Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Three Cardinals Made Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects List

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cardinals have three prospects inside baseball America's top 100. And today we're going to discuss what if any impact they could have on this year's roster. You are Locked on Cardinals, your daily St. Louis Cardinals podcast, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey there, Cardinals. I'm Jady Haffern and I'm your host for Locked on Cardinals. Part of the Locked on podcast network covering your team every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast.

Starting point is 00:00:34 We are also available on YouTube. Make sure you like, subscribe, and comment and hit that notification button so you don't miss a single episode because this right here is a show that serves Cardinal Nation and gives the best fans in baseball all of the info about the birds on the bat. Today's episode brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account. Use the code locked on MLB for $20 off your first purchase.

Starting point is 00:00:57 Let's talk about prospects today because with the Cardinals transitioning into a younger, cheaper team. The organization is going to be relying on drafting and developing more than ever. It's why they're putting so many funds into being better at this. It's something that Hein Bloom implemented when he went to Boston and he turned their entire organization around as far as how they drafted and develop. And we're hoping to do the same for the Cardinals. You know, when you look back over the last few years, most of the time, the Cardinals really have gotten some pretty nice players in the MLB draft. It hasn't really been drafting that's been the problem.

Starting point is 00:01:38 I mean, rarely do you hear anyone bashing a selection that the Cardinals have made? Again, in recent years, there have been quite a few swing and misses in the past for sure. Every franchise does it. The MLB draft is not an easy one because you're dealing with not only high school players, but you're also dealing with college players as well. Some of the first round picks that have missed the mark and haven't panned out, Delvin Perez, 2016, Zach Cox in 2010, Sean Boyd in 2000, Tyler Green in 2005, Nick Plummer in 2015. The one that stands out to me, and I remember it because I was a kid, and I remember having his baseball card. And it was like a lifetime ago, but back in 1989, the Cardinals took

Starting point is 00:02:27 Paul Coleman with the number six overall pick. And if memory serves, on his baseball card and it says, you know, first round draft picks, St. Louis Cardinals, and he's holding like a metal bat. You know, he was a high school guy. And he never made it past double A. It was an absolute bust, terrible pick, especially when you realize that the next pick in the draft, Chicago White Sox take future Hall of Famer Frank Thomas with the number seven overall selection that year.

Starting point is 00:02:56 But the Cardinals aren't alone in this. You know, the MLB draft is full of names every year that never become what people expected them to be. And in the Cardal's defense, normally they are selecting in the back end of the first round because normally they're winning more games. They're qualifying for the playoffs or one of the better teams in the league. And for many years, they were able to still select solid players who became important pieces either for the organization or they were then traded to acquire players

Starting point is 00:03:24 who became impact players for the team. So today, as we speak on the 23rd. of January, the Cardinals are going to be relying on these draft skills and developing skills even more now as they go with this youth movement led by former top draft picks, Mason Wynn, Jordan Walker, Nolan, Gorman, Alec Berlison, Michael McGreevy, among others here in 2025. The Cardinals will need all of those guys I just named to step up and become main cogs this year if the Cardinals are going to compete at all, at all. To get to 83 wins again this year, most people don't think it's going to happen.

Starting point is 00:04:08 I myself think it's very doable. I really do if these guys take that next step. Now, Mason Wynn, obviously, is a very good player already, but specifically Walker and Gorman. They need to become the, you know, two of the big pieces in the heart of this order in 2025 so that this team can rely on them day in and day out. None of this going back to the miners and stuff, that time is done. That time has passed.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Like they need to be major, major producers in this lineup this year. Has to be. There's have to be if this team's going to succeed. As I mentioned, when already a very good player becoming the face of the franchise, Alec Berlinson led the team in home runs last year, despite being dreadful against left-hand pitching. So both of them did quite well. They need to maintain those levels, if not exceed them, specifically in wins with Mason win. Like I expect him to continue to get better. Alec Berluson, if you get what you got out of Alec Berluson again this year, I think you're going to be

Starting point is 00:05:12 all right with that, considering where he is in the packing order of things on the scene. But they also have some guys that they've recently drafted that appear to be on the fast track to the major leagues and were recognized by baseball America and their annual top 100 prospects list. The Cardinals had three players land inside the top 100, and the highest rated one was the guy they just drafted in last year's MLB draft, and that's infielder, J.J. Weatherholt. Now, if you remember, Weatherholt drafted number seven overall, here he is, at the draft getting his jersey. I believe he was the first person that got drafted that was in attendance in San Antonio for that particular draft. I think that's where it was.

