photo: Patrick Romeri (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
In a close competition between two of 11 finalists, the Cardinal Nation’s choice as the top hitter in the St. Louis Cardinals system during July is outfielder Patrick Romeri, who parlayed his success into a promotion from Palm Beach to Peoria.
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, including the rookie teams in the Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. The winner as well as a group of 10 runners up will be highlighted.
Starting with the usual 60 plate appearances requirement, a total of 11 prospects in the system further separated themselves with OPSes above .900, including three over 1.100. Double-A Springfield led the way with four finalists while Palm Beach and the DSL Cardinals had one each. The FCL Cardinals were the only one of the six farm clubs shut out this month.
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
| Hitter | Tm | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Patrick Romeri | PB-Peo | 18 | 59 | 16 | 23 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0.390 | 0.446 | 0.780 | 1.226 |
| Chase Pinder | Spr | 20 | 66 | 19 | 22 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 25 | 21 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0.333 | 0.489 | 0.682 | 1.171 |
| Nick Raposo | Spr | 15 | 59 | 15 | 22 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0.373 | 0.431 | 0.679 | 1.109 |
| Nick Dunn | Spr | 21 | 74 | 19 | 25 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0.338 | 0.467 | 0.514 | 0.981 |
| Moises Gomez | Mem | 19 | 70 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 16 | 7 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 0.300 | 0.359 | 0.614 | 0.973 |
| L.J. Jones | Peo | 21 | 80 | 14 | 24 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0.300 | 0.378 | 0.588 | 0.966 |
| Scott Hurst | Mem | 18 | 71 | 19 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 0.296 | 0.383 | 0.577 | 0.960 |
| Jacob Buchberger | Peo-Spr | 20 | 71 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0.310 | 0.430 | 0.507 | 0.937 |
| Jose Suarez | DSL | 15 | 58 | 17 | 17 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 3 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0.293 | 0.333 | 0.603 | 0.936 |
| Evan Mendoza | Mem | 20 | 60 | 13 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0.367 | 0.452 | 0.467 | 0.919 |
| Jordan Walker | Spr | 16 | 69 | 14 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 6 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0.290 | 0.342 | 0.565 | 0.907 |
There is a substantial gap in OPS that separates the top three from the other eight, all of whom performed solidly, as well.
Non-top three finalists of note include Springfield’s Nick Dunn and Evan Mendoza of Memphis, both of whom drew more walks than strikeouts taken in July. The two infielders also logged the fourth and third highest batting averages among finalists at .338 and .367, respectively.
In his first full month at Triple-A, MiLB home run leader Moises Gomez did not slow down, hitting .300 with six long balls. His OPS of .973 ranked fifth.
No. 1 prospect Jordan Walker found his power stroke as the month ended with four of his five home runs and seven RBI over the final three games.
Now to the three top finalists. All are a bit of a surprise as they are not regulars in these assessments.
After losing substantial time due to injury, 21-year-old outfielder Patrick Romeri dominated Low-A Florida State League pitching, earning an end-of-month promotion to High-A Peoria. The outfielder topped all finalists in batting average, slugging and OPS. Romeri was also perfect in steal attempts, with his 3-for-3 tying Mendoza and just one behind leader Jacob Buchberger (4-for-4).
Springfield outfielder Chase Pinder has been in Double-A for a long time (since 2019) but is putting it all together in 2022. The 26-year-old led finalists in RBI (by a huge margin) as well as on-base percentage. That RBI count was second in the Texas League and tied for ninth in all of Minor League Baseball.
Pinder tied the MiLB season home run leader Gomez in July long balls with six. Also, Like Dunn and Mendoza noted earlier, Pinder walked more often than he struck out.
In his second professional season, Pinder’s teammate Nick Raposo was a regular mention in our daily game recaps all month long, driven in part by hits in 15 of his last 18 games. The 24-year-old catcher stood out most in batting average and OPS (both third among finalists).
