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St. Louis Cardinals: Possible September call-ups sitting ready

By Dr. Michael D. Miles

KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 12: Harrison Bader #48 and Patrick Wisdom #21 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate scoring against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - AUGUST 12: Harrison Bader #48 and Patrick Wisdom #21 of the St. Louis Cardinals celebrate scoring against the Kansas City Royals during the seventh inning at Kauffman Stadium on August 12, 2018 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images) /
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St. Louis Cardinals
MILWAUKEE, WI – MAY 30: Carson Kelly #19 of the St. Louis Cardinals bunts during the fifth inning of a game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park on May 30, 2018 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

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:

Standard Batting
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:

Register Batting
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:

Standard Batting
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:

Standard Batting
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.

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