Joshua Baez's historic 4-homer game has him knocking on door for Cardinals debut

The St. Louis Cardinals had their own exciting win on Tuesday night, but the historic slugging night from outfield prospect Joshua Baez stole the show and has Cardinals Nation buzzing.

Baez hit four home runs in a single game on Tuesday for the Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate. Yes, you read that right. Baez broke out as a major power prospect last year and only hit 20 home runs in 117 games, but he now has 23 homers on the year in just 62 games with Memphis. Wow!

After Baez's incredible performance last night, which comes after a month and a half of hot production at the plate, Baez is slashing .282/.345/.631, good for a .976 OPS with 36 extra-base hits already this season. We broke down Baez's incredible night at the plate and what it may mean for an MLB debut on Dealin' the Cards right after the performance.

Baez's four-homer day made him just the third Cardinals' minor leaguer in franchise history to hit four home runs in a game and the 16th minor leaguer to hit four home runs in a game since 2005. The accomplishment itself is worth celebrating, but the progress he's made in his development and the potential he is displaying are what really have the fanbase fired up.

There seem to be four parts of Baez's game that need cleaned up as he looks to break in with the big league club: His zone-contact rate, his swing-and-miss issues, how often he chases outside of the zone, and where he would fit in defensively if he got the call.

When it comes to his zone-contract rate, which is the percentage of pitches in the strike zone that he swings at and makes contact with, he's been one of the worst in all of minor league baseball this year, but lately, he has seen that rate get better and better, something the Cardinals really want to see him improve upon before he makes an MLB debut.

As for the swing and miss and his chase rates, while they still have room to grow, the damage he is doing at the plate is undeniable. While Blaze Jordan did not strike out nearly as much as Baez has, Jordan did also struggle with chasing outside of the zone, and he's been finding success in his small sample size so far with St. Louis.

If the Cardinals think Baez is ready for a call-up, which at this point, he's looking the part for sure, they'll be able to find a defensive home for him.

If the Cardinals think Joshua Baez is ready, they can fit him into their lineup right now

While the Cardinals' lineup has been hot right now, there is no question that whenever Baez is ready, he is someone worth creating a spot for. While he profiles best as a corner outfielder, the Cardinals can push for him to play center field, or slide Lars Nootbaar to that spot as well.

An easy way to map out how Baez could find playing time is by looking at Ivan Herrera's rotation at catcher and designated hitter. When Herrera is behind the plate, one of Baez or Nootbaar can be the designated hitter, the other plays left field, and Nathan Church mans center field. When Herrera is at the designated hitter spot, one of Baez or Nootbaar plays in left field, and the other is in center field.

Here's how those lineups could potentially look then:

Obviously, the lineup could shift a bit if a lefty is on the mound, but do you see how strong those lineups look? Masyn Winn was batting clean up for the Cardinals on Opening Day and has been consistently relied on as their five-hole or six-hole hitter this year, and now he'd be batting ninth for them. That has the potential to be one of the best 1-6 spots in any lineup in baseball, and then also be one of the deepest lineups in the game, too.

Who would go down to Memphis? My guess would be Bryan Torres, but someone like Nelson Velazquez could see a demotion as well. I doubt Pedro Pages would be demoted. It complicates the roster picture a bit for sure and causes someone to lose their roster spot and others to lose playing time, but man, that's what you do when you've got a talent like Baez on your hands that looks ready to mash.

We'll see how the Cardinals handle this. With how aggressive Chaim Bloom has been with roster turnover, I would not be shocked to see Baez in St. Louis soon. They may still give it a few more weeks, look at it closer to the deadline, or make it a late August or September move. But at this point, it feels super likely we see him at some point, and he could help the Cardinals make noise the rest of the year.

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