Joshua Baez started the season as an under-the-radar outfielder at Class A Peoria and is ending it as a surging prospect for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals.
It’s been quite a ride for the 22-year-old outfielder, who had a bumpy 2024 season that was filled with strikeouts and frustration. Baez persevered.
“That kind of taught me that struggles are going to be there; it is how you adapt and how you bounce back,” said Baez, who’s blossomed with his combination of power and stolen bases for the Springfield Cardinals.
Baez has skyrocketed in the MLB Pipeline prospect rankings to the seventh-ranked Cardinals farmhand after entering the season outside of the top 30. The 2021 second-round selection spent the majority of the season in Springfield, but including his time in High-A Peoria, he hit .287 with 20 home runs and 54 stolen bases during the regular season.
It was fitting that Baez knocked in the game’s first run and had two hits as Springfield opened the Texas League playoffs with a 3-1 victory Sept. 16 at Tulsa. The best-of-three series continues on Sept. 18 at Hammons Field.
Starting from scratch after 2024 demotion
Springfield Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez returns to first base after a pitch during a game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
Joshua Baez hit just .225 with 10 home runs in 71 games with Peoria in 2024 and his strikeout rate was an alarming 34.4%. The struggles prompted a midseason demotion to the developmental squad in Jupiter, Florida, to “kind of start from scratch,” Baez said.
Springfield manager Patrick Anderson had Baez at Peoria during the struggling times. He didn’t sugarcoat the situation.
“He scuffled. He really did,” Anderson said of Baez. “But he’s a hard-working young man. He’s got a skill set. It’s unbelievable. Big body. You look at him, that’s what they should look like — a strong arm, can run. He’s got some power.
“They needed to revamp his whole swing, because it was really long. He wasn’t able to really compete the way he needed to, you know, to be able to allow him to get to this point. There’s still obviously an adjustment with regards to different aspects of his game. It’s not a lot, it’s just some little fine-tuning here and there.”
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound Baez said coaches worked with him on hand placement and different strides with his swing, along with mental approaches that were needed to compete with plus-arms at higher minor-league levels.
Progress began to show up in 15 games to finish last season at Low-A Palm Beach, where he helped that club win the Florida State League Championship by hitting .340 with one home run and 11 stolen bases down the stretch.
‘The main adjustment that I’ve made is trusting myself’
That gave him a positive mental boost heading into the offseason. Those results have continued into 2025 as Baez leads the Double-A team with 15 home runs and 34 stolen bases since his promotion in early June. He’s one of two minor league players with at least 20 home runs and 50 steals overall.
“Since last year, the main adjustment that I’ve made is trusting myself, knowing what I can do,” Baez said.
Baez hit home runs in Springfield’s final three regular-season games last week against San Antonio, and is batting .298 with eight home runs, 24 RBIs, 15 walks, 19 strikeouts and 12 stolen bases in August and September. He was named the organization’s minor-league player of the month for August, the first Springfield position player to earn the award since outfielder Bryan Torres in August of 2024.
Springfield Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez chases after a home run ball during a game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
Anderson said the late-season surge has been impressive because it showed an ability to recover from a bit of struggle in July after initial Double-A success.
“And that’s just what the minor leagues are for,” Anderson said. “There’s been some adjustments at this level. He got it handed to him a little bit, which everybody goes through, and he’s made a turn. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see him keep getting better and progressing.”
Stolen bases might be a bigger thrill than home runs for Joshua Baez
Springfield Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez warms up before a game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. (Photo by Ellie Frysztak)
Some of Joshua Baez’s home runs with Springfield have been of the tape-measure variety. During a game at Frisco in June, shortly after his promotion from Peoria, Baez hit a shot that registered a 114 mph exit velocity. The ball landed across the street near a building, more than 450 feet away from home plate.
“I couldn’t believe it when I saw it,” Anderson said. “It was a pitch that was 95 mph that was literally at his shoulders, or close, it was elevated. When he hit it, when you could see it, besides just the video, it was ridiculous.”
Those are fun, but stolen bases might be a bigger thrill. He’s 54 of 63 in stolen-base attempts this season.
“Stealing bases is huge for me,” Baez said. “Just to know that I was at first and now, I can steal second and put myself in the position for my teammate who can hit a single and I can score the run, I feel like that’s huge.
“I always worked on my speed, since high school, so just maintaining that has been the main thing and reading situations and trying to get jumps and timing up pitchers. That’s really the key on how I’m able to steal so many bags.”
Joshua Baez could be one to watch in 2026
Joshua Baez was drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2021 MLB Draft.
Baez was born in Boston and his family moved to the Dominican Republic when he was an infant. The family returned to Boston when he was 11.
“Guys wanted to talk to me because I could hit the ball far, hit home runs, and throw the hardest,” Baez said. “I could pitch, too. I pitched all the way until my senior year, throwing 98 mph. It was fun.”
Now Baez is on the Cardinals’ radar as an exciting outfield prospect. The organization is in need of power hitting, and Baez could be one to watch in 2026.
The top brass are taking notice. St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol, earlier this week on the Gashouse Gang show on KMOX radio, said Baez has opened eyes.
“The growing pains were real and that’s what the minor leagues are for,” Marmol said. “To be able to go through that in an environment where you can continue to grind and find progress without the overhead of people breathing down your throat because the game matters that much.
“You want to have that happen down below. You want him to have success. You also want him to get beat up along the way to see how he handles it and make adjustments. But he’s coming along. The combination of speed and power, but also controlling the strike zone, that’s a great combo.”
It should be interesting to see where Baez lands in 2026, but for now, he’s focused squarely on the Texas League playoffs.
“I’ve been in the playoffs for the last three years, and the guys here, some of them have also been in the playoffs,” Baez said. “The regular season is done. Whatever good you did, good or bad, is gone. Now the main goal is to win. Just find ways to pass the baton, find a way to maybe get a big hit and make the routine plays.
“Take it one game, one swing or one pitch at a time.”
Cardinals playoff tickets
Springfield plays host to Tulsa at 6:35 p.m. Thursday and, if a third game is necessary, at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Single-game tickets or a playoff package for the three possible playoff games at Hammons Field can be purchased online or by calling (417) 863-2143.
If the Cardinals advance to the championship series, they would play host to the Texas League Championship Series opener at 1:05 p.m. on Sept. 21. Games two and three are at the South Division representative.
Midland (Athletics) beat Amarillo (Diamondbacks) 8-7 in the South Division series opener.
Lyndal Scranton is a Springfield native who has covered sports in the Ozarks for more than 35 years, witnessing nearly every big sports moment in the region during the last 50 years. The Missouri Sports Hall of Famer, Springfield Area Sports Hall of Famer and live-fire cooking enthusiast also serves as PR Director for Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri and is co-host of the Tailgate Guys BBQ Podcast. Contact him at Lscranton755@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @LyndalScranton. More by Lyndal Scranton