photo: Max Rajcic (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
Max Rajcic, a 22-year-old right-hander from High-A Peoria, is The Cardinal Nation’s St. Louis Cardinals system August Pitcher of the Month, edging out 10 other finalists. Details on all are provided.
This article, culminating in the selection of The Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month, covers hurlers across all levels of the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system during August 2023.
As a reminder, this is NOT the “Pitcher of the Month Among Top Prospects”. Every player in the system has an equal chance, with only their performance during the month used to differentiate the best of the best. Age and level, which are key prospect considerations, are not major factors here.
The conclusion of our analysis is that Peoria right-hander Max Rajcic is the Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month for August.
Guidelines
To qualify here, a pitcher must have thrown at least 10 innings during the month. 48 pitchers made this first cut. To reach the list of 11 finalists, an ERA at or below 2.50 was also required.
The finalists break out into three distinct groups: a pair below 1.00, one group between 1.55 and 1.96 and a third between 2.25 and 2.45.
The finalists represent five of the six teams in the organization, with only the rookie level Dominican Summer League Cardinals not represented. Two DSL Cards met the innings pitched requirement, but not the ERA clip. Low-A Peoria leads the way with four finalists, while Memphis, Palm Beach and the Florida Complex League Cardinals have two each. Finally, Springfield had one.
Seven finalists this month are starters while four work in relief.
Stats
All the stats are included up front, both counting and advanced stats, as they are useful to differentiate pitchers from among multiple very deserving candidates. The choice this month was not clear initially.
In the following tables, finalists are listed in ascending ERA order.
| Pitcher | Tm | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | SVO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | HB | BB | SO | WHIP | AVG |
| Jacob Barnes | Mem | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10.1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0.77 | 0.147 |
| Drew Rom | Mem | 2 | 0 | 0.82 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 0.55 | 0.056 |
| Max Rajcic | Peo | 2 | 0 | 1.55 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 24 | 1.17 | 0.248 |
| Angel Cuenca | PB | 2 | 0 | 1.69 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 0.94 | 0.220 |
| Ian Bedell | Peo | 0 | 0 | 1.96 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 18.1 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 1.09 | 0.194 |
| Gerardo Salas | FCL | 1 | 1 | 2.25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1.25 | 0.204 |
| Alex Cornwell | Spr | 2 | 1 | 2.25 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 1.38 | 0.290 |
| Darlin Saladin | FCL | 1 | 1 | 2.31 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11.2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0.94 | 0.171 |
| Andrew Marrero | Peo | 1 | 1 | 2.38 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 11.1 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 1.41 | 0.179 |
| Zane Mills | Peo | 2 | 1 | 2.42 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 23 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 20 | 1.12 | 0.230 |
| Henry Gomez | PB | 0 | 1 | 2.45 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1.27 | 0.250 |
| Pitcher | Team | NP | P/IP | QS | GF | HLD | WP | GO/AO | SO/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | BABIP |
| Jacob Barnes | Mem | 166 | 16.1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.91 | 7.0 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 0.192 |
| Drew Rom | Mem | 168 | 15.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.78 | 14.7 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 0.059 |
| Max Rajcic | Peo | 450 | 15.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.56 | 7.5 | 2.5 | 3.0 | 0.317 |
| Angel Cuenca | PB | 244 | 15.3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0.72 | 9.6 | 1.1 | 8.5 | 0.279 |
| Ian Bedell | Peo | 294 | 16.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.78 | 8.8 | 3.9 | 2.3 | 0.256 |
| Gerardo Salas | FCL | 90 | 7.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.76 | 6.8 | 3.8 | 1.8 | 0.211 |
| Alex Cornwell | Spr | 263 | 16.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.44 | 7.9 | 2.3 | 3.5 | 0.354 |
| Darlin Saladin | FCL | 91 | 7.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.33 | 10.0 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 0.222 |
| Andrew Marrero | Peo | 216 | 19.1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 1.33 | 15.1 | 7.2 | 2.1 | 0.333 |
| Zane Mills | Peo | 410 | 15.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.57 | 6.9 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 0.263 |
| Henry Gomez | PB | 206 | 18.7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0.93 | 4.9 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 0.289 |
In addition to their low ERAs, four finalists impressively allowed just one or fewer baserunners per inning while five held opponents to a collective .200 batting average or less.
Three pitchers checked both boxes – Memphis reliever Jacob Barnes, Memphis starter Drew Rom and FCL starter Darlin Saladin. However, the latter’s ERA was among the highest at 2.38, while the Redbirds’ duo had the lowest August ERAs, at 0.00 and 0.82, respectively.
This raises an interesting dilemma. While both Triple-A pitchers met the 10 innings requirement, they barely reached it. A big reason why is that the two spent the final 10 days of the month with St. Louis. Rom was called up on the 21st, with Barnes following the very next day.
