photo: Nathan Church (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
The Cardinal Nation’s choice as the top hitter in the St. Louis Cardinals organization during June is Memphis outfielder Nathan Church, who led the system in batting average, slugging and OPS – in his first month at Triple-A!
This article details the selection of The Cardinal Nation’s Player of the Month. Considered were offensive results during June across the entire St. Louis Cardinals system. The winner as well as a group of nine runners up are highlighted.
Starting with the usual 60 plate appearances requirement, a total of 52 hitters in the system qualified. Ten separated themselves with a June OPS above .900.
Triple-A Memphis, Double-A Springfield and the rookie-level Dominican Summer League dominated the finalist list with three each, while Low-A Palm Beach had one. High-A Peoria and the rookie level Florida Complex League were shut out in June.
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 same sequence in both tables, in descending OPS order.
Basic stats
| Hitters > 60 PA | Team | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | OPS |
| Nathan Church | Mem | 20 | 92 | 81 | 17 | 29 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1.052 |
| JJ Wetherholt | Spr | 21 | 94 | 73 | 15 | 26 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 19 | 14 | 1.021 |
| Deniel Ortiz | PB | 21 | 98 | 81 | 18 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 14 | 21 | 1.005 |
| Cristofer Lebron | DSL | 19 | 85 | 70 | 16 | 23 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 0.961 |
| Leonardo Bernal | Spr | 20 | 84 | 77 | 17 | 26 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 18 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 0.945 |
| José Fermín | Mem | 14 | 64 | 52 | 10 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 0.941 |
| Bryan Torres | Mem | 19 | 74 | 57 | 12 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 15 | 9 | 0.940 |
| Yaxson Lucena | DSL | 17 | 82 | 63 | 17 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 9 | 0.936 |
| Yeferson Portolatin | DSL | 14 | 62 | 32 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 1 | 28 | 7 | 0.910 |
| Joshua Baez | Spr | 21 | 88 | 68 | 12 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 6 | 2 | 17 | 24 | 0.908 |
Five finalists repeated from May. They are Jose Fermin, Joshua Baez, Nathan Church, Bryan Torres and Leonardo Bernal.
Three players led the way with a June OPS over 1.000. In his first month at Triple-A, outfielder Church posted a system best 1.052 mark. Next is his former Springfield teammate and the no. 1 prospect in the organization, JJ Wetherholt, at 1.021. Joining them at 1.005 is a player in his first professional season, Palm Beach corner infielder Deniel Ortiz.
While his OPS of .908 is the lowest among our best of the best, in terms of power and production, Springfield’s Baez led the way. The outfielder hit six June home runs, two more than anyone else in the organization. His 22 RBI (in 21 games) also led the system.
For the second consecutive month, Church tied for the finalist lead in extra base hits. He, Ortiz and Baez each had 10. (Only non-finalist Cade McGee of Palm Beach topped them, with 11 in June.)
Eight was the system’s top total for the month in doubles, hit by non-finalists Jeremy Rivas of Springfield and the May Player of the Month, Rainel Rodriguez, now with Palm Beach. Among those next with seven two-base hits was DSL outfielder/second baseman Cristofer Lebron.
Six of the 10 June finalists drew more walks than they struck out. A special callout must be made to first-year DSL second baseman Yeferson Portolatin, who drew a whopping 28 free passes in 62 plate appearances.
Others with higher June walk counts than strikeouts are Church, Wetherholt, the Memphis duo of Fermin and Torres, and DSL outfielder Yaxson Lucena.
Fermin struck out just six times for the second consecutive month with Portolatin just behind with seven.
In runs scored, Ortiz has the finalist lead with 18 and tied for the tops in the system in June (with non-finalist Kenly Hunter of the DSL).
Portolatin’s 10 stolen bases was the most among finalists and tied for the system lead (with teammate Hunter). Ortiz and Torres were second among finalists with eight steals each.
