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JUPITER, Fla. — Through videos, photos and stories told by his teammates, Luken Baker has an idea what an opening day at Busch Stadium has to offer.

On Thursday when the Cardinals host the Minnesota Twins, the 28-year-old will get to experience it for the first time.

Baker, 28, was named to the Cardinals’ opening-day roster to begin the season after he batted .273 with four home runs, eight RBIs and a .934 on-base plus slugging percentage in 19 Grapefruit League games this spring. The right-handed hitting first baseman will break camp with the big-league club in a role as right-handed hitter of the bench.

His spot on his first big-league opening-day roster comes after beginning each of the past three seasons in Class AAA.

“I knew the only way to get there (for opening day) wasn’t by hoping or wishing it. It was by going out and proving it,� Baker said Sunday before starting at first base in the Cardinals’ Grapefruit League finale.

This spring, he received a look at the role that awaits him in the majors this year after getting a chance to work from there a year ago.

When he returned to the major leagues last August, Baker took 10 at-bats as a pinch-hitter after taking four from that role in 2024. Last season, he collected two hits as a pinch hitter — the first of which was a game-tying home run against the Brewers in his first MLB at-bat of the season.

To replicate the process of being used as a pinch-hitter in the regular season, Baker had a chance this spring to use the middle innings of Grapefruit League games to get loose in the batting cages before coming into games as a substitute. The process was one Baker said he hasn’t seen in a spring setting before and offered him a “more game-like� feeling rather than “sitting on the bench for five, six, seven innings and then doing some twists in the dugout� before taking an at-bat.

He received six plate appearances as a pinch-hitter this spring. He collected two hits — both singles — and drew a walk.

“The adjustments I made (was) treating all the at-bats are the same,� Baker said when asked how his spring training and big-league pinch-hit at-bats have aided him. “Whether you’re taking four a night or one every couple (nights). You go up there, you have a good plan, and you try to execute the plan. The more that I treated all the at-bats the same, it’s not making it more than they are. I think that helped a lot.�

Baker leaves spring training tied with Victor Scott II, the club’s named opening-day center fielder, for the team lead in home runs while having more walks (nine) than strikeouts (eight). He was tied for second among team leaders in RBIs.

Baker “has worked hard,� Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “You talk about a professional at-bat. … Again, I feel like all these conversations, they’ve earned it. No one’s being handed a position based on just (being) the option that we had. These guys have earned their way onto a big-league roster.

“He’s done that every single morning,� Marmol continued. “He’s out there working on his defense, because he knows that’s important, but his at-bats have been incredible. He earned that conversation, and he’s a big leaguer.�

Fedde’s last spring start

In his last start before the regular season, Erick Fedde completed 4 1/3 innings on 75 pitches (48 strikes). The righty surrendered five hits, two walks and allowed one unearned run to give him a 3.26 ERA in six spring games.

The 32-year-old allowed two runs — both unearned — in his final 9 1/3 innings across his final two starts of the spring after surrendering six earned run in four innings in a March 11 start against the Marlins.

“He mixed like he normally does. Lots of soft contact today,� Marmol said of Fedde, who is slotted second in the Cardinals’ rotation. “Got some punch outs. The way it was coming out of his hand was kind of what you would like to see. I liked the way he wrapped things up.�

Extra bases

With the 2-1 loss Sunday to Washington, the Cardinals ended Grapefruit League play with a 12-15-3 record. As a team, the Cardinals combined for a .228 batting average and a 4.16 ERA.

• Right-handed pitching prospect Max Rajcic struck out five batters and allowed one run in 3 2/3 innings in the spring finale. Rajcic, who began the spring as a non-roster invitee to big-league camp, collected 10 swings and misses for a 31% whiff rate and flashed upwards of 94.7 mph with his fastball, per Statcast.
• Prospect and Mizzou product Ian Bedell was named as Class AAA Memphis’ probable starter for Monday’s exhibition at AutoZone Park against the Cardinals. Andre Pallante is scheduled to start for the Cardinals. He left for Memphis ahead of Sunday’s game.