How Yepez went from 'last shot' to 1st MLB multi-HR game

ST. LOUIS -- As recently as 2019, Cardinals rookie slugger Juan Yepez was in extended spring training and later Rookie ball -- the same spot he had been in five years earlier when he was a 16-year-old Venezuelan prospect who had signed with the Braves.

At that time, Major League Baseball never felt further away for Yepez, who was then 21, feeling sorry for himself and wondering if he had much of a baseball future. Not to be too dramatic, but at that time, Yepez wondered if he was close to exhausting his last chance.

It was about that time that Yepez got encouragement and advice from Cardinals Minor League hitting instructor Ryan Ludwick, Minor League hitting coordinator Russ Steinhorn and MLB hitting coach Jeff Albert that not only changed the trajectory of his swing but also his career.

“There were tough times. I was 21 and I was like, ‘Dang, I’m back where it all started for me,’” Yepez recalled. “I’m not going to lie, there were a lot of tough moments, but that’s why you keep the faith in God and trust the process.

“I’m so glad I was a member of the Cardinals organization at that time because they changed my swing and changed my career,” Yepez added. “I used to hit a lot of ground balls, but with them, the whole thing was about getting the ball in the air more.”

Yepez got a couple of balls in the air Monday, hitting them a Statcast-projected 393 feet and 402 feet for the first two-home run night of the rookie’s MLB career. Yepez’s power surge, combined with a monstrous home run from Paul Goldschmidt and seven shutout innings from Adam Wainwright, allowed the Cardinals to throttle the Marlins, 9-0, at Busch Stadium.

Feel-good nights like Monday often have Yepez -- now 24 -- thinking about how far he’s come in three short years. Occasionally, he forces himself to look around and savor the sights and sounds of starring for the Cardinals, having legend-in-the-flesh Albert Pujols as a de facto hitting coach and hitting tape-measure home runs at the MLB level. He thinks how his baseball career could have ended before he ever reached the big leagues had he not gotten advice from the right people.

“If you had told me this would be happening, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said Yepez, who had a career-high 5 RBIs on Monday. “I guess I was given my last shot [back in 2019]. Thanks to God that [I] was able to do something with it. Maybe it was my last shot -- I don’t know. I’m just glad the Cardinals trusted my talent and made me the player that I am today.”

The player Yepez is today is one who punishes fastballs and has recently started to show major growth in other areas. After a strong start to his career, he went through a weeks-long slump in late May and early June caused by mechanical issues at the plate. He worked on avoiding flying open with his front shoulder, and the results have been quite noticeable. Against fellow Venezuelan Pablo López on Monday, Yepez hit his eighth home run of the season, a three-run shot. Later, in the sixth inning, he hit a two-run homer off Miami’s Richard Bleier -- his first long ball off a lefty.

“We’ve talked about him making a couple of adjustments -- one of them being mental and staying with his approach through the middle of the field,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “The other [adjustment] was mechanical and not opening up that front side. He’s made some good adjustments, and we’re seeing the results now.”

Of all the advice Yepez has gotten, the most impactful might come daily from Pujols. Rarely are the two apart from one another in the dugout with Yepez asking for feedback after every at-bat.

“I called him Albert-cito -- ‘Little Albert’ -- yesterday because they’re always stuck together,” Wainwright said of the mentorship between Pujols and Yepez. “This is amazing for Yepez. It’s the greatest thing that could ever happen for Juan Yepez, with him hanging out every day with Albert Pujols and asking him questions. He’s getting to sponge off one of the best hitters of all time, and it doesn’t get any better than that.”

James Naile, who made his MLB debut in front of approximately 200 family and friends, wasn’t one bit surprised to see Yepez hit two home runs. The two were teammates earlier this season at Triple-A Memphis when Yepez’s nine home runs propelled him to get called up by the Cardinals.

“What a hitter because he’s the ultimate hitter in the box,” Naile said of Yepez. ”You never know when he’s going to do something special. He has as much juice as anybody I’ve ever played with.”