Starting point is 00:05:53 San Antonio, not where it was? But anyway, I know it was a Texas thing because he had the cowboy hat on and, you know, he played the role. And, you know, there was talk that he could go number one overall coming into the thing. But the Guardians instead ended up going with Travis Bezano instead. Good. Thanks for, thank you. Luckily for the Cardinals, Weatherholt slid to them at number seven.

Starting point is 00:06:17 And at West Virginia led the country and hitting in 2023 when he hit 449. led D1 players, all of D1 players, 449, 16 dingers, 60 RBIs. 2024, he deals with a hamstring injury right out of the game, like the third game he gets hurt, which knocked him out for a good portion of the season. It was a hamstring strain, and the numbers dipped. They fall to, oh, no, 331 batting average, eight home runs and 30 RBIs, and he did that in 100 less at bats than he had the previous season. After Sunning with the Cardinals, they sent him to the Florida State League,

Starting point is 00:06:53 which is low A and 29 games there. He gets 126 at Batson. He hits 295, two home runs, 20 RBIs, a couple of stolen bases, 16 walks. You know I'm for you every day. As you know I'm a big fan of getting on base any way possible. Walks as good as ahead. Very encouraging stuff.

Starting point is 00:07:10 You know, weather hole checks in at number 25 on this list. He was also number seven on the top shortstop prospects by MLB Pipeline. A lot of good short stops in the minor leagues right now. Number seven, that just tells you how good they are right now with Weatherholt checking in at number seven for MLB pipeline. Daniel Guerrero at SDL Today.com wrote a piece and said this about JJ that as the highest rated Cardinals prospect entering the 2025 season, Weatherhole possesses a 65 grade hit tool on VA scale of 80. Weatherholt, who is 22 years old, put that on display during his introduction to minor league baseball following last summer's draft. In games where Stadcast data was tracked and made public,

Starting point is 00:07:53 Weatherholt produced a 54.9% hard hit rate of the 91 balls he put in play, 50 were considered hard hit, meaning they reached exit velocities of 95 miles per hour or higher. 30 of those 50 at exit velocities above 100 miles per hour per stat cast. So obviously you're encouraged by what you saw in his first taste of professional baseball. baseball, you got to like the sound of that. Now the question is, where is he going to play for the Cardinals, which has got, you know, a lot of people talking about this and thinking about it because we don't, you don't want to keep this guy in the minor leagues. If he can produce at the major league level, he played 24 games with Palm Beach at

Starting point is 00:08:38 shortstop. The Cardinals have that guy Mason went at shortstop. So where does he go? And Mason, wind barring anything catastrophic, should have that position. on lockdown for quite some time. I'm one of the guys that thinks that, you know, extending Mason win right now might not be a bad idea. He feels like a prospect to me that is worth taking that leap for.

Starting point is 00:09:03 Another top prospect of the organization, we saw a little bit of them at the end of last year, is Thomas C.JC., who seems to be better suited as a second baseman. I think he probably can play some third base as well, which means whether Holt could, if you're going to move Sujcci, if he's going to be a second baseman type of guy, all right maybe whether Hulk goes over to third there's been talked that maybe that would be the

Starting point is 00:09:25 spot that he ends up becoming when he's a full-time major league player maybe third base is where he goes for the Cardinals but the Cardinals also have a guy named Nolan Gorman who we just talked about lined up as their heir apparent at third base to another Nolan Aronado who at this moment is still on this team so if and when Aronado gets traded away Gorman is the guy they expect to slide over to third base. So Weatherholt, kind of a guy without a home at the moment at the major league roster. There's no rush. You don't have to get him up there right now, but he's kicking ass in the minors, you know, eventually you're like, well, what are we wasting his at bats for down there? It's another reason why the heat is on Nolan Gorman this year. You know, he's got these guys

Starting point is 00:10:10 behind him who are looking for Major League of Bats, and these aren't scrubs. You know, these are legit top of the line prospects for the Cardinals in Weatherholt and Sue J.C. who were like, look, we can hit. We can do it. You know, hopefully this will help fuel Gorman even more because I want the guy to succeed. I want to see 35 home runs from Nolan Gorman this year. I know it's going to come with 170 strikeouts. I am fully prepared for that, but I want to see 35 home runs this year from him. Like, that's what I expect. And this team needs that to happen. and if they're going to be any good at all. We will get to see Weatherholt this spring, which is great.