Rate stats
| Hitters > 60 PA | Team | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | BABIP | ISO | AB/HR | BB/K | BB% | SO% |
| Nathan Church | Mem | 0.358 | 0.435 | 0.617 | 1.052 | 0.373 | 0.259 | 20.3 | 1.1 | 12.0% | 10.9% |
| JJ Wetherholt | Spr | 0.356 | 0.500 | 0.521 | 1.021 | 0.421 | 0.164 | 36.5 | 1.4 | 20.2% | 14.9% |
| Deniel Ortiz | PB | 0.333 | 0.449 | 0.556 | 1.005 | 0.411 | 0.222 | 20.3 | 0.7 | 14.3% | 21.4% |
| Cristofer Lebron | DSL | 0.329 | 0.447 | 0.514 | 0.961 | 0.396 | 0.186 | 35.0 | 0.8 | 14.1% | 17.6% |
| Leonardo Bernal | Spr | 0.338 | 0.361 | 0.584 | 0.945 | 0.339 | 0.247 | 15.4 | 0.3 | 4.8% | 14.3% |
| José Fermín | Mem | 0.308 | 0.422 | 0.519 | 0.941 | 0.311 | 0.212 | 26.0 | 1.5 | 14.1% | 9.4% |
| Bryan Torres | Mem | 0.333 | 0.466 | 0.474 | 0.940 | 0.375 | 0.140 | 57.0 | 1.7 | 20.3% | 12.2% |
| Yaxson Lucena | DSL | 0.317 | 0.476 | 0.460 | 0.936 | 0.358 | 0.143 | 63.0 | 1.4 | 15.9% | 11.0% |
| Yeferson Portolatin | DSL | 0.219 | 0.597 | 0.313 | 0.910 | 0.280 | 0.094 | inf | 4.0 | 45.2% | 11.3% |
| Joshua Baez | Spr | 0.221 | 0.364 | 0.544 | 0.908 | 0.220 | 0.324 | 11.3 | 0.7 | 19.3% | 27.3% |
In batting average, there is a huge disparity between the top seven who all hit over .300 and Portolatin and Baez far below at .219 and .221, respectively. Compared to his exceptional May at .389, Baez dropped 168 points of batting average in June, yet as noted above, he still hit the most home runs and plated the most runners in the system.
Church at .358 and Wetherholt at .356 were the top hitters for average last month.
Thanks to his other-worldly walk total, Portolatin’s .597 OBP was tops, but Wetherholt’s .500 mark was exceptional, as well.
In slugging, Church led the way at .617 with his former Springfield teammate Leonardo Bernal next at .584. (In May, Church slugged .602 at Double-A, so this improvement may have staying power.)
Baez, Church and Bernal were 1-2-3 in Isolated Power (ISO) during June.
A high BABIP benefited every finalist somewhat other than Portolatin and Baez, who had poor BA’s. However, in the top tier of four in OPS, Church’s .373 BABIP was lowest. In a bit of a concern, Wetherholt led the way at .421.
Teammates Baez and Bernal are the clear leaders in fewest at-bats/per home run with Church and Ortiz next.
Bernal’s very low 4.8% walk rate really stands out, as no other finalist was below 12%. At the other end after Portolatin are Torres and Wetherholt at 20.3% and 20.2%, respectively.
For the second straight month, Baez struck out at the highest rate among finalists (27.3% in June). Fermin compiled the lowest K rate among finalists at 9.4%, followed by Church at 10.9%.
After Portolatin, Torres and Fermin were the next best two in walk-to-strikeout ratio.
When all is said and done, Church’s strong month across the board, his first at the highest level of the minor leagues, gives him the honor of The Cardinal Nation’s June Player of the Month.
The 24-year-old led the system in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. Church was second in isolated power, lowest strikeout rate and extra-base hits (tied).
About the winner
Church has shown consistent ability to make contact while hitting left-handed pitching well. In 2025, he has shown proficiency to hit right-handers, too, while increasing his power output, taking his offensive game to a higher level.
In fact, that “higher level” comment is true literally, as Church is being honored for his first month’s performance at Triple-A. That comes on the heels of his Double-A Texas League Player of the Month selection in May.
Defense had always been Church’s primary calling card. Following last season, Baseball America named him the “Best Defensive Outfielder” and “Best Outfield Arm” in the Cardinals system. But now, Church is making himself into more than the next Scott Hurst.
The former Cal Irvine player was a day three selection in the 2022 draft, selected in the 11th round.
A left-handed hitter with good contact skills, no platoon splits, good speed (24 stolen bases in 2024 and 11 so far this season), experience at all three outfield positions and with emerging power is a valuable player to have in the system. Now, Church is just one step away from St. Louis.
Congratulations to The Cardinal Nation’s 23rd-ranked prospect, Nathan Church, TCN’s June Player of the Month.
How last month’s winners fared
Our May choice as Player of the Month, to which the Cardinals organization agreed, was then-Florida Complex League catcher Rainiel Rodriguez. The 18-year-old earned a quick promotion to Palm Beach on June 3.
While his slash line at his new level is subpar at .197/.307/.342/.649, it was his first 88 plate appearances after the major jump to the Low-A Florida State League. As noted above, Rodriguez still hit eight doubles at his new higher level.
Most recently, the right-handed hitter seems to be hitting his stride with hits in five of his last six games and walks in six straight contests. During this 28-plate appearance stretch, Rodriguez has six hits and eight walks for a .500 OBP against just two strikeouts.
What is next?
Look for The Cardinal Nation’s June Pitcher of the Month article, the companion to this one, coming on Thursday.
Also, the Cardinals organization should name their own selections of June Player and Pitcher of the Month in the upcoming days.
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