photo: Jose Davila (Palm Beach Cardinals)
St. Louis Cardinals release
The St. Louis Cardinals today (Tuesday, July 6) announced their selections for Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for July, with Memphis Redbirds (AAA) infielder Thomas Saggese (pronounced soo-JAY-see) and Palm Beach Cardinals (A) right-handed starting pitcher José Dávila taking home the honors.
Saggese, 22, slashed .349/.400/.590 and ranked among the organizational leaders in hits (29, 1st), games played (22, T1st), extra-base hits (11, 2nd), total bases (49, 2nd), doubles (6, 2nd), home runs (4, T2nd), OPS (.990, 3rd), RBI (14, T3rd), and runs scored (13, T5th). The right-handed batter tallied nine multi-hit efforts in his 21 starts, including a season-high four-hit game on July 2 vs. Nashville that included the first professional walk-off home run of his career. It is Saggese’s second career Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month award selection, having previously won in his first month with the organization (August 2023) after being acquired at the MLB trade deadline from Texas.
Last season, the Carlsbad, California native was named the Texas League (AA) Most Valuable Player and lead all of Minor League Baseball in hits (170) and total bases (294), while finishing T2nd in RBI (111) and T5th in extra-base hits (60). He is currently rated as the 5th best prospect in the Cardinals organization by Baseball America, and was the 10th-youngest player to begin the season at the Triple-A level. He is hitting .249 with 13 HR, 34 XBH, 50 RBI, 55 runs scored and a .727 OPS in 96 games this year.
Dávila, 21, posted a 1-0 record with a 0.72 ERA (2 ER/25.0 IP), 0.84 WHIP, with 33 strikeouts and just 13 hits allowed across four July starts. He made three consecutive quality starts to begin the month, including back-to-back seven inning appearances, and had a 19.0 inning scoreless inning streak. He also tallied two double-digit strikeout performances and matched his career-high with 12 punchouts on July 12 vs. Clearwater. The 6’5”, Venezuelan has not allowed a home run in his last 105.0 innings pitched dating back to last season.
Signed by the Cardinals as an international free-agent in July 2019, Dávila is the third different Palm Beach pitcher to take home Pitcher of the Month honors this season, joining Quinn Mathews and Darlin Saladin. Overall this season, he is 3-5 across 17 starts (all with Palm Beach) with a 4.07 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 84.0 innings pitched.
Brian Walton’s take
When one considers the results from the top hitters and pitchers in the system, it is clear that Saggese and Davila are the best July performers in full-season ball. Congratulations to them!
However, our process at The Cardinal Nation does not exclude rookie ball players, leading to two different winners in our view. Compare the July numbers from all the top competitors in these two articles from late last week.
The Cardinal Nation July 2024 Player of the Month – Rainiel Rodriguez
The Cardinal Nation’s July 2024 Pitcher of the Month – Keiverson Ramirez
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