Baseball America releases updated Cardinals top 30 prospect list

The St. Louis Cardinals have seen plenty of progress from their player development at the minor league level this year, and that is becoming more apparent as their young prospects keep garnering attention. With the season coming into the summer months, Baseball America updated their prospect lists (subscription required) for each team around the league. Cardinals fans could be encouraged by some names that have moved up the board, while others may have slipped behind their previous rankings.

Baseball America is bullish on some Cardinals prospects while others have dipped in their rankings

Along with the top 30 lists being updated, Baseball America updates its top 100 rankings for all of baseball each month. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, each of the prospects went in the wrong direction, and while this may lead to speculation about decreased performance, it could just as well be that other prospects around the league had a hot month. Coming into the season, the Cardinals had three players that made the top 100, with JJ Wetherholt (#25), Quinn Mathews (#41), and Tink Hence (#68) all being featured.

Wetherholt now finds himself slotted in as the 26th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, but still checks in as the Cardinals' top prospect. The infielder has been on an absolute tear with Springfield, hitting .313 with four homers, 21 RBIs, seven stolen bases, and 29 walks against 24 strikeouts. With future stars getting promoted quickly around the league, it is only fair to wonder when Wetherholt could find himself playing games in St. Louis instead of Springfield or Memphis.

Coming behind Wetherholt on both lists is Quinn Mathews, who rode last year's dominant season to plenty of preseason hype from multiple media outlets. At the start of the season, Baseball America had Mathews ranked 41st, but now the lefty checks in at 63 overall. After leading the minor leagues in strikeouts, Mathews had a short opportunity with the big league club in Spring Training but was quickly reassigned to minor league camp. He struggled to begin the year with Memphis before heading to the injured list with a shoulder issue. Since returning, Mathews has looked strong, allowing two earned runs in 12.2 innings and has tallied 17 strikeouts to just three walks. If he continues to show he is healthy, he should be updated accordingly on the next list.

The biggest drop comes in the form of Tink Hence. He came into the season ranked as the team's third-best prospect but now sits at sixth in the organization and has fallen out of the top 100 completely. As has been the case for his short career to this point, an injury delayed Hence's start to the season. He has pitched in four games since being cleared to return and has been solid, striking out nine hitters in seven innings, and is coming off a dominant 2.2 innings of work. In that outing, the lanky right-hander tallied six strikeouts and did not walk a batter. The future for Tink is uncertain, as the team first needs to see if he can stay healthy as a starter before making a decision.

Taking Hence's spot on the organization's rankings is utility infielder Thomas Saggese. He has received a couple of opportunities with the Cardinals this year due to a couple of injuries and showed well, hitting .341 in 14 games, but remains with Memphis to get consistent playing time. Saggese's ability to play multiple positions and put the ball in play raises his ceiling and points to him carving out an MLB role.

Exciting right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby checks in next, and the former third-round pick has been dominant thus far in the minor leagues. While with Double-A Springfield, Roby has a 4-2 record and has struck out 57 batters against 11 walks in 47 innings. Roby was promoted to Memphis on Monday as he moves a step closer to proving his health and future value to the Cardinals' rotation.

One of the most intriguing names on the list comes in at number five and is 18-year-old catching prospect Rainiel Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who John Mozeliak named as his prospect to watch during a Q & A session, has eight homers in 23 games while playing in both the FCL and Single-A Palm Beach. The catcher was described as Mozeliak as "built to hit" and is opening eyes after being named the organization's Player of the Month for May.

Hence follows at six, sitting in front of shortstop Yairo Padilla, outfielder Chase Davis, catcher Jimmy Crooks, and pitcher Michael McGreevy. Other names to watch are catcher Leonardo Bernal (#11), outfielder Nathan Church (#15), pitcher Gordon Graceffo (#16), and outfielder Joshua Baez (#23).