Cardinals Honor Yepez, Walker and Liberatore as Top Minors Players of 2021

photo: Juan Yepez, Jordan Walker, Matthew Liberatore (Springfield Cardinals/Palm Beach Cardinals/Memphis Redbirds)

St. Louis Cardinals press release

The St. Louis Cardinals announced today their 2021 Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year selections, honoring first baseman Juan Yepez, third baseman Jordan Walker and left-handed pitcher Matthew Liberatore for their accomplishments on the field.  This marks the first time since the award’s inception in 1995 that co-recipients have been selected for Player of the Year honors.

“We are pleased to recognize Matthew Liberatore, Juan Yepez, and Jordan Walker as our organizational minor league Pitcher and co-Players of the Year,” said John Mozeliak, Cardinals President of Baseball Operations.  “Matthew and Juan were standouts at the Triple-A level while Jordan quickly adjusted to full-season ball with a strong debut season.  We are excited for the strides all three players have made in their development.”

(St. Louis Cardinals)

Yepez, 24, slashed .286/.383/.586 with 27 home runs, 29 doubles, 77 RBI and a .969 OPS across 111 games for Memphis (AAA) and Springfield (AA).  The Venezuelan native led all Cardinals minor league players in home runs, doubles, RBI, slugging and OPS and ranked in the Top 5 in hits (105, 5th), walks (51, 5th) and runs (67, 5th).

After putting up a .958 OPS in 19 games to start the season at Springfield, Yepez was promoted to Memphis on June 1.  He went on to lead all Triple-A East hitters in slugging (.589) and OPS (.971), while ranking in the Top 10 in average (.289, 10th), on-base percentage (.382, 5th), home runs (22, T-5th) and extra-base hits (47, T-6th), despite playing in only 92 games.  Yepez was named the Cardinals August Minor League Player of the Month and a Triple-A Postseason All-Star.  He was added to the Major League roster for the first time in his career for the National League Wild Card Game at Los Angeles on October 6, but did not appear.

Juan Yepez

Following his successful minor league season, Yepez participated in the 2021 Arizona Fall League earning co-Hitter of the Year honors, hitting .302 with seven home runs and 26 RBI.  He ranked in the Top 10 among AFL leaders in home runs (T-2nd), RBI (2nd), slugging (.640, 4th) and OPS (1.028, 8th) and was named a Fall League All-Star.

“Juan had a breakout season in 2021, hitting for average and power, with good plate discipline across the top two minor league levels and the Arizona Fall League,” said Assistant General Manager & Director of Player Development, Gary LaRocque.

Yepez is the first Latin-born Cardinals minor leaguer to win Player of the Year honors since outfielder Magneuris Sierra won in 2014 and the fifth overall joining Oscar Taveras (2012), Albert Pujols (2000) and Pablo Ozuna (1998).  He was acquired from the Atlanta Braves for 1B Matt Adams in May 2017 and joins Tyler O’Neill (2018) as only the second Cardinals minor leaguer who was not originally drafted or signed by the club to win the award.  Entering 2022, Baseball America ranks him as the organization’s No. 9 overall prospect and named him “Best Hitter for Average” in their Best Tools Survey.  He also ranks as the No. 7 first base prospect by the same publication.

(St. Louis Cardinals)

Walker, 19, slashed .317/.388/.548 with 25 doubles, four triples, 14 home runs, 14 stolen bases and a .936 OPS across 82 games for Low-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria.  The club’s 2020 first-round selection out of Stone Mountain, Ga. was the only Cardinals minor leaguer with at least 14 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 2021 and ranked among Cardinals minor league leaders in batting average (2nd), on-base percentage (9th), slugging (3rd), OPS (2nd), hits (103, T-6th), extra-base hits (43, 4th), home runs (T-8th), doubles (5th), runs (63, 7th) and stolen bases (T-5th).

He wasted no time making an impact in his professional debut, hitting a home run on the very first pitch he saw as a member of the Palm Beach Cardinals on May 4 at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.  Despite missing 19 games with a wrist injury, Walker flourished with a .374 average, 1.162 OPS and 18 extra-base hits in 27 games, twice winning Low-A Southeast Player of the Week honors.  He was promoted to Peoria on June 29 and named the Cardinals June Minor League Player of the Month.

In 55 games at Peoria after his promotion, Walker led the Chiefs with 66 hits, eight home runs, 25 extra-base hits, 27 RBI, 39 runs and a .831 OPS.  He finished the 2021 season with a .418 average and .821 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers.

Jordan Walker

“Jordan had a tremendous start to his professional career and continued to develop and improve as one of the youngest players at the High-A level,” said LaRocque.

Walker is the first Cardinals minor leaguer to win Player of the Year honors playing exclusively below Double-A since outfielder Magneuris Sierra (Gulf Coast League Cardinals) in 2014.  Entering this season, Baseball America named him as the organization’s top overall prospect and “Best Power Hitter” in their Best Tools Survey.  He also ranks as the top third base prospect and No. 24 overall prospect by the same publication.

(St. Louis Cardinals)

Liberatore, who had yet to pitch above Low-A prior to the 2021 season, spent the entire season at Triple-A Memphis as a 21-year-old, finishing the season with a 9-9 record and a 4.04 ERA in 22 games.  In his first season of play in the Cardinals organization, he set career-highs and led all Cardinals minor league pitchers in wins, strikeouts (123), innings pitched (124.2), and games started (18).

