Cardinals Activate Adam Wainwright From 15-Day Injured List
The Cardinals announced a set of roster moves, headlined by Adam Wainwright‘s activation from the 15-day injured list. St. Louis also selected the contract of left-hander Andrew Suarez, moved Ryan Helsley to the 60-day injured list, and optioned catcher Ivan Herrera and left-hander Zack Thompson to Triple-A.
Wainwright will take the ball to start tonight’s game against the Diamondbacks, as the veteran will try to get his 18th and final Major League season on track. He last pitched on July 4, as shoulder inflammation and (as implied by Cardinals manager Olli Marmol) a broader range of nagging injuries sent Wainwright to the IL for the second time this season. He also started the year on the IL due to a groin injury that delayed his 2023 debut until May 6.
It seems clear that Wainwright simply hasn’t been himself all year, as the 41-year-old has been hit hard to the tune of a 7.66 ERA over 11 starts and 51 2/3 innings. His injuries are quite possibly to blame, or it could be that time has simply caught up to a pitcher who has defied convention by remaining an effective starter into his 40’s. In the best-case scenario, this latest absence will act as a reset for Wainwright and allow him to finish his career on high note, albeit amidst a very disappointing Cardinals season.
Suarez signed a minor league deal with St. Louis during the offseason, and now looks set to make his first MLB appearance since 2020. Breaking into the bigs with three seasons pitching for the Giants, Suarez posted a 4.66 ERA over 202 2/3 innings with San Francisco before heading overseas. Suarez pitched well for the KBO League’s LG Twins in 2021, but a move from South Korea to Japan didn’t pan out — he had a 6.23 ERA over 21 2/3 innings with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball in 2022, pitching most of the year with the Swallows’ top minor league affiliate.
The move back to North America has served Suarez reasonably well, as he has a 4.08 ERA, 24.5% strikeout rate, and 8.9% walk rate in 64 innings with Triple-A Memphis. Working mostly as a multi-inning reliever, Suarez has been stretched out as a starter in his last three outings, and could be paired with Wainwright in a piggyback combo while Wainwright gets fully ramped up. Since several Cardinals starters are trade candidates heading into the deadline, Suarez might get an opportunity should one or more holes in the rotation open up.
Helsley’s 15-day IL stint began on June 10, and he was expected to miss at least a few more weeks anyway since he only recently started throwing bullpen sessions. The reliever is recovering from a forearm strain, and told MLB.com and other reporters that he was taking a more cautious approach to his recovery after trying “to rush back too quick” from a similar injury in 2018.
Cardinals Announce Several Roster Moves
The Cardinals announced Wednesday that they’ve placed right-hander Adam Wainwright and catcher Andrew Knizner on the injured list and optioned righty James Naile to Triple-A Memphis. Wainwright lands on the 15-day IL due to a shoulder strain — as manager Oli Marmol indicated last night — while Knizner heads to the 10-day IL after taking a foul ball to the groin in last night’s game. In a series of corresponding moves, St. Louis recalled catcher Ivan Herrera, righty Dakota Hudson and lefty Zack Thompson from Memphis.
Wainwright, 41, has had a disastrous start to the final season of an otherwise exceptional career. Through his first 11 starts, he’s been clobbered for a 7.66 ERA in 51 1/3 frames, with a career-worst 11% strikeout rate, a career-low 86.3 mph average fastball velocity, a career-high 1.74 HR/9 mark and a 7.5% walk rate that registers as his highest level since 2019.
Those struggles notwithstanding, Wainwright emphasized to reporters that he believes he’ll pitch again this season and that he has more left in the tank (link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). However, after declaring his plan to return this season, Wainwright also candidly acknowledged that he simply isn’t healthy enough to pitch up to expectations right now.
“I’ve come back from much worse, much worse — but it is impacting my stuff,” Wainwright told the Cardinals beat (via Goold). “…There’s no denying it. Can’t hide it. I can talk myself into anything. I’ve done that a lot. I’ve made a career out of it. Right now, it’s not fair for me to put the team in that spot.”
Knizner, 28, was down for a spell after the unfortunately placed foul-tip last night but initially remained in the game. He eventually was pulled from the contest and transported to a local emergency room for further evaluation, He was eventually released last night, per Goold, and the team will likely provide an update with additional details on his status later today.
In 35 games and 115 plate appearances this year, Knizner has served as the primary backup to Willson Contreras. He’s shown some pop, already swatting a career-high five homers while turning in a career-best .191 ISO (slugging minus batting average). However, Knizner is hitting .227/.254/.418 on the whole, and he’s seen both his walk and strikeout rates (3.5% and 28.7%, respectively), careen in the wrong direction this year.
