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The technology to measure stuff makes it possible to quantify stuff that couldn’t be quantified before. Once quantified, it can be subjected to statistical analysis. All well and good. As I have said before, it is a tool, not an oracle. Like a hammer, it can drive nails or mash thumbs. It is my firm belief that the nail drivers left town for Houston years ago and the thumb mashers took over. I also like to mention that not everything that matters can be objectively measured and reduced to numbers. I think those things get short shrift. Or did at least. The new regime is taking shape after all.
Bling, I don’t think we are having the same conversation. I’m not entirely convinced Brian or some other force isn’t completely editing my messages from what I see to put a complete different meaning to them.
I like to see a prospect progress steadily, level to level. No slow movers. No guys who are IL regulars to the point it impedes their progress. I like athletic players who play the game gracefully, with a broad skillset. They do not have to be a standout in any one area. I dislike the tendency of the Cardinals to accumulate infielders with right side arms, ungraceful outfielders and DH/1B types who can hit some but not really play the game. I don’t like left side infielders who make throwing errors, or outfielders who turn the wrong way or throw to the wrong base or miss the cutoff. I don’t like catchers who can’t control the running game or pitchers who walk a lot of guys. I dislike whippy arm pitchers with whiffle ball stuff who can’t stay on the mound. I really don’t like all or nothing hitters who don’t have anywhere near enough all, or hitters who can’t foul one off with two strikes, or take it to the right side to advance a runner or hit a fly ball when needed. I dislike teenagers who can compete with other teenages but do not have an athletic build, ie doughboys or beanpoles.
For those of you who seen a little more videos and I, is there any Rainiel stays at catcher or more likely a LF/1B/DH? If the bat plays they will get him in the lineup.
Fingers crossed Herrera can catch again in 2026 as a side note
Rodriguez is listed as 5’10 197 lbs. For comparison Pozo is 5’11 201lbs. Both are a little on the stocky side but I don’t know how much it matters offensively. The Box Score doesn’t care about a players body mass index. It mostly cares about offensive production and Rodriguez has definitley been producing. I will let others more familiar with him discuss his defensive capabilities.
How one views Rodriguez is probably influenced by how one views the minor leagues in general. For those that love minor league baseball and all of its entertainment value as a stand alone entity then the excitement level of Rodriguez is probably off the charts. In contrast, those that the view the minor leagues as primarily just a feeder system to the big league club then the excitement is probably more tempered. Yes it is nice to see him doing well but until a player proves that they can do it at AA or AAA then it is hard to take them very seriously. Sometimes you don’t know until they get to the big leagues and are there for awhile.
All in all I would rather see him do well than not but I don’t get too excited about Low A results. That is just me though.
Fingers crossed Herrera can catch again in 2026 as a side note
I see zero evidence that the Cardinals are planning to use him at catcher again. If they were he wouldn’t be getting time in LF. Herrera is basically turning into another Contreras which is a guy with a potent RH bat but in search of a place to play on the field. Contreras seems to have settled into an ok 1B and I imagine Herrera could play there as well, which is why I view Contreras’s NTC as a blocker to Herrera because one thing they do not have in common is salary and we know which salary the rebuilding Cardinals would prefer to pay.
BW has mentioned that Rainiel is listed elsewhere at 5’8″ 210, and that seemed more in line with the Brian’s eye test this past spring.
Herrera is not going to catch but he has value as a DH, unlike a platoon hitter like Burleson, who potentially might need to be pinch hit for vs a LH reliever. I doubt he has a ton of trade value, being a DH without big power.
Baseball Reference, MLB.Com, and Fangraphs all have Rodriguez at 5’10 197lbs. I can’t personally attest to their accuracy or where they get their information but that is what they have listed. Perhaps he has gained some weight since his last weigh in but hopefully he hasn’t shrunk.
The source of the industry info is the Cardinals, who listed Rodriguez at 5-10, 197 when he was signed in April 2024. That was when he was in the DR.
This year, he came to the US for the first time. In their Media Guide, the Cardinals now list him at 5-8, 209. Those industry sources rarely update the initial height and weight (for 6000-7000 professional players).
With his inside-the-park homer last night, our Incredible Shrinking Catcher now has a .999 OPS over the past two months. In A-ball, at 18 years of age.
