Joshua Báez keeps making the Cardinals’ decision harder.
The 23-year-old outfielder, ranked as St. Louis’ No. 3 prospect for 2026 by MLB Pipeline, added another loud statement on Friday in his first Triple-A game after the All-Star break.
Báez went 1-for-4, and the hit was a third-inning grand slam that helped Memphis outlast Iowa 10-9. The blast left the bat at 108.8 mph, carried 473 feet to center field, and came against Cubs top pitching prospect Jaxon Wiggins.
That homer pushed Báez to 29 on the season, the most in the International League. It also stands out on a Cardinals roster that has hit 108 home runs in 2026, tied for 20th in the majors.
If St. Louis is looking for more punch as a playoff push comes into view, Báez is making a pretty obvious case.
The numbers back it up. In 83 Triple-A games this year, Báez is hitting .250 with a .322 on-base percentage and a .900 OPS, along with 29 homers, 73 RBIs and 14 stolen bases. For a player in his first season at the level, that kind of production jumps off the page.
He was just as productive in 2025, when he made his Double-A debut and hit .287 with 20 home runs, 79 RBIs and 54 stolen bases across 117 games between two minor league levels.
St. Louis enters Saturday at 51-45 and is locked in a battle with the Miami Marlins for sole possession of the National League’s final Wild Card spot.
The club’s approach to the trade deadline remains unclear, but Báez’s bat is forcing itself into the conversation. Depending on what the Cardinals do over the next few weeks, he looks like one of the most likely prospects to get a major league look before the season is over.
At this point, it feels less like a question of if Báez reaches Busch Stadium and more like when.
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Cardinals Lose Another Young Prospect As Key Return Raises New Questions
The Cardinals player-development pipeline took another hit this week, with the organization making a series of roster moves that underline how much turnover can come in the minors. St. Louis activated outfielder Tai Peete off the seven-day injured list and right-hander Alan Reyes off the 60-day injured list, giving the system back two prospects it has been waiting to see on the field again. Peete, one of the more notable names in the group, arrived in the organization in a trade and has been viewed as part of the clubs longer-term talent base.
At the same time, the team also announced that infield prospect Christian Martin is no longer part of that picture after stepping away from professional baseball. For a Cardinals farm system that has already had to keep reworking its depth chart, the combination of a retirement and two activations creates both relief and uncertainty, especially with Peete now back in circulation and Reyes trying to reestablish himself after a long absence. The next stretch will say a lot about how quickly St. Louis can turn those returns into real momentum. [Read more 🡒]
One Prospect Expert Just Threw Cold Water On The Cardinals Draft Buzz
The early buzz around the Cardinals 2026 draft class has not been unanimous, even as some evaluators came away impressed by the groups depth and by Trevor Condon as a headliner. Jim Callis and Kiley McDaniel were among those who liked what St. Louis did, but not every prospect voice is buying the optimism, and Keith Law offered a far cooler read on the class than the prevailing praise.
Laws view was that the Cardinals leaned more on quantity than quality, with a class he did not see as producing any clear steals. He was also less sold on Condon than some of the other national analysts, and his broader prospect notes carried a reminder that St. Louis still has real development questions to sort through, including the long-term outlooks for Quinn Mathews and Jurrangelo Cijntje. [Read more 🡒]