Cardinals outfielder Joshua Baez smashed the first pitch he saw in the majors about 450 feet then flashed a grin to the St. Louis dugout as he began his home run trot.
"There was a calmness and a smile, like, 'I'm here,'" Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "It's rare for me to pick my head up to enjoy parts of it. He didn't exactly give us an option but to actually take a step back and enjoy the heck out of what was going on there."
There has never been a show quite like it.
Baez, 23, became the first player to hit a home run in each of his first three at-bats in the majors, leading St. Louis to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Called up from Triple-A Memphis before the game, Baez had 30 family members in attendance at Wrigley Field. The traveling party, which included his mother, Yris, gathered on the field for photos afterward despite rain.
"It's just unreal," said Baez, the fourth-ranked prospect in the Cardinals' system and No. 93 overall, according to ESPN's Kiley McDaniel. "To not only get a hit but three home runs? It's crazy."
He did it with flair too.
The first came on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd and landed an estimated 449 feet away in the left-center bleachers. It was the third-longest homer in a player's MLB debut since ESPN began tracking home run distances in 2006. Only Jason Heyward (476 feet) in 2010 and Aaron Judge (457 feet) in 2016 had longer shots.
Baez's next at-bat ended with a solo shot down the left-field line, and the third, on his ensuing at-bat, went the opposite way, giving him five RBIs.
"He hit three different pitches for home runs. He had a great game. He beat us, for sure," Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
Baez showed plenty of power in the minors this season. When he was called up, he was leading Triple-A with 34 home runs, including four multihomer games.
He is the ninth player to make his major league debut for the Cardinals this season.
Baez will have an encore in the series finale Sunday against the Cubs (3 p.m. ET, ABC).
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
