Joshua Báez’s Hot Streak Is Getting Hard for Cardinals to Ignore

Soon enough, the St. Louis Cardinals are going to have something to think about when it comes to No. 4 prospect Joshua Báez.

St. Louis is 10-8 on the season so far and in third place in the National League Central, just one game behind the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates, who are tied at 11-7 atop the standings. What should get Cardinals fans excited is the fact that this club could be even better. The Cardinals' bullpen hasn't been great overall this season and has the 25th-ranked ERA in the league at 5.30. Right now, Michael McGreevy is the club's only starting pitcher with a sub-4.00 ERA. That should change at some point.

The Cardinals also aren't getting a lot of production out of left field right now offensively. Nathan Church has played in 16 games overall this season and is slashing .205/.238/.308. Thomas Saggese has seen time all over the place and is slashing .209/.277/.256 across 13 games played. José Fermín is another guy who has gotten action in left field and is slashing .231/.313/.231. If the Cardinals could get a bit more offensive production out of left field, it would improve the offense. And it wouldn't hurt if there were some more pop overall. That's where Báez could come into the picture.

The Cardinals Should Consider Promoting Joshua Báez

Mar 7, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Joshua Baez (22) hits a home run in the second inning against the New York Mets at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The 22-year-old is down in Triple-A right now and has three homers and 11 RBIs already this season and is slashing .236/.323/.455 in 14 games played at Triple-A Memphis. He's heating up at the right time as well. All three of those homers have come in his last five games.

Joshua Báez DRILLS one 111.8 mph into the bullpen 🔥

The @Cardinals' top OF prospect has 3 homers in his past 5 games for the Triple-A @memphisredbirds. pic.twitter.com/zUyE1DPbAx
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 15, 2026

Right Now, Lars Nootbaar is on the 60-Day Injured List. At some point, he'll rejoin the club and likely be a big piece in left field. Until then, it wouldn't hurt to see if the 22-year-old's power translates to the majors. Over the course of the offseason, the Cardinals talked about wanting to add right-handed pop in the outfield. Nelson Velázquez shined in Spring Training and seemed like he was going to be the answer, but he is down in Triple-A.

Báez put himself on the map as well with an explosive camp, but didn't make the team out of Spring Training either. Right now, the Cardinals are playing well. They have been a bit more explosive in the power department than expected this season, but Jordan Walker's eight homers skew the numbers a bit.

Bringing up Báez in the near future would allow the club to get a look at him and see if they have a potential long-term answer in left field. If they do, that would make other guys, like potentially Nootbaar, expendable to bring back more prospects as well.

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