More specifically, Rainiel since June 22 has a slashline of .280/.432/.567 with a stellar 35-to-28 ratio of walks to whiffs, across 192 plate appearances. And even if he’s 5’ 8” and doesn’t grow another quarter inch, he’ll still be bigger than Yogi Berra, Hack Wilson, Joe Morgan, Jose Altuve, and several other superstars. And he’d be only an inch shorter than my favorite non-Yadi backstop, Campy. So I’m not fretting a bit about Rai-Rod’s height.
It looks like at full maturity he’ll have a 50-55 hit tool, 60-65 power, and 65-70 patience, i.e., a 12-15% walk rate. Assuming average health/durability, I’d put his 50th percentile outcome at a roughly 15 WAR career; 75th percentile is Mickey Tettleton, and 90th is Gene Tenace.
Rodriguez just turned from 17 years old to 18 years old last January. He’ll probably be over 6 ft tall by the time he grows up.
Rainiel Rodriguez update from AA.
Over his first three weeks in Springfield (May 12 to June 2) the 19-year-old struggled badly, going 11-for-61 with a lousy 6/23 BB/K ratio and a meager .514 OPS. Well, things are different now.
Since then he’s accrued 184 plate appearances and is slashing .323/.413/.576 with a solid 21/36 BB/K tally. That is a very long and healthy hot streak; or maybe it’s his entirely sustainable new true level of hitting ability, as a teenager in Double-A, in which case Rai-Rod should be considered a consensus top 5 prospect in all of baseball.
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And speaking of Redbird catching prospects, from May 7 through Friday night’s game, 22-year-old Leonardo Bernal is smashing AAA pitchers to the tune of .302/.376/.561 (234 PA’s). When your 2nd-best backstop prospect looks like a future 3-4 WAR starter, that’s a real good sign. 😉
Well a player should struggle a little early on if the level is right, then the good ones adjusts and get better. I suspect the same will happen at AAA. Maybe even the show once he gets there. Id rather see a little struggle, then an adjustment than the kid just dominating. One concern with jj up here. I think he will be fine but having success early can breed overconfidence.
If he continues to improve I suspect he will get a dose of AAA in September. I hope he can play something besid catcher. He will get to the majors quicker something other than catcher. I would not want him to be exclusively as a DH. He is pretty athletic and has extremly quick hands.
I hope he can play something besid catcher. He
I think Leo Bernal is forcing that issue. If I was a fortune teller I see Bernal as Primary and RR secondary in 2028. Bernal probably sooner. I think They’re smart to give RR much of 27 in Memphis. If RR can be adequate defensively we have our c/dh tandem for ? Years.
I hope he can play something besid catcher.
It looks like Rainiel is a c/1B type so far. It is hard for me to gauge the DOSL guys like him. Their baseball experience growing up is likely very different from US kids. He is only 19 but in his 3rd pro year and was probably playing with an academy of some type before that. Not even sure what that consists of. How can you compare that to, say, Crooks who came up the college route. It makes more sense to compare him to Herrera and Bernal. He is hitting AA pitching well like they all did. His arm seems better than Herrera. 30% CS in AA is similar to Bernal/Crooks. He must have put up some sexy offensive metrics in A level that lit up the national level wonks. I think he is an exciting prospect but don’t think he is the slam dunk some people do. He has worked up a lot of ability early, but guessing what the high end is going to be is a dart toss.
. I think he is an exciting prospect but don’t think he is the slam dunk some people do.
That’s the sensible view. But most fans don’t do sensible.
Virtually no one is a slam dunk but he has shown a real ability to make adjustments and His bat is so quick and he is so strong that he is a strong possibility.
At AA he had a few strong games then a deep slump, average below the Mendoza line then he began to hit again but mostly singles and doubles because he hits the ball so hard that any gap hit goes to the wall. Now he is hitting home runs again and has 16 for this year
Congratulations to C Rainiel Rodriguez (AA) on being named Texas League Player of the Week!
The #STLCards No. 1 prospect slashed .526/.571/1.105 across five games, leading the league in slugging and OPS, while guiding Springfield to a 5-1 record.
The 19-year-old hit safely in… pic.twitter.com/uLe2ySQZMI
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) August 3, 2026
We will see, all things are going well. I have far more hope for him than any of the draftees we got this year in the draft.
There are just four teenage position players right now at the AA level. They are Leo De Vries, Jesus Made, Tate Southisene, and Rainiel Rodriguez.
There is just one teenage pitcher at the AA level right now. His name is Yhoiker Fajardo.
Of the 5 teenagers playing at the AA…
— Sandy McMillan (@SandyMac718) August 5, 2026
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