Cardinals Prospects

[video] Jimmy Crooks is off to a scorching start for Triple-A Memphis: 8-for-15 (.533 AVG) 3 HR 1 2B 3 BB 1.811 OPS

[video] Tanner Franklin goes to the high heat at 98 MPH to pick up his fourth consecutive strikeout. Franklin is up to 22 strikeouts in 10.2 innings so far this year.

[image] JJ Wetherholt is currently tied with Bobby Witt Jr. for the MLB lead with 3 Outs Above Average

[video] Joshua Baez’s tools are already on full display in his first game of the 2026 season. He picked up his first hit of the year with a 98.3 MPH opposite-field single, then swiped his first base of the season while posting a 29.3 ft/sec sprint speed.

[video] JJ Wetherholt hit this ball 107.4 MPH, a new career-high exit velocity for him as a big leaguer

[image] Tink Hence averaged 90.5 MPH on his fastball today

[video] Tanner Franklin final line: 3.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K He’s made an absolute mockery of the High-A level so far

[text] Jimmy Crooks is 4-4 with a double and homer today On the season he’s hitting .533 with 1.788 OPS with 3 homers and a double in 5 games

[video] The Cardinals have acquired Brayden Smith from the Orioles for Nick Raquet. Smith was the 13th round pick last year for the Orioles. Brayden slashed .304/.388/.548 for Oklahoma State last season with 11 homers with a 19.4% K-rate and a 11.1% BB-rate

[video] Tanner Franklin 2026 season stats: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 16 K 🔥 57.1 K% 10.7 BB% He's arguably been the most dominant pitcher in MILB

[video] Rainiel Rodriguez crushes a 106.7 MPH double in his first Spring Training plate appearance

[image] Here are Tink Hence's pitch metrics from today

[video] Tanner Franklin punches out 2025 first overall pick Eli Willits with a 100 MPH fastball

[image] Quinn Mathews’ hardest pitch during the 2025 regular season: 96.0 MPH Mathews threw 5 pitches 96.0 MPH or higher (T96.7) in the 3rd inning today.

[video] Jimmy Crooks launches his 5th HR of the season! 100.3 MPH EV 33° LA 379 FT

[video] Rainiel Rodriguez picks up his third hit of the game with this double. His OPS is now up to 1.142 through his first nine games of 2026.

[video] JJ Wetherholt just missed his second home run of his MLB debut — and it would’ve been a go-ahead grand slam. He already has two barrels in his first four batted ball events in the majors. What a start to his big league career.

[video] JJ Wetherholt has already posted two multi-hit games in his first five games as a pro. Batted ball events so far tonight: 96.0 MPH EV, 13° LA (Single) 94.7 MPH EV, 17° LA (Single)

[video] JJ Wetherholt picks up his first MLB stolen base. He got a great jump and posted a 28.4 ft/sec sprint speed.

[video] JJ Wetherholt just hit his first HR of Spring! 105.4 EV 31° LA 422 feet He's off to a hot start and is showing why he has a strong case to be the Cardinals' starting 2B on Opening Day

[text] Hunter Dobbins second rehab start is finished 5.1 IP 5 H 1 ER 1 BB 7 K He produced 13 whiffs with an overall 30% whiff rate on the night throwing 91 pitches. He looks ready to take a step into the Cardinals rotation when his rehab finishes.

[video] I don’t think there’s a pitching prospect in the system poised to take a bigger leap in 2026 than Franklin

[image] Luis Gastelum struck out the side with his alien changeup. The pitch averaged an absurd -6" of IVB and generated five whiffs (83.3% whiff rate).

[text] Welcome to Chaim Bloom’s Cardinals He acquired a pitcher who throws upper 90s with a couple interesting secondaries, and a OF bat who hit 11 homers last season in college. It’s a random Monday in April

[video] Farthest-hit batted ball events this spring for the Cardinals: Joshua Baez: 436 ft. (Home Run) JJ Wetherholt: 430 ft. (Flyout) JJ Wetherholt: 422 ft. (Home Run)

[video] JJ Wetherholt effortlessly smoked this ball 105.4 MPH for a single. This is Wetherholt’s hardest-hit BBE at the MLB level so far.

