photo: Luken Baker (Memphis Redbirds)
With leading home run, RBI, walk rate, slugging and OPS stats, Memphis first baseman Luken Baker topped eight other finalists as The Cardinal Nation’s choice as the top hitter in the St. Louis Cardinals system during May. Top 10 prospects and last month’s winner’s results are also reviewed.
This article details the selection of The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Month. Considered were offensive results during May across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The winner as well as a group of eight runners up are highlighted.
Using the MiLB rule of 2.7 plate appearances per team game played, we used 76 PAs as the qualifying line this month, except for players from the Florida Complex League, which played 20 games, for a minimum PA line of 54.
As a result, a total of 37 hitters in the system qualified. Nine further separated themselves with OPSes above .850, but just one was over .987 and excelled in other areas as well, making this a relatively easy decision.
Memphis first baseman Luken Baker is our winner – again.
Demographics
In a bit of a surprise to me, Low-A Palm Beach led the way with three finalists while Memphis, Springfield and rookie level FCL had two apiece. High-A Peoria was shut out, with no hitter posting a May OPS above .742.
As an aside, the 16-35 Chiefs are at the bottom of their circuit in most key hitting stats for the season. For example, Peoria is last in the 12 team Midwest League in runs scored, 29 fewer than the 11th-place squad and 102 runs behind the league leader.
The Chiefs’ slash stats of .218/.288/.330 are also 12th/last in the MWL. Their team OPS is .618, again last by 42 points and ranked 28th among the 30 High-A teams. So it shouldn’t be a surprise Peoria has no Player of the Month finalists.
Reminder
Please remember, this is NOT the “Player 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 factors here, either.
We will take two views of the data. The first look will be basic counting stats, followed by rate stats. Names are listed in the same sequence in both tables, in descending OPS order.
Counting stats
| Hitter | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | OPS |
| Luken Baker | Mem | 24 | 98 | 83 | 13 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 22 | 15 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1.030 |
| Yancel Guerrero | FCL | 19 | 73 | 59 | 16 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 0 | 0.987 |
| César Prieto | Mem | 23 | 100 | 91 | 15 | 26 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0.910 |
| Trey Paige | PB | 18 | 79 | 66 | 16 | 21 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 0.908 |
| Miguel Villarroel | PB | 25 | 105 | 102 | 20 | 39 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 3 | 23 | 10 | 0 | 0.900 |
| Johnfrank Salazar | PB | 21 | 89 | 77 | 11 | 26 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.882 |
| Matt Lloyd | Spr | 24 | 90 | 73 | 13 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0.879 |
| Mike Antico | Spr | 24 | 94 | 88 | 20 | 29 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0.872 |
| Jose Suarez | FCL | 20 | 82 | 71 | 12 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0.857 |
Baker’s dominance is clear from the start with his system-leading total of 22 RBI (in 24 games). Even more impressive is his nine home runs, with only two other players in the system having even half as many in May (Peoria’s Michael Curialle and finalist Cesar Prieto with five apiece).
Memphis third baseman Prieto also stands out for his very low walk total of seven, which equals his very low strikeout total. The only finalist who walked more than he struck out was Palm Beach infielder Johnfrank Salazar.
Salazar’s teammate Miguel Villarroel stole 10 bases without being caught (second to Victor Scott, who was 12-for-14). Villarroel and Salazar co-led the system with nine doubles apiece. (Prieto had eight and Baker had seven.) Both Palm Beach infielders were Rule 5 pick-ups by the Cardinals last December.
The top two hitters in OPS distanced themselves from the others with marks of 1.030 (Baker) and FCL outfielder Yancel Guerrero at an impressive .987.
Rate stats
| Hitter | Tm | PA | BB% | K% | BABIP | ISO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Luken Baker | Mem | 98 | 15.3% | 25.5% | 0.245 | 0.410 | 0.253 | 0.367 | 0.663 | 1.030 |
| Yancel Guerrero | FCL | 73 | 11.0% | 34.2% | 0.400 | 0.305 | 0.271 | 0.411 | 0.576 | 0.987 |
| César Prieto | Mem | 100 | 7.0% | 7.0% | 0.266 | 0.275 | 0.286 | 0.350 | 0.560 | 0.910 |
| Trey Paige | PB | 79 | 13.9% | 16.5% | 0.385 | 0.167 | 0.318 | 0.423 | 0.485 | 0.908 |
| Miguel Villarroel | PB | 105 | 2.9% | 21.9% | 0.487 | 0.118 | 0.382 | 0.400 | 0.500 | 0.900 |
| Johnfrank Salazar | PB | 89 | 12.4% | 11.2% | 0.388 | 0.117 | 0.338 | 0.427 | 0.455 | 0.882 |
| Matt Lloyd | Spr | 90 | 14.4% | 23.3% | 0.340 | 0.192 | 0.288 | 0.400 | 0.479 | 0.879 |
| Mike Antico | Spr | 94 | 6.4% | 19.1% | 0.388 | 0.170 | 0.330 | 0.372 | 0.500 | 0.872 |
| Jose Suarez | FCL | 82 | 9.8% | 29.3% | 0.386 | 0.197 | 0.282 | 0.378 | 0.479 | 0.857 |
As we get into the additional stats, we see that Villarroel (2.9%) and Springfield’s Mike Antico (6.4%) walked even less frequently than Prieto (7%).
