photo: Cardinals Dominican Academy (St. Louis Cardinals)
Dominican Summer League right-hander Keiverson Ramirez had the top overall pitching performance in the St. Louis Cardinals system in June. The 18-year-old’s results are compared to four other finalists with ERAs under 2.00, Top 10 prospects and last month’s winner.
This article outlines the selection process for The Cardinal Nation’s Pitcher of the Month for June 2024. Pitchers across all levels of the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, including the two rookie level Complex League teams, are eligible.
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 against their league peers 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 the minor league minimum of 0.8 innings per team game. At the top end, Memphis played 26 games, and at the bottom end, the Dominican Summer League played 20. So, we will use the latter as our bar for all pitchers, set at 16 innings during June.
Across the system, 19 pitchers made the first cut. To reach the short list of five finalists, an ERA below 2.00 was required.
The finalists represent three of the four full-season levels of the organization plus both the rookie level Florida Complex League and Dominican Summer League. The exception is Double-A Springfield, though High-A Peoria’s representative had just one start at the level.
Surprisingly, the DSL leads the pack with two finalists, with the other affiliates sporting one each. All are starters.
Counting Stats
In the following table, the finalists are listed in ascending ERA order.
| Pitcher | Tm | W | L | ERA | G | GS | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| Keiverson Ramirez | DSL | 1 | 0 | 1.00 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 18 |
| Nelfy Ynfante | FCL | 2 | 0 | 1.53 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 17.2 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 21 |
| Jefferson Moran | DSL | 2 | 0 | 1.59 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| Gordon Graceffo | Mem | 3 | 0 | 1.69 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 15 |
| Darlin Saladin | PB/Peo | 3 | 0 | 1.88 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 19 |
As you can see, one of the finalists compiled an exceptional ERA of 1.00, with no one else closer than 1.53. This immediately makes DSL right-hander Keiverson Ramirez the early leader.
As a side point, some discount or completely ignore the results of rookie ball players because of the uneven quality of play. We don’t do that. Our take is that all players are competing to the best of their ability against their peers and as such, good results deserve to be recognized.
Having said that, I expect the Cardinals organization selection for June to be Memphis starter Gordon Graceffo. Not only did the right-hander post a strong 1.69 ERA in three starts for the Redbirds, Graceffo also made a solid 4 1/3-inning Major League debut for St. Louis (not that the latter matters here).
Finalist Graceffo would certainly not be a bad choice, but let the data tell you who is the best choice.
Advanced stats
Here are additional statistics from the finalists in the same ascending ERA sequence.
| Pitcher | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | K/BB | BAA | BABIP | WHIP | ERA |
| Keiverson Ramirez | 18 | 9.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 0.227 | 0.313 | 0.94 | 1.00 |
| Nelfy Ynfante | 17.2 | 10.7 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 0.200 | 0.295 | 1.08 | 1.53 |
| Jefferson Moran | 17 | 9.0 | 2.7 | 3.4 | 0.200 | 0.244 | 1.00 | 1.59 |
| Gordon Graceffo | 16 | 8.4 | 1.7 | 5.0 | 0.183 | 0.209 | 0.88 | 1.69 |
| Darlin Saladin | 24 | 7.1 | 3.0 | 2.4 | 0.209 | ~0.290 | 1.13 | 1.89 |
The three rookie-ball pitchers struck out at least one batter per inning, with the FCL’s Nelfy Ynfante on top at 10.7 K per nine. Ramirez and DSL rotation mate Jefferson Moran were also solid with the same rate of 9.0 per nine.
Consensus May Pitcher of the Month Darlin Saladin kept up his strong results, but his strikeout rate plummeted from 12.6 in May to just 7.1 in June. While Saladin was promoted during June and made one start for Peoria, his Palm Beach June K rate was just 5.2.
Ramirez, followed by Graceffo, were stingiest with free passes at just 1.0 and 1.7 per nine, respectively. The other three finalists were higher, clumped together in the 2.7 to 3.1 range.
