Jesus Baez’ 41 Home Runs Stack Up Strongly Historically

photo: Jesus Baez (PJ Maigi/Springfield Cardinals)

Not only is St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect Jesus Baez one of just 33 minor leaguers to hit 40 home runs in a season since 1963, but he is also a rarity due to his age, position, low K rate and high HR rate.

Editor’s notes: Reader Matt Lane submitted the following and I am happy to share it.

In the regular season, St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect Jesus Baez launched 39 home runs between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield, and the 21-year-old added two more in the post-season for a total of 41. Andrew Fischer of the Brewers system hit 48 plus two playoff shots in 2026.

Historic postseason data is not as complete as regular season results but it is included when known.

By Matt Lane

Since 1963 (considered the modern era of Minor League Baseball), there have been 33 players/seasons by minor leaguers in which they hit 40 or more home runs. The most recent is St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect Jesus Baez.

Of the 33, Baez:

is tied for the fifth youngest. (One of the 20-year-olds was catcher Dave Duncan.)
is one of only three middle infielders. (Danny Tartabull went on to a 14-year MLB career but as a right fielder and designated hitter. Brandon Wood hit just 18 MLB home runs and batted .186 over parts of five MLB seasons.)
has the third lowest strikeout rate.
has the seventh highest home run rate.

As a result of the last two items, Baez has the highest home run to strikeout ratio of anyone who hit 40 or more home runs in the last 63 years!

(Some of those who bested Baez on these stats were 25- to 32-year-old minor leaguers.)

Jesús Báez

Following is the data.

#	Yr.	Player	Age	Pos	HR	AB	SO	K Rate	HR Rate	HR/K Ratio
1	1963	Arlo Engel	21	OF/1B	41	559	168	0.30	0.073	0.24
2	1964	Chuck Harrison	23	1B	40	568	92	0.16	0.070	0.43
3	1966	Dave Duncan	20	C	46	522	127	0.24	0.088	0.36
4	1968	Tony Solaita	21	1B	49	589	112	0.19	0.083	0.44
5	1974	Bill McNulty	27	3B	55	631	101	0.16	0.087	0.54
6	1974	Gorman Thomas	23	OF	51	577	175	0.30	0.088	0.29
7	1974	Tom Robson	28	1B/OF	41	574	100	0.17	0.071	0.41
8	1979	Rick Lancellotti	22	1B/OF	41	583	88	0.15	0.070	0.47
9	1981	Tim Laudner	23	C	42	508	90	0.18	0.083	0.47
10	1981	Ron Kittle	23	OF/DH	40	389	107	0.23	0.103	0.45
11	1982	Ron Kittle	24	OF/DH	50	559	109	0.20	0.089	0.46
12	1982	Ken Phelps	27	1B/DH	46	574	99	0.17	0.080	0.47
13	1982	Greg Brock	25	1B	44	597	81	0.14	0.074	0.54
14	1982	Jeff Jones	24	OF/1B	42	533	151	0.28	0.079	0.28
15	1985	Danny Tartabull	22	SS	43	546	123	0.23	0.079	0.35
16	1995	Todd Greene	24	C/1B	40	486	91	0.17	0.082	0.48
17	1996	Russell Branyan	20	3B/1B	40	552	166	0.30	0.072	0.24
18	1996	Phil Hiatt	27	3B/OF/1B	42	611	180	0.30	0.069	0.23
19	1998	Chris Hatcher	29	OF	46	516	125	0.24	0.089	0.37
20	1999	J.R. Phillips	29	1B	41	479	143	0.27	0.086	0.32
21	2001	Phil Hiatt	32	3B/OF/1B	44	495	109	0.22	0.089	0.40
22	2001	Brandon Berger	26	OF	40	454	91	0.18	0.088	0.49
23	2004	Ryan Howard	24	1B	46	560	166	0.30	0.082	0.28
24	2005	Brandon Wood	20	SS	43	614	134	0.22	0.070	0.32
25	2008	Dallas McPherson	27	3B	42	448	168	0.32	0.094	0.29
26	2013	Joey Gallo	19	3B/OF	40	467	172	0.37	0.086	0.23
27	2014	Kris Bryant	22	3B	43	594	162	0.27	0.072	0.27
28	2014	Joey Gallo	20	3B/OF	42	537	179	0.33	0.078	0.23
29	2016	Dylan Cozens	22	OF	40	586	186	0.32	0.068	0.22
30	2021	MJ Melendez	22	C	41	531	115	0.22	0.077	0.36
31	2024	Deyvison De Los Santos	21	1B/3B	40	538	144	0.25	0.074	0.30
32	2026	Andrew Fischer	22	3B/1B	50	439	185	0.33	0.114	0.35
33	2026	Jesus Baez	21	SS	41	473	86	0.16	0.087	0.54
		Baez rank	5th	(3) MI				3rd	7th	1st

You never know how a prospect is going to turn out, but I think Baez is a historically good prospect well beyond what most people have yet caught onto.

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