St. Louis Cardinals: Two key Cardinal prospects in Arizona Fall League

Lane Thomas and Conner Greene are listed by MLB.com as two important prospects in the Cardinal organization who will be playing in the Arizona Fall League.

The Arizona Fall League (AFL) starts on Wednesday and MLB.com posted two articles that included two St. Louis Cardinals prospects who will be playing in the league this fall.  One article listed the top sleeper prospect from each team and the other listed the top prospect from each team.

Lane Thomas was listed as the top sleeper prospect from the St. Louis Cardinals, while Conner Greene was listed as the top Cardinal prospect playing in the AFL this fall.  The irony of the two Redbird prospects, is that they are not  ‘home grown,’ so to speak.  Both prospects came to the Cardinals as a result from trades with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Let’s look at these two former Blue Jay prospects and what their future could be with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lane Thomas

Thomas made the list for the top sleeper prospect playing in the AFL for the St. Louis Cardinals.  The right-handed outfielder came to the Cardinals in July 2017 in a trade from the Blue Jays for international pool money.

Selected in the fifth round of the 2014 MLB draft by the Blue Jays, Thomas never got any higher in the Blue Jay organization than high-A ball.  However, the Cardinals assigned the 23-year old to AA Springfield to start the season.  He immediately showed power and speed at Springfield and earned a promotion to AAA Memphis in July.

Thomas, in his first full year in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, led the system in home runs (27) , RBI (88), and managed to steal 17 bases. In 132 games at Springfield and Memphis, he had a slash line of .264/.333/.489.

Conner Greene

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Greene made the list for the top prospect of the St. Louis Cardinals playing in the AFL.  The 23-year-old right-handed pitcher came to the Cardinals in the Randal Grichuk trade with the Toronto Blue Jays in January.

Conner Greene was drafted by the Blue Jays in the seventh round of the 2013 MLB Draft.   Greene never got higher than AA with the Blue Jay organization and often struggled with command of his pitches.

When traded to the St. Louis Cardinals, he was assigned to AA Springfield and was initially used as a starter.  However, after a move to the bullpen, he was more successful and eventually promoted to AAA Memphis.  Out of the bullpen in Memphis, he pitched in 39 innings and had a 3.66 ERA.

Greene is expected to used primarily in relief in the AFL, while hoping to continue to improve his command.

Summary

Conner Greene being listed as the top Cardinal prospect in the AFL should be encouraging to Cardinal fans.  If Greene can continue to improve in the AFL and in Spring Training, he could be a boost for the Cardinal bullpen in 2019.  As we saw in September, there are many questions surrounding the bullpen that will need to be addressed in the offseason.

I find it interesting that Lane Thomas was named the top sleeper in the AFL for the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cardinals are loaded in the outfield throughout the organization.  With names like Harrison Bader, Tyler O’Neil, Greg Garcia, and Randy Arozarena, to go along with Marcell Ozuna, Jose Martinez, and Dexter Fowler, it will interesting to find out where Thomas will fit.

It will be intriguing to follow these two players in the AFL this off-season.  What do you think of Conner Greene and Lane Thomas?  Do they have a future with the Cardinals?  Let us know your thoughts.  Thanks for reading, and as always….GO CARDS!