The Cardinal Nation’s June 2022 Pitcher of the Month – Alex Cornwell

Photo: Alex Cornwell (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)

It is again time to select The Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month. This article covers play during June across all levels of the system.

As a reminder, this is NOT the “Pitcher 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.

Guidelines

To qualify, a pitcher must have thrown at least 10 innings during June. To make the list of finalists, an ERA below 2.25 was required.  The group broke out into two pitchers with ERAs below 1.00, five pitchers with ERAs between 1:00 and 1.50, two pitchers with ERAs between 1.50 and 2.00, and two pitchers with ERAs between 2.00 and 2.25.

Counting Stats

Of the 11 finalists, all levels of the organization are covered except for the Dominican Summer League. Palm Beach is the most represented with 6 finalists.

In the following table, finalist names are listed in ascending ERA order. Leaders are bolded.

Pitcher Team W L ERA G GS SV SVO IP H R ER HR BB K
Hayes Heinecke Palm Beach 2 0 0.71 5 0 3 4 12.2 8 2 1 0 4 18
Alex Cornwell Palm Beach 2 0 0.92 5 2 1 1 19.2 17 3 2 0 4 20
Logan Gragg Peoria 2 0 1.13 3 3 0 0 16 15 3 2 1 1 6
Tink Hence Palm Beach 0 0 1.23 5 5 0 0 14.2 6 3 2 0 4 26
Carlos Guarate Palm Beach 3 0 1.31 6 2 0 0 20.2 17 3 3 1 3 14
Yonael Dominguez FCL 1 0 1.38 4 1 0 0 13 8 2 2 1 1 12
James Naile Memphis 1 0 1.47 8 2 0 0 18.1 14 4 3 1 1 15
Ryan Loutos Springfield 1 0 1.80 10 0 3 3 15 8 4 3 0 7 20
Gustavo J. Rodriguez Palm Beach 1 0 1.98 6 0 2 3 13.2 6 4 3 1 5 16
Inohan Paniagua Palm Beach 4 1 2.18 5 5 0 0 33 20 8 8 2 7 38
Zach McAllister Memphis 2 1 2.25 12 0 1 2 16 11 4 4 0 1 18

The fact that there were 11 qualified pitchers with ERAs below 2.25, a high bar for the finalists, demonstrates that June was a really strong month for pitching. Palm Beach was especially strong, which isn’t surprising since the Florida State League skews toward pitching, but it was still a great month for the Single-A affiliate’s pitching staff.

Thus, it’s not surprising that Hayes Heinecke, a Palm Beach reliever, led all finalists in ERA and saves; Inohan Paniagua, a Palm Beach starter, led all finalists in wins and strikeouts; and Gustavo J. Rodriguez, another Palm Beach reliever, finished with the fewest hits.

Hayes Heinecke

Though Alex Cornwell didn’t lead in anything, he did everything well enough to earn our Pitcher of the Month award. He had the second best ERA, one of only two finalists to finish the month with a sub-1.00 ERA, and he has the best ERA among any finalist to start a game. He threw just under 20 innings and allowed only two earned runs while capping off the month with a seven inning start in which he only surrendered an unearned run while fanning 8.

Inohan Paniagua, who won the Cardinals Player of the Month award, was a close challenger for the award, as he averaged nearly seven innings per start, had the most strikeouts by 12, a solid 2.18 ERA, and the most innings pitched by a whopping 12 ⅓ innings.

Inohan Paniagua

Even though he came up just short, he is certainly a deserving finalist and he was nearly TCN’s choice as well.

Rate Stats

In the following table, finalist names are listed in ascending batting average against (Avg.) order. Leaders are bolded.

