St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs

Joshua Báez spent five years working toward his first Major League at-bat. He needed one pitch to make it unforgettable. Then, somehow, he kept going. Báez homered on the first pitch he saw in the Majors, homered again in his second at-bat and then stepped to the plate in the sixth inning and did something nobody in Major League history had ever done. He homered again. Three at-bats. Three home runs. One historic introduction. Báez became the first player in MLB history to hit three home runs in his debut, going 3-for-4 with five RBIs while powering the Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Cubs on Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field. “It’s just unreal,” Báez said. “For me to not only get a hit, but hit three home runs is just crazy.” Crazy might be underselling it. Hours before Báez stepped into a Major League batter’s box for the first time, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol was asked why the arrival of St. Louis’ No. 3 prospect per MLB Pipeline had him particularly excited. Marmol pointed to the combination of Báez’s physical ability and the confidence and mentality that accompanies it. “It doesn’t quietly whisper,” Marmol said. “It screams at you when you watch this kid for any length of time.” By the end of Saturday afternoon, Báez had made enough noise for all of Wrigley Field to hear it. His introduction came in the first inning. With two outs and a runner aboard, Cubs left-hander Matthew Boyd challenged Báez with a 93.4 mph fastball up in the zone. Báez attacked the first Major League pitch he had seen and launched it a Statcast-projected 449 feet to dead center field. The ball left his bat at 108.6 mph. The Cardinals had a 3-0 lead. And Báez had a Major League home run before seeing a second pitch. “I was pretty much calm,” Báez said. “Just being able to carry it to the game, I feel like that was the key thing for me.” The swing was impressive enough. What happened afterward caught Marmol’s attention just as much. As Báez rounded the bases and approached the Cardinals’ dugout, he looked toward his new teammates and flashed a grin. “There’s a calmness and a smile to, ‘I’m here,’” Marmol said. “That was pretty cool to be a part of.”