Monday in Memphis

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Talkin' Baseball
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Monday in Memphis

Post by Talkin' Baseball »

Off day in the minors today, so a little chance to catch up. Memphis so far has worked their way to a 27-18 overall record (compared to the Cardinals 27-19). Lost week they dropped 4 out of 6 at home to Jacksonville (Marlins affiliate). This week they travel to Des Moines to take on the Iowa Cubs.

On offense, these guys are flat-out mashing the ball. AS A TEAM they have a .789 OPS. Individually it looks like this:
Crooks 1.089
Torres .936
Mendoza .907
Jordan .891
Villarroeal .803
Baez .801
Madris .794
Velazquez .789
Bernal .721
Additionally, Crooks has 13 bombs and has lowered his K-rate to 30.6 (it's progress). Torres still just hits. He is batting .339 and has a .452 on base percentage. Mendoza is becoming interesting too as he has played everyday and is hitting .319 and getting on base at a .394 clip. Baez iis elevating all of his numbers exept his strikeout rate. Not being facetious when I say he has lowered that to 34.5%. Nelson Velazquez is also on the rise in every category and his lowered his strikeout rate to 26.9%. The good news is almost all of these guys are making progress in just about every area

Who is promotable? Blaze Jordan and Bryan Torres could be promoted at the earliest opportunity. Jimmy Crooks is almost there. Baez and Velazquez- not yet, but trending well.

The pitching is a little more sketchy. In the rotation there are 3 pitchers you could consider calling up if there was need. Bruce Zimmerman, Brycen Mautz, and Hunter Dobbins. Though he is the oldest, not on the roster, and probably considered organizational depth- Zimmerman carries the best line. He's the only one averaging at least 5 innings per start. He also has been striking out 11.2 per nine while walking only 2. Quinn Mathews is averaging less than 4 innings per start and still walking 7.5 batters per nine innings to the tune of a 5.23 ERA. Not ready.

The bullpen has 2 guys who need to find their way to St Louis, and 2 you could call on if you needed to. The two to call on- Ryan Fernandez and Max Rajcic. Former starter Rajcic is thriving in the pen. He has appeared in 15 games and pitched 27.2 innings. He strikes out 10.1/9 while walking only 2.6/9 to go with a stellar 1.95 ERA (get this man to STL). Fernandez has been nearly as good in fewer innings. I won't go into all the details, but Scott Blewett and Luis Gastelum have been ok and could be called up if you really needed someone.
Ozziesfan41
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Ozziesfan41 »

Talkin' Baseball wrote: 18 May 2026 16:37 pm Off day in the minors today, so a little chance to catch up. Memphis so far has worked their way to a 27-18 overall record (compared to the Cardinals 27-19). Lost week they dropped 4 out of 6 at home to Jacksonville (Marlins affiliate). This week they travel to Des Moines to take on the Iowa Cubs.

On offense, these guys are flat-out mashing the ball. AS A TEAM they have a .789 OPS. Individually it looks like this:
Crooks 1.089
Torres .936
Mendoza .907
Jordan .891
Villarroeal .803
Baez .801
Madris .794
Velazquez .789
Bernal .721
Additionally, Crooks has 13 bombs and has lowered his K-rate to 30.6 (it's progress). Torres still just hits. He is batting .339 and has a .452 on base percentage. Mendoza is becoming interesting too as he has played everyday and is hitting .319 and getting on base at a .394 clip. Baez iis elevating all of his numbers exept his strikeout rate. Not being facetious when I say he has lowered that to 34.5%. Nelson Velazquez is also on the rise in every category and his lowered his strikeout rate to 26.9%. The good news is almost all of these guys are making progress in just about every area

Who is promotable? Blaze Jordan and Bryan Torres could be promoted at the earliest opportunity. Jimmy Crooks is almost there. Baez and Velazquez- not yet, but trending well.

The pitching is a little more sketchy. In the rotation there are 3 pitchers you could consider calling up if there was need. Bruce Zimmerman, Brycen Mautz, and Hunter Dobbins. Though he is the oldest, not on the roster, and probably considered organizational depth- Zimmerman carries the best line. He's the only one averaging at least 5 innings per start. He also has been striking out 11.2 per nine while walking only 2. Quinn Mathews is averaging less than 4 innings per start and still walking 7.5 batters per nine innings to the tune of a 5.23 ERA. Not ready.

The bullpen has 2 guys who need to find their way to St Louis, and 2 you could call on if you needed to. The two to call on- Ryan Fernandez and Max Rajcic. Former starter Rajcic is thriving in the pen. He has appeared in 15 games and pitched 27.2 innings. He strikes out 10.1/9 while walking only 2.6/9 to go with a stellar 1.95 ERA (get this man to STL). Fernandez has been nearly as good in fewer innings. I won't go into all the details, but Scott Blewett and Luis Gastelum have been ok and could be called up if you really needed someone.
Thanks for the info good break down
Red Bird Classic
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Red Bird Classic »

Young players popping in St. Louis and more popping in Memphis. :D

The revival has switched to the fast track!!!
82birds
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by 82birds »

Ozziesfan41 wrote: 18 May 2026 17:22 pm
Talkin' Baseball wrote: 18 May 2026 16:37 pm Off day in the minors today, so a little chance to catch up. Memphis so far has worked their way to a 27-18 overall record (compared to the Cardinals 27-19). Lost week they dropped 4 out of 6 at home to Jacksonville (Marlins affiliate). This week they travel to Des Moines to take on the Iowa Cubs.

