Cardinals' Joshua Baez makes rare history in MLB debut with wild home run stat

Cardinals' Joshua Baez makes rare history in MLB debut with wild home run stat originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The St. Louis Cardinals called up rookie outfielder Joshua Baez during their weekend series against the Chicago Cubs, and it has been a massive win so far.

In his very first MLB at-bat, and on the very first pitch he saw in the big leagues, Baez hit a monster home run that went nearly 450 feet. It was an incredible way to begin his MLB career. But it didn't stop there.

Baez, in his second at-bat, hit another homer. As MLB researcher Sarah Langs shared, Baez joins just eight other players in MLB history to accomplish this feat, which, oddly enough, happened earlier this year.

"Joshua Baez is the 9th player in MLB history with two home runs in his first regular-season game," Langs shared.

The eight other players include Chase DeLauter, who on March 26 of the 2026 MLB season hit two homers in his MLB debut for the Cleveland Guardians.

Trevor Story did so back in 2016, and J.P. Arencibia accomplished this back in 2010. But that's it for players since 2000 to hit two homers in their debut.

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Mark Quinn in 1999, Bert Campaneris in 1964, Bob Nieman in 1951, and Charlie Reilly back in 1889 are the other players in baseball history to accomplish this feat.

This is an incredible feat of history for the power-hitting Baez, who hit 35 homers in the minors this season before earning his MLB call-up.

Cardinals fans have a very fun core to build around with JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, and now Baez.

What a way for Baez to begin his MLB career. Hopefully, he can stay hot to close out the year and chase even more MLB history as one of the better power hitters in baseball.

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