3 prospects the Cardinals should call up to St. Louis, 3 they should be patient with

Be patient with Thomas Saggese

I, for one, can't wait to see Thomas Saggese at the big-league level. Ever since he came over in the Jordan Montgomery trade, Saggese has mashed at the plate and clearly has a future with this club.

But, until there's an everyday role in St. Louis, I'm not sure it makes sense to bring him up. The best thing for Saggese right now is to continue to play every day in Memphis, continuing to hone his game at the plate and get more reps at shortstop.

Saggese only had a small taste of Triple-A in 2023, so an extended stint at the level would likely be wise. In 2024, Saggese is slashing .290/.366/.453 with 2 HR and 11 RBI.

The temptation as a fan would be to get Saggese up to St. Louis as soon as possible, but as we saw with guys like Masyn Winn and Ivan Herrera last year, a long-stint in Triple-A can really help prepare bats for the next level.

Call up Connor Thomas

Connor Thomas is a name that some fans will likely be familiar with. After starring in the Arizona Fall League two years ago, he really struggled in 2023 and appears to be done being used as a starting pitcher by the club.

The Cardinals have acquired a lot of starting pitching depth in their minor leagues in the last calendar year, so it makes sense to transition Thomas into a reliever role, especially if he can hone in as either a left-handed specialist or an arm that can provide multi-inning stints in relief.

With Zack Thompson, Andre Pallante, and John King struggling out of the bullpen in St. Louis this year, the Cardinals have had to rely on JoJo Romero and Matthew Liberatore as their left-handed relievers. And before you say Andre Pallante is right-handed, I know, but he's used against left-handers frequently due to his reverse splits.

With JoJo Romero's high-leverage usage being so important for the club, having a third left-handed option wouldn't be a bad idea. Connor Thomas may be the guy to step into that role next.

So far this year, Thomas has appeared in 9 games, throwing 15 innings with 15 strikeouts while posting a 2.40 ERA. Giving him a shot at a role in the bullpen in low-leverage spots may be worth seeing what happens.

Be patient with Sem Robberse

Sem Robberse received an aggressive promotion to Triple-A when he was acquired by the Cardinals in the Jordan Hicks trade last summer. His 4.84 ERA in his 35.1 innings of work was not stellar by any means, but at age 21, it's not surprising that Robberse would struggle at that level.

In his second time around the block in Memphis, things have been stellar for Robberse. He's started four games so far, posting a 1.59 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 22.2 innings of work. His most recent start was one for the ages.

Why be patient with a guy pitching that well? Well, it's only four starts, just a year after struggling in Memphis, and he's only 22 years old. The Cardinals rotation may need to call upon him at some point this year, but for now, why not let him continue to develop and hone his stuff in a safer environment?

Let's wait until June before we really play that tune. We've seen in recent years guys like Matthew Liberatore have a ton of success in Triple-A and then struggle in St. Louis, so numbers aren't everything when determining a call-up.

Call up Cesar Prieto

If the Cardinals are not wanting to rely on Jose Fermin again, I do think Cesar Prieto could make some sense for their bench.

Prieto is not as clean of a fit as Fermin would be, as he would require them making a 40-man roster move, and rely on him at shortstop when he has not played the position much in recent years. Calling on Prieto likely means Donovan sees time as the backup shortstop instead.

Prieto has swung a pretty good bat in Memphis thus far, posting a .293/.303/.493 slash line with 4 home runs and 12 RBI thus far. Prieto hits from the left side, something the Cardinals already have a lot of going on in St. Louis, but certainly would be a better option than Crawford.

Prieto being another bat-first player on the Cardinals bench makes a lot of sense with their current offensive woes. The club really needs more sparks at the plate, and maybe they could catch lightning in a bottle with Prieto.

I would for sure have Fermin and Prieto on my radar before Saggese right now, barring an everyday role coming up. Fermin and Prieto, for as well as they've played this year, have lower ceilings long-term than Saggese, and I don't have a problem with either guy sitting on the bench multiple times a week.

Be patient with Gordon Graceffo

On stats alone, Gordon Graceffo is not someone you'd think to be calling up to St. Louis this early in the season. In his four starts thus far, Graceffo is 2-2 with a 4.34 ERA but has punched out 22 batters in 18.2 innings of work.

A deeper dive into the box scores will tell you why the Cardinals may be looking at Graceffo better than the numbers show. In his four starts thus far, Graceffo gave up just one run in two of them and zero runs in another. The reason his ERA is much higher than that this season is because of his second start of the year, where he gave up 7 runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. Other than that, Graceffo has been stellar thus far.

Graceffo is someone I could easily see them looking to use out of the bullpen this year in St. Louis, or perhaps get a shot in the rotation if an injury occurs or someone needs to be removed from the group. But as we stand today, like Robberse, I would be patient with this young starter.

Graceffo made 21 starts in Memphis last year and now has four under his belt this year. He looks much more comfortable at the Triple-A level now, but with the kind of talent and potential he has, St. Louis should not rush him.

By the time late May or early June roll around, Graceffo may be at a place where they would feel good about calling him up, but until then, let him have consistent success at this level and prove to St. Louis why he belongs at the highest level.