Graduated from Oak Ridge High School in Conroe, Texas...2015 Gatorade National Player of the Year...Became the first Gatorade Player of the Year winner to attend college and not go pro since Drew Henson (1998) attended Michigan...2015 Baseball America First Team All-American...Won two Home Run Derbies in 2014, the Under Armour High School Derby at Target Field during All-Star Week, followed by the Under Armour All-America Classic at Wrigley Field...Originally selected by the Houston Astros in the 37th round of the 2015 MLB Draft, but did not sign to attend Texas Christian University...Baker sent a letter to every MLB team notifying them of his intention to keep his commitment to TCU...Batted .347 with 28 HR, 129 RBI and a .561 slugging percentage over three collegiate seasons at TCU...Named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in 2016, pacing the conference in batting average (.379), total hits (94), runs scored (59) and RBI (62)...Averaged a home run every 12.61 at-bats...Signed by Tom Lipari...Resides in Spring, Texas with his wife, Linda, and daughter Lyla (9/23/24).
2024
League the majority of the season in Memphis (AAA), appearing in 108 games. Was recalled on Aug. 20 and remained in St. Louis the remainder of the season playing in 21 games...Hit a home run in his first MLB plate appearance of the 2024 season. It marked his first Major League pinch-hit home run, a game-tying, two-run pinch-hit shot off Bryan Hudson vs. MIL (8/21) and his first career home run at Busch Stadium...Became the first Cardinals player to hit a pinch-hit home run in his first game of the season since Paul DeJong at COL (5/28/17)...Played in 13 games for St. Louis, but appeared in the field in only one game (9/8 vs. SEA), playing three innings at first base. Other 12 games were at designated hitter...Broke the Memphis (AAA) franchise home run record with 75, cracking a pair of home runs vs. Gwinnett (6/26). Finished the season with 86 career home runs for the Redbirds...Recorded an RBI in six straight games (8/27-9/4). Tied the longest streak by a Cardinals player in his first 44 MLB games since Albert Pujols (2001) and longest overall in the franchise history since 1961...Set a career-high with three walks at MIN (8/23), tying the Cardinals season-high game mark. Joined Randal Grichuk (4/10/16 at ATL) as the only two Cardinals in history to draw three walks in three plate appearances in reserve. Was the fifth Cardinals player all time to draw three walks in reserve in any game...Recorded a stolen base vs. SD (8/29), matching his career total from 576 games in the Minor Leagues...Batted .400 (6-for-15) with two HR, 10 RBI with runners in scoring position with a 1.476 OPS...Homered in three consecutive games (5/11-14) at Memphis...Totaled four multi-home run games in Memphis with three coming against Gwinnett (5/18 vs. Gwinnett; 6/23 vs. Jacksonville; 6/26 at Gwinnett; 8/6 vs. Gwinnett). Has 11 career multi-home run games in his Minor League career...Posted two games with five RBI (5/4 at Charlotte & 8/6 vs. Gwinnett)...Led the International League with 32 home runs, ranked second in all of Triple-A and T-third in Minor League Baseball...Missed the Colorado series (9/24-26) while on the Paternity List for the birth of his daughter Lyla (9/23).
2023
Named International League Most Valuable Player, IL Postseason All-Star, All-MiLB First Team and Baseball America Minor League All-Star...Earned Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month honors for April after leading the organization with nine home runs, .667 slugging pct., 1.105 OPS, 13 extra-base hits, 56 total bases and 21 walks...Led all Minor League hitters with a .720 slugging pct., 1.159 OPS, .385 isolated slugging pct. and 180 wRC+ (min. 350 plate appearances)...Ranked T-fourth in all of MiLB with a career-high 33 homers after leading MiLB as of his final Minor League game on 8/11; also finished the year with the most HR in the Cardinals Minor League system...Led the Cardinals organization with a .334 (105-314) batting average and 98 RBI, while ranking second with a .440 on-base pct...Recorded the most RBI (98) in a single season by a Cardinals Minor Leaguer since Nick Stavinoha (109) and Matt Adams (101) in 2011...Reached base safely in each of his final 23 games with Memphis from 6/29-8/11, the longest such streak on the team...Had an extra-base hit in an International League-best 13 consecutive games with Memphis from 7/25-8/9, producing six doubles and eight home runs while batting .392 (20-51) in that span...Finished the season as the No. 23 ranked St. Louis prospect according to Baseball America after being unranked to begin the season...Made his Major League debut on 6/4 at Pittsburgh, going 2-for-4 and notched his first career hit on a single in his first MLB at-bat off of LHP Rich Hill...Reached base safely in 20 of his 23 starts for St. Louis.
2022
Played his entire season in Memphis (AAA), setting career highs and leading the Redbirds in games played (124), plate appearances (513), and at-bats (464)...Finished among Cardinals Minor League leaders in games (second), at-bats (third), home runs (21, T-2nd), RBI (66, sixth), and total bases (183, sixth)...Hit safely in 79 games, with 24 multi-hit efforts...Homered in 21 different games (no multi-homer efforts)...Batted .291/.330/.524 (30-103) with a .854 OPS in 28 day games...Hit .263/.417/.438 (36-137) with a .855 OPS ahead in the count, but .183/.185/.325 (31-169) with a .510 OPS behind in the count...Appeared defensively in 118 games at first base and six games as designated hitter...Went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and five RBI on 8/14 vs. Indianapolis. Marked season-high in RBI and tied a season best in hits.
2021
Played 91 of 93 total games with Springfield (AA), finishing the regular season playing two September games at Memphis while making his Triple-A debut... Set career highs while finishing among Cardinals minor league leaders in home runs (26, 2nd), RBI (70, 4th), total bases (187, 4th), slugging pct. (.530, 4th), and OPS (.854, 6th)... His 26 home runs at Springfield was the 4th-highest single-season total in franchise history behind Matt Adams (32 in 2011), Xavier Scruggs (29 in 2013), and Colby Rasmus (29 in 2007)... Among all Double-A players, ranked 4th in homers and slugging pct. and 8th in RBI (68)...Appeared defensively in 86 games at first base and seven games as the designated hitter...Missed nearly the entire month of August due to a COVID19 outbreak on the Springfield roster.
2020
Did not play due to COVID protocols canceling the 2020 Minor League season...Selected to attend his first Major League Spring Training as a non-roster invitee after appearing in two games out of minor league camp in 2019.
