Cardinals prospect and former second-round pick Brycen Mautz built off one of his strongest starts of the year by throwing perhaps his best thus far on Tuesday night for Class High-A Peoria.
After delivering six scoreless innings a week ago, Mautz struck out a career-high 12 batters and allowed one run on four hits over seven innings in Peoria’s 2-1 win over Fort Wayne. Mautz, 23, did not walk a batter in the outing. The lone run the left-hander surrendered came in the sixth inning after Mautz allowed a leadoff double to Wyatt Hoffman followed by a single from Kai Murphy that scored Hoffman.
Mautz’s 12 strikeouts were the most he’s recorded as a professional player since he made his debut a year ago. The former second-round (59th overall) pick from the 2022 MLB draft struck out 11 on April 19, 2023 while in Class Low-A.
On Tuesday, Mautz faced one batter over the minimum through his first four innings of work and struck out eight batters in that stretch. The lone hit allowed by the 23-year-old was a two-out single to Ethan Salas, the Padres’ top prospect and one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball. The next TinCaps hitter to reach base against Mautz was Devin Ortiz, who singled to leadoff the fifth inning.
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The quality start improved Mautz to a 3-12 record after he began the year 0-10. In seven stars since July 11, Mautz has sported a 3.49 ERA and struck out 41 batters in 38 2/3 innings. He’s lowered his ERA from 6.34 to 5.33 and held a 3-3 record.Â
Here are other prospect performances from around the Cardinals' system:Â
Infielder Thomas Saggese, Class AAA Memphis: As Memphis’s starting shortstop, Saggese went two-for-four with a solo home run that had a 106.9 mph exit velocity and a double during Memphis’s 8-7 win over Charlotte. The performance was Saggese’s first with multiple extra-base hits since July 14. Saggese, 22, has now homered in four of the last five games he’s played in for Memphis. The 22-year-old has homered six time in his 69 at-bats in August after homers in six time in 169 at-bats across June and July. Saggese has a .269 average in his previous 17 games.
Right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo, Class AAA Memphis: Graceffo allowed five runs on four hits and a walk before he could record an out against Charlotte hitters during his Tuesday start. He reponsded by throwing three scoreless innings to leave the game with a pitching line that included five runs allowed on eight hits over four innings. Graceffo walked two batters and struck out two on 89 pitches. He had a 19% whiff rate in the outing with all five of the whiffs he got from Charlotte batters coming on his fastball, which averaged 91.7 mph and reached 95.2 mph, per Statcast. Graceffo entered the start with a 2.93 ERA over his previous three outings. Before allowing a two-run home run in the first inning on Tuesday, Graceffo had not given up a home run since July 23.
Right-handed pitcher Sem Robberse, Class Low-A Palm Beach (minor league rehab assignment): The right-hander made his second appearance since beginning his minor league rehab assignment on Aug. 14. Robberse, who is recovering from an elbow strain, complete two innings on 37 pitches (24 strikes). He allowed four hits and one run, which was unearned. Of Robberse’s 37 pitches, 20 were fastballs. He averaged 90.5 mph with the fastball and reached a maximum velocity of 92.2 mph, per Statcast. Robberse has totaled three innings since beginning his rehab assignment.
Outfielder Joshua Baez, Class Low-A Palm Beach: Baez, the Cardinals’ second round pick from the 2021 MLB draft, was reinstated from the development list and added to Palm Beach’s roster for the start of Tuesday’s road series against St. Lucie. The 21-year-old went hitless in two at-bats and struck out twice. Prospects can be placed on the development list in order to allow them to continue training with a team without being on its active roster. In Baez’s case, the placement on Palm Beach’s development list allowed him to remain with Palm Beach and in Jupiter, Florida at the Cardinals’ training facility. Baez was placed on the development on July 30 after he batted .225 with 97 strikeouts in 71 games with Class High-A Peoria. His appearance in Tuesday’s game was his first since his reassignment.