Pitcher Team BAA HBP WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 K9 K/BB
Tink Hence Palm Beach .125 1 0.68 3.7 0.0 2.5 16.0 6.5
Gustavo J. Rodriguez Palm Beach .136 1 0.80 4.0 0.7 3.3 10.5 3.2
Ryan Loutos Springfield .151 1 1.00 4.8 0.0 4.2 12.0 2.9
Yonael Dominguez FCL .167 4 0.69 5.5 0.7 0.7 8.3 12.0
Inohan Paniagua Palm Beach .174 2 0.82 5.5 0.5 1.9 10.4 5.4
HayesHeinecke Palm Beach .195 1 0.95 5.7 0.0 2.8 12.8 4.5
Zach McAllister Memphis .196 2 0.75 6.2 0.0 0.6 10.1 18.0
James Naile Memphis .206 1 0.82 6.9 0.5 0.5 7.4 15.0
Carlos Guarate Palm Beach .230 3 0.97 7.4 0.4 1.3 6.1 4.7
Alex Cornwell Palm Beach .230 0 1.07 7.8 0.0 1.8 9.2 5.0
Logan Gragg Peoria .259 2 1.00 8.4 0.6 0.6 3.4 6.0

The rate stats are where Tink Hence really stands out. The 19-year-old was nearly unhittable, posting the best batting average against and the fewest hits allowed per nine innings. He also had the lowest WHIP, didn’t allow a home run, and had the highest strikeout rate by over 3 strikeouts per nine innings.

Tink Hence

This made him a serious contender for the award as well, and my decision really came down to him, Paniagua, and Cornwell.

Three pitchers (Logan Gragg, Zach McAllister, and James Naile) also showcased impressive control with fewer than one walk per nine innings and fewer than two hit by pitches. Yonael Dominguez also walked very few hitters, but he did bean four more so it’s tough to say that he had great control.

McAllister’s excellent display of command and strikeout prowess gave him the best strikeout to walk ration. He is one of a pair of veterans who had a great month in the Memphis bullpen. The other member of the pair, James Naile, is pitching in St. Louis now. Perhaps Zach McAllister may get a look if he continues at this pace.

Zach McAllister

In terms of strikeouts, Hayes Heinecke and Ryan Loutos both struck out 12 or more batters per nine innings. Loutos parlayed that into a July 1st promotion to Triple-A Memphis. After being signed as an undrafted free agent following the 2021 draft, Loutos has now reached Triple-A in his first full season in the system.

Ryan Loutos

Among all 11 finalists Paniagua is the only one to repeat from last month.

TCN’s Pitcher of the Month – Alex Cornwell

Alex Cornwell was the Cardinals 15th-Round selection in the 2021 draft and the organization eased him into professional ball. The former USC Trojan missed the entirety of 2018 and 2019 with injury and then when he was finally healthy, COVID canceled much of his 2020 season. So, Cornwell really only pitched for one season in college and it didn’t go well.

Alex Cornwell

The Cardinals saw promise in him, thought and took him on the third day of the draft. He has rewarded that faith this year. The 23-year-old began the season in the bullpen, but has since joined the Palm Beach rotation. He has excelled in both roles, compiling a 3.86 ERA and 3.12 FIP.

He has a great 29.3% strikeout rate without walking too many hitters (8.5% walk rate) and has allowed just two earned runs in his last three outings, all starts, lasting 20 innings.

The left-handed pitcher will likely stay in the rotation for the rest of the season considering his success. He likely began the year in the bullpen in order to keep his innings count down.

There were a number of deserving candidates this month, but Cornwell’s ability to thrive in both the long relief role and a starter’s role as one of only two pitchers to finish the month with under a 1.00 ERA gave him the edge. Hence may have had better rate stats but he surrendered more runs in fewer innings and Paniagua may have been the best full-time starter, but again, Cornwell’s ability to keep runs off the board gave him the edge.

What’s Next

Tomorrow I’ll be back with The Cardinal Nation’s choice for the June Hitter of the Month.

Related Article

Cardinals Name Malcom Nuñez and Inohan Paniagua June’s Top Minor Leaguers


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