[video] JJ Wetherholt is a damn good defensive second baseman. He entered today with a league-leading 5 Outs Above Average and continues to make nifty plays.

[video] JJ Wetherholt keeps on rolling with another hit He showed off his elite bat control and shot one the other way to left field

[video] JJ Wetherholt is running a 58.8% hard-hit rate this spring. His feel for the barrel has been apparent, as all seven of his hardest-hit balls have come between 8 and 35 degrees.

[video] Here are all five whiffs Gastelum generated with his changeup today

[video] Joshua Baez has done it again! It’s his second home run in as many days: EV: 102.7 MPH LA: 33° Distance: 388 ft.

[image] Jimmy Crooks is posting elite batted ball data in Triple-A so far. He ranks in the 98th percentile or better in AvgEV, AirEV, Hard Hit%, Sweet Spot%, and Barrel% (min. 10 BBE).

[video] JJ Wetherholt flashes the leather yet again at second, robbing Jarren Duran of a hit. He’s currently tied with Bobby Witt Jr. for the MLB lead with 4 OAA.

[video] Jordan Walker absolutely crushes his first career grand slam. It’s the hardest-hit and longest home run of his MLB career: EV: 113.7 MPH LA: 22° Distance: 459 ft.

[image] The Cardinals acquired Patrick Galle as the PTBNL in the Sonny Gray deal, and he may already have the best stuff of any relief pitching prospect in the organization. Galle has struck out eight hitters through his first three innings with the Cardinals.

[video] Quinn Mathews's 44.8 fastball whiff% ranks #1 in MLB this Spring (min. 50 fastballs thrown) Its velocity is back to where it was in 2024 If Mathews can return to his 2024 form, he'll be a solid mid-rotation starter on a contending team

[video] JJ Wetherholt's swing decisions have really stood out so far Entering today: Chase%: 90th percentile in MLB Zone swing%: 76th percentile His zone awareness for a rookie has been outstanding

[video] JJ Wetherholt this Spring (13 PA): 246 wRC+ 38.5 BB% 7.7 K% 57.1 HardHit% He's been the team's best hitter so far

[image] Here are JJ Wetherholt's Statcast percentiles so far in Spring Training

[video] Joshua Baez just hit an absolute moonshot in the Spring Breakout game: EV: 112.7 MPH LA: 31° Distance: 412 ft.

[video] Joshua Baez is starting to settle in at Triple-A, crushing his second home run in as many games: EV: 98.0 MPH LA: 27° Distance: 368 ft.

[image] The Cardinals come in at No. 4 in MLB Pipeline’s 2026 farm system rankings.

[video] Fifth Spring Training game notes: -Richard Fitts's fastball sat 98 MPH, T-99 MPH. Will be interesting to see how this holds up as the season progresses -Nolan Gorman hit a 386 ft. home run, off to a good start -Colton Ledbetter had two hits, someone who could debut this season

[video] Rainiel Rodriguez was ranked number 3 on Fangraphs’ 2026 OOPSY Top 100 Prospects OOPSY is a WAR projection tool accounting for aging curves, recency weights, and major league equivalencies He’s one of the best catching prospects of our generation and a future All-Star

[video] The Cardinals are in a pre-agreement to add Dominican SS Franyerson Leclerc to their 2028 class. per Lorenzo Academy H/t @bkfan09

[image] Signing is now official.

[video] Rainiel “The Hulk” Rodriguez hit an absolute moonshot for his first home run of the season

[video] Rainiel Rodriguez's 2026 stats: 32 PA .280/.438/.520 172 wRC+ 18.8% BB% 15.6% K% Rodriguez has picked up where he left off and is off to a great start in his 2026 campaign as a 19-year-old in High-A.

[text] Cardinals have started to release their minor league 60 day IL RHP- Brandon Clarke RHP- Andrew Dutkanych lV RHP- Frank Elissalt LHP- Zack Thompson RHP- Sem Robberse Full Season IL RHP- Reiner Lopez

[video] Jurrangelo Cijntje's final line: 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K Cijntje dominated in his Cardinals debut, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings while generating 11 whiffs. He worked from the right side for all but one batter, and that lone matchup ended in a walk.