The St. Louis Cardinals selected Joshua Baez in the second round of the 2021 June Draft out of Dexter Southfield High School in Brookline, MA.
Baez was a standout high school baseball player in Massachusetts as he was ranked #1 overall in the state, as well as an outfielder, and PG rankings were #7 overall and #2 as an outfielder.
The 6’3″ 220 pounder, started his pro career in the Florida Complex League after being drafted and in 23 games, he scored 18 runs, hit three doubles, a triple, two home runs, drove in eight and walked 14 times. He did not fair well in the average department as he hit just .158 along with 28 strikeouts, but all is a part of the development of moving from High School baseball straight to pro ball. The adjustment is not always as fast as one may think it should be, but the young right handed batting outfielder also showed some pop in 76 at bats.
In 2022, he showed some progress in his development as he upped his batting average to .237, through 12 games in the FCL. Overall, he was 9 for 38, three doubles, a home run, five RBIs and five walks. That same season, the Cardinals moved him out of Rookie ball and into Low A ball with the Palm Beach Cardinals.
Baez played in 20 games with Palm Beach and batted .286 (18 for 63), with 11 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs, 16 RBIs and 11 walks. On August 20th, just three days from the promotion to the higher level, he launched two home runs, and drove in five on a 3 for 5 day. The Massachusetts’ native ended that season batting safely in 8 of his last 9 games, 10 for 31 (.322), which was a great testament to how he continued to improve at the professional ranks.
The batting average has suffered during the 2023 season, as he is batting just .239 through 43 games, but he has shown more pop in his bat as he has seven doubles, three triples, and six home runs in 142 at bats.
Over the last seven days, he is batting .500 (7 for 14), with four runs scored, a double, three home runs and six RBIs. He recently enjoyed a five-game hitting streak and is currently on a four game hitting streak as he ended June with two home runs in back-to-back games on the 28th and 29th.
In July, Baez started the fireworks early with a home run on the 1st and looks to keep the hot batting going as the Palm Beach Cardinals look to build on their Florida State League First Half Championship.
As the summer gets going in Florida, keep an eye on Baez as he continues to grow and development into a future big league hitter.
Joshua Baez had 3 batted balls today for Palm Beach:
2B – 114.4 mph
HR – 107.1 mph
F8 – 106.8 mphOnly 30 MLB players have hit a ball harder than 114.4 mph this year.
The 20-year-old has some juice ?
— Blake Newberry (@bt_newberry) June 30, 2023
