photo: Jack Gurevitch (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The Cardinal Nation’s choice as the top hitter in the St. Louis Cardinals system during July is Jack Gurevitch, who topped 11 other finalists. The Peoria infielder led in home runs, RBI (tied), slugging and isolated power, was second in wRC+ and OPS, fourth in batting average and fifth in on-base percentage.
This article details the selection of The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Month. Considered were offensive results during July across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The winner as well as a group of 11 runners-up are highlighted.
Starting with the usual 60 plate appearances requirement, a total of 42 hitters in the system qualified. Twelve are separated with an OPS above .850, including eight over .900, five over 1.000 and three over 1.100.
Our July winner is Palm Beach infielder Jack Gurevitch, but not without consideration.
Demographics
All six levels of the system are represented this month. Double-A Springfield led the finalist list with four while Triple-A Memphis had three. Peoria had two while the three lower squads had one each – Palm Beach and the rookie level Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League.
The finalist position mix is made up of six infielders, four outfielders and two catchers.
Ages range from a 25-year-old and two 24’s to three teens, including a pair of 18-year-olds. The latter is especially encouraging.
Returning finalists from June are Miguel Hernandez, Raniel Rodriguez and Jesus Baez.
Reminder
Please remember, this is NOT the “Player of the Month Among Top Prospects”. Every player in the system has an equal chance, with only their performance during the month used to differentiate the best of the best. Age and level, which are key prospect considerations, are not factors here, either.
We will take two views of the data. The first look will be basic stats, followed by rate stats. Names are listed in the first table in descending OPS order and in the second, by wRC+, Weighted Runs Created Plus.
Basic stats
| July hitter | Tm | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Miguel Hernández | FCL/PB | 15 | 61 | 42 | 16 | 16 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0.381 | 0.574 | 0.738 | 1.312 |
| Jack Gurevitch | Peo | 21 | 94 | 85 | 17 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 10 | 24 | 7 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0.341 | 0.394 | 0.777 | 1.170 |
| Leo Bernal | Mem | 17 | 72 | 65 | 14 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 24 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0.339 | 0.389 | 0.754 | 1.143 |
| Yordalin Peña | PB | 22 | 87 | 81 | 14 | 26 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 4 | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0.321 | 0.356 | 0.691 | 1.048 |
| Diego Conseción | DSL | 17 | 66 | 56 | 16 | 19 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0.339 | 0.424 | 0.589 | 1.014 |
| Ian Petrutz | Peo | 17 | 63 | 58 | 11 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 0.362 | 0.387 | 0.603 | 0.991 |
| Colton Ledbetter | Mem | 19 | 78 | 70 | 17 | 25 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0.357 | 0.423 | 0.557 | 0.980 |
| Rainiel Rodriguez | Spr | 20 | 93 | 82 | 12 | 25 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 0.305 | 0.376 | 0.561 | 0.937 |
| Ramon Mendoza | Mem | 19 | 73 | 61 | 10 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.246 | 0.370 | 0.525 | 0.895 |
| Won-Bin Cho | Spr | 22 | 90 | 78 | 14 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 11 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0.269 | 0.367 | 0.526 | 0.892 |
| Jon Jon Gazdar | Spr | 16 | 63 | 50 | 7 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.300 | 0.444 | 0.420 | 0.864 |
| Jesús Báez | Spr | 21 | 91 | 85 | 15 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0.235 | 0.264 | 0.588 | 0.852 |
| Joshua Báez | Mem | 20 | 89 | 77 | 13 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 15 | 11 | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0.208 | 0.303 | 0.507 | 0.810 |
In the primary sort of OPS, at 1.312, Miguel Hernandez is 140 points above the next finalists. The infielder began his first US campaign with a very successful FCL stint. The 18-year-old then moved up to Palm Beach for the final three games of the month.
The next group is made up of Peoria infielder Gurevitch (1.170) and Memphis catcher Leo Bernal (1.134). Underrated Palm Beach outfielder Yordalin Peña and first-year DSL infielder Diego Consecion also posted an OPS over 1.000 for July.
Peña and Gurevitch were the clear extra-base hit leaders at 17 and 16, respectively. Peña led the way with 12 doubles as no one else in the system had more than eight. Gurevitch swatted 10 long balls with Springfield’s Jesus Baez next with nine.
