ST. LOUIS — Three of the Cardinals’ minor-league affiliates open their seasons on Friday, a week after their Triple-A club, the Memphis Redbirds, began their season.
With those seasons getting underway, here is a breakdown of which prospects have been assigned to which clubs:
Memphis – Infielder Thomas Saggese finished last season at the Triple-A level and after making a strong impression during spring training, is back to begin the season, where through the first week he has been playing shortstop.
Another player new to the organization in last summer’s trade flurry, infielder Cesar Prieto, also is at Memphis. Four of the organization’s top pitching prospects begin the year in the Redbirds’ rotation – Gordon Graceffo, Michael McGreevy, Sam Robberse and Adam Kloffenstein.
Springfield – The top two pitching prospects in the organization, Tink Hence and Tekoah Roby, will begin the year in the Double-A rotation. Both pitched at that level last year, but missed time because of injuries. They will be joined by three pitchers moving up from Class A Peoria – Max Rajcic, Ian Bedell and Edwin Nunez.
The top position player prospects also are moving up from Class A – catcher Jimmy Crooks and shortstop Jeremy Rivas. Back for another year at Springfield – simply because there was no place for him at Memphis – is first baseman Chandler Redmond.
Peoria – If anybody on the high A team needs motivation about how close they could be to the majors, all they have to do is look at what happened to Victor Scott II. Scott began last year in Peoria, and was the Cardinals’ starting center fielder on opening day this year.
Two of the top position player prospects who will be in Peoria to begin this season, moving up from Palm Beach – are 20-year-old outfielder Won-Bin Cho and catcher Leo Bernal, who also is 20. Also on the team are two college players selected in last summer’s amateur draft, first baseman William Sullivan and outfielder Zach Levenson. Also promoted from Palm Beach was outfielder Joshua Baez.
Left-handed Cooper Hjerpe, a former No. 1 draft pick who missed a lot of last season because of an arm injury, is back at Peoira to begin the year. He is joined by two pitchers promoted from Palm Beach, lefthanders Pete Hanson and Brycen Mautz.
Palm Beach – The Cardinals’ top pick in last summer’s draft, outfielder Chase Davis, is back after getting his first professional exposure at the same level last year. He will be joined by catcher Sammy Hernandez, acquired in a trade last summer, moving up from the rookie league club. Also promoted was shortstop Adari Grant.
Also returning to Palm Beach is a St. Louis native, first baseman Ross Friedrick, a free agent signee after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He was off to a good start last year before a leg injury ended his season.
Three pitchers to watch on the club will be Chen-Wei Lin, the first amateur player the Cardinals signed out of Taiwan; Zach Showalter, who was acquired from the Orioles last summer in the Jack Flaherty trade, and Quinn Mathews, drafted by the Cardinals last summer out of Stanford.
Complex League – Players not assigned to a full-season affiliate will work out in Florida as part of the extended spring training program until the rookie Complex League team begins play in early May. Some of the international players also could begin this year in the Dominican Summer League.
Two players to watch in this group are outfielder Travis Honeyman, the Cardinals’ third-round pick from last year’s draft who missed the season because of an injury, and Branneli Franco, a 17-year-old righthanded pitcher from the Dominican Republic.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
Photo of Tink Hence courtesy of Springfield Cardinals
