St. Louis Cardinals: Time for a Memphis Check-in

In light of fan frustration with the recent St. Louis Cardinals mediocrity, it might do us all good to ride the Memphis shuttle and examine the players there for glimmers of hope.

The St. Louis Cardinals, facing injuries and such, have- of late- been nothing short of mediocre.  Steven published a piece last night discussing another round of mediocrity witnessed in the recent contest against the Brewers– a team the St. Louis Cardinals should defeat.

As we all brace for a severely cold winter (in the middle of the summer) that our St. Louis Cardinals find themselves entrenched in thanks to injuries to Matt Carpenter, Jhonny Peralta, Brandon Moss, Brayan Pena, etc., we must find places where hope exists.

In following this thinking then, let us turn our attention to the Memphis Redbirds in hopes of finding shining lights of promise.  Might there be players in Memphis who could spell relief?  Might the St. Louis Cardinals benefit better should they decide to redefine this year as a rebuilding year due to promises in Memphis and therefore become sellers at the deadline?

Let’s jump right to it and see what might be laying in wait for the chance to impact a team so desperately in need of impact.

Next: Memphis Catchers

Memphis Catchers

With the recent call-up of Alberto Rosario and Michael McKenry to fill the void left by the erroneous departure (in my opinion) of Eric Fryer (shame on you, Mozeliak) and the injury to Pena, Memphis was left with zero catchers on the precise day that McKenry joined the St. Louis Cardinals.

In this wake, two catchers were promoted: Jesse Jenner (not on the 40-man) and Mike Ohlman (on the 40-man).

Jenner has been very mobile this season having started the year in high-A then promoted to AA after twenty games, then recently promoted to AAA after having played only two games in AA.

Jesse’s slash lines this season are .206/.260/.294 (A); .333/.429/.333 (AA); and .429/.500/.429 (AAA).  Small sample sizes but he seems to be doing well in Memphis.  Defensively, Jenner holds a .981 fielding percentage at catcher this season in all three levels.

Ohlman, on the other hand, started the year with Memphis, was injured and placed on the disabled list on May 5, and then was reassigned to AA on May 31.

Ohlman’s slash lines this season are .301/.365/.373 (AA); and .264/.346/.429 (AAA).  Looking at these numbers, Jenner is out-performing him this season.  Defensively, Ohlman holds a .982 fielding percentage at the catcher position and a .982 fielding percentage when playing first base.

In summation, Jenner seems to hold stronger performance at this point but it is too early to say whether this will stick long enough to make him a viable option for the St. Louis Cardinals moving forward.

Next: Memphis Infield

Memphis Outfield

Six outfielders make the Memphis roster.  Of these, five are active with Jeremy Hazelbaker sitting on the disabled list, and three on the 40-man roster.

Starting with Hazelbaker, currently on the disabled list as of July 4, the outfield could have promise.  Hazelbaker was moved to Memphis as his productivity had slumped with the St. Louis Cardinals of late.  In Memphis, he owns a slash line through eight games of .360/.484/.440.  Defensively in the outfield, Hazel owns a 1.000 fielding percentage in AAA.

A second player on the 40-man roster, Charlie Tilson is known as having quick feet.  Tilson owns a slash line this season of .274/.345/.399 and has defensive fielding percentages of .941 in LF, .980 in CF, and .971 when appearing in multiple outfield positions.  Tilson, like Williams before him, needs a stronger OBP to be effective.

The third player on the 40-man, Jose Martinez was the 2015 PCL batting champion.  In 2016, his numbers are not as strong- yet- wherein he holds a slash line of .279/.333/.428 in 74 games across Memphis and Omaha.  Martinez has appeared at 1B (.986 percentage in 35 games), LF (1.000 percentage in 22 games), RF (.913 percentage in 17 games), and OF (.964 percentage in 38 games).

David Washington, a player with high promise, has produced offensively this season at .244/.362/.520.  This power bat has recorded 19 home runs this season to-date.  Defensively he has appeared at 1B (.983 percentage in 40 games in AA and AAA), RF (.943 percentage in 34 games in AA and AAA), and OF (.943 in 35 games in AA and AAA).

