Hello and welcome to the third edition of Baby Bird-Watching. Like the previous two weeks, I’m gonna go through the Cardinals’ minor league affiliates and let you know how they did, a couple prospects that performed really well, and a standout game performance. And with that, let’s get to the minor leaguers.
Palm Beach Cardinals (Single-A)
The Palm Beach Cardinals could’ve had a better week but they weren’t terrible, with a single game against the Tampa Tarpons (3-1 L) and five games against the Daytona Tortugas (6-5 W, 7-6 W, 8-7 L, 3-0 L, 7-4 W).
With their .500 record in the six games, they barely stayed in first place in the Florida State League East, tied with the Jupiter Hammerheads. However, Jupiter is overperforming at an insane rate, so Palm Beach should hopefully win this division.
The pick for Position Player Prospect of the Week is OF Alex Iadisernia. With a slash line of .333/.474/.600, he lapped the field with the highest OPS by far. Of his five hits, four of them got him to second base. He knocked in seven runs and touched the plate five times himself. He also helped his OBP by walking three times and only striking out once. Just a great week for the 2022 7th round pick.
The pick for Pitching Prospect of the Week is LHP Brycen Mautz. Selected in the second round in 2022, he has certainly performed well in his first professional season. And he delivered another good outing with six innings of two-run baseball. He allowed only four hits and two walks but struck out seven to keep the opposition from ruining his quality start. With a WHIP of 1.00 and BAA of .174 on the week, I hope to see Mautz’s name on here more often throughout the season.
The Standout Single Game is going to Won-Bin Cho’s Saturday, where he went 3-for-5 with a double. It was a very good day for Cho but there weren’t a ton of incredible performances and so this one kinda won by default. I love Cho and hope to see him keep up with these kinds of performances.
Peoria Chiefs (High-A)
There’s no easy way to say this. Peoria almost got swept. They played one game against the Great Lake Loons (6-2 L) and played five against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (8-7 L, 5-2 L, 3-2 W, 8-2 L, 4-2 L).
The Chiefs stayed in fifth place with their less-than-optimal week. They sit only half a game behind the Beloit Sky Carp and 3.5 games ahead of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. While the division seems to be somewhat close, it would take a miraculous week to get the Chiefs into a standing above fourth for the time being.
The Position Player Prospect of the Week is 3B Osvaldo Tovalin. Drafted in 2021 in the tenth round, Tovalin isn’t a huge prospect for the Cardinals but still had a very noteworthy week. He produced .350/.381/.750 on the week and had the highest OPS of all qualified players at 1.131. He clubbed a homer, a triple, three doubles, and not to mention two RBI and four runs scored. He didn’t walk at all, but he only struck out one, he was putting the ball in play constantly. And when you’re slugging over .700, clearly it’s working.
The Pitching Prospect of the Week is going to RHP Tink Hence. Hence is easily my favorite pitcher in the Cardinals minor league system and it’s obvious to see why in his latest outing. Four innings, only one hit, no runs, three walks, and six strikeouts. A WHIP of 1.00 and a BAA of .077. Just absolute domination from the Cardinals’ #3 prospect. Or as he calls it, just another day in the office.
The Standout Single Game is going to Victor Scott II’s Saturday. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout, but the biggest reason for his performance appearing here is how he stole three bases, one steal of second base and two steals of third. There were other deserving performances, like Bryan Pope’s 3.1 IP in relief of one-hit ball, but Victor Scott II deserves more recognition for his talent.
Springfield Cardinals (Double-A)
The Springfield Cardinals had themselves another week of sub-.500 baseball, playing one game against the Wichita Wind Surge (10-5 W) and five games against the Amarillo Sod Poodles (7-1 L, 13-8 L, 3-2 L, 5-4 W, 6-1 L).
The Cardinals moved up to a tie for third in the Texas League North. They’re sandwiched between the Arkansas Travelers and the Wichita Wind Surge. Now, they are 9.5 games behind the Travelers and definitely won’t catch them within a week or two. But I would be very happy if they made up a couple games in the coming weeks.
The Position Player Prospect of the Week is SS Arquímedes Gamboa. With an OPS of 1.224, he cleared the field in terms of offensive production. His slash line of .364/.588/.636 was powered by half of his hits going for multiple bases and walking six times to only four strikeouts. Now I’m no math guy but getting on base over half the time for a full week seems pretty good.
The Pitching Prospect of the Week is RHP Wilfredo Pereira for the second week in a row. With 6.1 innings pitched, he tied for the most for the week. He gave up seven hits but allowed no walks and struck out seven batters. He surrendered three earned runs, but kept his team in the game. Now I do want to shout out Logan Gragg because while he gave up three less hits in the same amount of innings and was comparable in other stats, he just allowed a few more runs and that’s where Pereira’s outing took the prize.
The Standout Single Game of the Week is Noah Mendlinger’s Wednesday. He went 4-for-5 with a double and a homer. He crossed home plate twice and did all he could to will his team to victory, but it wasn’t enough in the end to get the win. But what a performance by him.
Memphis Redbirds (Triple-A)
The Redbirds had a much better week than they did last week. They had one game against the Norfolk Tides (8-2 W) and five games against the Omaha Storm Chasers (7-6 L, 9-4 W, 12-6 W, 10-9 L, 4-2 W).
Their 4-2 week kept them in fourth place in the International League West, between the Louisville Bats and the Columbus Clippers. They’re only a half-game behind the Bats and a couple games behind the St. Paul Saints, so a strong week could potentially get them to second place.
The Position Player Prospect of the Week is OF Moisés Gómez for the second consecutive week. Gómez had an OPS of 1.535, just insane. With a slashline of .350/.435/1.100, he absolutely crushed the ball this week. Of his seven hits on the week, five of them were home runs. He brought seven runs in to score and was a huge reason the Redbirds had a huge week. He also walked thrice to four strikeouts. Just a special player.
The Pitching Prospect of the Week is RHP Dakota Hudson. In five innings of work, he gave up three hits and two runs but struck out seven and walked only one. Considering that Hudson’s main issue is that he walks too many men, this was a very promising start. He kept the WHIP at .80 and the BAA at .176, which were both the best among all pitchers with at least four innings pitched this week. I would love to see more of this and maybe a return to the major league team with this improved control.
The Standout Single Game goes to Moisés Gómez’s Wednesday. He went 3-for-5, but the real reason he’s here is his two home runs in back to back innings. Just absolutely ripping the cover off the ball recently and it definitely showed on Wednesday.
As for any big news of the week, not much. Just the promotions of Jordan Walker and Luken Baker to the major league squad. So nothing too major. And with that all covered, that’s all for this edition of Baby Bird-Watching. Thank you for reading!
