As part of the leadup to the 2024 MLB and MiLB seasons, the Post-Dispatch ranked the top 12 prospects in the Cardinals system.
The 2024 "Dispatch Dozen" only included Cardinals prospects who had yet to reach the majors. Players entering the 2024 season with rookie eligibility, like Masyn Winn, were not included in the preseason rankings.
Prospects were ranked on the four P of prospects: Position, Proximity, Performance, and Potential.
Now that the Cardinals and their minor league affiliates’ seasons have concluded, here’s a look at how each member of the 2024 Dispatch Dozen performed:
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1. OF Victor Scott II
Coming off a breakout year 2023 season that included 94 stolen bases and a .303 batting average in 132 games across Class High-A and Class AA, Scott was the first of the 2024 Dispatch Dozen to reach the majors.
The 23-year-old started in center field on opening day for the Cardinals after a strong showing in big league spring training and injuries to the Cardinals' outfield opened a lane for the speedster to claim the job. Scott batted .085 and struck out 15 times in 59 at-bats to begin his career. The struggles led him to get optioned to Class AAA Memphis before the end of April.
Scott, a fifth-round pick from the 2022 MLB draft, batted .219 with a .302 on-base percentage in 75 games for Memphis before returning to majors in early August once Michael Siani landed on the injured list and a role opened in center field. At the time of his August call-up, Scott batted .256 and had a .341 on-base percentage in his most recent 29 Class AAA games.
The improvements came with adjustments to his swing that made him less “static†and more “free flowing.â€Â He batted .222 in his return to the majors and was returned to Class AAA in early September once playing time shrunk upon Siani’s return.
Scott, who played in three more big league games in the final week of the regular season when Luken Baker went on the paternity list, batted .200 with a .272 on-base percentage in 134 games across the majors and minors. He stole 35 bases on 41 attempts — five of which came in the majors.
2. RHP Tink Hence
In his return to Class AA as the ace of Springfield’s rotation, Hence showed improved command and the ability to get more swing-and-miss but had his workload limited to 79 2/3 innings due to injuries.
The 22-year-old right-hander posted a 2.71 ERA, struck out 109 batters, and held opposing hitters to a .204 average in 20 Class AA starts. Across 12 Class AA starts in 2023, Hence posted a 5.47 ERA and allowed a .283 batting average to opposing hitters. Hence’s strikeout-to-walk rate improved from 13.0% to 25.9% and helped him earn Texas League pitcher of the year honors.
What Hence described as fatigue and back discomfort limited him to three innings in two starts across June and through most of July. Hence, who elected to skip the All-Star Futures Game while recovering from injury, returned to Springfield’s rotation on July 27 after a month-long gap without appearing in a game. The righty totaled 23 2/3 innings, struck out 35 batters, and posted a 1.52 over seven starts as he rebuilt his workload following his return.
He was removed from a Sept. 11 start after completing 1 1/3 innings on 29 pitches because of an injury. He didn't return to the mound for the rest of the regular season and did not pitch in the postseason.
3. INF Thomas Saggese
Saggese overcame a sluggish start to the Class AAA season and ended his season in the majors following a September call-up.
The 22-year-old utility infielder batted .253 with 20 home runs, 23 doubles, and 67 RBIs in 125 games while in Class AAA. He began the minor league season with a .223/.284/.372 slash line and eight homers in 70 games before he produced a .291/.351/.524 slash line and hit 12 homers in 55 games before his MLB debut.
While in the majors, Saggese appeared in 18 games and received playing time at second base, shortstop, and third base. He batted .204, hit one homer, and produced a .556 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) in 52 big league plate appearances. Between both levels, Saggese played 619 2/3 innings at shortstop, 446 2/3 innings at second base, and 112 innings at third base. The 593 1/3 innings at shortstop for Memphis were the most innings at shortstop Saggese played in a single season as a professional. While in the majors, where he was often used as a defensive replacement late in games, Saggese played mostly second base.
Saggese, who was acquired at the 2023 MLB trade deadline from the Texas Rangers in the Jordan Montgomery deal, will continue his 2024 in the Arizona Fall League. Saggese was one of eight Cardinals prospects to receive an invite to the “finishing school†for prospects.
4. RHP Tekoah Roby
Roby, 23, was held to under 60 innings for a second consecutive season because of a shoulder injury.