By a country mile, Ramirez comes out on top in strikeout to walk ratio at 9.0. Graceffo was next at 5.0, which is better than many other monthly winners. At just 2.4, Saladin pulled up the rear.
Three of the five pitchers held opposing hitters to a collective batting average at .200 or lower. Graceffo at .183 is the best of a very good group with the highest mark just .227 (Ramirez).
In BABIP (batting average on balls in play), the candidacy of Graceffo loses steam. His very low .209 June mark suggests he was the benefit of considerable good fortune that balances out over time. To that point, for the season (including June), Graceffo’s BABIP is a reasonable .292.
While Ramirez has the highest finalist BABIP of .313, it is not excessive, and it clearly did not negatively impact his results.
In terms of baserunners allowed, with WHIP as a surrogate, three finalists allowed a stellar one or fewer runners per inning. Graceffo (0.88) was tops, with Ramirez close behind (0.94). Moran was third at 1.00.
In summary, Ramirez’ name was mentioned from the very start and was repeated often. Others had their high points, but Ramirez led the finalists in lowest ERA, lowest walk rate and highest strikeout to walk ratio and was second in strikeout rate and WHIP.
When considering all results, Ramirez is The Cardinal Nation’s June Pitcher of the Month.
About the winner
Ramirez, 18, is a second-year DSL starter, after being a January 15 signing for $75,000 from Venezuela in 2023. Last season, the right-hander logged a 4.31 ERA in 39 2/3 innings.
Returning to the DSL in 2024, Ramirez began with two four-inning starts and followed with a pair of five-inning appearances. He allowed three runs, two earned, in his second start with the other three outings scoreless.
This season, the tall and slender Ramirez (6-foot-1, 170 pounds, up from 155 at signing) has been strong against right-handed batters (.250 BAA) as well as versus lefties (.211).
Baseball America praised Ramirez’ simple, low-effort delivery that leads to his plus control. Pre-signing, his fastball touched 90 mph with projection for more velocity, and he also throws a slider and changeup.
Top 10 prospects
Here is how Top 10 organizational pitching prospects per The Cardinal Nation fared in June. Just one of the six was a finalist for our Pitcher of the Month honors.
#1 Tink Hence (Springfield) – The right-hander left both June starts early with a trainer, throwing just three innings in total. Hence is neither on the injured list nor is among Springfield’s probable starters this week.
#2 Tekoah Roby (Springfield IL) – The oft-injured right-hander reportedly has not thrown since being placed on the injured list on May 27.
#3 Quinn Mathews (Peoria/Springfield) – The fast-rising lefty finished his High-A stint with a 2.55 ERA in four June starts including 34 punchouts in 24 2/3 innings. In his first Double-A start, Mathews allowed two runs, neither earned, in 5 1/3 frames.
#4 Cooper Hjerpe (Peoria/Springfield) – Twice the Texas League Pitcher of the Week to close the month, the lefty has been strong while capped to five inning starts. Over three starts with Springfield, Hjerpe had a 3.55 ERA including a current 10-inning scoreless streak after throwing four innings of no-hit ball in his final Peoria outing.
#9 Sem Robberse (Memphis IL) – Before going on the IL, the right-hander was bombed for 12 runs, 11 earned, in 5 1/3 innings over two June appearances.
#10 Gordon Graceffo (Memphis) – June finalist. See results above.
May’s winner in June
The consensus May Pitcher of the Month according to the Cardinals organization and The Cardinal Nation was Palm Beach right-hander Darlin Saladin. The June results for the 21-year-old, who was promoted to Peoria, are highlighted above.
What is next?
Next, The Cardinal Nation will announce our Player of the Month for June across the system. The Cardinals organization should also name their own selections in the upcoming days.
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TCN’s Monthly Cardinals Top 50 Prospect Rankings – June 2024
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