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May 20, 2023

Minor league report: Cardinals prospect Luken Baker blasts 436

In today’s 10 a.m. “Ten Hochman” video — brought to you by Siteman Cancer Center

In today's 10 a.m. "Ten Hochman" video — brought to you by Siteman Cancer Center and Window Nation — Ben Hochman discusses Cardinals star Paul Goldschmidt and which stats stand out in 2023. Also, a happy birthday shoutout to actor Brian Cox! And as always, Hochman picks a random St. Louis Ca…

The bounce-back season Cardinals prospect Luken Baker has authored through the first two months of Class AAA Memphis's season continued on Thursday night. The 26-year-old did so in a booming fashion.

On the first pitch Baker saw in Memphis's road matchup vs. Omaha, the first baseman launched a 436-foot home run to left-center field, giving him 17 on the year and his third in his last five games for the Redbirds. Baker's homer, which was the third-furthest hit ball put in play across 15 Triple-A games on Thursday night, kept him atop the International League leaderboard in that category and put him one ahead of Chandler Redmond for the most within the Cardinals’ farm system.

First pitch Baker Blast!Our @NobodyTrashesTN clean-up hitter extends his IL lead in homers and RBI pic.twitter.com/SingkeSv0P

Along with his tape-measure shot, Baker walked three times in Memphis's 12-6 win over Omaha, the Royals’ Class AAA affiliate. Through 53 games, Baker has drawn 42 walks. He drew 37 walks in 124 Class AAA games a year ago. His 17 homers are four shy of his total a season ago. Baker is batting .311 with a 1.065 OPS and an International league-leading 52 RBIs.

These are some other notable minor-league performances:

Outfielder Moises Gomez, Class AAA Memphis: After belting 12 home runs in 25 games during May Gomez, opened June in a similar fashion — with a home run.

Gomez, 24, connected on a two-run home run in the sixth inning of Memphis's win to give him 14 on the year. The home run, which traveled 376 feet, continued Gomez's resurgence at the plate after a quiet start to the season for the 2022 MiLB home run leader. Gomez batted .223 with a .605 OPS and hit one home run through his first 26 games. He has since found a groove to the tune of a .294 average, a 1.062 OPS, and 13 home runs over 23 games since May 6. Gomez's 12 home runs in May were the most in the International League.

After 12 homers in May, Moisés Gómez is right back at it in June.The No. 13 @Cardinals prospect swats his fifth homer in his last four games for the @memphisredbirds: pic.twitter.com/hC2k6j0KYb

Right-handed pitcher Dakota Hudson, Class AAA Memphis: Hudson matched a season-high in strikeouts with seven as he limited Omaha to two runs on three hits and a walk across five innings as Memphis's starter. The two runs allowed by Hudson came on a home run after he threw an 0-2 slider middle-inside to former major leaguer Johan Camargo with two outs in the fourth inning. In three starts since coming off the injured list on May 20 after dealing with a neck injury, Hudson has allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 10 innings. He's struck out 10 in that span.

Outfielder Victor Scott II, Class High-A Peoria: During a one-for-two night that included a single and two walks, Scott matched a season-high in stolen bases with three. Scott swiped second base twice and third base once in Peoria's 3-2 win over Brewers’ affiliate, Wisconsin, to increase his season total to 35. The 2022 fifth-round draft pick has been caught stealing five times in 40 attempts. His three-stolen base performance was his eighth game this year with multiple stolen bases, four those games have been four stolen base showings.

Scott finished Thursday tied with Royals minor leaguer Dairon Blanco for the MiLB lead in stolen bases.

Infielder Noah Mendlinger, Class AA Springfield: Once play resumed Thursday after Springfield's Wednesday night road matchup vs. Amarillo was delayed, Mendlinger added a single to his line for a four-for-five performance that included a home run and a triple in the rain-delayed ballgame. The four-hit game, which was followed by a hitless showing in a seven-inning ballgame between the S-Cards and Sod Poodles later Thursday, was a career-high for the former undrafted free agent. Since getting promoted from Class High-A to Class AA, Mendlinger is batting .393 with a 1.103 OPS in 15 games with Springfield.

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