5 Cardinals' prospects getting noticed by league executives

The St. Louis Cardinals have been receiving criticism for their handling of their minor league development and top prospects, but the new crop of talent in the minors has captured the attention of executives around the league. In recent prospect polls, the Cardinals saw a total of five players at least receiving votes for having MLB-caliber tools.

Pitchers receiving recognition:

#1 Quinn Mathews (2024 Cardinals' #3 prospect, #77 overall via MLB.com)

The only pitcher on the list to reach the leaderboard graphic for their voting results, Quinn Mathews was named the second-best pitcher in regards to pitchability. Mathews won this vote last year and was also named MLB Pipeline's 2024 pitching prospect of the year. When discussing pitchability, MLB.com refers to this tool as "overall feel for how to mix pitches and set up hitters". Rhett Lowder of the rival Cincinnati Reds was named the winner of this category for the second year in a row.

In addition to his pitchability tool, Mathews' 60-grade changeup received votes from executives for the best secondary pitch. Baseball Savant's scouting report shows the pitch sits in the low 80s and has the ability to be a strikeout or a groundball pitch. Mathews also features a curve and slider that both receive above-average scout grades.

Mathews was a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft and did not pitch professionally after he was signed so he just finished his first full professional season last year. The lefty tore his way through the minors and jumped all the way to Triple-A Memphis, where he went 8-5 with a sub-3 ERA and tallied 200 strikeouts while being named the 2024 Cardinals' Minor League Pitcher of the Year.

#2 Tink Hence (#2, #61)

Not to be outdone by his lefty teammate, 22-year-old Tink Hence made an appearance on two lists, the first of which also being in terms of pitchability. Hence has four above-average offerings, with his changeup receiving a 70 grade on the 80-grade scale. His fastball can hit the mid-to-upper 90s and he has the command to stick as a starter, however, he is slightly undersized and has seen some workload limitations put on him during his short professional career to this point.

This leads into his other appearance on the polls where executives were asked which pitching prospect has the best chance of making a career as a closer. This vote was widespread among names at all levels of the minor leagues and Hence was listed under the "others receiving votes" category. For the second year in a row, the leading vote-getter was Milwaukee Brewers' prospect Jacob Misiorowski but the Brewers seem content to leave him in the minor league rotation for the time being.

This vote coincides with earlier reports in 2024 where Keith Law agrees on Hence's future as a major league reliever. Hence just finished his fourth professional season and the 2024 year saw the Cardinals continue to limit his workload. In 20 starts this year, the righty tallied just short of 80 innings but posted extremely encouraging K/9 (12.31) and BB/9 (2.94) while keeping the ball in the ballpark.

#3 Michael McGreevy (#21, unranked)

The final pitcher receiving recognition from league executives is 24-year-old Michael McGreevy, who is the only Cardinal pitcher on the list to play in a Major League game. McGreevy, the organization's #21 prospect was a 2021 first-round pick who had a middling minor league career to the point of his call-up last season. The righty was also mentioned in the pitchability category as he has five MLB-ready pitches with great command projections. When being drafted from UC-Santa Barbara, McGreevy had 115 strikeouts against only 11 walks, giving him a 10.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio which ranked second in Division I.

McGreevy made his debut at the end of last season for a struggling Cardinals team and did enough to be in consideration for the fifth rotation spot coming into Spring Training. While he does not possess overpowering stuff (his fastball averaged 92.3 mph last season), he showed his ability to limit the damage during his short big-league stint. In 23 innings with the Cardinals, McGreevy went 3-0 with a 1.96 ERA, including a phenomenal eight-inning, one-run performance in his last start of the season. He only allowed one home run to go along with his .78 WHIP, but he did not get a lot of swing-and-miss at his offerings. While he did not pitch enough to qualify for full rankings, Baseball Savant has positive peripherals surrounding his ability to induce weak contact and trust his defense to make the plays.

With questions surrounding the Cardinals' ability to take advantage of young pitching, seeing three MLB-ready arms receive consideration is an encouraging sign for the future.