Luken Baker

The Diamondbacks sent Baker to Triple-A on Monday, and he elected free agency. Now he’s back with Arizona on a minor league contract. The 29-year-old has big-time power but has yet to establish any consistency at the big league level.

Baker will test the free agent waters after being removed from Arizona’s 40-man roster over the weekend and going unclaimed on waivers.

Baker unsurprisingly passed through waivers unclaimed following his removal from Arizona’s active roster over the weekend with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. back from the injured list. The 29-year-old went 1-for-5 in three games with the Diamondbacks. He’s put up some big numbers at the Triple-A level over the years, but hasn’t been able to carve out a permanent role at the highest level.

Baker loses his spot on Arizona’s active roster with Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (knee) returning from the injured list. The 29-year-old went 1-for-5 in three games for the Diamondbacks.

Baker is up with Carlos Santana hitting the injured list with an adductor strain. The former Cardinals prospect will likely see time at first base against southpaw pitchers, but won’t see enough run to suggest he’s worthy of a fantasy addition.

As a team, the split-squad Diamondbacks were only able to scratch out four hits in the contest — all of them singles. Baker has had himself a nice start to the spring season though, hitting .300 (6-for-20) with a pair of homers and six RBI as he tries to force himself into the mix at first base.

Baker hit his second homer of the spring when he took Drew Pomeranz deep in the fourth inning. The 28-year-old is battling for one of the final spots on the roster, and his ability to (potentially) mash left-handers gives him a shot. It’s not likely he’ll get enough playing time if he does make the roster for it to matter in fantasy formats.

The Diamondbacks entered the home half of the fifth inning trailing 8-0, but they never gave up. They were trailing 10-9 entering the eighth but tied it up on an RBI single by Kristian Robinson before Baker crushed a 408-foot (109.5 mph EV) three-run shot off of Shane Panzini to put the Diamondbacks ahead for good. Baker also drew a walk in the ballgame, finishing the afternoon 1-for-1 with a pair of runs scored. He’ll need a monster spring to have a shot at cracking the Opening Day roster.

The 6-foot-4, 285-pound Baker has appeared in 73 games for the Cardinals over the last three seasons, hitting .206/.317/.338 with four homers in 189 plate appearances. He’s batting .250/.347/.508 with 104 homers in 414 career games in Triple-A, which is where he’ll probably open up next season. With his power and ample walk rate, it still seems possible that he could contribute on the short side of a platoon in the majors, but he might be running out of chances.