With three July triples, Consecion topped the system. While Memphis’ Colton Ledbetter led finalists with six steals, that pales in comparison to that of a non-finalist, Palm Beach’s Ryan Mitchell, who totaled 13 in 15 attempts.
In slugging, Gurevitch logged the June system lead at .777. Not too far behind were Bernal and Hernandez at .754 and .738, respectively. Springfield infielder Jon Jon Gazdar’s .420 is at the weaker end of the SLG spectrum.
Nine of the 12 finalists hit .300 or better for the month with Hernandez standing highest at .381. Next were Peoria’s Ian Petrutz (.362) and Ledbetter (.357). Jesus Baez and Memphis’ Ramon Mendoza batted just .235 and .246 respectively in July.
Hernandez lapped the pack in OBP at an amazing .574. The remaining finalists all posted good on-base marks of .356 or better – with one notable exception. Jesus Baez reached base at a truly mediocre .246 clip.
The .300/.400/.500 line was exceeded by only three – Hernandez, Consecion and Ledbetter.
Two of the finalists had more walks than strikeouts, with Hernandez at an exceptional 2.0 BB/K ratio and Gazdar also very, very strong at 1.76. Poorest, at a really low ratio, were Peña, Petrutz and Jesus Baez, at 0.14, 0.17 and 0.21, respectively.
Gurevitch and Bernal tied for the most May RBIs with 24 each, though the latter did it in 22 fewer plate appearances over four fewer games (17 to 21). In fact, in many months, Bernal’s stats would be good enough to win this award.
Advanced stats
The following table is oriented by wRC+, from high to low.
| July hitter | Tm | Age | PA | BB% | K% | BB/K | ISO | BABIP | wRC+ |
| Miguel Hernández | FCL/PB | 18 | 61 | 29.5% | 14.8% | 2.00 | 0.357 | 0.414 | 218 |
| Jack Gurevitch | Peo | 22 | 94 | 7.6% | 22.8% | 0.33 | 0.446 | 0.358 | 185 |
| Yordalin Peña | PB | 21 | 87 | 3.7% | 26.8% | 0.14 | 0.390 | 0.400 | 173 |
| Leo Bernal | Mem | 22 | 72 | 7.4% | 16.2% | 0.45 | 0.377 | 0.326 | 168 |
| Jon Jon Gazdar | Spr | 24 | 63 | 16.9% | 10.2% | 1.67 | 0.130 | 0.359 | 153 |
| Colton Ledbetter | Mem | 24 | 78 | 10.8% | 25.7% | 0.42 | 0.197 | 0.467 | 151 |
| Ian Petrutz | Peo | 23 | 63 | 3.2% | 19.4% | 0.17 | 0.246 | 0.432 | 149 |
| Ramon Mendoza | Mem | 25 | 73 | 14.5% | 20.3% | 0.71 | 0.298 | 0.300 | 143 |
| Diego Conseción | DSL | 18 | 66 | 12.5% | 28.1% | 0.44 | 0.255 | 0.486 | 137 |
| Rainiel Rodriguez | Spr | 19 | 93 | 7.9% | 21.3% | 0.37 | 0.266 | 0.339 | 135 |
| Won-Bin Cho | Spr | 22 | 90 | 12.8% | 25.6% | 0.50 | 0.270 | 0.283 | 124 |
| Jesús Báez | Spr | 21 | 91 | 3.4% | 15.7% | 0.21 | 0.361 | 0.177 | 105 |
| Joshua Báez | Mem | 23 | 89 | 12.4% | 29.2% | 0.42 | 0.299 | 0.217 | 95 |
As we get into additional stats, we see that good fortune in the guise of an exceptionally high BABIP (.400 or better) significantly benefited five of our finalists. Consecion was at .486, followed by Ledbetter, Petrutz, Hernandez and Peña. This hurt their chances for this award.
Standing out like a sore thumb at the other end was Jesus Baez’ terribly unlucky .177 July BABIP. This may help explain the awful batting average and to a point, his mediocre OBP. It didn’t hurt his slugging, though!
Hernandez’ walk rate of almost 30% is ridiculously high. Among the mere mortals in drawing free passes, Gazdar (16.9%) and Mendoza (14.5%) were next best.