On offense, these guys are flat-out mashing the ball. AS A TEAM they have a .789 OPS. Individually it looks like this:
Crooks 1.089
Torres .936
Mendoza .907
Jordan .891
Villarroeal .803
Baez .801
Madris .794
Velazquez .789
Bernal .721
Additionally, Crooks has 13 bombs and has lowered his K-rate to 30.6 (it's progress). Torres still just hits. He is batting .339 and has a .452 on base percentage. Mendoza is becoming interesting too as he has played everyday and is hitting .319 and getting on base at a .394 clip. Baez iis elevating all of his numbers exept his strikeout rate. Not being facetious when I say he has lowered that to 34.5%. Nelson Velazquez is also on the rise in every category and his lowered his strikeout rate to 26.9%. The good news is almost all of these guys are making progress in just about every area

Who is promotable? Blaze Jordan and Bryan Torres could be promoted at the earliest opportunity. Jimmy Crooks is almost there. Baez and Velazquez- not yet, but trending well.

The pitching is a little more sketchy. In the rotation there are 3 pitchers you could consider calling up if there was need. Bruce Zimmerman, Brycen Mautz, and Hunter Dobbins. Though he is the oldest, not on the roster, and probably considered organizational depth- Zimmerman carries the best line. He's the only one averaging at least 5 innings per start. He also has been striking out 11.2 per nine while walking only 2. Quinn Mathews is averaging less than 4 innings per start and still walking 7.5 batters per nine innings to the tune of a 5.23 ERA. Not ready.

The bullpen has 2 guys who need to find their way to St Louis, and 2 you could call on if you needed to. The two to call on- Ryan Fernandez and Max Rajcic. Former starter Rajcic is thriving in the pen. He has appeared in 15 games and pitched 27.2 innings. He strikes out 10.1/9 while walking only 2.6/9 to go with a stellar 1.95 ERA (get this man to STL). Fernandez has been nearly as good in fewer innings. I won't go into all the details, but Scott Blewett and Luis Gastelum have been ok and could be called up if you really needed someone.
Thanks for the info good break down
seconded.
much appreciated T B
Talkin' Baseball
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Talkin' Baseball »

Red Bird Classic wrote: 18 May 2026 17:34 pm Young players popping in St. Louis and more popping in Memphis. :D

The revival has switched to the fast track!!!
As the other thread stated- the rebuild has failed. They left out so much pain, suffering, and losing.
Red Bird Classic
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Red Bird Classic »

Talkin' Baseball wrote: 18 May 2026 17:39 pm
Red Bird Classic wrote: 18 May 2026 17:34 pm Young players popping in St. Louis and more popping in Memphis. :D

The revival has switched to the fast track!!!
As the other thread stated- the rebuild has failed. They left out so much pain, suffering, and losing.
They say you learn more from failure than success...

What if you get both at the same time?? :D
Talkin' Baseball
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Talkin' Baseball »

Perhaps if they called up Rajcic, gave him some run, and let him work his way into higher leverage situations if he is able, they would feel more comfortable dealing a certain couple of veteran relievers we lean on now.
pitchingandefense
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by pitchingandefense »

Talkin' Baseball wrote: 18 May 2026 22:13 pm Perhaps if they called up Rajcic, gave him some run, and let him work his way into higher leverage situations if he is able, they would feel more comfortable dealing a certain couple of veteran relievers we lean on now.
It can't be long before we see Rajcic, can it? Classic starter who stalled out at AAA, but is finding success in the pen where his stuff plays up. Pete Hansen might follow a similar path, and maybe Mathews as well, although I'm still a big believer in Mathews as a starter.
Bomber1
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Bomber1 »

Thanks for the info!
okcardfan
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by okcardfan »

Great stuff. Thanks a bunch!

(Several of those guys are not on the 40-man roster, which has 39 guys on it right now., so Cards can add one guy before having to drop a current roster guy to make room.)
Talkin' Baseball
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Re: Monday in Memphis

Post by Talkin' Baseball »

okcardfan wrote: 19 May 2026 10:37 am Great stuff. Thanks a bunch!

(Several of those guys are not on the 40-man roster, which has 39 guys on it right now., so Cards can add one guy before having to drop a current roster guy to make room.)
True. Of those mentioned as possible promotion candidates that are not already on the roster, Blaze Jordan, Luis Gastelum, and Max Rajcic will have to be rostered this offseason, or exposed to the Rule 5 draft. They can make a way for them as the season goes on if they need them. Rostering them is just around the corner anyway.