Starting point is 00:10:50 Non-raster invite D. We'll certainly start the 2025 season and the minor leagues, maybe at AA Springfield. If things progress, maybe we'll see him in the big leagues later in the season, similar to the way Thomas C. kind of moved his way up, really good at AA, went up to AAA as soon as he got his bearings there, ended up being a late season call-up.

Starting point is 00:11:12 But hopefully, hopefully there's no need for him yet. with Gorman and when Donovan, Aronado for now. So Jacey, those are your main infielders at the moment who don't play first base. And hopefully everybody's cool and everybody's fine and everybody's producing. And you don't have to bring JJ Weatherholt up just yet. The next guy that landed in the top 100 for the Cardinals took the minor leagues by Storm last year, going from A ball to AAA and winning the minor league pitcher of the year award. We'll talk about them next on lockdown cardness.

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Starting point is 00:13:45 And the podcast handle is at L-O- underscore Cardinals. So we're on there. all the time. Feel free to interact and chat and go back and forth with us. It's cool. Actually, have a poll up right now talking about these three prospects, which ones you're more excited about. We already talked about J.J. Weatherholt. If the idea of him being a part of this organization moving forward does not excite you, then perhaps this next one will. His name is Quinn Matthews, the 24-year-old 6-5-188-pounder left-handed. Had an incredible. 2024 season. Absolutely incredible. He started at low A Palm Beach, same place where Weatherhole was. Then he moved up to high end. Dominated, went up to double A, dominated. Finally got up

Starting point is 00:14:33 to AAA to wrap up his season. All in all, he combines for 26 starts. He goes 8 and 5. He ends up walking. Where do we go? 2.76 ERA struck out 202 hitters and walked just 49 in 143 in the third innings with a whip under 1 at 0.977. His strikeouts per 9, 12.7. Earned him baseball America's minor league pitcher of the year. Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year as well. He comes into number 41 on baseball America's list. Here's what Daniel Guerrero from STL.com had to say about him.

Starting point is 00:15:08 With some added velocity, the 24-year-old left-hander totaled a minor league leading 202 strikeouts across 26 starts at four levels of professional baseball. Among minor league pitchers who threw a minimum, 130 innings in 2024, Matthew's Lenin strikeout rate, 35.4%. And he was fourth in walks and hits per innings pitched at 0.98. Now, his time at Memphis, not nearly as smooth as the results everywhere else. I brought this up before where, you know, it's the end of the season. Obviously, you're in AAA. You've been moving around a lot.

Starting point is 00:15:42 Maybe he started to get a little bit tired, perhaps. But he ends up going 0 and 2 with a 6. to 480 ERA over four starts there. The command was an issue, which he hadn't dealt with any command issues throughout the season, and which makes me think this is why he was getting worn down a little bit. When you start to lose your accuracy and your control a little bit, usually it's because you're tired. Like when you watch a pitch or pitch, when he starts to wear down later on in games, the

Starting point is 00:16:08 legs start to go, arm angle gets out of whack, and they start walking people and throwing it all over the place. he walks 14 hitters in just 16 and two-thirds innings while at AAA Memphis. Still struck out 22, but it's a far cry from the ratio that he had at his other stops. But it's something that is going to motivate Matthews for 2025. He told Derek Gould back in September that going into the winter, there's going to be a bitter sour taste. And that's my motivation.

Starting point is 00:16:36 I've got to give the hitters credit. I will remember September. And that's going to give me the little edge going through the offseason. Then it winter warm up when he spoke with media, he talked about having a chip, saying that the chip is still there, but it's new. It's different now. I did what I had to do last year to maybe prove a couple of people wrong, but not everyone. Then September came and kicked my teeth in, and I realized, I'm not that good. So this offseason, there's a new chip there.

