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What am I missing with Jake Walsh? It seems he barely pitched in 2021 (22 innings is low even for a reliever) and is already 26 years old.
My five for #21-25
#21 – Austin Love, RHP
#22 – Gordon Graceffo, RHP
#23 – Dionys Rodriguez, RHP
#24 – Jack Ralston, RHP
#25 – Tre Fletcher, OFPads, I saw Walsh pitch many times, and he was very dominant. There were a lot of weak swings. I chalk up his AAA and AFL stints to perhaps experimenting on secondary pitches, and maybe small sample sizes. He throws 98 to 100 mph strikes, and has a nice breaking ball. IMO he is in the Cards bullpen next year at some point. ALso was affected more than most by the 2020 Milb shutdown, otherwise we would have a better line on him. Love his arm.
21. Edwin Nunez – You can’t teach a guy to throw as hard as Nunez. You can teach command and mechanics. Had some good moments to go along with his struggles in PB. Very young for the league and he still has time for the command to improve. The Cardinals left him in PB even once the Complex league started. Clearly they like him so I’ll stick with him another year and see if the production shows up.
22. Jhon Torres – Again a young guy that was allowed to stay at a higher league for the entire year instead of being sent down. Still young for the league but not terribly so. Still has all of the tools and the swing is geared for an average to plus hit tool that should be able to leverage his natural power without sacrificing average. Kind of player who could hit around .275-.280 with 20-30 HRs if he continues to develop. He’s hit everywhere else. I think he’ll start off well in Peoria this year and hopefully gets a quick promotion to Springfield. I’m admittedly bullish on Torres and think he’ll start hitting again this year.
23. Luis Mario Pino – He’s a CF that will likely grow into a corner OF. Sounds like he’s got average speed but gets a good jump in the OF. His 122 wRC+ in his first professional season (at 17) is encouraging as is the 6 HRs in 174 PAs. The 30% K rate is not ideal, but he’s a young guy likely trying to do to much. He’s a really exciting, albeit high risk, prospect. Probably a little high for a guy who hasn’t played in the states yet, but he has all the tools to be great. Turns 18 in Feb so maybe he is in the complex league or even a super aggressive assignment to PB similar to Nunez and Torres. I think that latter is less likely but will be interesting to see.
24. Austin Love – His stuff was dominant…in 8 innings. I’d like to see him start in Peoria this year like they did with Bedell prior to his injuries. His FB isn’t dominant so he’ll need to really develop his SL to continue as a pitcher. The FB is reportedly a high spin offering, but stays flat. If that improves, his profile ticks way up given the command and control he has shown. His CU however is great. Made good hitters in the ACC look pretty silly at times last season. He will likely show out this year as good secondary offerings play well in A ball. AA will be where we see what Love has. I like his chances to move up the list this season.
25. Ian Bedell – So much to love about this guy. I’d have him borderline Top-10 if not coming off TJ surgery. True 4 pitch starter that has a lot of movement on his pitches. Not sure what his timeline looks like for a return, but he was drafted young for a college guy so he should still have plenty of time to develop.
Also, Baseball Prospectus released their Top 10 Cardinals prospects today and Baseball America should release their list pretty soon as well. Tis the season…
(Spoiler Alert…1.Walker 2.Gorman 3.Liberatore 4.Burleson 5.Baez 6.McGreevy 7.Yepez 8.Winn 9.Herrera 10.Donovan…Also quick writeups on Hence/Love/Graceffo/Thompson and a few others)21. Andre Anthony “Granny” Granillo
22. Jhon Hansser “The Table Setter” Torres
23. Edwin Manuel Nunez
24. Austin Blake Love
25. Gordon “Wall Street” Graceffo
26. Gordon Graceffo – TCN Rookie Pitcher of the year
27. Austin Love
28. Jake Walsh
29. Matt Koperniak He moved right on through the system because he could hit his way out of every stop along the way. Hasn’t shown much power yet.
