A two-hit performance on Friday from Cardinals prospect Chase Davis continued the former first-round pick’s bounce-back summer. It also gave Class High-A Peoria the only run it needed in a 1-0 home win over Cedar Rapids at Dozer Park.
The lone run pushed across by Davis, 22, came with two outs in the third inning. Davis skied a fly ball to shallow left-center field that dropped in for a hit after Cedar Rapids center fielder Walker Jenkins had the fly ball deflect off his glove on a headfirst diving attempt.
Davis’s two-for-four game vs. the Kernels was his fourth multi-hit game since making his High-A debut on July 30. The 22-year-old began the year with a .184 batting average and a .572 OPS in his first 38 games with Class Low-A Palm Beach. Following a breakout in June and a productive introduction to Class High-A, Davis has raised his average to .244 and OPS to .746 through 84 games across the two levels of minor league baseball.
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Since the start of June, Davis has a .295 batting average and 39 RBIs in 46 games. That stretch includes Davis’s .325/.357/.450 slash line in his first 10 games for Peoria. Seven of the 2023 first-round pick’s nine home runs this year have come in his resurgence.
Here are other Cardinals prospect performances from Friday night:
Infielder JJ Wetherholt, Class Low-A Palm Beach: Wetherholt, the Cardinals’ top pick in this year’s draft, went one-for-two with two RBIs and two walks as Palm Beach’s starting shortstop in a 9-1 win over Dunedin. Wetherholt drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and produced another RBI on a line drive single to center field in the third inning that had a 103.2 mph exit velocity. Wetherholt is six-for-26 (.231) with a .432 on-base percentage and an .855 OPS in nine games since he made his professional debut on July 30. The 21-year-old entered Friday with a 70.6% hard-hit rate in his first seven minor league games, per Statcast. Twelve of the 17 balls he put into play before Friday registered an exit velocity at or above 97 mph. Nine of those 12 registered exit velocities above 100 mph.
Infielder Thomas Saggese, Class AAA Memphis: Coming off his second consecutive two-hit game, Saggese went one-for-four with a solo home run during Memphis’s 9-3 loss to Gwinnett. Saggese’s five hits in his last 11 at-bats have improved him to a .253 average this season. The 22-year-old’s home run jumped off his bat with a 103.5 mph exit velocity and traveled a projected 406 feet. It was his second home run since the start of August. Saggese has batted .250 with a .438 slugging percentage and a .294 on-base percentage in eight games to start August after he slashed .349/.400/.590 with four home runs in July.
Right-hander Max Rajcic, Class AA Springfield: The Cardinals 2023 minor league pitcher of the year allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings and struck out eight batters as he was handed his ninth losing decision of the year in Springfield’s 9-0 loss to San Antonio. Rajcic’s eight strikeouts were his most in a game since he struck out nine over eight innings on July 4. The 23-year-old righty entered that July 4 start with a 5.32 ERA and has since lowered his ERA to 4.61. He’s maintained a 3.25 ERA and struck out 39 batters over 36 innings in six games (five starts) since the start of July.
Catcher Ryan Campos, Class Low-A Palm Beach: Hitting from the two-spot of Palm Beach’s lineup, Campos delivered his most productive games as a pro since his debut on July 30. Campos, 21, went three-for-six with three singles and one RBI to improve him to a .348 average over his first 23 at-bats as a minor leaguer. Through seven games, Campos — the Cardinals’ fourth-round pick in this year’s MLB draft — has produced a .375 on-base percentage and slugged .391.
Right-handed pitcher Chen-Wei Lin, Class Low-A Palm Beach: The 6-foot-7 right-hander improved to an 8-5 record by allowing one run over five innings and striking out eight Dunedin hitters. The lone run Lin allowed came on a solo homer in his fifth inning of work. Lin induced five groundouts and had a 41% whiff rate with his four-pitch mix, per Statcast. The 22-year-old’s slider was responsible for eight of the swings-and-misses he collected and had an 89% whiff rate. His changeup generated four swings-and-misses and had an 80% whiff rate. With the eight strikeouts, Lin has notched 37 strikeouts over his last 26 innings. He’s allowed two runs in his previous 18 innings.