Cardinals Minors: A look at the top arms down on the farm

Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Arturo “Artie” Reyes

Talk about a sleeper.

Reyes was drafted in the 40th round of the 2013 amateur draft and over 279 2/3 career innings, has amassed a 2.99 ERA, 1.287 WHIP and an even seven strikeouts per nine. Reyes started the year in Palm Beach and it only took four starts (in which he only allowed four runs total) for him to be called up to Springfield.

Since his call-up to Double-A Springfield, he has made 17 starts – in which he’s pitched to a 2.64 earned run average, something you may not guess by looking at his 7-7 record.

Reyes shows great control for a pitcher drafted in the later rounds, allowing just 28 walks and just five wild pitches. However, the most eye-opening stats for me are his home runs allowed and the BABIP opposing hitters have posted to-date.

With two-thirds of the year in the bag, he has allowed just a pair of home runs. With this in mind, hitters have a pretty decent average on balls in play at .315 so it shows hitters are actually having better than average success against him when they make contact.

Even with the high BABIP, hitters have a .256 batting average against him, so Reyes’ stats could actually improve down the stretch.

With this success I would not be surprised to see Artie get a call-up to Triple-A soon. Again, this is a very welcome surprise in an organization stacked with top pitching prospects.

Jun 14, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; The St. Louis Cardinals grounds crew members cover the field during a rain delay in the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Luke Weaver

If you remember right, Weaver was selected in the first round of the amateur draft last season.

Many have talked about Weaver’s poise and readiness coming out of a great school in Florida State University. He has performed according to expectations so far this season and surprisingly has not yet be promoted from Single-A Palm Beach.

In 14 outings this year spanning 74 frames, the right-hander has pitched to an eye-popping 1.95 ERA and 1.11 WHIP, averaging just under eight strikeouts per nine.

Just like Reyes, his win-loss record (5-5) does not even come close to accurately demonstrating the success he’s enjoyed for the Cardinals’ High-A team this year.

Also similar to Reyes, he’s been solid in not issuing walks or allowing the long-ball, walking just 13 and allowing only two homers this year, showing he has good command and control of his arsenal.

As noted above, I find it very surprising that he has not yet been promoted and I would expect him to get the call-up to Springfield before the year ends. I don’t necessarily see him making it up to Memphis this season as he has pitchers in front of him that will be taking up those spots.

Next: Alex Reyes

Jul 4, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; General view of a St. Louis Cardinals hat and a baseball glove in the dugout during the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports.

Alex Reyes 

For many reasons, this particular Reyes is my absolute favorite prospect in the Cardinals’ system.

It was of little surprise to anyone with knowledge of the system when Reyes put together an impressive strong start to the season. That success was slightly derailed with a minor shoulder injury that prompted him to miss almost an entire month, as well as the MLB Futures Game during All-Star Week.

On paper Reyes, hasn’t had the type of season that Artie Reyes and Luke Weaver have enjoyed.

However, he has excelled in a way that neither of them has. His best asset this season has been his strikeouts; he’s averaging 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched.

The most impressive part of this is that he has not pitched past the sixth inning yet this season. It only took a couple starts for Reyes to be promoted up to Double-A Springfield after his injury.

Reyes’ overall numbers this season are pretty nice for a guy who is still working on his command and control.

In Palm Beach, he had an ERA of 2.26 and a WHIP of 1.26. Like the other pitchers, Reyes has an ability to keep the ball in the ballpark not allowing a single homer yet this season despite his high fastball velocity and usage.

His BABIP leaves plenty to be desired, coming in at .371 – despite his low ERA.

If he can continue to straighten things out with Springfield, he could be a long-shot to reach the big league Cardinals when rosters expand next month.