30.- Ian Bedell – Something of a sleeper because he hasn’t pitched much. Went out for TJ surgery after two appearances in the minors. Did he have a bad elbow when he was drafted? It doesn’t matter except that he could have had the surgery a year sooner if the organization didn’t take a whole year to find out he had a bad elbow.My picks for this round:
21. Ryan Holgate. Not a lot of love for our 2nd rounder (CB pick to be fair). He didn’t hit great to start his career, but the power will show up eventually.
22. Edwin Nunez. The 100 mph man should have a chance to get his feet under him next year, when we can better evaluate his progress. I’m willing to bet on the arm talent eventually shining through.
23. Matt Koperniak. The kid can flat hit. Gotta love the .300-.400 BA-OBP line he had this year. I think we might have ourselves another Matt in the pipeline here, gang. You will want to vote this kid higher to make yourself look smart next round.
24. Gordon Graffeco. The pitching version of Matt Koperniak. He had a great start to his career at Palm Beach, and bears watching next year.
25. Freddy Pacheco. It’s hard not to like the stuff when you’re striking out almost 16 batters per 9 innings. With some more refinement, he could be our next Gallegos.
25, there are a number of regulars who haven’t voted for 21-25 yet, right?
Yes, there are five people who have previously voted since we moved to groups of 5, who have not voted this round yet. So the results of the vote could change quite dramatically.
It’s a make or break year for Torres in Springfield in 2022. Yet another prospect affected more by not playing in 2020.
Why do people say that about certain prospects or how the Cardinals’ system had an implosion of pitching last year?
Every player in every system that was not at the alt site had the same obstacle to overcome.
The results are in and here are your #21-25 for 2022:
21. Jake Walsh
22. Austin Love
23. Freddy Pacheco
24. Gordon Graceffo
25. Ryan HolgateVoting for #26-30 is now OPEN. Voting will end at 8 PM EST/7 PM CST on December 5th.
Here’s a summary of the top 25:
1. 2B/3B Nolan Gorman (22)
2. 3B Jordan Walker (20)
3. LHP Matthew Liberatore (22)
4. 1B/OF Juan Yepez (24)
5. SS/RHP Masyn Winn (20)
6. C Ivan Herrera (22)
7. OF Alec Burleson (23)
8. OF Lars Nootbaar (24)
9. LHP Zack Thompson (24)
10. RHP Michael McGreevy (21)
11. 2B/3B Brendan Donovan (25)
12. OF Joshua Baez (19)
13. RHP Andre Pallante (23)
14. RHP Angel Rondon (24)
15. 3B Malcom Nunez (21)
16. RHP Tink Hence (19)
17. 1B/DH Luken Baker (25)
18. LHP Connor Thomas (24)
19. SS Delvin Perez (23)
20. RHP Alec Willis (19)
21. RHP Jake Walsh (26)
22. RHP Austin Love (23)
23. RHP Freddy Pacheco (24)
24. RHP Gordon Graceffo (22)
25. OF Ryan Holgate (22)#26 . Matt Koperniak Will play this year at age 24. Breezed thru A, A+, and AA in his first pro season. Plays all OF positions and played shortstop and 3rd base in college. Good approach at the plate with 41 walks and 55 K’s in 390 AB’s. One of the most intriguing prospects in our system.
#27 . Chandler Redmond 25 yo, 4-year college player. Bats left, plays multiple positions. Ended the season at AA Springfield with 18 HR’s across two levels.
#28 . Ian Bedell Impressed scouts pre-draft with a ceiling of mid-rotation starter. 4th Rnd pick in 2020 with $800,000 bonus. Limited action in 2021 coming off injury.
#29 . Jeremy Rivas 19 y.o. shortstop began his career in the rookie league. playing in 48 games with 200 plate appearances. He batted .271 with no power and pretty decent speed as a baserunner.
#30 . Jhon Torres Traded to St. Louis in 2018, he will be 22 yo this season. Still young, but we’re still waiting on that power to arrive. Hopefully he will see time at Springfield this year and he will start answering some of our questions.
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