Joshua Báez's candid remarks prove he's ready for a shot with the Cardinals

The long-awaited promotion of outfielder Joshua Báez has finally come to fruition. St. Louis Cardinals manager Oli Marmol announced after the game on Aug. 14 that the team would be calling Báez up from Triple-A Memphis and that he would be in the starting lineup the following day. It's been a rocky road for
Báez to reach this point, but in a recent interview, he revealed that he's glad to have taken such a circuitous route to the highest level.

A second-round pick in 2021, Báez leaped onto the Cardinals' top 30 prospects list the following season, with Baseball America ranking him at No. 7. It wasn't to last, as he fell to 13th in 2023 and was off of the list entirely until his highly publicized breakout in 2025 and continued production the following season propelled him to the No. 4 spot in 2026.

Such a rapid fall from grace might have messed with the psyche of many young one-time prospects, but Báez saw it differently, noting that it presented him with an opportunity to earn his way back on the list with his performance on the field rather than just being placed highly in the rankings because of his amateur pedigree.

In the video, Báez spoke of the adjustment he was forced to make once he reached the professional ranks. As with nearly every player in the pros, Báez was always the best player wherever he went in his days on the sandlots, and he had to learn how to adapt to failure as a natural part of the game.

Joshua Báez's mental strength will serve him well at the higest level

Cardinals fans are hoping Báez will become a slugger who can complement Jordan Walker in the middle of the order and give the team another legitimate power threat. Many fans' expectations are that he will produce immediately, but as we've already witnessed with Jimmy Crooks and, to a lesser extent, Blaze Jordan, a lack of instant results will have fans clamoring for the Cardinals to dispense of the young player.

Unlike someone such as JJ Wetherholt, who is contending for Rookie of the Year honors after laying waste to the lower levels and scarcely missing a beat with St. Louis, Báez has had to scratch and claw his way through the minors and has traversed the dark path of the faltering prospect. Those experiences will ideally allow him to ignore the pressure for him to perform and let him develop at a proper pace.

Báez is unlikely to take the league by storm immediately: Strikeout issues persisted in the minor leagues, and an average outcome might see him with a career that has so far looked like that of former prospect Everson Pereira. But as he finds himself plucked from the quiet confines of Memphis and thrust into the boisterous Cardinals-Cubs fracas, Báez's past should provide little doubt that he holds the mental resolve and determination to hurdle over the roadblocks that are placed in front of him in the major leagues.

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