I have too many names to cover to have a long intro. The title says it all: here are the statistics of position players in the Cardinals minor league system.

Joshua Baez, OF – 23 (VEB’s #6 prospect)

Acquired: 2nd round pick, 54th overall in 2021 draft

Stats: 82 G, 368 PAs, .250/.321/.573, 7.3 BB%, 30.2 K%, .323 ISO, .280 BABIP, 119 wRC+, 101 DRC+

I have made the case before that Baez should not be promoted to St. Louis, and honestly I think I’ve entered into “I wouldn’t promote even if there was an open spot.” His walk rate is low, his K rate is high, his expected stats are merely okay. His xwOBA in Memphis is .347 (actual wOBA: .376), which supports the Baseball Prospectus offensive stat of deserved runs created+ (DRC+ listed above) He’s very one-dimensional right now, although admittedly there are worse things to be one-dimensional at than homers. I want him to be more than that and think he can be.

Leonardo Bernal, C – 22 (VEB’s #7 prospect)

Acquired: International Amateur free agent signing in 2021 out of Panama

Stats: 72 G, 310 PAs, .269/.355/.451, 11.9 BB%. 20 K%, .183 ISO, .307 BABIP, 108 wRC+, 101 DRC+

Bernal and Baez back-to-back is really going to reveal some bias within myself on what type of prospect I prefer and I suspect many readers. Namely, why do I feel so much more optimistic about Bernal’s batting line than Baez when they both end up with identical and I mean identical expected offensive stats? Maybe blame Nolan Gorman. Also, expectations plays a part: after 2025, I think I hoped the K/BB issues were fixed for Baez; meanwhile Bernal is doing exactly what I hoped for.

Acquired: 1st round, 19th overall pick in 2018 draft

Stats: 17 G, 74 PAs, .121/.311/.293, 21.6 BB%, 41.9 K%, .172 ISO, .167 BABIP, 67 wRC+, 85 DRC+

Woof. Blaze Jordan has certainly left the door wide open for Nolan Gorman to take his spot back. Certainly not going to happen if Gorman is doing this in Memphis. Generously, Gorman is in the “gets worse before it gets better” stage. Less generously, he’s cooked.

Victor Scott, OF – 25 (VEB’s #3 prospect in 2024)

Acquired: 5th round pick in 2022 draft

Stats: 24 G, 105 PAs, .200/.298/.289, 9.5 BB%, 21 K%, .089 ISO, .261 BABIP, 58 wRC+, 87 DRC+

Scott was very bad in Memphis back in 2024, but it is worth mentioning he had an 84 DRC+ that season. It does not feel like he’s making any progress from what was once a promising prospect. Scott’s main issue is just weak contact – he has no power and he has a low BABIP. Worse that BABIP appears to be deservedly be low. If he was the same exact hitter with a .320 BABIP – which in theory with his speed you’d think would be possible – he’d be a borderline MLB starter.

Thomas Saggese, IF – 24 (VEB’s #4 prospect in 2024)

Acquired: Traded with Tekoah Roby and John King for Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton

Stats: 25 G, 117 PAs, .228/.302/.366, 10.3 BB%, 19.7 K%, .139 ISO, .256 BABIP, 71 wRC+, 93 DRC+

Oh hey! A major leaguer sent down for poor performance who isn’t actually doing terrible. He’s not doing great either, but I feel like I can see tangible progress with Saggese. His K/BB numbers are very improved and while the power and BABIP haven’t followed suit, the expected stats do suggest he’s getting unlucky. He was sent down, ostensibly, to work on his outfield defense, but he’s played mostly shortstop down there. Which… he’s a sneaky candidate for 3B at some point. I’m sorry that I keep trying to replace Blaze Jordan guys. You get it though right?

Acquired: Traded with Drew Rom and Zack Showalter for Jack Flaherty

Stats: 58 G, 247 PAs, .300/.372/.521, 8.9 BB%, 13 K%, .221 ISO, .305 BABIP, 124 wRC+, 117 DRC+

Well, the DRC+ and xwOBA stats have lined up nearly perfectly so far, but they diverge pretty wildly on Prieto. Prieto has a very bad xwOBA of .300 in Memphis and a .251 xwOBA in St. Louis. His DRC+ in St. Louis is somehow 105. Reminder that Prieto went 0 for 17 with zero walks. All the Cardinals have to do is find a team in love with Baseball Prospectus and ask for some non-prospect reliever with interesting spin. It ain’t happening here.

