The St. Louis Cardinals have long been one of MLB’s best organizations at developing players. With the arrivals of Brendan Donovan, Juan Yepez, and Nolan Gorman, the Cards’ continue to turn out solid players, some from seemingly out of nowhere.
While Juan Yepez and Brendan Donovan do not have the same level of prospect hype as a Nolan Gorman or a Matthew Libertore, they have been making an impact early in their careers.
Since being called up on April 25th, Brendan Donovan has posted a 181 wRC+ over 60 plate appearances while covering 5 defensive positions and hitting all over the lineup for the Cards. When I say all over the lineup, I mean that Donovan has gotten a start at all nine lineup spots already over his 22 game career.
Although Donovan was the eighth best prospect in the Cardinals’ system per Baseball America, it seemed that anyone outside of their top three prospects were not considered to be impact players. Considering the Cardinals were only the 18th ranked organization by Baseball America’s farm rankings, the eighth ranking could be perceived as even more of an uphill climb to MLB regular status.
It’s early in Donovan’s career and he is due to regress, but he’s shown that his good discipline and improved power raised his ceiling to something of a better, more versatile Daniel Descalso.
Not far behind Donovan in terms of current production is Juan Yepez. Yepez was acquired in the trade that sent Matt Adams to the Braves in May of 2017. The then 19 year old jumped from being an unranked prospect to the Cardinals’ 9th best prospect following a breakout year at the age of 23 in 2021.
Now he’s presently clocking in with a 155 wRC+ over 17 games for the Cards while playing both corner outfield positions and first base.
They seem to fit right in with Tommy Edman, the former sixth round pick, who’s in the middle of a career year and Harrison Bader who has steadily improved his offensive profile at the big league level.
Pair that with resurgent veterans Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, the Cardinals seem to be in line to be as good as they always seem to be. Also, Dylan Carlson is still 23 years old and Andrew Knizer seems primed to step in as the everyday catcher when Yadier Molina finally hangs it up.
Shifting the focus back to this year, the Cardinals still have prospect capital to help upgrade their pitching staff if they need, but the Cards’ offense is an incredibly balanced unit. Not only are they balanced in terms of offensive skills, but they’re incredibly balanced in platoon splits and narratives.
The St. Louis Cardinals always seem to be competitive and the main reason is because they have a knack for turning mid round picks into solid regulars. Of course they have their stars, but they acquired those stars through smart trades and identified the right prospects to hold onto.
Presently, the Cardinals sit three games back in the NL Central behind the Brewers who are also playing 6-4 baseball over their last ten games. However, when the Cardinals get hot, they seem to lack any holes in their roster, while the Brewers still have some warts in theirs.
The NL Central race, like most, will come down to depth. The Cardinals are starting to flex theirs with the arrivals of Juan Yepez and Brendan Donovan. That doesn’t even factor in the potential that a prospect like Nolan Gorman brings to the line up.
The St. Louis Cardinals are once again well positioned to be a force in the NL Central this season and for seasons to come. Whatever magic they use on draftees picked between the 5th and 10th rounds continues to work and the Cards remain a standard bearer for player development in the National League.
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May 24, 2022 at 12:59AM
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The St. Louis Cardinals Cannot Stop Producing Solid Regulars - Forbes
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