Nick Martini, a player with great versatility, has batted .249/.345/.335 in AA and AAA this season.  Defensively, he has appeared in LF in 23 games (.971 percentage), CF in 6 games (1.000 percentage), RF in 32 games (1.000 percentage), and OF in 56 games (.991 percentage).

The player with the strongest buzz, Harrison Bader, has just recently been promoted to Memphis.  News around this player continues to grow and he simply needs time to prove himself.  This season (AA and AAA) his slash line is .286/.348/.495.  In Memphis, in only three games, his slash line is .286/.286/.571.

Defensively, Bader plays center field (70 games in AA and AAA) for a percentage of .994 and has appeared in multiple outfield spots in 75 games for a percentage of .994.

While there are many players who could impact the St. Louis Cardinals, too many of these need additional time in the minors to prove themselves further.  Don’t look to these players climbing the ladder in the near future (unfortunately).

Next: Memphis Pitchers

Memphis Pitchers

Rather than examining each name on the pitching roster for Memphis, I think it will be better examine only those who might well impact the St. Louis Cardinals in the near future (or those who should in the near future).  To this end, I would have talked of Sam Tuivailala but he is currently called up to the St. Louis Cardinals.

A name that I have written much about is Deck McGuire.  McGuire is one of Memphis’ pitchers who could see some majors time this year if an injury requires and/or when the rosters expand in September.

McGuire has pitched in seventeen games across 94.2 innings.  He owns a 4.47 ERA and a 6-7 record.  McGuire must work on the number of hits he surrenders (96 currently) to be effective.  This accounts for his WHIP of 1.38 this season.

A player who has received a call-up this season already, Dean Kiekhefer will for sure impact the St. Louis Cardinals this season and into the future.  Kiekhefer, perhaps the best LOOGY option the St. Louis Cardinals own in their repertoire, currently owns a AAA ERA of 1.93 across 23.1 innings pitched.

Another reliever who might well provide impact is Ryan Sherriff.  Sherriff was named to the minor league All-Star team and rightfully so.  He currently owns an ERA of 2.28 across 43.1 innings in AAA.  The St. Louis Cardinals, with their struggling bullpen of late, might well turn to an arm like Sherriff to spell relief.

More from St Louis Cardinals Prospects

• Reflecting on the 2013 Cardinals’ top 30 prospects
• The St. Louis Cardinals’ 2024 rotation needs work
• Cardinals: Moises Gomez hit 39 home runs, could be in St. Louis in 2023?
• Cardinals: These two prospects have the tools to break out in 2023
• Cardinals: Alex Reyes and Delvin Perez should be cautionary tales

A final reliever to watch is Miguel Socolovich who owns a 2.89 ERA across 37.1 innings and thirty-three games.  Soco has made the jump from time to time to the majors and could well be an arm that could come up again.  With the recent struggles at the back end of the pen, Soco could be a good fit here.  His struggles of late have been in surrendering hits which is counter to a productive pen arm.

Of greatest interest to many of us, and another name on the minor league All-Stars, is Alexander Reyes.  Alex Reyes, who returned this season from his second marijuana suspension, has pitched in 41.1 innings across nine games and owns a 4.35 ERA.

His 2-1 record is impressive and I’m sure the St. Louis Cardinals are simply allowing him enough time to build his skills to a level strong enough to contend at the Major League level.  Add to this the fact that the St. Louis Cardinals aim for him to be a starter and the lack of a starter spot currently with the major squad, and you can see why leaving him in Memphis makes a lot of sense.

Next: Mediocrity Continues

While I wish there were options for replacements hiding in wait, I’m just not convinced that we have these options currently.  This is a shame as the St. Louis Cardinals could really use a hot in the arm.  Perhaps this will come via trade, and perhaps some of the names in this slideshow are bait for such a thing.  I guess we wait and see.