Acquired: Free Agent signing, January 2025

Stats: 21 G, 86 PAs, .229/.256/.386, 3.5 BB%, 17.4 K%, .157 ISO, .246 BABIP, 59 wRC+, 91 DRC+

Well, the Cardinals have a very easy DFA guy if they ever want to call up Quinn Mathews or Cade Winquest.

Colton Ledbetter, OF – 24

Acquired: Traded in 3-team trade for Brendan Donovan

Stats: 65 G, 271 PAs, .241/.310/.388, 7.7 BB%, 33.2 K%, .147 ISO, .349 BABIP, 80 wRC+, 69 DRC+

Since 6/12: 20 G, 79 PAs, .306/.367/.528, 6.3 BB%, 24.1 K%, .222 ISO, .367 BABIP, 130 wRC+

I was going to write a blurb about how Ledbetter rose from the dead and then it occurred to me: I could just show you. For about two weeks, Ledbetter didn’t play in any games and was sent to the developmental list. Since he got back are his stats since June 12th. He was about as bad as possible in his first two months of play and now looks like someone who might even be in St. Louis by the end of the year.

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2018 out of Mexico

Stats: 66 G, 265 PAs, .294/.366/.454, 9.4 BB%, 19.2 K%, .160 ISO, .354 BABIP, 114 wRC+, 100 DRC+

Here’s a guy to root for. As far as I know, he has never been a prospect and still isn’t one now. He’s been in the Cardinal organization for the past nine years. He has been the longest of long shots to ever make his MLB debut and yet he’s on the doorstep and performing.

Rainiel Rodriguez, C – 19 (VEB’s #3 prospect)

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2024 out of the Dominican Republic

Stats: 44 G, 202 PAs, .262/.361/.436, 11.4 BB%, 26.7 K%, .174 ISO, .330 BABIP, 107 wRC+, 99 DRC+

Obviously, he also crushed the ball in Peoria, but I’m pretty sure he had already been promoted to Springfield when I did my last update, so the relevant information you want to know is contained in Springfield. He’s still adjusting and it’s fairly safe to say he’ll finish the season in Springfield. The question will be if he starts next season in Memphis. If his stats are identical to right now, I’d give it 50/50 odds. I suspect his stats will continue improving however.

Deniel Ortiz, 1B/3B – 21 (VEB’s #18 prospect)

Acquired: 16th round in 2024 draft

Stats: 18 G, 76 PAs, .258/.382/.387, 15.8 BB%, 22.4 K%, .129 ISO, .333 BABIP, 100 DRC+

I actually thought putting Ortiz in Springfield was a pretty aggressive move considering he’s not really considered a top prospect and only played 30 games in Peoria. That said, his injury kind of kept his timeline where I would expect anyway. He’s been okay, but considering how quickly he advanced to Springfield, that he missed the first three months of games, and has not been overmatched is a huge positive.

Chase Davis, OF – 24 (VEB’s #7 prospect in 2025)

Acquired: 1st round, 21st overall in 2023 draft

Stats: 37 G, 156 PAs, .231/.359/.446, 16.7 BB%, 24.4 K%, .215 ISO, .262 BABIP, 107 wRC+, 124 DRC+

Davis’ last game was on May 29th, so he missed all of June and has spent July rehabbing in the lower levels. The Cardinals chose to put him directly to Memphis instead of sending him back to Springfield. Due to this, I’m not actually sure his injury really affected his timeline much, just less games in Springfield. The walk rate, the K rate, the power, and the expected stats are all very, very improved, so don’t be fooled by the hitting line not being overly impressive. He earned the promotion.

