{
  "id": 1361803,
  "title": "Get a load of the next MLB flavor-of-the-month phenom to visit GABP",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/get-a-load-of-the-next-mlb-flavor-of-the-month-phenom-to-visit-gabp",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-16T22:09:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/load-next-mlb-flavor-month-220940031.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Joshua Báez, the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospect, made an unforgettable debut in Major League Baseball with an astonishing three-homer performance in his first two at-bats. The 23-year-old hit a 439-foot home run to center, followed by a home run to left, and another to right, breaking the record for the most homers in a player's first two games ever. Cardinals manager Terry Francona remarked that the debut was \"starting your career out with a bang.\" Reds manager Matt McLain emphasized that the Reds were eager to watch Báez play in Great American Ball Park over the next four days. Báez's powerful performance, which includes 37 home runs in 104 games this season, is expected to draw significant attention during his five-game stint with the Cincinnati Reds. Reds closer Emilio Pagán expressed hope that Báez would contribute positively to the team, noting that \"the good thing for us is there's not really many directions you can go after that except for down.\" Despite the excitement surrounding Báez, Reds lefty Andrew Abbott stressed that the young player would \"slow down eventually.\"",
  "summary": "Say hello to Cardinals power phenom Joshua Báez. \"The good thing for us is there's not really many directions you can go after that except for down.\"",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}