Further, Barnes is an MLB-veteran reliever who was only in Memphis to get tuned up for a return to the majors. Rom’s two Triple-A starts were nothing short of excellent, but I am not totally comfortable giving out this award based solely on two data points of five and six innings, respectively. Further, Rom’s minuscule .059 BABIP indicates his results would be impossible to sustain.
That brings us to the three hurlers whose ERA falls in the 1.55 to 1.96 range.
Peoria’s Ian Bedell is finally healthy and so are his results, including a 1.96 ERA in August. But the right-hander’s innings are clearly being throttled as the 2020 draft pick has gone far, far beyond his prior career total. As Bedell approaches 100 innings, the 23-year-old hasn’t been allowed to go beyond four innings in a start since early July.
22-year-old Angel Cuenca first reached Palm Beach in 2021 and has a 5.69 career ERA at the Low-A level. However, working in long relief, the right-hander seemed to have figured out Florida State League batters in August. In 16 innings, Cuenca allowed four runs, three earned, with 17 strikeouts against just two walks, for a finalist-low 1.1 free passes per nine rate. That unearned run is the difference between a 1.69 and 2.25 ERA.
A step up at Peoria is Cuenca’s first half Palm Beach teammate Max Rajcic. In his final full month at Low-A, the recently turned 22-year-old was the Cardinals organization’s June Co-Pitcher of the Month.
In month two after his promotion to High-A, the lefty continued his very strong results. Across five August starts for the Chiefs, Rajcic logged a 1.55 ERA in 29 innings. The former UCLA right-hander struck out 24 and walked eight.
Though I could put forward a case for Cuenca, as he had stronger peripherals than Rajcic, the latter is making a big difference in a playoff push.
Despite just a 2-0 record in August, when Rajcic left the game in four of his five starts, Peoria was in the lead. In the fifth outing, he departed after five innings down 1-0. His two quality starts during the month were the most among finalists and tied for the second most in the system.
That is enough to push the award to Rajcic, but let’s review the other finalists’ results first.
Of the six finalists whose ERAs are in the 2.25 to 2.46 range, here are some results that caught my eye.
The two leaders of the FCL rotation, Darlin Saladin and Gerardo Salas, were both strong to close the season, with August ERAs of 2.31 and 2.25, respectively. Saladin had slightly better strikeout and walk rates while Salas gave up fewer hits. While they were on the mound, a total of nine unearned runs also came home.
Peoria’s Andrew Marrero successfully closed three of four opportunities while striking out an amazing 15.1 batters per nine. However, his walk rate of 7.2 per nine was also the highest among our finalists. His only loss and blown save of the month was in support of Rajcic.
Another Chiefs starter, Zane Mills, bounced back from a difficult first four months of 2023 with a 2.42 ERA over five starts. Five of the 12 runs scored during his 26 August innings were unearned.
Palm Beach reliever Henry Gomez had a 2.45 ERA with one loss and a save in the only opportunity presented him.
Alex Cornwell made just three starts for Springfield with a major part of his success, including a 2.25 ERA, due to a ground out to fly out ratio of 2.44, the highest among finalists by a considerable margin. However, Cornwell’s .290 batting average against was highest among the 11.
With this review of all 11 finalists complete, Rajcic is our August Pitcher of the Month, following his June Co-Pitcher honors from The Cardinals organization.
About the winner
Rajcic (pronounced like “magic”) joined the Cardinals organization as their first right-hander taken in the 2022 draft, in the sixth round from UCLA. As a draft eligible sophomore, the 21-year-old received third-round money to sign early, which better indicates where his talent stacks up.
Like many starters, Rajcic throws four pitches, and mixes them well. Unlike many others, however, he has excellent command. He had good results as both a starter and a closer with the Bruins.
After opening the season and his career with Palm Beach, Rajcic generated a 1.89 ERA over 12 starts, earning a promotion to Peoria on June 26. Through 10 starts for the Chiefs, his ERA is 3.04.
Rajcic’s conservative no. 39 ranking on The Cardinal Nation’s top prospect list to open 2023 was due in part due to him not appearing in game action after signing last summer. However, his results to date have powered a steady monthly rise to no. 14 in the system in our August re-rankings.
Significantly more background on Rajcic is available for TCN members here:
How did last month’s winners fare?
Nelfy Ynfante of the Dominican Summer League was The Cardinal Nation’s July Pitcher of the Month, while the choice of the Cardinals organization was Palm Beach’s Brycen Mautz. For different reasons, neither was able to sustain his July success.
It turned out that Ynfante’s July 28 outing was his final appearance of 2023. The 18-year-old did not pitch in August.
Last month, Mautz only threw 13 innings over three starts for Palm Beach with a 6.23 ERA. He struck out 18 and walked just one. His .475 BABIP was among the highest in the system, suggesting considerable bad luck.
What is next
During the upcoming week, I expect the Cardinals organization to announce their choices of August Pitcher and Player of Month.
Related article
The Cardinal Nation August 2023 Player of the Month – Thomas Saggese
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