Cardinals prospect Joshua Baez entered Wednesday having gone two weeks since hitting his first and only home run in High-A. Based on the display of power, the second homer may have been worth the wait.
With Peoria trailing 3-1 to Wisconsin in the fifth inning at Dozer Park, the 20-year-old outfielder belted a 1-0 pitch from Brewers minor leaguer Will Rudy to deep left-center and cleared the berm for a two-run blast to give him his first home run since April 14. The towering blast from Baez landed on the concourse beyond the grass-area seating at Peoria’s home ballpark and tied the ballgame. The projected distance of Baez’s two-run home run was not available as of Wednesday night.
Baez cranks one to left field WAYYYYYY OUT OF HERE!! a 2 run HR to tie the game for the Chiefs in the bottom of the fifth!!
— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs)
PEO 3 | WIS 3
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Once described by Baseball America as having plus-plus raw power, Baez entered the 2024 season after batting .218 with seven home runs and 20 doubles in 91 games for Class Low-A Palm Beach in 2023. Cutting down on swing-and-miss issues that led to 122 strikeouts was a focus for the former second-round pick as he began his third full season in the minors.
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Through 13 games, Baez owns a .268/.340/.439 slash line and has struck out 18 times in 41 at-bats. Following his performance on Wednesday that included his tape-measure home run and a single in the third inning, Baez is nine-for-24 (.375) with two home runs and five RBIs in his last eight games.
Here are other notable performances from around the Cardinals minor league system:
Right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby, Class AA Springfield: The highly-rated prospect notched eight strikeouts through four innings, but had his start vs. Arkansas limited after rain-suspended play between the S-Cards and Travelers in the bottom of the fourth frame. Roby had 40 of his 56 pitches go for strikes and did not walk a batter on Wednesday. He limited Arkansas to two runs on four hits with the only damage being a two-run double with two outs in the second inning. The 22-year-old came into Wednesday fresh off an eight-strikeout performance on April 19. He’s fanned 23 batters over 19 innings across four starts.
Right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo, Class AAA Memphis: Graceffo allowed four runs on seven hits and walked three batters in 5 1/3 innings during Memphis’s 9-5 loss to Jacksonville. The righty collected two strikeouts after totaling 15 in 11 innings over his prior two starts. Against Jacksonville, Graceffo managed just two swing-and-misses as six of the nine hard-hit balls put in play against him led to a hit, per Statcast. Graceffo’s night came to a close after he gave up a home run, a walk, and an RBI single before he could record the second out in the sixth. The 24-year-old former Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year owns a 4.88 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 24 innings.
Left-handed pitcher Cooper Hjerpe, Class High-A Peoria: Looking to complete more than four innings for the first time this season, Hjerpe was removed from his start for Peoria after pitching 3 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on three hits and two walks. He struck out four and hit a batter in the 67-pitch start. Hjerpe began his night with two scoreless innings, but the combination of two singles, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and a wild pitch in the third inning led to three runs. The former first-round pick from the 2022 draft has 17 strikeouts in 11/3 innings and has allowed seven runs and 13 hits over his first four starts of the season.