With a new baseball season upon us, that means it’s time for a new edition of Cardinals prospect rankings formulated by the Post-Dispatch.
The Dispatch Dozen ranking of Cardinals prospects includes the top 12 prospects who have not yet reached the majors. Last year, Jordan Walker (No. 1) and Masyn Winn (No. 2) were the only two players on the Post-Dispatch’s 2023 preseason ranking to move up to MLB. Although the likes of Winn and catcher Ivan Herrera both head into 2024 with their rookie eligibility intact, the two won’t appear on this list.
Players are evaluated using the four P’s of prospects: position, proximity, potential and performance. Those concepts are also used in tiebreakers for the rankings. For example, a prospect’s proximity to reaching the majors or potential due to projected ceilings of performance are some aspects factored into tiebreakers this year.
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Here is this year’s Dispatch Dozen:
1. CF Victor Scott II:Â The 23-year-old with 80-grade speed zoomed his development with a breakout year that included 94 steals, a .303 average and a minor league Gold Glove.
2. RHP Tink Hence:Â Hence, 21, reached Class AA and logged more than 90 innings for the first time in his career. Mechanical issues led to late-season struggles against advanced hitters.
3. INF Thomas Saggese:Â A bat-first utility infielder, Saggese powered his way to Texas League MVP honors and a promotion to Triple-A after being acquired at the trade deadline.
4. RHP Tekoah Roby: Viewed as the highest-rated pitching prospect the Cardinals acquired at the deadline, Roby’s introduction to the system was limited because of a shoulder injury.
5. OF Chase Davis: The University of Arizona product, who slugged his way into being a 2023 first-round pick, debuted in Class Low-A after July’s draft and encountered struggles.
6. RHP Gordon Graceffo: A shoulder injury limited Graceffo to 86 innings in Class AAA. He’s tweaked his windup in search of better command of his powerful four-pitch arsenal.
7. LHP Cooper Hjerpe:Â Elbow surgery limited Hjerpe to fewer than 50 innings in his first pro season, but the swing-and-miss stuff worthy of a first-round pick showed when healthy.
8. C Leonardo Bernal:Â The 20-year-old switch-hitter lowered his chase rate and showed situational hitting skills along with the ability to call his own games from behind the plate.
9. OF Won-Bin Cho:Â Profiling as a corner outfielder, Cho, 20, shows a selective plate approach, promising advanced exit-velocity stats and the ability to be a base-stealing threat.
10. RHP Sem Robberse:Â The midseason trade acquisition and native of the Netherlands found strikeout success in his intro to Triple-A. He gained 40-man roster status over the winter.
11. RHP Max Rajcic:Â Dazzled as he became Cardinals minor league pitcher of the year, reached Double-A, and crossed the 130-inning threshold in his first minor league season.
12. OF Travis Honeyman: Hampered by a shoulder injury at Boston College, Honeyman has not debuted after sliding to the Cardinals in the third round of last year’s draft.
Honorable mentions: Michael McGreevy, Pedro Pages, Cesar Prieto, Adam Kloffenstein, Ian Bedell, Edwin Nunez, Jimmy Crooks and Jonathan Mejia.
This article is part of the ºüÀêÊÓƵ Cardinals season preview section, which will be in print Sunday, March 24.