Today and tomorrow could be called the true start of the minor leagues. Yes, yes, I know the Memphis Redbirds’ season has already been underway for a week. But later today, the Palm Beach Cardinals have their first game of the season and tomorrow sees the first game for both Peoria and Springfield. I am not sure why Palm Beach is a day early. From Friday onwards, for most days of the year for the next five months and change, there will be an additional four games within the Cardinal organization
to follow. If you want. It’s a lot.
So because of that (and because I didn’t really want to transcribe interviews right now!), I thought it would be a fun idea to have a sort of minor league preview. At its most basic intent, here are names worth following throughout the season, some of whom we may see in the major leagues later this season and a lot of whom we may never see in the majors period. I have tried to separate the players according to how much of a sicko you are, and don’t worry, we’re all sickos when it comes to baseball.
Memphis
Watch if they’re starting
There are four healthy pitchers who fit here and even within those four, they fit into two separate categories. The first category is MLB ready now, more or less. It would not be in the least bit surprising if they had entered the MLB rotation by the end of May, by whatever circumstances led them there.
Hunter Dobbins (4.13 ERA/3.87 FIP/4.11 xFIP)
Richard Fitts (3.97 ERA/5.02 FIP/4.66 xFIP)
Quinn Mathews (#4 VEB prospect)
Dobbins and Fitts already have experience in the majors leagues. Their MLB stats are in parentheses. Dobbins is technically on the MLB injured list and made his first rehab appearance on Tuesday (it went okay). Fitts has made 15 appearances in two separate seasons. He is making his second start today actually! So check that one out. And Mathews, who made 22 starts at the AAA level and is trying to conquer his control issues. He walked four in the first inning yesterday, so he’s not quite there yet.
If one of the categories has three pitchers who are clearly the plan to step in for a doubleheader or because of an injury, you can probably guess the other category is “maybe after the deadline.” Unless things perfectly line up. Brycen Mautz (#13 VEB prospect) is on the 40 man roster, which helps a lot, but he’s kind of fourth on the depth chart right now. If we have a surprise doubleheader and he’s the pitcher who lines up, he’ll probably get a start, but that’s about it for now.
Guys to pay attention to eventually are Ixan Henderson (#16 VEB prospect), on the 60 day injured list, Pete Hansen, mysteriously injured, Cooper Hjerpe (#15 VEB prospect) and Sem Robberse, both recovering from Tommy John. You’ll have ample warning on all of these guys who will throw rehab appearances at a lower level before they pitch in Memphis.
Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat
If you follow the minor leagues like I follow the minor leagues, you mostly ignore the game. That is until a player you’re really interested in steps up to the plate. Might as well not even have the game on if you miss these players. Truly.
OF Joshua Baez (VEB #6 prospect)
C Jimmy Crooks (VEB #8 prospect)
C Leonardo Bernal (VEB #7 prospect)
Yes, the Cardinals have two top ten catching prospects in Memphis right now. We will see Jimmy Crooks soon enough if he keeps playing the way he’s playing. Bernal just got to Memphis, so I’d expect a longer wait. Both of them are potentially starting caliber catchers and how they do offensively in Memphis is actually very relevant because defense won’t be the issue with either. Obviously, what they do in St. Louis is ultimately what matters but if they hit well enough in Memphis, we can probably expect them to hit in St. Louis too!
And Baez is certainly in potential star territory. But he’s only flashed that for one season. How he does in Memphis is directly relevant to the future of the Cardinals. He hasn’t come out guns blazing, but he also isn’t striking out a bunch again. He picked up his first walk and first extra base hit yesterday, and only has three strikeouts in his first 19 plate appearances.
Prospect sicko
Blaze Jordan
Colton Ledbetter
Nelson Velazquez
Tink Hence (VEB #10 prospect)
Velazquez isn’t a prospect, but he fits this category. He has yet to get a hit yet. Four games played, not a single hit yet. Seven strikeouts though. The outrage over him not making the team is not going to age well I suspect. Ledbetter, well, he went 0 for 5 with five strikeouts yesterday so he’s had better days. Jordan is off to a…. blazing hot start. These three made the list because they are probable role players if things work out but they have just enough potential to maybe be more. Hence is currently in the bullpen and he’s worth monitoring for sure, but he’s a little less interesting than when he had a guaranteed start.
Get Some Help
Luis Gastelum
Packy Naughton
Skyler Hales
If you’re watching Memphis Redbirds games to watch relief pitchers who are not on the 40 man roster, you’re in the wrong spot. Clearly you do not need a casual’s guide to the minor leagues. I like all three of these guys, I am not watching Memphis Redbird games to watch them pitch however. I will stick to looking at stats and watching them when they get promoted.
Springfield
Watch if they’re starting
Liam Doyle (VEB #2 prospect)
Jurrangelo Cjintje (VEB #5 prospect)
These are nationally relevant pitching prospects, so while I have more names to give you, it feels like they should be singled out. These are the kinds of pitching prospects that national folks will watch though, not just dedicated Cardinals fans. I like Dobbins, I like Fitts, I like Mathews, but if you just want to wait for them to make MLB starts, that makes sense. These two you want to go out of your way to watch.
Also special shot-out to #9 VEB prospect Brandon Clarke, who is out until June, and I’m putting him in the Springfield section, but he could very well be in the Peoria section. But he won’t be seen for a good while for now.
Chen-Wei Lin
Braden Davis
Mason Molina
Hancel Rincon
Rincon, Lin and Davis are top 20 prospects somewhere – Rincon is by Fangraphs, Davis is by The Cardinal Nation, and Lin is by both sites. Molina isn’t quite there, but he might be the most interesting arm the Cardinals received at the deadline, and for Phil Maton no less. At the very least, he’s interesting just to see if that deadline bears fruit. Also besides Rincon, all of these guys had an argument to starting in Peoria, so it’s a good sign that the Cardinals are putting them in Springfield.
