photo: Inohan Paniagua (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
A Double-A first baseman and Class-A starting pitcher are the St. Louis Cardinals organization’s June Player and Pitcher of the Month. They are The Cardinal Nation’s 22nd and 19th-ranked prospects, respectively.
St. Louis Cardinals press release
The St. Louis Cardinals announced today (Monday, July 4) their selections for Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for June, with Springfield Cardinals (AA) first baseman Malcom Nuñez and Palm Beach Cardinals (A) right-handed starter Inohan Paniagua (ee-NO-hahn panny-AH-gwah) receiving the honors.
Nuñez, 21, led all Cardinals minor leaguers with a .381 average (32-for-84), .454 on-base percentage, .726 slugging percentage and a 1.180 OPS. He also ranked first for the month in home runs (9), RBI (27) and total bases (61) across 23 games. Nuñez capped off a stellar month with a 5 RBI game on June 28 vs. Wichita, which saw him hit two home runs in the 8th inning including a go-ahead, two-out grand slam.
“Malcom’s month led all Springfield hitters, his 1.180 OPS highlighted by 9 home runs,” said Cardinals Director of Player Development Gary LaRocque.
The 6’2”, Cuba native was signed by the organization as an international free agent in July 2018. Currently ranked the 17th best prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America, Nuñez previously earned Minor League Player of the Month honors in his second month of professional baseball in August 2018 with the DSL Cardinals. For the season, Nuñez is slashing .258/.375/.465/.840 with 12 HR, 47 RBI in 65 games for Springfield.
Paniagua, 22, led all Cardinals minor league starters with a 4-1 record, 2.18 ERA (8 ER/33.0 IP), 0.82 WHIP, .174 average against, and 38 strikeouts across five June starts with Palm Beach. Each of his five trips to the mound were quality starts and was highlighted by a 7.0 inning, one-run, two-hit performance on June 10 at Tampa featuring a career-best and Cardinals minor league season-high 14 strikeouts. The 6’1” right-hander has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his 14 starts this season.
“Inohan was outstanding in his five games, all quality starts, helping Palm Beach to a 17-7 month of June,” stated LaRocque.
Signed by the Cardinals as an international free agent in December 2017, the Dominican Republic native ranks first among qualified Cardinals minor league pitchers in strikeouts (91), second in ERA (2.33), WHIP (1.07), average against (.216) and third in wins (5) and innings pitched (81.0). He currently leads all Single-A pitchers in innings pitched and strikeouts as well. It is Paniagua’s first career Pitcher of the Month award and first for a Palm Beach pitcher since Johan Oviedo in April 2019.
Brian Walton’s take
Nunez had dropped to no. 22 on The Cardinal Nation’s top prospect list on the basis of his sub-.200 batting average in both April and May in his return to Double-A. To say his June was a spectacular turnaround is not exaggeration. Still, Nunez will need to find more consistent power to become a successful big-league first sacker.
Last week’s listeners to “Wednesday With Walton” at ScoopsWithDannyMac.com heard me extoll Paniagua’s mound virtues, at which time I said TCN’s current no. 19 prospect is a player to watch closely. After all, he was our 2021 Emerging Pitcher of the Year across the system.
https://twitter.com/DannyMacTV/status/1542216354463375362
What is next
The Cardinal Nation’s corresponding choices of Player and Pitcher of the Month are coming soon, including all the top candidates from across the Cardinals system last month.
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