
The St. Louis Cardinals, back in the hunt for October, will have decisions to make in less than two weeks when rosters expand.
Like the pitchers on the previous slide, the St. Louis Cardinals have a few fielders who are already on the 40-man who could add to the team’s punch in September. These include Carson Kelly, Edmundo Sosa, Adolis Garcia (JAG), and Justin Williams.
Starting with the former-number-one prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals system, Carson Kelly is very likely to receive a September call-up. That said, the only positive I can see from such a move would be that Kelly would be able to display his value for interested teams and/or show whether he can serve as the backup catcher in 2019 or not.
I am so low on Kelly not because of his AAA numbers but because of his history of under-performing at the MLB level. Additionally, I am a little down on his AAA numbers as they should be higher in my opinion. Have a look at his numbers:
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 23 | STL-min | AAA | 75 | 316 | 267 | 38 | 76 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 41 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 39 | .285 | .389 | .423 | .812 | 113 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | MEM · PCL | ||
2018 | 23 | STL | NL | 12 | 29 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | .080 | .148 | .080 | .228 | -35 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
3 Yrs | 56 | 118 | 107 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 19 | .150 | .216 | .187 | .402 | 9 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
162 Game Avg. | 162 | 341 | 310 | 17 | 46 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 55 | .150 | .216 | .187 | .402 | 9 | 58 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
To live up to the number-one ranking, Kelly should be performing better in my opinion.
Edmundo Sosa has been a surprise to me. I wasn’t carrying him on my radar. This opinion has perpetuated. Sosa is not flashy offensively and is not flashy enough defensively for his name to eclipse that of Munoz this season.
These are Sosa’s mediocre offensive numbers:
Year | Age | AgeDif | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 22 | 2 Teams | 2 Lgs | AA-AAA | STL | 110 | 443 | 413 | 58 | 109 | 27 | 1 | 10 | 52 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 83 | .264 | .305 | .407 | .711 | 168 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
2018 | 22 | -4.5 | Memphis | PCL | AAA | STL | 43 | 164 | 152 | 24 | 37 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 31 | .243 | .299 | .368 | .667 | 56 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
2018 | 22 | -1.9 | Springfield | TL | AA | STL | 67 | 279 | 261 | 34 | 72 | 17 | 1 | 7 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 52 | .276 | .308 | .429 | .737 | 112 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
Year | Age | AgeDif | Tm | Lg | Lev | Aff | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB |
Minors (6 seasons) | Minors | 416 | 1754 | 1598 | 235 | 447 | 75 | 17 | 25 | 168 | 34 | 19 | 108 | 282 | .280 | .332 | .395 | .727 | 631 | 31 | 23 | 12 | 12 | 3 | |||||
All Levels (6 Seasons) | 433 | 1818 | 1657 | 245 | 465 | 76 | 18 | 25 | 175 | 34 | 20 | 111 | 294 | .281 | .333 | .393 | .726 | 652 | 31 | 25 | 12 | 12 | 3 |
Notice that while he does not have poor numbers, he does not have anything overly impressive.
Shifting gears, Adolis Garcia is high on my list. Helping this is his most recent call-up to the St. Louis Cardinals. Additionally, Garcia is ripping the cover off the ball for the Memphis Redbirds. Have a look at his numbers:
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 25 | STL-min | AAA | 104 | 397 | 375 | 57 | 97 | 24 | 3 | 21 | 69 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 87 | .259 | .285 | .507 | .792 | 190 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | MEM · PCL | ||
2018 | 25 | STL | NL | 5 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .091 | .091 | .091 | .182 | -50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /98 | |
1 Yr | 5 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .091 | .091 | .091 | .182 | -50 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
162 Game Avg. | 162 | 356 | 356 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 162 | .091 | .091 | .091 | .182 | -50 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
I completely anticipate that JAG will receive one of the September call-ups. Despite his limited playing opportunities during his first call-up, I believe that Cardinals fans will see him play when he is called up. Why? (1) He can contribute to a team in the race, OR (2) he can display what skills he has for the future of the St. Louis Cardinals.
The last of the fielder names who currently appear on the 40-man roster is Justin Williams. If you just got whiplash wondering who this is, don’t feel bad because I wasn’t sure either until I watched him in Memphis last week. Williams came to the Cardinals from the Tampa Rays in the Tommy Pham deal and is a nice addition through this deal.
In the game that I attended last week, Williams was unstoppable at the plate. Have a look at his numbers:
Year | Age | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | OPS+ | TB | GDP | HBP | SH | SF | IBB | Pos | Awards |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2018 | 22 | TBD-STL-min | AAA | 109 | 444 | 408 | 48 | 104 | 21 | 0 | 10 | 54 | 4 | 4 | 29 | 93 | .255 | .310 | .380 | .690 | 155 | 15 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | DHM,MEM · IL,PCL | ||
2018 | 22 | TBR | AL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | -100 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | /9 | |
1 Yr | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | -100 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||
162 Game Avg. | 162 | 162 | 162 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | -100 | 0 | 162 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Jumping to the chase, I feel that Kelly, Garcia, and Williams have the greatest chance of any call-up. Of these three, I wouldn’t be surprised to see only Kelly and Garcia receiving the calls. That said, JAG will need Fowler to either not return this season or return with significant concerns for him to take a bench role.