Won-Bin Cho, OF – 22 (VEB’s #21 prospect in 2025)

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2022 out of South Korea

Stats (High A): 56 G, 233 PAs, .269/.395/.487, 15.9 BB%, 24.9 K%, .218 ISO, .346 BABIP, 126 wRC+, 117 DRC+

AA: 15 G, .255/.377/.784, 16.4 BB%, 24.6 K%, .529 ISO, .148 ISO, 175 wRC+, 135 DRC+

Between Davis and Cho, it’s interesting following their trajectory via the VEB top prospects list. Cho ranked as high as 11 and I believe lost a runoff vote for the 20th spot in 2025, hence how he was the 21st best prospect when we vote for 20 prospects. I think he might land himself back in the top 20 with how much he’s crushing the ball right now. Best of all is that his walks and strikeouts have remained constant despite the promotion. Well best of all is the 9 homers in 15 games, but I kind of have a feeling that won’t continue.

Acquired: Traded with Frank Ellisalt and Nate Dohm for Ryan Helsley

Stats (High A): 54 G, 243 PAs, .247/.300/.489, 7.4 BB%, 16 K%, .242 ISO, .234 BABIP, 90 wRC+, 111 DRC+

AA: 16 G, 68 PAs, .290/.353/.677, 5.9 BB%, 17.9 K%, .387 ISO, .256 BABIP, 151 wRC+, 127 DRC+

I don’t want to overreact to 16 games in Springfield, but I am of course going to use this opportunity to question why you guys, as a group, left him off the top 20 this past year. I had to double check. I knew I ranked him higher (11th), but I did not realize he just never made the site list. I’m not even going to pretend I had some secret sauce here – it was entirely due to him being 20 in High A with an above average hitting line and the only real knock seem to be some nebulous character concerns seemingly originated by Keith Law, which I ignored.

Travis Honeyman, OF – 23 (VEB’s #19 prospect in 2025)

Acquired: 3rd round pick, 90th overall in 2023 draft

Stats: 67 G, 280 PAs, .283/.382/.421, 11.8 BB%, 15.7 K%, .138 ISO, .317 BABIP, 112 wRC+, 117 DRC+

Dare I say he’s back to being interesting? He also has 25 stolen bases to 5 caught stealing. His lone weakness as a hitter has been power, and boy has that been a weakness. But maybe, just maybe, it’s coming back? I wanted to include him on my personal list this year, because I wanted to write off last season to him still being rusty from missing nearly two full years. I couldn’t justify it though. Arbitrary endpoint alert, but he has a .203 ISO, and 7 of his 15 extra base hits in his last 18 games.

Acquired: 4th round pick in 2024 draft

Stats: 70 G, 300 PAs, .280/.390/.460, 14.3 BB%, 24 K%, .180 ISO, .351 BABIP, 121 wRC+, 103 DRC+

I’ll say this: we’re all kind of ignoring this guy because he’s behind Jimmy Crooks, Bernal, and Rodriguez, but the Cardinals are playing him like he’s a real prospect. 300 PAs is a lot for a catcher in one half of play. They don’t have to play him that much. It’d be very easy to not play him that much. He’s also performing in a way where nothing looks fishy.

In the interest of expediency, here are some quick hitters. Both Dakota Harris and Jon Jon Gazdar look like very similar prospects, infielders with a wRC+ between 90 and 100 and high walk rates. Harris strikes out more (though still below average), but Gazdar’s BABIP is much lower. Tre Richardson has struggled after an initial hot start with an 86 wRC+. Zach Levenson had a very poor first half, but does have a 95 DRC+ so there’s still hope. And Miguel Ugueto still can’t hit at all.

Acquired: 3rd round, 89th overall in 2025 draft

Stats: 46 G, 211 PAs, .293/.362/.484, 8.1 BB%, 30.3 K%, .191 ISO, .397 BABIP, 113 wRC+, 98 DRC+

Gurevitch began this season repeating Low A, and again I think he had already been promoted when I did my last update. He had a 151 wRC+, albeit DRC+ was not a fan at all (103). At some point, he’ll have to cut down on the strikeouts or we can ignore him.

