photo: Roy Garcia (Brian Walton/The Cardinal Nation)
In his first full month at High-A, right-handed reliever Roy Garcia dominated Midwest League hitters, striking out 12.7 batters per nine, posting a 1.02 ERA, winning three games and saving four others. In our view, the 22-year-old posted the top overall pitching performance in the St. Louis Cardinals system in June. 13 other finalists were considered.
This article, documenting the selection of The Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month, covers hurlers across all levels of the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system during June 2023.
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 major factors here.
The above will prove to be a very important point to consider when reviewing the relative stats of the finalists.
The bottom line is that a relative unknown, reliever Roy Garcia of Peoria, is the Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month for June. This is not in sync with the Cardinals organization’s June co-choices of Tink Hence (Futures Game selection and the system’s top pitching prospect) and Max Rajcic (TCN’s April Pitcher of the Month).
Hence and Rajcic are top 12 prospects in the organization, per our June rankings, with solid career potential, but their June results were not the best in the system, in our assessment.
Details follow so you can make your own call.
Guidelines
To qualify here, a pitcher must have thrown at least 10 innings during June. 47 pitchers made this first cut. To reach the list of 14 finalists, an ERA at or below 3.00 was also required.
The finalists break out into four distinct groups: two pitchers with an ERA below 1.03, two with ERAs in the range of 1.46 to 1.53, with only one other below 2.00. The other nine hurlers logged ERAs between 2.13 and 3.00.
The finalists represent all six teams in the organization, from the two rookie-level squads up through Triple-A Memphis. High-A Peoria led the way with four finalists. The two bookends, Memphis and the Dominican Summer League Cardinals, had the fewest number of finalists at one apiece.
Among the finalists, nine are starters and five pitched out of the bullpen.
Stats
I am putting all the stats on the table up front, both counting and advanced stats, as they are fully needed to differentiate between several very deserving candidates.
In the following tables, finalists are listed in ascending ERA order.
| Pitcher | Tm | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | SVO | IP | H | R | ER | HR | HB | BB | SO | WHIP | AVG |
| Darlin Saladin | FCL | 1 | 1 | 0.96 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 18 | 1.18 | 0.213 |
| Roy Garcia | Peo | 3 | 0 | 1.02 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 17.2 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 0.74 | 0.148 |
| Andre Granillo | Spr | 0 | 0 | 1.46 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 12.1 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 0.97 | 0.243 |
| Alex Cornwell | Peo | 1 | 0 | 1.53 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29.1 | 30 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 22 | 1.26 | 0.268 |
| Max Rajcic | PB/Peo | 2 | 2 | 1.86 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 19 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 29 | 0.83 | 0.190 |
| Tanner Jacobson | PB | 2 | 0 | 2.13 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12.2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 0.79 | 0.136 |
| Andrew Suarez | Mem | 1 | 1 | 2.25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 20 | 1.13 | 0.161 |
| Yadiel Batista | DSL | 1 | 0 | 2.40 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 0.93 | 0.241 |
| Tink Hence | Peo | 2 | 0 | 2.57 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 0.95 | 0.227 |
| Logan Gragg | Spr | 2 | 1 | 2.59 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 31.1 | 28 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 1.15 | 0.306 |
| Pete Hansen | PB | 3 | 0 | 2.66 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 23.2 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 23 | 1.18 | 0.230 |
| Benjamin Arias | FCL | 1 | 0 | 2.84 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 0.79 | 0.169 |
| Edgar Escobar | Spr | 2 | 0 | 2.89 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 18.2 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 11 | 1.13 | 0.224 |
| Andrew Marrero | Peo | 0 | 2 | 3.00 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 1.42 | 0.196 |
| Pitcher | TBF | NP | P/IP | QS | GF | HLD | WP | GO/AO | SO/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | BABIP |
| Darlin Saladin | 72 | 143 | 7.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.2 | 8.7 | 4.3 | 2.0 | 0.279 |
| Roy Garcia | 65 | 256 | 14.5 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 0.9 | 12.7 | 2.0 | 6.3 | 0.250 |
| Andre Granillo | 49 | 194 | 15.7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0.4 | 9.5 | 2.2 | 4.3 | 0.273 |
| Alex Cornwell | 121 | 431 | 14.7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1.5 | 6.8 | 2.2 | 3.1 | 0.333 |
| Max Rajcic | 107 | 424 | 14.6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 9.0 | 1.6 | 5.8 | 0.250 |
| Tanner Jacobson | 50 | 209 | 16.5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0.6 | 12.1 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 0.222 |
| Andrew Suarez | 65 | 278 | 17.4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0.9 | 11.3 | 5.1 | 2.2 | 0.229 |
| Yadiel Batista | 55 | 93 | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1.1 | 9.6 | 0.6 | 16.0 | 0.342 |
| Tink Hence | 79 | 313 | 14.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 8.6 | 1.3 | 6.7 | 0.283 |
| Logan Gragg | 127 | 465 | 14.8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 6.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 0.281 |
| Pete Hansen | 96 | 361 | 15.3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.1 | 8.8 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 0.290 |
| Benjamin Arias | 72 | 118 | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.4 | 7.6 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 0.220 |
| Edgar Escobar | 74 | 295 | 15.8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.4 | 5.3 | 5.3 | 1.0 | 0.176 |
| Andrew Marrero | 58 | 224 | 18.7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2.1 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 0.241 |
The first decision is one faced each year at this time – how to fairly evaluate teenagers pitching in rookie ball. Based solely on ERA, Darlin Saladin of the Florida Complex League would be the winner. The right-hander posted an exceptional 0.96 ERA with all his stats solid across the board. However, Saladin is 20 ½ years of age in a league of mostly teens.