The righty posted a 6.57 ERA and completed 38 1/3 innings in 10 starts — seven of which came in Class AA. Roby, who was acquired along with Saggese in the Montgomery deal, had his season paused in the middle of May. At the time of his IL placement, the righty had a 6.75 ERA in 33 1/3 innings for Springfield and had seen home runs become an issue.
Roby went on a rehab assignment with Class Low-A Palm Beach at the end of August and completed five innings in three starts for Palm Beach. But with the minor league regular season running short and the limited build-up, Roby did not find his way back into a Class AA game despite being activated from the IL ahead of Springfield’s postseason run.
While with Springfield, Roby allowed 10 home runs for a career-worst 2.70 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched. His strikeout-to-walk rate at the Class AA level dipped from 19.5% in 2023 to 13.6% as opposing hitters produced a .307 batting average against him.
5. OF Chase Davis
The former first-round pick (21st overall) from the 2023 MLB draft entered his first full season as a pro coming off a “slow startâ€Â from a year ago and ended it in Class AA following a midseason bounce back.
After batting .184 in 38 Class Low-A games to begin the 2024 season, Davis batted .287 with 11 home runs, 20 doubles, and produced an .868 OPS in 77 games across Class Low-A, Class High-A, and Class AA. Davis’s turnaround included a June during which he slashed .333/.464/.683 in 20 games in Class Low-A. The 22-year-old received a promotion to Class High-A by the end of July and, in a 30-game stay at the level, batted .301 with a .338 on-base percentage and a .451 slugging percentage.
Davis joined Springfield in early September and made his introduction to the level with a home run on his first swing in his first at-bat for Springfield. In 11 Class AA games (including three postseason games), Davis went nine-for-36 with two homers and two doubles. Across the three levels, Davis continued to receive regular playing time in center field. He started 74 games in center field across three levels of pro ball and posted a .981 fielding percentage. The majority of his opportunities in the field in Class AA came in left field.
He’ll head into the offseason having posted a .252 batting average and a .769 OPS in 115 total games.
6. RHP Gordon Graceffo
A year after shoulder inflammation kept him to 86 innings, Graceffo reached the majors and had his workload near 140 innings as he spent the majority of 2024 with Class AAA Memphis where he went 10-8 with a 4.85 ERA.
The 24-year-old former fifth-round pick from the 2021 MLB draft logged 130 innings over 27 outings (26 starts) in Class AAA. He tossed another 7 2/3 innings in the majors over two outings — one of which came in a July 10 start against the Kansas City Royals. Graceffo allowed four runs and struck out six batters during his two MLB appearances.
While in the minors, Graceffo worked through mechanical changes with his windup that aided him in regaining a touch of the velocity that helped him soar up prospect rankings in 2022. Despite those improvements, Graceffo’s fastball averaged 92.5 mph throughout the minor league season, per Statcast. A regripped changeup led Graceffo to a 2.5% increase in swing-and-miss rate with that offspeed pitch, but, with a larger body of work in Class AAA compared to 2023, he had declines in generating swing-and-miss with his slider and curveball.
The improvements with command helped Graceffo cut his walk rate in the minors from 11.6% to 8.6%, per FanGraphs.
7. LHP Cooper Hjerpe
Following a year limited to under 50 innings during the regular season because of elbow surgery, Hjerpe showed his ability to generate swing-and-miss while in Class High-A and Class AA but was sidelined with an elbow injury.
Between the two levels, Hjerpe totaled 52 1/3 innings and struck out 76 batters while maintaining a 3.27 ERA and a .171 batting average allowed. Inconsistencies with command led to 28 walks and brief outings due to his pitch count. After posting a 5.56 ERA in his first four starts, Hjerpe sported a 2.63 ERA and held opposing hitters to 41 innings in 11 starts from the start of June through the start of July. He exited a July 2 start early due to the elbow injury. He went through a throwing program, but did not return to game action before the end of the season.
Since making his minor league debut in 2023, Hjerpe has totaled 93 1/3 innings in 25 regular season outings. In that span, the lefty with a “funky†delivery has notched 127 strikeouts for a 32.8% strikeout rate.
He’s maintained a 3.38 ERA, 1.18 walks plus hits per inning pitched, and kept hitters to a .171 batting average when healthy.
8. C Leonardo Bernal
At 20 years old, Bernal set a career-high in games played with 110 — 96 of which came in Class High-A. He ended his regular season in Class AA. The switch-hitting catcher batted .262 with a .336 on-base percentage between the two levels while slugging .403.
