Where the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospects will be starting the 2025 season

The St. Louis Cardinals enjoyed an exciting start to their season, sweeping the Minnesota Twins in the first series of the year. Friday's scheduled off day turned the focus to the organization's Triple-A affiliate, the Memphis Redbirds, who opened their campaign with a tough loss.

While minor league records do not make a difference to the big league club, the team will be keeping their eyes on how their top prospects perform while down on the farm. For fans who are interested more in the transition than success at the major league level, there is plenty to be interested in at the lower levels of the league. The Cardinals have eight of their top 10 prospects (as ranked by MLB.com) at Double-A or higher, so these are names we could see in St. Louis before long.

Where are the Cardinals' top prospects starting the 2025 season?

Triple-A Memphis Redbirds

Pitchers: Quinn Mathews (#2 organization, #45 overall), Tink Hence (#3, #76), Michael McGreevy (#11), Sem Robberse (#14), Gordon Graceffo (#16), Ian Bedell (#26)

One of the deepest groups of the entire Cardinals system lies in their pitching depth at the highest levels of the minors. Depending on how things go with the big league club, it is possible that each of these arms, minus Tink Hence, could throw some innings in St. Louis this year. Hence was recently announced to be starting the season on the 60-day injured list, and while a major league debut is not out of the question, the Cardinals will most likely continue to bring Hence along slowly as they have since his professional debut in 2020.

Lefty Quinn Mathews had a strong debut in professional baseball, pitching at four levels and leading the entire minor leagues in strikeouts before being named the Minor League Pitcher of the Year. It never seemed like a realistic possibility that Mathews would crack the majors no matter how he performed in this spring, and that held true, as he will open the season as a top arm ready and waiting behind Michael McGreevy in the Memphis rotation.

McGreevy also put together a strong spring and one that could (should?) have earned him a spot on the Opening Day roster. The veteran presence on the big league staff, however, relegated McGreevy to Memphis, where he will continue working as a starter and most likely be the first name called up to fill the rotation if there is a long-term need in St. Louis. McGreevy and Mathews have each made their 2025 debuts with middling results in their one outing thus far.

Sem Robberse, Gordon Graceffo, and Ian Bedell have all worked primarily as starters in their professional careers and will most likely remain in that role for the time being. Graceffo has already started for Memphis as well and gave up four runs in 2.1 innings but did strike out six batters.

Catcher: Jimmy Crooks (#4)

Crooks is a name to keep on your radar for the entire 2025 season after narrowly missing out on a top-100 prospect ranking to begin the year. The old-school catcher was named the Minor League Player of the Year last season and has kept that momentum going so far in 2025, hitting a long homer in his first game of the year. While there is an ongoing catching battle at the Major League level between Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages, another strong year from Jimmy Croks could make that competition even more interesting for the near future.

Infielders: Thomas Saggese (#5), Cesar Prieto (#20)

Saggese was one of the players most impacted by Nolan Arenado's desire to stay in St. Louis. If the third baseman would have departed in the offseason, it is possible that Saggese could have cracked the Opening Day roster as a utility depth piece. Since being acquired from Texas, Saggese has been a consistent hitter wherever he has played and has started strong this season as well. He made his major league debut at the end of last season but will have to wait for another long-term opening to be called up again this year.

Cesar Prieto is another utility infielder who has handled the bat well during his pro career with strong gap power that helped him hit 35 doubles and 14 homers last season with Memphis. If there is a short-term need at the big league level, Prieto, Jose Barrero, and Jose Fermin may battle for the call-up since they are all older prospects with the ability to play multiple positions. In two games, Prieto has a homer and double without striking out.

Outfielders: Matt Koperniak (#22), Michael Helman (#29)

The outfield situation is interesting, as each of these players is the same age or older than the current outfielders on the Major League roster. Koperniak had one of the best springs out of any offensive player, hitting .355 with two homers and three doubles with plenty of hard-hit balls and demonstrating great plate coverage. It would have seemed like a very Cardinals-like move if Koperniak cracked the roster over Victor Scott II and received plenty of playing time out of the gate, but he will have to sit and wait for his next opportunity.

Michael Helman is another utility guy who can fill in all across the diamond. Helman was acquired in a cash trade with the last-place Minnesota Twins in early February as the team's first addition of the offseason. He did not do much in spring training to warrant a roster spot, and his playing time in Memphis will be interesting to keep an eye on.