Saladin as well as fellow rookie-ball starters Yadiel Batista of the DSL and Benjamin Arias from the FCL deserve special kudos for efficiency. The three threw fewer than eight pitches per inning compared to all other finalists who were well above 14.
If we put Saladin aside, the only other pitcher in our lowest ERA group is reliever Roy Garcia of Peoria. The right-hander had a stellar 1.02 ERA in 10 appearances covering 17 2/3 innings. He directly impacted seven Chiefs wins, saving all four opportunities presented to him and winning all three of his decisions.
Garcia’s WHIP of 0.74 was best among finalists and his batting average against of .148 was second lowest. His 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings also topped the group. Only four finalists had a lower walk rate than his 2.0 per nine. Put them together and his strikeout to walk ratio of 6.3 was third best.
But should Garcia be the winner?
Considering the top three
It seems that a direct comparison of Garcia, Rajcic and Hence could help with the decision. Extracted from the tables above is the relative ranking of the three in eight key statistical categories. “1” is the best score and lowest total wins.
| ERA | WHIP | BAA | GO/AO | SO/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | BABIP | Total | |
| Garcia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 13.5 |
| Hence | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| Rajcic | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2.5 | 18.5 |
Hence was best in groundball to fly ball rate, walks and strikeout to walk ratio. He also had the least fortunate BABIP at .283 compared to the others at .250 each.
Rajcic was last among the three in only two categories, with the highest fly ball rate and lowest strikeout to walk ratio. However, Rajcic was not number one in any of the eight stats chosen for this three-way comparison.
Thanks to his leadership in ERA, batting average against (BAA), WHIP and K rate, Garcia scored the lowest/best of the three. He trailed Hence and Rajcic both in only walk rate, and as noted above, it was still fifth-best of the 14 finalists.
Confirmed. Roy Garcia is our choice.
Other finalists
Springfield Andre Granillo got off to a horrible start with Springfield this season, but has been nails ever since late April, including a 1.46 June ERA. The right-hander’s fly ball rate is high though he kept the ball in the park all month and fanned 9.5 batters per nine innings.
Peoria’s Alex Cornwell had the lowest ERA of any US-based starter (including Rajcic and Hence) at 1.53 over his five June outings. The 24-year-old is not a strikeout pitcher (6.8 per nine innings) but keeps the ball on the ground.
Palm Beach reliever Tanner Jacobson had a very good under-the-radar performance (2.13 ERA) with the second-best strikeout rate (12.2 per nine) and second-lowest WHIP (tied at 0.79).
Down at Memphis, Andrew Suarez pitched very in June, with a 2.25 ERA. His sub-.200 BAA and high strikeout rate partially offset the second highest walk rate among the finalists. If he continues his upturn, the 30-year-old lefty should be in the mix for a shot with St. Louis at some point in the second half.
Logan Gragg is another pitcher who does not strike out many (6.6 per nine) and had the highest finalist BAA (.306). However, the right-hander used his good June to earn a promotion to Memphis.
Palm Beach’s Pete Hansen continues to pitch well, hoping to follow Rajcic with a promotion to Peoria. Springfield starter Edgar Escobar’s numbers look good except for the walks. Peoria reliever Andrew Marrero had the highest walk rate, but also the third-highest strikeout rate among finalists.
About the winner
Roy Garcia will turn 23 years of age before the season ends and has pitched in the organization since 2017. He has never been a ranked prospect and most likely he will not reach St. Louis before reaching free agency.
However, Garcia was in our view the best pitcher in the Cardinals system in June, his first full month at the High-A level.
No one probably saw it coming after he struggled to a 5.66 ERA out of the Palm Beach pen last season, a team he first joined in August 2021, before returning to Low-A to begin his breakout 2023.
Opening the season with Palm Beach, the Dominican Republic native had a 2.04 ERA in 10 2/3 innings over seven Florida State League appearances. Garcia struck out 20 but walked 12 others, earning a promotion to Peoria on May 23.
Overall with the Chiefs, Garcia has already accumulated five wins against one loss, saved four of five chances, and posted a 1.88 ERA in his 15 Midwest League outings totaling 24 innings. He has 32 strikeouts against just seven walks and an opposing batting average of .188.
Update
On Friday afternoon, July 7, the Cardinals promoted both Garcia and Cornwell to Double-A Springfield.
LHP Alex Cornwell and RHP Roy García are moving on up to Springfield!
Cornwell finishes his time in Peoria with a 5-2 record and 2.94 ERA through 15 games, having punched out 71 along the way. pic.twitter.com/1wcYjee3Hy
— Peoria Chiefs (@peoriachiefs) July 7, 2023
How did last month’s winners fare?
Peoria’s Cooper Hjerpe was The Cardinal Nation’s May Pitcher of the Month with Palm Beach right-hander Hancel Rincon the choice of the Cardinals organization.
As May came to a close, the lefty Hjerpe went on the Chiefs’ injured list and the 22-year-old has not pitched since.
In June, Rincon, 21, pitched in five games including four starts and registered a 4.33 ERA for the Beach Birds.
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