Advanced stats
| Hitter | Tm | PA | GO/AO | BABIP | ISO | AB/HR | BB/K | BB% | K% |
| Patrick Romeri | PB-Peo | 61 | 0.54 | 0.459 | 0.442 | 10.4 | 0.5 | 8.8% | 17.5% |
| Chase Pinder | Spr | 87 | 1.27 | 0.342 | 0.367 | 10.0 | 1.3 | 25.0% | 20.0% |
| Nick Raposo | Spr | 62 | 0.71 | 0.429 | 0.268 | 18.7 | 0.5 | 9.7% | 17.7% |
| Nick Dunn | Spr | 92 | 1.12 | 0.368 | 0.194 | 33.5 | 2.0 | 19.0% | 9.5% |
| Moises Gomez | Mem | 78 | 0.53 | 0.395 | 0.314 | 11.7 | 0.3 | 9.0% | 34.6% |
| L.J. Jones | Peo | 90 | 1.38 | 0.333 | 0.288 | 16.0 | 0.5 | 10.0% | 20.0% |
| Scott Hurst | Mem | 81 | 1.53 | 0.296 | 0.282 | 14.2 | 0.7 | 9.9% | 14.8% |
| Jacob Buchberger | Peo-Spr | 86 | 1.42 | 0.396 | 0.167 | 33.0 | 0.8 | 16.0% | 19.8% |
| Jose Suarez | DSL | 63 | 0.67 | 0.375 | 0.310 | 29.0 | 0.2 | 4.8% | 27.0% |
| Evan Mendoza | Mem | 74 | 1.07 | 0.412 | 0.100 | 60.0 | 1.1 | 14.9% | 13.5% |
| Jordan Walker | Spr | 76 | 0.67 | 0.333 | 0.275 | 13.8 | 0.3 | 7.9% | 26.3% |
As we get into additional stats, compared to the other two, Raposo’s power was less and his walk to strikeout ratio was low like Romeri. While his BABIP was not as high as Romeri’s, the .429 mark suggested considerable good fortune in his results.
Romeri was more fly ball oriented and had an exceptionally high BABIP at .459. Even if they may not be repeatable, his July results stand on their own. Romeri’s walk rate was half of his strikeout rate while his power results were strong in a league in which it is difficult to hit – the Florida State League. His home run rate was slightly better than Pinder’s from the more hitter-friendly Texas League.
Pinder was more ground-ball focused and his BABIP was closer to a normal range, suggesting he might have the best chance of repeating, now that he is healthy. (Pinder came off the injured list on July 1 after missing six weeks.)
When all is said and done, Romeri’s exceptional month in average and power slightly edges Pinder’s high walk rate and RBI success.
About the winner
Romeri is currently The Cardinal Nation’s 36th-ranked prospect, as his standing dropped from 28th during the offseason due to a slow and injury-plagued start to 2022.
Just a week into the schedule, Romeri was placed on the injured list, where he remained for a month. The right-handed hitter returned to Palm Beach’s active roster for just six days before going back on the IL for yet another four weeks.
After two more weeks rehabbing in the Florida Complex League, the 12th rounder in 2019 finally rejoined the Beach Birds on June 29. Exactly one month later, he made his High-A debut in Peoria for the final game of the period.
Since Romeri was drafted out of high school, power was the part of his game that had been most anticipated and may ultimately be his best ticket to the majors.
After finally showing itself in July, his results in the Midwest League over the final six weeks will certainly bear watching.
How last month’s winner fared this month
The consensus June selection as Player of the Month by both The Cardinal Nation and Cardinals organization was Springfield first baseman Malcom Nuñez. Further, the 21-year-old was the Texas League Player of the Month.
During July, Nunez took a major downturn, from his 1.180 OPS last month to just .724. It was a mark much closer to his disappointing April and May, when his OPS was just .678 and .636, respectively.
On the positive side, Nuñez drove in 20 runs in 22 July games.
As probably everyone reading this already knows, Nuñez was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday night as part of the trade that netted the Cardinals starting pitcher Jose Quintana.
What is next?
The Cardinals organization should also name their own selections of July Player and Pitcher of the Month this week.
Related article
The Cardinal Nation’s July Pitcher of the Month – Tink Hence
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TCN’s Post-Draft Cardinals Top 50 Prospect Rankings – July 2022
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