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Speaking of Lane Thomas, here’s a guy that is now playing at his age level (age 22 most of 2018) or a little higher. He’s playing CF. He is hitting well with a 123 wRC+ at AA and a 110 wRC+ at AAA. He has 27 HRs and 17 SBs this year.
Thomas has a little bit of Paul DeJong in him in being moved very quickly through the organization and has an under-rated or under-talked about vibe to him.
Lane Thomas never hit more than 8 Hr (38 AB per HR) in a season. This year he has 27 HR (19 AB per HR). This is amazing. No wonder he’s under-rated, under-talked about.
Lane Thomas never stayed healthy enough to play a full season.He stayed healthy this season.I like this kid and think he will pass other OF prospects and be option sometime next season in Stlouis.(looking over your shoulder Adolis?)
I will be surprised if Kelly makes it with the Cards. He has hada three years of attempts, never once hit 200. Has only four doubles in 117 at bats. Can he hit major league pitching at all?
When we really needed a good catcher to replace Molina when he had surgery, we used Pena, hardly a world-beater. Kelly got only thirty-five at bats in what should have been his Lou Gehrig moment. He is now 24. Do you really see him hitting well enough to replace Molina in a couple of years? You can’t put a 200 hitter out there who has exhibited no major league power.
He is reaching the end of the days in which he can be considered a prospect. He has to make some noise soon. If he is still valued, I would be considering a trade.
I have been wrong before.
Very eloquently stated, RDiz. Not to let the cat out of the bag, but I have Kelly at #19…..which may now slip to #21 after reading RDiz’ take.
Kelly also got injured right after Molina.So figure that into the equation.He has never gotten more than a couple of weeks chance in the big leagues.
I think Kelly is one of those kind of hitters (like most hitters) that need to get consistent at-bats to best show what he can do offensively. I still think he can be a .260 hitter in the majors with 12-16 home runs a year and plus defense.
Unfortunately, it probably won’t be with the Cardinals. And, also unfortunately, we will most likely not be able to get full value for him in a trade.
2016: 10 games, hit 154
2017: 34 games, hit 174
2018: 19 games, hit 114He hasn’t exactly stepped up to take advantage of his opportunities. A lot of prospects don’t get three shots this good.
Three shots and never hit 200? If someone didn’t think he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, he would have been gone after two. Thus far, he hasn’t taken advantage of any opportunity, maybe to hit a key home run or to pinch hit successfully. Have to show something sometime.
And you have to get a real freaking chance also.A random AB every week or two with a start every three weeks isn’t exactly getting a fair chance or consistent playing time.Judging Kelly on his very limited chances is premature and foolish IMHO.
As avid Cardinal fans, we ALL love each and every one of our young farmhands. That’s a given. I root hard for a guy like Kelly in every game he plays. I also believe his ceiling is that of a back-up ML catcher….at the very best case scenario. Considering the huge number of quality young players in the Cardinal system, I find it almost impossible to place a fellow such as Kelly in the top 15. If we offered every GM in baseball their choice of either Kelly or ……let’s say Nunez, every last one of them would undoubtedly select Nunez.
I love Malcom Nunez, and he’s got a puncher’s chance to be something special. But I’m forced to disagree with your conclusion, Pugs. If we count him as eligible, Carson’s still one of the 3 or 4 best backstop prospects in baseball. He has an excellent defensive reputation, nobody disputes it. And…
Carson Kelly was an above average AA hitter at 21.
Then he was an above average AAA hitter at 22.
And then above average in AAA again at 23. And also at 23 (this year) he walked exactly as often as he struck out. All of these things are really good signs, and tend to be extremely predictive.Even money says he’ll be a legit MLB hitter, roughly league average, once he gets the playing time. It’s unfair in my opinion to claim that he’s had “three chances” when he hasn’t even had one yet where he got as much as a third of the AB’s given to good old non-prospect Bo Hart some years back. Carson’s only stretch of anything approaching consistent playing time was last year when he got a grand total of 25 plate appearances in the 8 games between September 24 and October 1st.
In Mike Trout’s first shot at the majors he had 135 trips to the plate and batted .220. It didn’t mean anything, of course. And very likely neither does a handful of Carson Kelly AB’s scattered across 3 different seasons. Is it frustrating? Yup. Does it mean anything? I really, really doubt it.
Andrew Knizner wins the vote for #6.
He had 11 votes to 9 for Kelly and 1 apiece for Nunez and Helsley.
Voting is now OPEN for #7.
My vote is for Carson Kelly.
(Edited for accuracy)
I was prepared to take Kelly here. But Pugsleys comment changed my mind. Head to head, every GM would prefer Nunez over Kelly. That’s probably true.
Therefore, I take Nunez at #7.
#7 Helsley. Helsley started the season at Springfield because of the glut of starters at Memphis. He got it going in late April into mid-May and was called up to AAA, as the MEM starters were added to the STL roster.
He pitched two very solid starts for the Redbirds before falling off in June which resulted in him going on the DL on June 10th. His numbers while with Memphis were 27 IP 3.71 ERA (1.29 in May) 34 Ks and a WHIP of 1.01 and an OPP BA of .188. He was pitching better at AAA than AA.
Since he missed half of ’18, he becomes part of the next wave of starters along with Woodford, Kruczynski and Meisner and he’s the best of that group. Remember that the Memphis staff was depleted as all of their opening day starters were called up to St Louis as injuries mounted for the Cardinals.
With question marks beside both CMartinez, Weaver and Reyes names, Helsley will move up the depth chart, if healthy, coming out of spring training ’19. His high powered arm will keep his ceiling high.
The TCN rates him our third best pitching prospect at #7, just behind Reyes and Hudson.
Kruczynski, Roberts, and Woodford all look really good. Woodford has that Flaherty-like statline that isn’t all that impressive, but his overall makeup looks complete.
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