St. Louis Cardinals rookie Joshua Baez put together perhaps the best hitting debut in the history of Major League Baseball on Saturday.
Baez, a 23-year-old outfielder and top Cardinals prospect, made his MLB debut against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday and hit three home runs off Cubs starter Matthew Boyd. In the first inning, he promptly homered to center on the very first pitch.
JOSHUA BÁEZ!
— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2026
The @Cardinals prospect homers on the first Major League pitch he sees! pic.twitter.com/iczpVNQYEt
Baez was not finished. He came up again in the fourth and hit a second home run, this one to left field.
JOSHUA BÁEZ, ARE YOU KIDDING?!
— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2026
2 at-bats, 2 HOMERS in his MLB debut! pic.twitter.com/E5XgRR76MO
One would be forgiven for thinking Baez was finished there. He was not. In the sixth, he homered for the third time in the game, this time to right field, capping off a five-RBI day.
Joshua Báez
— MLB (@MLB) August 15, 2026
Joshua Báez!
JOSHUA BÁEZ!!!
The @Cardinals rookie has homered THREE TIMES in his MLB debut 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4FTBDw4dZx
Baez became the first player in history to hit three home runs in his first MLB game. In fact, only Seby Zavala had hit his first three MLB homers in the same game, but that came in the 18th game of his career.
Joshua Baez is the first player in MLB history to homer 3 times in his MLB debut
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 15, 2026
He’s the second player to hit each of his first three home runs in the same game at all, joining 7/31/21 Seby Zavala, in his 18th game https://t.co/eDaMh5UpIK
The Cardinals were expecting Baez to provide power. He had 34 home runs in just 103 games at Triple-A Memphis this season, but there would have been no expectation that he could come up and hit three in one game. The fact that he hit one each to left, center, and right is even more remarkable.
Baez actually came up to bat again in the 8th inning with a chance to make it four homers in as many plate appearances. Ultimately, he lined out to left, and received a standing ovation from the hostile crowd at Wrigley.
There are typically a handful of three-homer games each season, and Baez’s was the 11th of 2026. We might never again see a rookie pull off the feat in his very first game.
Another rookie started his career 5-for-5 this season, but he did not do it all in one game. As impressive as that is, Baez’s feat is even more remarkable.