Starting point is 00:17:02 When we talked with Thomas Covey from RedbirdRance.com earlier in the week, we talked about how Quinn Matthews is kind of quirky. He's a little bit different kind of guy compared to most athletes that at least I've interviewed in my lifetime. He talked about wanting to be an investment banker. It wasn't his dream to be a major league pitch or he wanted to be an investment banker, just like every little boy dreams of as a kid. You know, he plays Scrabble, a game that I played during COVID with my wife because we were bored of tears, which she beat the hell out of me. And by the way, I'm terrible on that game, I guess.

Starting point is 00:17:40 or she's just amazing at it, but I lost every single time. But he plays that game for fun instead of video games, like the majority of us do. He's just not the typical jock. He's not your typical athlete, but that's okay. Who cares? You know, Zach Rinky was a very odd guy, and things worked out quite nicely for him.

Starting point is 00:18:02 So as long as Matthews is motivated, obviously you've got to stay healthy, and he's delivering on the mound, I don't care how, different he is and how quirky he is. Some people call that colorful, that he's not, you know, the cookie cutter type of athlete that we would talk to normally. So I'm excited. I'm excited about Quinn Matthews. Now last on the list is another pitcher who this past year, he ended up dealing with some injuries, but it's got a whole lot of upside. A lot of people believe in this guy when he's

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Starting point is 00:20:04 Your first list and today for your second list and find locked on MLB baseball guru. Sully brings you a daily blend of humor in baseball, which keeps you updated on all the teams during this offseason. You can find locked on MLB. on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. So the name Tinkins has been one that fans have been very, very curious about for the last couple of years now.

Starting point is 00:20:25 Drafted in the second round of the 2020 draft, which is becoming a very important draft for this team, because Jordan Walker went first, then it went Mason win, and you had Alec Burleson in that draft as well, Ian Biddle, somebody that we're keeping an eye on as well. So it could be a monster draft for the Cardinals. Hintz's rise from the organization.

Starting point is 00:20:46 It's been behind these other guys. Obviously, they are position players, and it usually does take pictures a little bit longer to develop, so this is not shocking that the other three have already made appearances at the major league level or have played full seasons at the major league level where Hince hasn't gotten above AA yet. It's not shocking. It's okay.

Starting point is 00:21:07 As Daniel Guerrero points out, this is the third consecutive year that Tinkins has been ranked as a top 100 prospect by baseball America, which is good, which means people believe in this guy. He's still only 22 years old. He's ranked as the number 30 prospect in 2024, reached as high as number 26 in 2020. Last year, hence went four and three with a 2.71 ERA and struck out 109 batters while walking 26 in 79 and two-thirds innings. Like, those are phenomenal numbers. And he did that for Class AA Springfield. Very impressive. But, But injuries. Last year, injuries held him back. He had an issue with the back. He had a lat injury, which basically ruined the second half of his season. He totaled just three innings between two starts across June before missing nearly a month. After he returned on July 27th, he rebuilt his workload across seven starts. But September 11th, he ended up leaving that game, his final outing of 2024 after an inning and a third. And it got us all very, very scared, you know, thinking they, oh gosh, here we got. It's going to be a shoulder.

Starting point is 00:22:13 is it going to be an elbow? Is this the next Alex Reyes? Are we screwed here? Good news. Good news. At winter warm up, he did say he will be full go for the start of spring training. And he's now on the 40 man, which means that it'll be a little bit easier for the team to have him join the Major League Club if they need him to at some point this season. That means I don't have to, you know, release anybody or nothing like that. like he's he's there so they can move it up and down if they want to um and if his arm is needed we we're hoping it's not yet but uh if he's doing as well as we hope he does at double a or AAA this year maybe you do see him in the major leagues at some point this year maybe uh later on in the season uh whether holton matthews are not currently on the 40 man but um the fact

Starting point is 00:23:03 that teen kin says is uh something that makes him that much closer to joining the big league club. Of the three on this list here, when I'm excited about all of them, like, don't get me wrong. I truly am excited about all of them. Many believe that Matthews, as far as 2025 goes, many believe that Matthews has a better chance at being in the major leagues this year, like being there and being like somebody who sticks around, you know, because you're thinking about the age, you know, he's 24 years old. So, you know, it's not like you're nursing a child coming up from high school.