On the less positive side, three finalists posted dismal walk rates of under 4%. Petrutz, Jesus Baez and Peña brought up the rear, which should not be surprising given their exceptionally low BB/K ratios.
Toughest to strike out was Gazdar at 10.2%, followed by Hernandez (14.8%).
At the high end of the K spectrum, four finalists came in between 25% and 28.1% – Consecion, Peña, Ledbetter and Springfield’s Won-Bin Cho.
In Isolated Power, ISO, Gurevitch was highest by far at .446. Far behind but still very good are Peña (.390) and Bernal (.377).
In the all-encompassing weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) measure, Hernandez was far on top (218) with Gurevitch logging a very, very strong 185 and Peña third highest at 173.
Important asides
You probably noticed that the numbers of non-finalist Joshua Baez’ appear at the bottom of the charts. This is an informational-only addition because of his status as the top hitter in the system who is closest to St. Louis.
Before his final-week surge in July, Joshua struggled. Even so, the Triple-A season home run leader swatted six home runs and plated 15. That .208 batting average, however, suggests that more time with Memphis would be ideal for the 23-year-old.
Now, let’s talk a little more about the other Baez, Jesus. As already noted, the Double-A infielder had a month of extremes. Despite a terribly low BABIP, BA and OBP, he hit nine home runs and drove in 21 runners in 21 games.
Of perhaps greater concern, the whispers about Baez’ maturity level that came with him to the Cardinals a year ago returned on the final day of the month.
Baez was ejected from the game between innings. https://t.co/LN4zjdIEyr
— Kyle Reis, 58% Neanderthal (@kyler416) August 1, 2026
Finally, there is the question about what to do with Hernandez’ obviously strong July results.
Unlike his 2025 DSL infield teammate Sebastian Dos Santos, Hernandez did not receive his Palm Beach promotion until after the FCL season was done. This is the case even though in June, Hernandez also led the entire Cardinals system in OBP and OPS. That he did it again is admirable, but to me it says that he should have been challenged in Class-A sooner than the final three games in July.
Further, Hernandez’ stats leadership this past month is hinged on two things – his exceptional walk rate, compiled against rookie pitchers, and a totally unsustainable BABIP of .414.
For these reasons, my selection is Gurevitch.
In summary
In July, Gurevitch led in home runs, RBI (tied), slugging and isolated power. The infielder was second in wRC+ and OPS, fourth in batting average and fifth in on-base percentage.
The 22-year-old had three multi-home run games in July, including a three-homer outing on the 21st. His 10 round trippers led both the organization and the High-A Midwest League.
Gurevitch remains incredibly hot as eight of his homers came in his last eight games. Partway through, he was named the Midwest League Player of the Week for the period of July 21-26.
Therefore, Peoria’s Jack Gurevitch receives the honor of The Cardinal Nation’s July Player of the Month.
About the winner
St. Louis’ third round draft pick in 2025, 89th overall, was a polished college hitter from the University of San Diego who had been a Cape Cod League All-Star in 2024.
Known as proficient line drive hitter to all fields, the left-handed batter struggled in his initial 99 professional plate appearances with Palm Beach last summer.
Over the winter, TCN’s Kyle Reis wrote the following.
“How Gurevitch gets to his increasing in-game power is going to make or break him.”
So far, so good.
His total of 17 home runs with the Chiefs (in just 57 games) are the most in a single season by any Peoria player in the club’s High-A era (since 2021). Gurevitch’s season-to-date total of 23 is third in the Cardinals system (after both Baezes).
Gurevitch was ranked 25th in the system in TCN’s most recent monthly prospect rankings but should skyrocket upward in August.
When will he be deemed ready for the challenge presented by Double-A?
How June’s winners performed in July
The Cardinals selected Jesus Baez as their June Player of the Month across the system as he progressed from Peoria to Springfield. Our choice was Palm Beach second baseman-outfielder Brayden Smith.
Baez’ July with Springfield was fully explored above, while Smith backslid further. The latter posted a July line of .203/.312/.329/.641 and a 30.1% strikeout rate, still with Palm Beach.
What is next?
Next up, look for The Cardinal Nation’s July Pitcher of the Month article, the companion to this one.
Also, the Cardinals organization should name their own selections of July Player and Pitcher of the Month in the upcoming days.
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