JUPITER, Fla. — Some of the top prospects within the Cardinals’ farm system including Masyn Winn, 2023 breakout performers Victor Scott II and Max Rajcic, and off-the-radar prospects like utilityman Noah Mendlinger will get a chance to showcase their talents this spring against a team of Marlins and Astros prospects.
The four previously mentioned players were announced as a part of the Cardinals prospect group, which includes players from various levels, that will play in Major League Baseball’s inaugural Spring Breakout — a weekend slate of games intended to showcase one organization’s top prospects vs. another’s in a big league spring training stadium. The Cardinals’ first breakout game will be against Marlins prospects March 15. The other is an exhibition against Astros prospects set for March 17. Both games will be played at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Florida.
The showcase weekend provides a different look to the standard minor league spring training games, which usually are scattered across the backfields of a team’s training complex.
People are also reading…
“You’re looking at 27 players … with that chance (who) otherwise would have been on the backfield doing their work back here in camp games (and) games against other organizations that we play in minor league spring training,†Cardinals farm director Gary LaRocque said on Wednesday. “This is a wonderful opportunity for them to get their work in that environment — in that competitiveness that goes on inside that stadium.â€
Here’s a position-by-position look at the Cardinals prospects set to play in the showcase games:
Pitchers
Righties Tink Hence, Tekoah Roby, Gordon Graceffo, Max Rajcic, Sem Robberse, and Michael McGreevy, and lefties Cooper Hjerpe, Brycen Mautz and Pete Hansen are on the pitchers list set to face the Marlins.
Roby, Hjerpe, Rajcic, and Mautz remain on the roster for the second breakout game. They will be joined by righties Adam Kloffenstein, Ian Bedell, Edwin Nunez and Zack Showalter, and lefty Quinn Mathews.
Highlighted by the Cardinals’ top two pitching prospects in Hence and Roby, the crop of pitchers set for the breakout also includes the club’s last two minor league pitchers of the year with Graceffo and Rajcic. Both Graceffo and Rajcic began spring as non-roster invitees to big league camp.
The non-roster invite to Rajcic, who was reassigned to minors camp Tuesday, was his first. It came after he went 9-6 with a 2.48 ERA, 123 strikeouts, and a 1.01 WHIP over 123 1/3 innings in the regular season between Class High-A and Class Low-A in his first MiLB season since getting drafted in 2022.
“It’s super cool,†Rajcic recently said of introducing the prospect showcase. “It’s an honor to be able to play in that game. … I know a couple of friends on the Marlins side and the Astros side. It’ll be really cool. It’s like a little All-Star game for our club. It’ll probably be a close game.â€
Infielders
Masyn Winn, Thomas Saggese, Cesar Prieto, Noah Mendlinger, Chandler Redmond, Jeremy Rivas, Bryan Torres and R.J. Yeager are in the group slated for the first breakout game against Miami’s top prospects.
Utility infielder Nick Dunn, who spent last season with Class AAA Memphis and Class AA Springfield, and Lizandro Espinoza will replace Winn’s and Torres’ spots on the roster for the second prospect game vs. Houston.
Though he made his MLB debut last August, Winn remained eligible for the breakout weekend because he qualifies for MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Cardinals prospect list, which accounts for players with their rookie eligibility intact heading into 2024. Winn could have opted out of the showcase game because of his status on the 40-man roster but chose not to.
Catchers
Leonardo Bernal, Jimmy Crooks III, Pedro Pages and Sammy Hernandez are on the roster to face the Marlins. Carlos Linarez will take Pages’ roster spot for the second breakout game.
As the top-catching prospect in the Cardinals system, Bernal began his spring as a non-roster invitee to big league camp for the first time in his career. The 20-year-old, who batted .265 with a .743 OPS in 78 Class Low-A games last year, played in just one Grapefruit League game before he was reassigned to minors camp Tuesday.
Outfielders
Scott, the top outfield prospect in the Cardinals’ system and last year’s co-leader in stolen bases, highlights the outfield group that will be the same for both breakout games. The group also contains 2023 first-round pick Chase Davis, rising prospect Won-Bin Cho, former second-round pick Joshua Baez and former fifth-round pick Zach Levenson.
After making the jump to pro ball following last July’s draft, Davis played in 34 games in Class Low-A where he batted .212 with a .636 OPS in 131 plate appearances. Entering his first full season in the minors, the 22-year-old was one of 30 Cardinals prospects invited to STEP Camp, the club’s early program for select minor leaguers.
“Definitely an experience, I would say. … Definitely excited,†Davis said of his first spring training. “Still kind of don’t know what to expect in a good way. It’s definitely still fun. But STEP Camp is definitely here for guys to work. We’re here to work. At the end of the day it’s work, right? We understand what comes with that. Waking up at the same time every day. Leaving the field at the same time. Making sure I’m in different buildings to get my body prepped, or (do) arm care — whatever it may be.â€