There are more than 23,000 names in the history of Major League Baseball. Some you know: Jackie Robinson. Derek Jeter. Hank Aaron. Most you don’t. Men who got one afternoon, one inning, one at-bat to etch their name into baseball eternity before the game moved on and forgot them.
Until Saturday, none of them had ever done what Joshua Báez was about to do.
Báez had waited his whole life to see a major-league pitch, and it took him one swing to make it disappear. Then he did it again. Then, because apparently he hadn’t gotten our attention yet, he did it a third time.
The 23-year-old Cardinals rookie homered in each of his first three career at-bats Saturday at Wrigley Field, making history and inspiring fans with his impressive debut, leading St. Louis to an 8-4 win over the Cubs.
And it started as early as the first pitch he ever saw. Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd left a 93.4 mph fastball over the plate, and Báez sent it 449 feet into the center-field bleachers at 108.6 mph — the third-longest debut home run of the Statcast era, behind only Jason Heyward and Aaron Judge. Then, like a man who knew something the rest of the ballpark didn’t, he flashed a grin at the St. Louis dugout and started around the bases.
His second came two innings later, a solo shot pulled 382 feet to left. The third, in the sixth, was just rude. An opposite-field poke off of Boyd’s slider that carried 368 feet to right. Three homers, three corners of the yard. That was very considerate of him.
That second blast alone had made him one of just nine players to homer twice in a regular-season debut. The third put him somewhere no one had ever been. Before Saturday, no player in MLB history had ever had a three-homer game earlier than his 10th career appearance. Báez needed only three at-bats.
Báez may be the new kid on the block, but he’s been doing this for a while. Arriving from the Cards’ Triple-A team in Memphis, Baez was MLB Pipeline’s No. 59 prospect, leading all of Triple-A with 34 home runs and a .901 OPS over 103 games. Scouts have long known he could hit a ball as far, but prospect rankings are only a guess about a player’s potential. Saturday alike.
By the time Báez came to the plate for his fourth at bat, all of Wrigley leaned in. Even Cubs fans held their breath, knowing that they were watching history in the making, hoping that #22 had a little bit more magic in him. But Báez is human. He lined out to left.
Three would have to do.
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/i7boeAW
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