A Closer Look At St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects: Marco Gonzales

It’s very little surprise that Marco Gonzales is the St. Louis Cardinals top prospect in 2015.

He came out of no where, almost, to nab a starting role for the team when it was enduring many an injured pitcher. It wasn’t a flash in the pan stay with the team. While he did have to go back to the minors, it was with the Memphis club rather than the Springfield club, and he would get the chance to come back. He knew that.

More from St Louis Cardinals News

• Cardinals Rumors: 3 pros and cons of signing Carlos Rodon
• Cardinals: Here is Willson Contreras’ first message for St. Louis fans
• How do the St. Louis Cardinals stack up with Willson Contreras?
• Cardinals: The insane asking price the Athletics had for Sean Murphy
• St. Louis Cardinals: Ask me anything with Josh Jacobs – 12/8

And come back Marco did. He had some spot starts but mostly became a trusted long reliever for those times when our pitchers couldn’t make in through four or five innings. He could be trusted to come in and either keep a good thing going or stop the pain.

Marco also had a pretty significant role with the team during the playoffs. He pitched several innings in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. And may have pitched so much he became a little over exposed in the NLCS against the San Francisco Giants.

Thank goodness for the off season though. Thank goodness for rest and relaxation. Thank goodness for youth. Thank goodness for our organizations top young pitcher and top prospect.

For the 2015 season, there has been talk of Gonzales fighting for a starting spot, another stint in long relief or even beginning the season in Memphis to get some work as a starter. A lot depends on other factors. Those other factors include:

* Will Carlos Martinez be amazing in the wake of losing his best friend in Oscar Taveras this offseason?

* Will the Cardinals have to deal with wild card Jaime Garcia actually being amazing?

* Will the Cardinals get one of the starting pitchers they are linked to in Max Scherzer, David Price or Cole Hamels?

Lots of what ifs here for Marco. But we all know this guy is a great pitcher. We all know we will see him for years to come. We will see him in 2015. But in what capacity we will see him will all play out in the coming weeks.

Grab your popcorn kids. This is going to be a fun ride.