Herrera, 23, has more than earned a look in the big leagues, slashing .308/.432/.557 in 227 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. A well-regarded catching prospect, he was long expected to be Yadier Molina’s heir in St. Louis before the Cards bucked expectations and signed Contreras to a five-year contract this past offseason.
Hudson, 28, lost his rotation spot late last year and hasn’t won it back in 2023 despite considerable problems on the Cardinals’ starting staff. The sinker specialist has started 11 games in Memphis but is sitting on a 6.00 ERA through just 48 innings. His ground-ball rate is a strong 53.7%, and his 7.5% walk rate is also better than average, but Hudson’s 17.3% strikeout rate is below average. A .416 average on balls in play points to some rotten luck, but such issues are only magnified when a pitcher can’t miss bats at even an average level.
Cardinals Recall Guillermo Zuniga, Option Zack Thompson
The Cardinals recalled reliever Guillermo Zuñiga before tonight’s matchup with the Angels. In a corresponding move, left-hander Zack Thompson was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. Thompson will stretch out as a starting pitcher in the minors, tweets Jeff Jones of the Belleville News Democrat.
Zuñiga, 24, is now in position to make his major league debut. The Colombian-born hurler signed with the Dodgers over the 2017-18 offseason. He spent five years in the Los Angeles organization, topping out at Double-A. When the Dodgers elected not to add him to the 40-man roster last winter, he qualified for minor league free agency. Zuñiga landed a 40-man spot from the Cardinals in November.
Last offseason, Baseball America named the 6’5″ hurler the #30 prospect in the St. Louis farm system. The outlet credits him with an upper-90s heater that touches triple digits and a plus breaking ball but raises questions about his control. Zuñiga has thrown strikes in a small sample of work with Memphis this year, only walking two of 35 batters faced. He’s punched out nine and allowed five runs in 8 2/3 innings. He’ll add a power arm to the MLB mix for skipper Oli Marmol and can bounce on and off the active roster for the extended future, as he’s only in the first of three minor league option seasons.
Thompson, the Cardinals’ first round pick in 2019, has worked exclusively in relief this year. The hard-throwing southpaw has tossed 11 2/3 innings over 11 outings. The Kentucky product has fanned 18 but walked nine and surrendered seven runs. Thompson had a stronger go last year as a rookie, working to a 2.08 ERA with a huge 53.7% ground-ball percentage in 34 2/3 frames over 22 outings (all but one in relief).
While he’s only made one start at the major league level, Thompson has functioned primarily as a starter in the minors. The Cards apparently don’t want to foreclose that option entirely. It’d appear primarily a move with an eye towards 2024. St. Louis has a starting staff of Jordan Montgomery, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, Jack Flaherty and Adam Wainwright for this season. Wainwright hasn’t pitched in the majors this season but will be reinstated from the injured list for his debut on Saturday, according to Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter link). Jake Woodford is on hand behind that group.
Montgomery and Flaherty are headed for free agency at the end of the season. Wainwright has already announced plans to retire. That leaves Mikolas and Matz as the only locks for the 2024 staff. The Cardinals will surely have to address the rotation — either at this summer’s deadline or next offseason — but they’d get a boost if an internal option like Matthew Liberatore or Thompson could earn a spot. The 25-year-old Thompson will head back to Memphis and build his innings count as he looks to do just that.
Cardinals To Select Jordan Walker
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak tells reporters, including MLB.com’s John Denton, that top prospect Jordan Walker has made the Opening Day roster in St. Louis. Walker, who is not on the 40-man roster, will require a corresponding move to be added. According to Denton, Mozeliak expects this move to come on Wednesday or Thursday. Outfielder Alec Burleson and left-handers Zack Thompson and Packy Naughton have also made the big league roster, according to Mozeliak.
Walker, 20, is a consensus top prospect in the sport, with MLB.com ranking him as the 4th best in the game. Should Walker finish in the top three of NL Rookie of the Year voting or the top five of NL MVP voting this year, the Cardinals will receive an extra draft pick thanks to Walker’s inclusion on the Opening Day roster.
That’s not out of the realm of possibility for Walker, a career .310/.388/.525 hitter in the minors who has yet to play above the Double-A level in his career. In skipping Triple-A entirely for Walker, the Cardinals are giving the potential superstar a notable vote of confidence. With Walker’s native third base occupied by 2023 NL MVP finalist Nolan Arenado, Walker figures to factor into the club’s outfield and DH mix alongside Burleson, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O’Neill, and Dylan Carlson.
Fellow Top 100 prospect Burleson, meanwhile, struggled in his 2022 big league debut, slashing .188/.264/.271 in 53 plate appearances. With that being said, he dominated to a .905 OPS in 109 games at the Triple-A level last season, leaving plenty of room for a big breakout for the 24 year-old.