He set career highs in doubles (18), home runs (11), RBIs (57), and hits (102). Bernal appeared in 14 regular season games for Springfield and batted .204 in 49 at-bats. Bernal collected four hits in 10 at-bats and drove in two runs in three postseason games for the S-Cards. His playoff success included a solo home run in Springfield’s Game 2 loss vs. Arkansas in the Texas League Division Series. He produced a .262 average and a .738 OPS as a left-handed hitter vs. righties. The Panama native had a .260 average and .741 OPS as a righty vs. lefties. From behind the plate, Bernal had five past balls and seven errors charged to him. When it came to controlling the run game, the 20-year-old threw out 40 of 116 base stealers against him for a career-high 34.5% caught-stealing percentage.
Like Saggese, Bernal will continue his 2024 in the Arizona Fall League.
9. OF Won-Bin Cho
The 21-year-old former international signee from South Korea sought more power and increases in fly ball and line drive success after a 2023 campaign during which he slashed .270/.376/.389 and drew walks in 14.2% of his total plate appearances. But against more advanced pitchers following his promotion from Class Low-A to Class High-A, Cho connected on two homers and slugged .305 in 107 games for Peoria.
Cho produced a .227 batting average and a .307 on-base percentage in his season with Peoria. His strikeout rate jumped from 21.7% in 2023 to 31.3% in 2024. His struggles to get on base with consistency limited him to 13 successful steals on 21 attempts after he went 32-for-43 on stolen base attempts in 2023. He started in center field for 79 of the games he played in for Peoria. Twenty-three of his starts came in right field.
He posted a .993 fielding percentage in 676 1/3 innings in center field.
10. RHP Sem Robberse
The 22-year-old right-hander entered the year with 40-man status but did not receive a call to the majors.
Having posted back-to-back seasons of 100-plus innings in 2022 and 2023, Robberse was held to 90 1/3 innings in 2024 due to an elbow injury that sidelined him from the middle of June through the end of August. Robberse, who was acquired by the Cardinals in 2023 as a part of the Jordan Hicks deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, opened his season by posting a 1.77 ERA and striking out 35 batters in 35 2/3 innings in his first six starts for Memphis.
The strong stretch from the native of the Netherlands was followed by a stretch of seven starts where he allowed 30 earned runs in 36 innings for a 7.50 ERA. Much of that damage Robberse allowed came on the 11 home runs he allowed over that span. He had allowed two in the six starts before that. After sitting out nearly two months, Robberse completed a rehab assignment in Class Low-A before returning to Memphis’s rotation for the final month of the regular season.
He completed 12 2/3 innings and allowed seven runs (six earned) before the regular season closed.
11. RHP Max Rajcic
Rajcic, the Cardinals’ 2023 minor league pitcher of the year, surpassed 130 innings but had trouble limiting home runs during a season spent pitching with Springfield.
The 23-year-old allowed 18 home runs in 131 innings of work in Class AA after allowing six homers in 123 1/3 innings of work in 2023. Rajcic allowed two or more home runs in six of his 26 outings. After posting a 5.32 ERA and allowing opposing hitters to produce an .811 OPS in his first 14 starts of the year, the former sixth-round pick ended his season with a 3.55 ERA and a .695 OPS allowed in his last 12 starts of the year. That stretch for Rajcic began on July 4 when he set career highs for innings pitched with eight and strikeouts in a game with nine.
With the career performance included, Rajcic struck out 70 batters and walked 14 batters in 66 innings. Before that span, Rajcic walked 30 batters and struck out 66 in 69 1/3 innings.Â
12. OF Travis Honeyman
After being held out of games following the 2023 MLB draft because of a shoulder injury that cut his final season at Boston College short, Honeyman played in just 20 games in his first minor league season.
Fourteen of the games Honeyman appeared in came in Class Low-A. Honeyman, 23, began his spring in STEP Camp — an early minor league camp for select Cardinals prospects — but had limited activity for part of it. He opened the year on the injured list with an unspecified injury and was not activated until the end of May. The 23-year-old debuted in the Florida Complex League and joined Palm Beach after six FCL games.
The last game Honeyman appeared in before the MiLB season ended came at the end of June. In 73 at-bats between the two lower minor league levels, Honeyman collected 25 hits for a .342 batting average and reached base at a .415 clip. Eleven of the 23-year-old’s 18 hits in went for doubles. He was utilized as a designated hitter in each of the 20 games he appeared in.