St. Louis Cardinals’ 2015 Top Prospects

Organizational Player of The Year – SP Luke Weaver

To me, you can’t find anyone with as great of a season as Luke Weaver across the Cardinals’ system. Weaver had a tremendous season and is a very talented pitcher who could find himself on the big league roster before the season ends next year.

Honorable Mention – OF Harrison Bader and C Chris Chinea

Wow what great seasons from the two 2015 draft picks. Had they had been in the system for the entire year, I would definitely have considered them as one of the best in the organization.

Bader started the season with State College after finishing off a great year with Florida where he performed well and played into the semi finals of the College World Series. It only took seven games at State College for the Cardinals’ organization to realize he was outclassing the New York Penn League (2 Homers and 2 Doubles in 7 games). Bader was then sent up to play in Peoria where he finished the season hitting .301/.364/.505 with 22 extra base hits (9 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs) and 28 RBI in only 54 games as well as posting a 154 wRC+.

It would be a miracle if Bader doesn’t start out with Palm Beach next season and potentially end the season in Springfield depending on how well he does in Palm Beach.

Chinea had a very successful season as well. Starting out in Johnson City and ultimately playing all but two of his games there. Chinea’s season line in Johnson City looks like this, .313/.356/.506 with 18 extra base hits (11 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs) while posting a 134 wRC+. Very good numbers for the catcher who earned a call up to Peoria for the final two games of the season. This is likely where he will start next season. With the emergence of Ohlman and Chinea it shall be interesting to see how they develop along with Carson Kelly. Eventually for them to usurp Yadier Molina, they are going to have to impress and improve defensively. 

However, with injuries and age starting to wear the potential future Hall of Fame catcher, it is nice to see some guys coming up through the system.

There you have it folks, my 2015 Cardinals’ top prospects are here. Got a player who you think I snubbed? Let me know in the comment section or on twitter!