Acquired: Traded with Jurrangelo Cjintje in 3-team trade for Brendan Donovan

Stats: 30 G, 143 PAs, .273/.350/.523, 10.5 BB%, 30.8 K%, .250 ISO, .380 BABIP, 116 wRC+, 92 DRC+

Well, this season on the whole has been a positive, but Peete cannot get healthy. He got injured on May 20th, spent the next month injured, appeared in a few rehab games to end June, and then appeared in one game on July 7th, where he went 1-3 with a single, but was removed from the game early, and got put back on the 7-day IL. Hasn’t played since.

Acquired: Traded for Genesis Cabrera

Stats: 34 G, 124 PAs, .320/.460/.567, 19.4 BB%, 16.9 K%, .247 ISO, .370 BABIP, 162 wRC+, 123 DRC+

Remember when I said they play Ryan Campos like he’s a real prospect? Here’s the counter example. He’s not actually been injured and he has spent the whole season in Peoria. Destroying the ball. He has allowed 34 stolen bases in just 23 games caught, so that might be a clue.

Acquired: 6th round pick in 2024 draft

Stats: 70 G, 306 PAs, .263/.356/.444, 11.8 BB%, 25.5 K%, .180 ISO, .331 BABIP, 104 wRC+, 110 DRC+

Kross on the other hand, is being treated like a real prospect. In fact, Kross isn’t like that good of a prospect, but considering how much more he plays than Hernandez is real fascinating. I don’t believe Kross’ scouting suggests he’ll stick at catcher.

Acquired: 9th round pick in 2024 draft

Stats: 65 G, 277 PAs, .216/.372/.417, 14.4 BB%, 26.4 K%, .202 ISO, .263 BABIP, 106 wRC+, 100 DRC+

Boy, a normal looking BABIP would look a world of difference for McGee’s stats. Not really any signs he’s unlucky unfortunately. Last season, he had a .254 BABIP in Palm Beach, but his xwOBA was just .288 and his DRC+ was 105. Going to be tough for him if he’s a low BABIP guy.

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2021 out of Cuba

Stats: 34 G, 133 PAs, .250/.391/.444, 18 BB%, 25.6 K%, .194 ISO, .329 BABIP, 118 wRC+, 104 DRC+

Here’s a confusing one. Pino began the year in Palm Beach, was absolutely dreadful, but he was promoted to Peoria on May 14th anyway. And he’s been really good at Peoria. He was nearly average at Palm Beach last year, but did strike out 31% of the time. Not a lot of signs he had this kind of hitting line in him, so either something clicked or he just needed to get the hell out of Palm Beach.

The Cardinals promoted just about anyone interesting to Springfield, which leaves a pretty bleak picture here. Ian Petrutz was once kind of interesting but has barely played, both because of injuries and I just kind of think the Cardinals have written him off. Last year’s 11th round pick Jalin Flores has a below average hitting line with not enough walks and too many strikeouts. Last year’s 9th round pick Michael Datallo had more walks than Ks and a .410 BABIP in Palm Beach, but he had no power. He still has no power, and his K/BB numbers are more normal with a 49 wRC+ in his first 15 games in Peoria. Jose Suarez is just 21, but has struck out 34% of the time with just a 3% BB rate, so that’s not great.

Yairo Padilla, SS – 19 (VEB’s #17 prospect)

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2024 out of Dominican Republic

Stats: 6 G, 25 PAs, .318/.400/.455, 12 BB%, 16 K%, .136 ISO, .389 BABIP, 136 wRC+, 109 DRC+

This is basically the same story of Peete, but Padilla has played even less games. He had a strained shoulder to begin his season, not appearing in any games until mid-June. After a few rehab appearances in the complex league, he got to play in a grand total of 6 games before re-injuring his shoulder sliding on July 2nd. But, uh, he’s been good while healthy at least?

Ryan Mitchell, OF – 19 (VEB’s #20 prospect)

Acquired: 2nd round pick, 55th overall in 2025 draft

Stats: 68 G, 316 PAs, .204/.380/.358, 21.5 BB%, 32.9 K%, .154 ISO, .303 BABIP, 112 wRC+, 114 DRC+

At this point, I’ll just be encouraged if Ryan Mitchell maintains his stats. Because he’s already playing in a career high games. He was in high school last year. They don’t play 70 games in a season. He’s going to blow past his career high in games played and it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing if he faded down the stretch. He still has nearly two more months to play.