Stop what you are doing to watch them bat
Deniel Ortiz (VEB #18 prospect)
Yeah that’s kind of it. Ortiz isn’t really that kind of prospect either, but with the way he hit the ball last year, he could be soon enough. If anyone is going to follow in the footsteps of the previous 13th rounders who shall not be named, it’s this guy. Who just destroyed baseballs and is getting a rather aggressive promotion to Springfield might I add!
Prospect Sickos
Zach Levenson
Chase Davis
Travis Honeyman
In other words, the Springfield outfield. Davis is a former 1st round pick, Honeyman has rarely been healthy, and Levenson neglected to hit for a year. Not appointment viewing, but one of these guys will probably make the majors leagues at least.
Get some help
Jeremy Rivas
Michael Watson
Austin Love
Rivas is an all-defense, no hit shortstop. He got to Springfield rather fast, but he’s been stuck there trying to gain some much needed power. Watson and Love are relievers who honestly could be in St. Louis later this year.
Peoria
Watch if they’re starting
Tanner Franklin (VEB #12 prospect)
Yhoiker Fajardo (VEB #19 prospect)
I’m not automatically listing top 20 prospects in this section, but you best believe I was going to list Fajardo considering he landed on my top 10. Fajardo is a teenager and will be a teenager all season and he’s already in High A. Franklin goes without saying. He has the stuff to start, he just hasn’t actually thrown more than a couple innings per appearance to prove it. Both players have one thing in common: they may be way higher on next year’s list if they have a great season. Both are the “see them before they were big prospects” hipster picks.
Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat
Rainiel Rodriguez (VEB #3 prospect)
I’m taking my description of this category quite literally. So apologies to Jesus Baez, who I believe in, but I’m not going to stop what I’m doing to watch him. So very into prospects Cubs fan will stop what they are doing to watch Raniel Rodriguez bat, that’s how big of a deal he is. Watching Rainiel Rodriguez bat is why you get MiLB, or in my case, happen to have T-Mobile (you guys want to throw me a few bucks for the free publicity?)
Prospect Sickos
Jesus Baez
Won-Bin Cho
Tai Peete
Blake Aita
Nate Dohm
For the record, Frank Ellisalt would be here, but he also appears to be injured. And good note in general: if there’s a name that I don’t mention and you’re confused as to why, they probably are injured, because I am using the official press release of the rosters through the minor league teams Twitter accounts. I think Baez is closer to stop what you’re doing than being a prospect sicko, but you guys did not rank him in the top 20, so clearly you don’t agree with me.
Peete and Cho, at least in theory, have actual upside. They could always find themselves on a stronger level, and being a few levels away from the majors and quite young, they do have time. I find Aita interesting because he was in the Willson Contreras trade and I find Nate Dohm interesting because he was in the Ryan Helsley trade. And so was Jesus Baez actually.
Get some help
Zack Showalter
Jack Findlay
Josh Kross
Yes, Showalter appears to be healthy right now. He is listed on the active Peoria Chiefs roster. He has landed on a top 20 VEB list before and he’s only 22. He threw 31 innings last season, so I imagine they’d be pretty happy if he could throw 50-60 innings. But it’ll probably be in the bullpen. Findlay was one of those draft picks selected when he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Last year, he spent most of the year struggling, but finished extremely strong and dominated at this level to finish his season. I’ll be curious if they’ll transition him at starter at all. Kross was the catcher/DH prospect who exploded in Palm Beach with a bunch of homers, but he didn’t hit so much at Peoria.
Palm Beach
Watch if they’re starting
Cade Crossland
They seemed to have promoted a lot of the interesting pitchers, and both Andrew Dutkanych and Payton Graham are injured. Graham is expectedly injured, he was drafted injured as is becoming a bit of a tradition. Dutkanych not so much. That was an unfortunate development. Anyway, Crossland is probably the favorite of the recent draft to become Braden Davis or more optimistically Quinn Mathews, the college pitching prospect who has very little trouble missing bats. I also don’t know what happened to Brian Holiday, he’s not listed on the official Palm Beach website (their twitter account did not post a roster)
Stop what you’re doing to watch them bat
Yairo Padilla (VEB #17 prospect)
Ryan Mitchell (VEB #20 prospect)
While we were running the voting for the top 20 prospects as judged by the VEB readers, I made it a point many times to note that I wish I knew where Mitchell was being posted because it would impact where I put him. Well, he got put in full season ball immediately. No messing around with rookie ball. That is a fantastic sign. He’s definitely worth watching. Padilla is still, for the most part, all potential, but wouldn’t you want to be watching when he realizes that? When suddenly he has power. Again I won’t automatically put a top 20 guy here, but I will if I feel they may become one of the big prospects in the system before they reach the majors. These two absolutely qualify.
Prospect Sickos
Ty Van Dyke
Jack Gurevitch
Gurevitch was once upon a time ranked 15th by Fangraphs in their system. Then he played games and they dropped him down to 48 this past year. Which… I think is dumb, like things didn’t change that much. He might still become an actual prospect. Van Dyke got off to a great start, being one of the few pitchers to pitch after his draft year. He’ll get a chance to build off that.
Get some help
Jonathan Mejia
Jack Martinez
Jacob Odle
Martinez is noteworthy just because it’d be funny if the return for Nolan Arenado became something. So I’ll be following his progress for that reason alone. Odle’s 2025 was him returning from injury and he had a classic return from injury season, with a bunch of walks, but he also missed a lot of bats. He’s intriguing. Mejia didn’t have a very good 2025, but he doesn’t turn 21 for another 10 days, which sounds absurd for how long I’ve known of his existence.
