Cardinals farm system gets huge boost in MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects refresh

The theme of the year for the St. Louis Cardinals has been player development, and at both the Major League and Minor League levels, there are very encouraging signs of growth for the organization.

While most of the general focus has been on the big league club and the performance of their youngsters, it is really hard to ignore how many exciting things have been happening "down on the farm", and MLB Pipeline just brought national recognition to the positive changes we have been seeing locally.

Catchers Leonardo Bernal and Rainiel Rodriguez join JJ Wetherholt and Quinn Mathews on MLB's top 100 prospects list

In MLB Pipeline's latest top 100 prospects update, they bumped Cardinals' top prospect JJ Wetherholt into the top 20 prospects in all of baseball, checking in at the number 19 overall prospect in the game. Behind him, they included LHP Quinn Mathews as the 60th-ranked prospect in the game, and newcomers to the list, catchers Leonardo Bernal and Rainiel Rodriguez, were placed as the 89th and 99th-ranked prospects in the game, respectively.

Bernal has generated buzz in the St. Louis Cardinals' prospect community for quite some time now, but his performance this year at Double-A has him garnering national attention now. It began by receiving awards for his big bat back in May, and now it has resulted in a place on MLB Pipeline's top 100 prospects list.

Through 57 games this year, Bernal is slashing .283/.354/.491 with 11 home runs and 11 doubles to go along with 43 RBI and seven stolen bases. As a switch-hitter, Bernal is productive from both sides of the plate but does most of his mashing from the left side of the plate. Not only would Bernal give the Cardinals a fresh look in their lineup as a switch hitter, but he may also present them with a kind of catcher they do not currently have on their roster.

The Cardinals' current catching tandem of Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages complements each other well, but neither of the young backstops is a well-rounded player. Herrera struggles with game calling and throwing out base runners, but mashes the baseball at the plate, while Pages is a well below average hitter, but the pitching staff loves his game calling behind the plate and figures to be the primary catcher for St. Louis for the foreseeable future.

Rodriguez, on the other hand, likely won't land at catcher long-term but has the potential to be a superstar bat if all goes according to plan. Rodriguez is just 18 years old and was just recently promoted to Low-A Palm Beach from the complex league, so there's still a long path ahead of him before he even knocks on the door of an MLB debut.

Rodriguez boasts big-time power from the right side of the plate and an uncanny feel for barreling baseballs and optimizing launch angles at such a young age. The teenager slugged seven home runs in just 20 games at the complex for St. Louis this year, but has not been able to carry over that same success yet for Palm Beach. In 20 games at Low-A, Rodriguez has one home run and eight doubles, but again, he won't turn 19 until next January, so patience is of the essence with Rodriguez.

JJ Wetherholt has been as good as advertised when the Cardinals selected him with the seventh overall pick in last year's draft. The 22-year-old shortstop should be getting a promotion to Memphis any week now, as he's slashing .303/.429/.445 with 13 doubles and five home runs in 59 games while boasting more walks (43) than strikeouts (38). He should factor into the Cardinals' lineup in early 2026 and could get a cup of coffee with the club in St. Louis if all goes right at Triple-A later this summer. He is set to represent the Cardinals at the Futures Game this year as well.

Unfortunately, Quinn Mathews has spent a lot of time on the IL this year and hasn't been quite as sharp this year as he was last year when he won Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the majority of scouting outlets. In 11 starts this year, Mathews has a 3.89 ERA, but if he can find more consistency over the next few months, he could be knocking on the door of St. Louis as well.

Beyond the names on MLB's top 100, guys like Tink Hence, Tekoah Roby, Joshua Baez, Yairo Padilla, Jimmy Crooks, and more provide the Cardinals with a lot of optimism about the future. They also hold the fifth overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, which is just a few weeks away, and four picks in the top 100 selections after going multiple years without a second-round pick.

There are plenty of reasons for optimism when it comes to the Cardinals farm system right now.