Starting point is 00:23:44 You know, he's not, he's not a little kid, you know. He's 24, you know. If he's pitching well enough, then great. Like, bring him on up. But the thing is with the Cardinals, and we've discussed this in length, my everydayers know this, they've already got at least six guys who are rotation worthy at the moment. Suddy Gray, Eric Fetty, Miles Michaelis, Stephen Matt's, Andre Palante, and Michael McGruevy. We know the injury history with Stephen Matt's.

Starting point is 00:24:17 It's very long. Odds are he will get hurt at some point, unfortunately. Like we've just never been able to see him healthy ever since he came over to St. Louis. Odds are he'll probably go down at some point. odds are that something else might happen to one of these other starters. That's just the nature of the beast of pitchers. Do we think Andre Palante Michael Mulgreevy can duplicate their efforts in the second half of last season?

Starting point is 00:24:47 They were both very, very good. Are they going to be able to pull that off again? We hope so. We believe in them. But do we know? Is it like a guaranteed thing? Hell no. Hell no.

Starting point is 00:24:59 So these are some things that we're going to have to watch for. during spring training and in the early months of the season. You know, what about some of these other guys, Rotary Munoz, who they picked off waivers from the Marlins? About Zach Thompson, Gordon Grosso, how do they fit into the equation? Are they relievers? Are they starters? What are we doing with them?

Starting point is 00:25:17 Are they considered starters ahead of Matthews? If they're all performing decently at Memphis and you need a spot start, you know, you're not going to just add Quinn Matthews to the 40 man and bring them up for one start. So you're going to have these other guys. and, you know, it's kind of a pecking order, you know. These are all things that will keep spring training very, very interesting. It's one thing that I will say about what the Cardinals are going through right now.

Starting point is 00:25:40 It's that, you know, like most years, it's like, well, here's your five. Here's your five relievers. Maybe we have a spot or two open in the, you know, the pitching staff. We'll see what happens. These are your guys that are going to be starting no matter what on the infield, the outfield. There is some wiggle room here. Obviously, the bench is something that is going to be very interesting. I don't know what the Cardinals are going to do as far as keeping guys who are going to be the guys on the bench this year.

Starting point is 00:26:08 You know, I don't know yet. I don't think they know yet. They're going to let it all play out at spring training, which is going to make it a lot more interesting. There's a lot more open spots than in years past, which will, I feel like it'll make things a lot more fun. And, you know, with the youth of these guys, you know, hopefully it's an entertaining. brand of baseball. And hopefully there's a lot of energy that's involved with these youthful guys. You know, they're not a bunch of grizzled veterans who are in their seventh, eighth, and ninth years of the league and stuff and are just, you know, going to go through the motions

Starting point is 00:26:42 in spring training. They're all fighting. They're all competing for different spots and it bats and innings. And it makes it more entertaining for me. Will it mean they're going to win 85 to 90 games? I mean, hard to predict that right now. But I, I, The fact that they all got to fight and claw for their time on this team and to be on this roster, I think it's a good thing. I think it's a good thing. So spring training begins on February 12th. That's when pitchers and catchers report, February 17th.

Starting point is 00:27:12 First full squad workout. And of course we've got, you know, as I mentioned about J.J. Weatherhole, the non-raster invitees. All three of these guys are going to be in camp that we're talking about here today. And there's a whole slew of other names that I find very interesting. So we're probably going to do an episode about the non-raster invitees, the guys I'm excited about, guys that maybe you don't know yet, and I can introduce them to you. That's something we're going to do in the near future. So thank you for making Lockdown Cardinals your first listen every day. If you haven't already, give us a follow on TwitterX at L.O underscore Cardinals and the JD Sports Radio.

Starting point is 00:27:46 Please like and subscribe on YouTube and help our channel and love for the Cardinals grow. You guys are the best fans in baseball for a reason. I'll see you next time on Lockdown Cardinals.

Locked On Cardinals - Daily Podcast On The St. Louis Cardinals - Three Cardinals Made Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects List

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