Liberatore was named the Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June, posting a 3-1 record with a 3.42 ERA in four starts.  He won the award again in August after posting a 2.84 ERA across four starts, including three consecutive 7.0 inning outings allowing just three total earned runs.  The 6’4” southpaw finished the season strong with a 2.67 ERA and 57 strikeouts over his final 10 appearances (57.1 IP).

Matthew Liberatore

“Matthew was challenged early at the Triple-A level, worked hard to come up to and exceed the level of the league and ended the season as one of our most consistent pitchers in the system,” stated LaRocque.

In June, the Peoria, Ariz. native helped USA Baseball qualify for the postponed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, allowing just two runs across two starts (9.2 IP) with eight strikeouts.  A month later, he started for the National League in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game at Coors Field, working a perfect first frame and retiring a trio of top 10 prospects on 13 pitches.

A first round draft selection by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 and acquired by the Cardinals via trade in 2020, Liberatore is the first left-handed pitcher to win the award since Austin Gomber earned co-Pitcher of the Year honors in 2015.  Liberatore enters the upcoming season as the organization’s top pitching prospect for the third consecutive season and the No. 50 overall prospect according to Baseball America.

Matthew Liberatore, Juan Yepez, Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals)

Brian Walton’s take

Due to no minor league season in 2020, these are the first such awards since outfielder Dylan Carlson and pitcher Angel Rondon were honored for their 2019 seasons.

The 2021 awards would normally have been announced in conjunction with Winter Warm-Up in mid-January, but the annual fan festival was canceled due to the MLB lockout.

All three of the award winners are deserving. Having said that, the Cardinals have a history of infusing current year results with prospect status in selecting their honorees. There is absolutely nothing wrong with those criteria, but it is different from the approach we follow, which is solely based on results.

At The Cardinal Nation back in October, we proclaimed Yepez our Player of the Year and Palm Beach’s Dionys Rodriguez our Pitcher of the Year. Liberatore was our choice for the top starting pitcher at Memphis.

As noted in the press release, the organization rarely honors players below Double-A, but Rodriguez logged his accomplishments at the level appropriate for where he is in his career. At the time we announced our awards, I predicted Liberatore would be the organization’s choice – and he is. I also opined that it would be a travesty if Yepez’ 2021 was not honored.

TCN’s 2021 Cardinals Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year

Among those projected to be future major leaguers, there is no comparison. Walker is no. 2, Liberatore no. 3 and Yepez no. 6 in our new 2022 prospect rankings. Rodriguez is ranked just 37th but that doesn’t take away from his exceptional results in 2021.

You can view all of TCN’s 2021 award winners, by level and for the system overall, here:

The Cardinal Nation’s Team Recaps and Top Players of 2021

(Team recaps are free, but player writeups are for TCN members.)

Prior Cardinals organization winners

Cardinals organization
Year Player of the Year Teams Pitcher of the Year Teams
2019 Dylan Carlson, OF Spr/Mem Angel Rondon, RHP PB/Spr
2018 Tyler O’Neill, OF Mem/StL Dakota Hudson, RHP Mem/StL
2017 Harrison Bader, OF Spr/Mem Jack Flaherty, RHP Spr/Mem/StL
2016 Carson Kelly, C Spr/Mem/StL Luke Weaver, RHP Spr/Mem/StL
2015 Stephen Piscotty, OF Mem/StL Alex Reyes, RHP PB/Spr
Austin Gomber, LHP Peoria
2014 Magneuris Sierra, OF GCL Marco Gonzales, LHP PB/Spr/Mem/StL
2013 Kolten Wong, 2B Memphis Zach Petrick, RHP Peoria/PB/Spr
2012 Oscar Taveras, OF Springfield Seth Maness, RHP PB/Spr
2011 Matt Adams, 1B Springfield Shelby Miller, RHP PB/Spr
2010 Matt Carpenter, 3B PB/Spr Shelby Miller, RHP QC
2009 Allen Craig, OF/IF Mem Lance Lynn, RHP PB/Spr/Mem
2008 Daryl Jones, OF PB/Spr Jess Todd, RHP PB/Spr/Mem
2007 Colby Rasmus, OF Spr P.J. Walters, RHP QC/PB/Spr
2006 Colby Rasmus, OF QC/PB Blake Hawksworth, RHP PB/Spr
2005 Travis Hanson, 3B Spr Mark Worrell, RHP Palm Beach
2004 Reid Gorecki, OF PB/Tenn Anthony Reyes, RHP PB/Tenn.
2003 John Gall, 1B Tenn/Mem Dan Haren, RHP Tenn/Mem
2002 John Gall, 1B New Haven Tyler Johnson, LHP Peoria
2001 Covelli Crisp, OF Potomac Jimmy Journell, RHP Pot/NH
2000 Albert Pujols, 3B Peo/Pot Bud Smith, LHP Ark/Mem
1999 Adam Kennedy, INF Mem Rick Ankiel, LHP Ark/Mem
1998 Pablo Ozuna, INF Peo Rick Ankiel, LHP Peo/PW
1997 Brent Butler, INF Peo Cliff Politte, RHP PW/Ark
1996 Dmitri Young, INF Lv Britt Reames, RHP Peoria
1995 Mike Gulan, 3B Lv/Ark Mike Busby, RHP Lv/Ark

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