcement is the fact that St. Louis fans will have to wait until at least March to see the young slugger back in action in a big league game. And that timeline is only if the collective bargaining agreement gets sorted in a timely manner and doesn't impact the 2027 season at all, which seems unlikely. Báez brought some serious excitement to St. Louis' lineup while he was able to go.

Overall, he played in 29 games and slashed .230/.278/.510 with a .788 OPS, seven home runs, 18 RBIs, and seven doubles. Plus, he recorded a 120 OPS+ over that stretch as well, meaning he was 20 percent better than the average big league offensive player.

Báez's future is bright, but now we wait until 2027 to see what he can do next.

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