Jonathan Mejia, 2B/SS – 21 (VEB’s #13 prospect in 2023)

Acquired: International free agent signing in 2022 out of Dominican Republic

Stats: 61 G, 267 PAs, .205/.363/.429, 19.1 BB%, 25.8 K%, .224 ISO, .241 BABIP, 118 wRC+, 118 DRC+

Yeah it’s been a while since VEB considered Mejia a top 20 prospect, which is also kind of wild because he was set to debut in Palm Beach when this site ranked him 13th. Three years later, he’s still in Palm Beach. That’s a little misleading. Clearly overmatched in 2023, he was demoted and struggled in the complex league too. In 2024, he never saw Palm Beach. Last year, he struggled through injuries en route to a below average line. At the very least, he seems to have played well enough to finally advance to Peoria next season. And he’s still just 21.

Acquired: 6th round, 2025 draft

Stats: 32 G, 142 PAs, .271/.394/.364, 15.5 BB%, 11.3 K%, .093 ISO, .300 BABIP, 118 wRC+

I guess we’re at the point of the post where I have to keep referencing players being injured. But he began his season injured as well. He didn’t play in his first Palm Beach game until May 27th. He has also stolen 12 bases to just 2 caught stealing. I think the scouting report is good on defense. That pesky power though will probably need to show up in some fashion or it won’t matter.

Ryan Weingartner, SS – 21

Acquired: 8th round in 2025 draft

Stats: 71 G, 323 PAs, .244/.381/.416, 16.4 BB%, 22.3 K%, .172 ISO, .293 BABIP, 122 wRC+

We’re at the stage where Baseball Prospectus terrible search function is just not allowing me to find the players. Or maybe they don’t have a player page. Weingartner was a fairly young pick out of Penn State, being drafted at 20-years-old. He wasn’t very good last season after being drafted, but this is promising first full season as a pro, especially for an 8th rounder.

Acquired: Traded for Nic Raquet back in April

Stats: 68 G, 301 PAs, .248/.375/.411, 15.6 BB%, 25.2 K%, .163 ISO, .325 BABIP, 119 wRC+

Raquet has been quite awful in limited opportunities in Baltimore if you were wondering. Nothing too terribly exciting here, especially for an old-for-his level prospect. Smith was a 13th rounder last year, so not a huge propsect pedigree. But also, I mean look at who he was traded for, of course he wasn’t a big prospect.

Acquired: International amateur free agent signing in 2022 out of the Dominican Republic

Stats: 67 G, 283 PAs, .270/.340/.512, 8.1 BB%, 29 K%, .242 ISO, .346 BABIP, 124 wRC+, 102 DRC+

Pena wasn’t very good last season at this same level, and interestingly, he is walking the same amount while striking out more. But his power showed up. Last year, he hit 6 homers in 103 games. This year, he has 12 already. He has also nearly matched his doubles total from all of last season as well.

I covered Sebastian Dos Santos when I gave an update of the rookie leagues. He had better stats in Low A then. He has just two extra base hits in his first 19 games though he’s still walking a lot with a reasonable K rate. Trevor Haskins was last year’s 15th round pick. He has a 110 wRC+ with an elevated K rate. Didn’t give him a proper blurb because he’s already 23. 20th rounder Chase Heath is also 23 and has an 81 wRC+ as a catcher. Worth noting he is playing a lot so I’m sure his defense is well-regarded.

Did anybody notice how many outfielders vastly improved their stock? Colton Ledbetter, Chase Davis, Travis Honeyman, and Won-Bin Cho suddenly gives the Cardinals a decent amount of depth in the high minors behind Joshua Baez. Especially if Ledbetter’s changes stick. We already know about the catchers. The Cardinals have a lot of utility types, not so many actual prospects in the infield. One could argue everyone in Memphis wants to be the next Jose Fermin. I love Jose Fermin but that is not a compliment. Springfield now has Ortiz and Baez, while Palm Beach has Weingartner and Padilla, but that’s about it.

We might it. I got it all done in one post. I think I will be forced to split the pitching up in two posts if I don’t want to end up skipping a ton of names though.