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#13. Yairo Padilla
#14. Deniel OrtizI’m actually swapping Lin for Ortiz in my rankings. Looking at each, I still think Lin has great upside, but I firmly think Ortiz also has starter upside with really good offensive production. Ortiz had great results this year, but even the underlying data looked great as well. He had consistent, hard contact with a 48.3% hard hit rate which would project as a 60 hit compared to big leaguers. He has above average projectable exit velocities while doing something most Cards prospects can’t and that is hit the ball in the air. Ortiz also has great discipline as he had a 20.5% O-Zone Swing % (60 on 20-80 scale). I don’t think he is just overly passive either as he swung at 67.8% of in zone pitches (50 on 20-80 scale). Ortiz put up this great year in his age 20 season while excelling in A+. I see Ortiz has having a decent shot of being a Cardinals starter in the future albiet at 1B with an okay glove.
I did have Ortiz originally as my #10 prospect (Lin 9th and Padilla 8th) so I am hoping he can get his recognition here.
For me…
13. Chen-Wei Lin. I have him #10 on my list, so he’s becoming a value pick for me. Big righty who has some room to fill out. His control is a bit better in the AFL, but after a good first two outings, he’s been shelled the last two. Still, the potential is there to be a mid rotation starter. He’ll likely start at Springfield.
14. Cooper Hjerpe. My #13, so he’s about in line here. I had high hopes for him out of Oregon St, but he’s hardly been able to stay on the mound. When he’s on, he’s just about unhittable (5.5 H/9) so perhaps he becomes a Miller-Hader type of bullpen arm. But that’s a narrow window to fit into, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him never make the majors. Still, the talent merits his spot here.
Wow… when you consider Franklin, Davis, Molina, Holiday, and all the guys who stepped forward in 24 but need a reset, there are some interesting arms coming up. Add in the Mets duo and some really interesting relief arms and we could be adding an inordinate number of viable pitching arms. Springfield alone had four or five bullpen guys I could see as future MLBers. Gastelum, Velez, Love, Clemente, Burns, and DJ Carpenter is a beast.
13. Hjerpe
14. OrtizAgreed with Nigel. I feel so much uncertainty in this long stretch of prospects. I can squint just a wee bit and see something very promising, but I can also squint and see reasons for doubt.
They must be hiding Alec Willis under a rock. The only thing I’ve seen about him through all of 2025 was a photo that Brian took during ST and posted on TCN.com.
Cardinals are counting on Willis taking at least one spot in the rotation . . . Maybe 2 spots depending on whether they move Gray.
I read a front office exec saying they have been conserving Willis’s innings for just that eventuality. They expect him to take the ball every three days from here on out.
By my count, we are missing Pugs and Pads from our regular voters. Things are winding down…4 hours and 21 minutes to go before we close voting at noon CT/1 PM ET!!
Mucho grande gracias for the reminder, Stlcard25.
13. Yairo Enrique Padilla
14. Cooper Austin HjerpeWithout further ado, your #13 and 14 prospects in the 2026 TCN Community Top 50 Prospect voting are…
13. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
14. Yairo Padilla, IF
Running List:
1. JJ Wetherholt, IF
2. Liam Doyle, LHP
3. Quinn Mathews, LHP
4. Rainiel Rodriguez, C
5. Joshua Baez, OF
6. Leonardo Bernal, C
7. Jimmy Crooks, C
8. Ixan Henderson, LHP
9. Brycen Mautz, LHP
10. Tekoah Roby, RHP
11. Jesus Baez, IF
12. Tink Hence, RHP
13. Cooper Hjerpe, LHP
14. Yairo Padilla, IFVoting is now open for the #15 and 16 prospects. Voting will close at Noon CT/1 PM ET on Thursday, November 6th.
#15 – Ryan Mitchell
#16 – Tanner FranklinI’m putting a lot of faith in these young guys to perform as projected when they were drafted. Time will tell….
#15 Nathan Church
#16 Deniel OrtizI do like Braden Davis also — but he needs to fix that base-on-balls problem a bit more, to be a viable starting pitcher prospect. If he does get the walk rate down to, say, 4 per 9 IP like his last year of college ball, then look out. Because the strikeouts and suppression of longballs are excellent.
In his only pro season, Ortiz at age 20 posted a 152 OPS+ across Low-A and High-A (OBP north of .400 at both levels). Even without the steals (39 of 48), he’d be plenty worthy of votes at this slot.
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