The best walk rate among finalists was compiled by none other than big bopper Baker, at 15.3%.
Guerrero’s candidacy is hurt by his very high 34.2% strikeout rate. Teammate Jose Suarez was next highest among finalists at 29.3%. Salazar’s 11.2% strikeout rate was second lowest only to Prieto.
Good fortune in the guise of a high BABIP (from .340 to an amazing .487 by Villarroel) benefited seven of the finalists. That left only the Memphis duo of Baker (.245) and Prieto (.266) in the range of somewhat unlucky, making their strong results overcoming BABIP misfortune even more impressive.
In Isolated Power, ISO, again Baker’s amazing .410 led the way, but the ISOs of Guerrero (.305) and Prieto (.275) would lead the system in many months.
Clearly aided by that high BABIP, Villarroel’s .382 batting average topped the entire system in May. Other .300 hitting finalists are Salazar, Antico and Palm Beach’s Trey Paige.
Salazar’s .427 on-base percentage was highest, with Paige, Guerrero and Villarroel all at .400 or above.
The top three hitters in OPS were also tops in slugging with Baker’s .663 a whopping 87 points higher than the next highest slugger, Guerrero.
When all is said and done, Baker’s exceptional month across the board gives him the honors as The Cardinal Nation’s May Player of the Month. He led in home runs, RBI, walk rate, slugging and OPS.
About the winner
Baker needs no introduction as I imagine everyone reading this knows who he is. Since becoming a Cardinal in the 2018 draft, the 27-year-old power-hitting first baseman was a long-time prospect in the Cardinals system before his graduation – but has yet to take off in several big-league trials.
This April, Baker got off to a slow start with Memphis, including a .210 batting average and .726 OPS. Even so, he tied for the organization home run lead with five and with 18 RBI was just one off the system first-month lead.
The year before, Baker was our April Player of the Month. He went on to rack up individual awards that season which included International League Most Valuable Player and All-Star honors as well as The Cardinal Nation’s system-wide Comeback Player of the Year and overall Player of the Year for 2023.
The signing of veteran free agent Matt Carpenter blocked Baker’s bid to break 2024 spring camp with St. Louis, so he returned to the level he first reached in 2021.
In a good-and-bad news case, Baker is approaching the Memphis career home run record, held by Nick Stavinoha with 74. Baker has hit his 68 in almost 900 fewer plate appearances and in 222 fewer games played than Stavinoha.
Top 10 hitters in the system during May
Here is how the top 10 hitters in the Cardinals organization per The Cardinal Nation’s prospect rankings fared last month.
#3 Victor Scott (Memphis) – As noted above, Scott led the system with 12 May steals in 14 tries. Another positive is his 14 walks against 12 strikeouts. However, the center fielder slashed just .187/.318/.253/.571.
#4 Thomas Saggese (Memphis) – The infielder had another month far below his career .300 hitting expectations, with a slash line of .198/.260/.363/.623. Saggese’s May strikeout rate was 23% against a walk rate of just 5%.
#6 Leonardo Bernal (Peoria) – The 20-year-old catcher did not play poorly at all in May, with a Midwest League slash line of .261/.329/.377/.706.
#8 Jimmy Crooks (Springfield) – Same goes for the backstop one level up, as he fashioned a solid May line of .279/.429/.361/.790. Crooks drew 12 walks against 14 strikeouts.
April’s winner in May
The Cardinal Nation’s April Player of the Month, Memphis infielder Jose Fermin, spent the first 10 days of May on the back end of St. Louis’ bench and returned there to close the month.
In between, the 25-year-old returned to the Redbirds from May 11-30 and had 56 plate appearances in 14 games. Fermin continued right where he left off with an International League slash line of .341/.464/.568. His OPS of 1.032 was almost identical to our May winner Baker.
With the end of month injury to Lars Nootbaar, Fermin is back with St. Louis as a reserve.
What is next?
The Cardinals organization should also name their own selections of May Player and Pitcher of the Month in the upcoming days.
Related article
The Cardinal Nation’s May 2024 Pitcher of the Month – Darlin Saladin
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