Cardinals’ top 10 moments of 2026, No. 1: Joshua Baez has the greatest MLB debut ever

Without a doubt, the best moment of the 2026 season for the St. Louis Cardinals had to be Joshua Baez's historic debut, slugging three home runs in his first three career at-bats, something no other player in baseball history had accomplished.

We've been following along with the Dealin' the Cards podcast's countdown of the 10 best moments of the Cardinals' 2026 season, and the single best moment of the season was not up for debate. Fans had been clamoring to see Baez all year as he mashed home runs left and right at Triple-A, setting the expectation for him in the eyes of many to be much higher than what is fair to put on his shoulders. The fact that he literally followed that hype with the best debut ever is all the more impressive.

Add to that, Baez's three-home-run performance came against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, quite the environment for the 23-year-old to be making his Major League debut. It became one of those moments that, by the time Baez stepped up to the plate for his fourth at-bat, every fan at Wrigley was standing on their feet, ready to see another home run blasted by Baez and truly appreciating the history that was happening before their eyes.

Joshua Baez was awesome in his first stint with the Cardinals

It would have been easy for everything after that game to feel like a disappointment for Baez, and while he went through it at the plate for a bit, he finished his cup of coffee with St. Louis by slashing .230/.278/.510 with seven home runs, 14 extra-base hits, and 18 RBI in 108 plate appearances.

Baez's .510 slugging percentage would have ranked 12th among qualified hitters in 2026, and his 113 wRC+ was really encouraging considering how bad his strikeout issues were. Fans could not understand why Baez was not in St. Louis sooner, but it was because of his extremely concerning swing-and-miss issues and in-zone contact rates. Those have to get better long-term, and if they do, Baez could be one of the more dangerous bats in the game.

The Cardinals are envisioning a future with two powerful right-handed bats manning the corner outfield spots in Baez and Jordan Walker, who had his own breakout in 2026. It's really nice that Baez doesn't have to be the savior of the Cardinals' offense, but rather gets to join a young, dynamic group led by Walker, Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera, Leo Bernal, and JJ Wetherholt.

And even more help is on the way. Arguably the best player of the next Cardinals core will be Rainiel Rodriguez, the 19-year-old phenom who is putting up video game-like numbers in Double-A this year. The Cardinals have the makings of a special offense long-term, and Baez's thunderous bat could be a major part of that.

Sure, the hype won't end up mattering all that much if the Cardinals don't deliver on their long-term promise as a team, but man, no matter how Baez's career goes, it will be impossible to forget how incredible of a show he put on.

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