St. Louis Cardinals: Checking in on two unheralded pitching prospects

The St. Louis Cardinals have two pitchers at their Class A affiliates who are not in any top prospects listing. But the two prospects,Tommy Parsons and Evan Sisk, are making an impression as they continue to rise in the Cardinals minor league system.

One was a Division III All American, but not drafted in 2018, and signed as a free agent. One played at a small Division I school, but wasn’t taken until the 16th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. One is a right-hander and the other is a lefty. One is being groomed as a starter and the other seems destined for a bullpen role. Neither is in any top prospect listing, but both are rising in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system.

While they both had rather different paths to this point, Tommy Parsons and Evan Sisk have risen steadily from Johnson City in the Rookie League to Class-A since arriving in June 2018. Parsons sported an incredible 0.26 ERA in 35 innings at Peoria and has recently been promoted to the Palm Beach Cardinals. Meanwhile Sisk has an impressive 1.26 ERA in 14 innings with the Peoria Chiefs.

It’s early in their minor league careers, but these two unheralded pickups by the Cardinals are turning heads in 2019.

Tommy Parsons

Parsons is a product of Division III Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan, where he was an All American his senior year. He also holds several of the school’s records and his 40 career wins rank fourth in Division III history.

The Ohio native wasn’t drafted out of college, but the Cardinals signed him to a free agent contract and sent him to their Rookie League franchise in Johnson City, TN. There, Parsons pitched in 13 games, 57 innings for a 5-1 record and a 3.00 ERA.

He started 2019 with the Peoria Chiefs, where he overwhelmed competition with 0.26 ERA in five games and 35 innings. This earned the 23-year old a promotion to the Palm Beach Cardinals in the High-A Florida League on May 6th. He has been successful thus far at Palm Beach, with a 2.82 ERA in four games with 22 innings pitched.

Being groomed as a starter, Parsons has three quality pitches, a fastball, changeup, and a curveball. Chiefs pitching coach, Cale Johnson, says Parsons “is able to throw his changeup and curveball in fastball counts.” In other words, Tommy Parsons is not afraid to attack the strike zone, which is always a quality the St. Louis Cardinals could use.

Evan Sisk

The South Carolina native was taken in the 16th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of the College of Charleston. In his three year college career at Charleston, he was 16-7, with a 3.69 ERA, and had 162 strikeouts in 204 inning pitched. In his last season with the Cougars, he went 10-3 and had a 2.96 ERA.

After Sisk was signed, he was assigned to the Johnson City Cardinals in the Appalachian Rookie League. He was impressive with a 1.76 ERA in 20 appearances and 30 innings. Used primarily as a reliever, he had 5 saves and a SO/9 rate of 10.3 and a BB/9 rate of 3.5.

In 2019, the lefty was assigned to the Peoria Chiefs, and so far shows a 1.10 ERA in 16 innings over nine games. His SO/9 is 8.8 and his BB/9 is 2.8 in a reliever role with the Chiefs.

The 6’2″, 200 lb Sisk sports a good fastball and a nasty changeup. The Cardinals would like the 22-year old to develop a third pitch to add to his arsenal, but he could really be someone to keep an eye on if he does.

Conclusion

As I write this, the Cardinals are being shellacked by the Royals in a first game of a double-header. However, Tommy Parsons and Evan Sisk won’t be able to help the Cardinals this year. These two young prospects are at least two years away from the major league.

Nevertheless, it is comforting to know the Cardinals are able to find prospects who, while not high-end draft picks, have the potential to be developed into major league talent.

The right-handed Tommy Parsons and the left-handed Evan Sisk are two prospects to keep an eye on for the next couple of years. Help could be on the way for the rotation and the bullpen.

The rise of Parsons and Sisk has been a surprising but welcome development in the 2019 St. Louis Cardinals story, and just goes to show how deep the Cardinals pitching and farm system really are.