5 Cardinals prospects not named JJ Wetherholt to keep an eye on

RHP Tekoah Roby

Tekoah Roby is a name Cardinals fans should be familiar with. Roby is a former top-100 prospect in all of baseball, and the club acquired him via trade with the Texas Rangers back at the 2023 trade deadline.

The story of Roby's career thus far has been one riddled with injuries and underperformance. He has a career 4.57 ERA as a prospect, and his 6.57 ERA in 2024 with Palm Beach and Springfield didn't give many fans reason for excitement. Roby was bumped down in MLB Pipeline's rankings for the Cardinals' system to the #11 spot.

He must have taken that personally.

Through seven starts (29 innings), Roby has a 3.10 ERA with 35 strikeouts and only nine walks. He's allowed only two home runs so far, a much better line than his 2024 showing with Springfield (6.75 ERA in seven starts and 33.1 innings with 10 home runs allowed). Hitters are batting just .210 against him, and Roby has a 1.07 WHIP this year.

In his last start, Roby went 5.2 innings with a season-high 11 strikeouts. Roby allowed only two runs.

After struggling to stay healthy and be effective these last two seasons with the Cardinals, Roby appears to be finding his stride this year. That bodes well for the former third-round pick.

C Rainiel Rodriguez

Rainiel Rodriguez's stock rose dramatically this offseason. The only issue was that he had only played Rookie ball in the Dominican Summer League up to that point, so underlying data wasn't available for the teenager.

Rodriguez's name began popping up on various prospect rankings for the St. Louis Cardinals as a top-10 prospect, and this leap up boards was taken with some skepticism by various people. Rodriguez has proven those rankings correct so far.

After posting a 1.145 OPS in 41 games in Rookie ball last year, Rodriguez has only improved. The right-handed catcher boasts massive power numbers, and he's already slugged six home runs in only 12 games this year. He had a stretch recently where he hit a home run in four straight games, and he was named the Florida Complex League Player of the Week on May 19th for his efforts.

Rodriguez is slashing .389/.531/.944 this year, and he's walked (9) as many times as he's struck out.

Rainiel is the same age as a high school senior, so time is on his side. He has below-average arm strength behind the plate, but his bat alone would be enough to make him a first-round pick in this year's draft. The Cardinals have a plethora of catching prospects, and Rodriguez may quickly rise in the system if he keeps hitting the way he has so far.