Cardinals prospect Thomas Saggese provided Class AAA Memphis with two of its six runs in a 6-0 road win vs. Jacksonville on Thursday when he clubbed a two-run home run in the fifth inning. The home run gave Saggese his 15th of the season and his third in 13 games during August. It highlighted a three-hit performance from the 22-year-old that included a pair of singles.Â
The three-hit game from Saggese marked the most hits he has had in a game since he collected three hits on July 27. The performance also marked Saggese’s fifth game this season with three or more hits.
With the multi-hit effort against the Jumbo Shrimp, Saggese improved to a .250/.316/.442 slash line through 13 games this month. Saggese entered August coming off a July that included a .349/.400/.423 slash line, four homers in 83 at-bats, and 14 RBIs.Â
He has homered three times in his first 52 at-bats this month.
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Here are other performances from around the Cardinals farm system:
Outfielder Chase Davis, Class High-A Peoria: The former first-round pick went two-for-three with a pair of singles and a walk in Peoria’s 6-3 loss to Wisconsin to give him his seventh multi-hit game since he debuted in Class High-A on July 30. The first of Davis’s two singles came on a fly ball to left field in the first inning. He stole second base without a throw later that frame to give him his sixth successful steal of the year. Davis, 22, singled on a ground ball he pulled past Wisconsin second baseman Eduardo Garcia during his at-bat in the sixth inning. Davis, who started in center field, improved to a .351 average and an .869 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) through his first 15 games in High-A after he batted .232 and posted a .738 OPS in 74 games to begin the year with Class Low-A Palm Beach. Since making his debut in High-A, Davis has cut his strikeout rate by nearly 5% from what it was while in Low-A but has seen his line drive rate go from 25.5% with Palm Beach to 9.8% with Peoria.
Right-handed pitcher Gordon Graceffo, Class AAA Memphis: Graceffo delivered six scoreless innings and limited Jacksonville to three hits and two walks to earn him his ninth win of 2024. Graceffo, 24, struck out five batters in an effort that provided a bounce back from his Aug. 9 outing when he surrendered six runs (five earned) on seven hits and walked three batters over 3 1/3 innings. Utilizing his curveball at a rate more than double from his last start, Graceffo had a 31% whiff rate with that breaking pitch. The four-pitch mix Graceffo displayed vs. the Jumbo Shrimp generated six groundouts and kept them to an average exit velocity of 90.4 mph, per Statcast. The six scoreless innings gave Graceffo his seventh quality start of the year and his second quality start in his last three outings. The righty, who surpassed the 100-inning mark for the season during the outing, lowered his ERA to 4.07.
Catcher Ivan Herrera, Class AAA Memphis: Before Saggese clubbed a two-run home run in the fifth inning, Herrera got the Redbirds on the scoreboard with a solo home run in the fourth. Herrera’s solo home run gave him his first home run at any level since July 25. Herrera provided Memphis with another run in the ninth inning when his line-drive single to center field scored Saggese. Thursday’s appearance from Herrera, 24, was his third game appearance in as many days after he missed time with a left shoulder strain. Herrera has hits in each of the three games he’s played in since he’s returned to Memphis’s lineup. Â