On Friday, September 22, the Arizona Fall League announced its 2023 rosters. Eight members of the St. Louis Cardinals system will be members of the Scottsdale Scorpions.
- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (The Cardinal Nation prospect #7) – High-A Peoria
- RHP Andre Granillo (TCN #37) – Triple-A Memphis
- RHP Edwin Nunez (TCN #25) – Double-A Springfield
- RHP Inohan Paniagua (TCN #27) – High-A Peoria
- RHP Tekoah Roby (TCN #6) – Double-A Springfield
- C Jimmy Crooks (TCN #22) – Triple-A Memphis
- SS Jeremy Rivas (TCN #47) – High-A Peoria
- OF Victor Scott II (TCN #11) – Double-A Springfield
All eight are members of The Cardinal Nation’s Top 50 Prospect List, including three ranked in the top 11. Five are pitchers with three position players.
Two come from Triple-A Memphis, three from Double-A Springfield, and three from High-A Peoria. However, three had moved up in recent promotions.
The former Peoria battery of Edwin Nunez and Jimmy Crooks spent most or all of 2023 with the Chiefs and were promoted upward (to Springfield and Memphis, respectively) when their club exited the Midwest League playoffs. Andre Granillo joined Memphis from Springfield just one month ago.
Three of the four Cardinals pitchers are going to use the AFL to log additional innings after missing part of the 2023 regular season due to injury – Cooper Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby and Inohan Paniagua.
Joining the Cardinals to make up the Scorpions roster are prospects from these four systems: Angels, Giants, Phillies and Nationals.
Springfield pitching coach Eric Peterson will play the same role on the Scottsdale coaching staff under manager Marty Malloy from the Phillies’ Low-A Clearwater Threshers.
The 2023 AFL regular season will run from Monday, October 2 through Thursday, November 9, with playoffs following. Both afternoon and evening games are on the schedule.
Player highlights
Hjerpe returned to the Peoria active roster on September 1 and has pitched in relief. The 22-year-old had been out since May 30 due to surgery to remove cartilage fragments from his left elbow.
Since his return, Hjerpe has made just two short relief appearances. Earlier, he posted a 3.66 ERA in eight starts, striking out 49 but walking 23 in 39 1/3 innings.
Granillo pitched for Springfield before his August 20 promotion to Memphis. In 44 Double-A relief appearances, Granillo went 3-4 with a 4.42 ERA, struck out 72 in 55 innings and converted 14 of 18 save opportunities. After a terrible April (10.64 ERA), Granillo was exceptional in May and June (1.75 ERA) before posting a 3.75 mark in July but then slid to 5.68 in August. In eight appearances since joining Memphis, his ERA is 5.84.
Across the two stops, the 23-year-old struck out an impressive 11.7 batters per nine innings this season, but his walk rate ballooned from 4.1 per nine at Double-A to an alarming 9.5 at Triple-A.
Nunez earned two promotions during 2023. The 21-year-old right-hander opened the year with Palm Beach. Nunez, who moved up to Peoria on June 26, features a fastball that tops out at 100 mph. With the Chiefs, the 6-foot-4 right-hander had a 3.22 ERA in 36 1/3 innings with 30 strikeouts against 16 walks. Nunez scuffled at times in the late innings, saving five games in 10 opportunities. He has yet to officially take the mound for Springfield.
Paniagua missed the most time of any of the eight Cardinals this season, first activated on July 7. The 23-year-old made 11 starts for the Chiefs, going 0-3 with a 4.47 ERA. He struck out 47 but walked 29 in 41 1/3 innings.
The top prospect acquired by the Cardinals in their deadline deals, Roby was coming back from a shoulder injury at the time. Activated at Springfield on August 21, Roby has allowed four runs in 12 innings (3.00 ERA) on just six hits, three walks and with 19 strikeouts.
The Midwest League All-Star catcher and August Player of the Month for the High-A league was just promoted to Memphis as backfill when Peoria ended its playoff run. Crooks batted .317 over the second half. For the season, his 73 runs batted in tied for second most in the Midwest League and are the most in a single season by a Chief since 2019.
The shortstop was a mainstay of the Peoria lineup all season long. The 20-year-old appeared in 115 games, with a slash line of .209/.293/.277/.570 and stole 22 bases in 27 attempts. Baseball America called Rivas the Best Defensive Infielder in the Cardinals organization.
In his first full year as a professional, the center fielder stole 50 bases with Peoria and another 45 with Springfield to take the minor league crown. (Update: On a later scoring change, one steal was taken away, so at 94 in total, Scott tied for the MiLB lead.)
Earlier this summer, Scott represented the Cardinals in the MLB All-Star Futures Game and this week, was named a Midwest League All-Star. Scott’s .794 OPS between the two stops this season was better than expected, helping power his rise in the prospect rankings here and elsewhere.
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