Following St. Louis’s decision to option lefty Genesis Cabrera earlier today, it’s of little surprise to see Thompson and Naughton make the roster. Thompson dominated to a 2.08 ERA in 34 2/3 innings for the Cardinals last year, and though Naughton didn’t fare as well with a 4.78 ERA in 32 big league innings, he did dominate in Triple-A last year.
Cardinals Notes: Arenado, Fermin, Pitching Staff
Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado has watched several teammates play into their age-40 seasons in recent years, but he tells MLB.com’s John Denton that as things stand right now, he’s not planning to follow Yadier Molina, Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright down that path. Arenado tells Denton he’d like to play until age 38 — long enough that his infant daughter can eventually watch him play in the Majors. Calling it quits at 38 would also give Arenado an earlier path to spending more time with his young family, of course. As you’d expect, Arenado qualifies that the age-38 plan is subject to change, noting that his body, on-field performance and other factors will play sizable roles in the decision as time passes.
On a surely related note, Arenado talks with Denton about the intensity with which he prepares for and plays the game, acknowledging that it can take a toll on him. Arenado wonders whether that intensity can be “too much” for both his own psyche and, at times, his teammates, adding: “I actually need to relax more.” It’s an interesting look at Arenado’s personality, mentality and place within the organization. Cards fans — and, more broadly, fans of Arenado in general — will want to check it out in full.
A few more items pertaining to the Cards…
- Infielder Jose Fermin has a strained quadriceps and will be shut down for at least the next two weeks, manager Oli Marmol announced to reporters this morning (Twitter link via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). Acquired in a November trade with the Guardians, the 23-year-old Fermin (24 late this month) has been competing for a bench spot, but this injury all but eliminates the possibility of him landing on the Opening Day roster. He’s out to a 1-for-8 start thus far in Grapefruit League play and is coming off a shaky .215/.336/.322 showing in 330 Triple-A plate appearances a year ago. Even while struggling in Triple-A, however, Fermin fanned at a tiny 13.9% clip against a hearty 12.7% walk rate. He’s long drawn praise for his bat-to-ball skills, above-average speed and above-average defensive potential. He has very little power, but a healthy Fermin could seemingly make the Cardinals as a versatile utility player with a knack for putting the ball in play. He’s in the first of three minor league option seasons and is already on the 40-man roster, so he could potentially impact the team’s bench mix for several years.
- Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat takes a thorough look at the Cardinals’ pitching depth, noting that this is the deepest staff of arms the Cards have carried in some time. A few items of particular note include that righty Drew VerHagen and lefty Zack Thompson, both of whom have been rotation options in the past, have been brought along on reliever schedules this spring. Sophomore righty Andre Pallante started 10 games for the Cards in 2022, but it seems the team is monitoring his workload even as he preps to pitch for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic; the Cards have asked that Team Italy not push him beyond 45 pitches in any outing. Pallante is likely ticketed for a relief role in 2023, given the presence of Wainwright, Miles Mikolas, Steven Matz, Jordan Montgomery and Jack Flaherty in the rotation (with Matthew Liberatore, Dakota Hudson, Jake Woodford and top prospect Gordon Graceffo all on hand as depth options). It should be noted that Matz is the only member of that rotation signed/controlled beyond 2023, however, so the Cards will surely be hoping for some in-house arms to step up and prove they can be relied upon in 2024 and beyond (even if the addition of an arm or two next winter feels inevitable).
Cardinals Transfer Jack Flaherty To 60-Day IL
The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game, activating left-hander T.J. McFarland from the COVID IL. To create space on the active roster, fellow lefty Zack Thompson was optioned to Triple-A Memphis. To open a spot on the 40-man roster, righty Jack Flaherty was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Flaherty began the year on the IL due to shoulder bursitis, returning just under a month ago. However, after three truncated appearances, he returned to the IL due to continued shoulder issues. It was subsequently announced that he would be shut down from throwing for 2-3 weeks as the club tries to return him to health.
Given today’s transfer, Flaherty will be unable to return until 60 days from his June 27 IL placement, meaning he’s now out until late August. With a weeks-long shutdown, it was going to be difficult for him to get back before than in any event, unless the club considered bringing him back as a reliever, as that course of action would require less of a ramp-up period after the shutdown. However, manager Oli Marmol says they still want to build him up as a starter, per Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat.
Flaherty pitched at an ace-like level in 2019, throwing 196 1/3 innings with a 2.75 ERA. However, he slumped a bit in 2020 and then has been derailed by injuries in the past couple of seasons. He and the Cardinals will surely be hoping for this rest period to allow him to come back and salvage some of his season, giving a boost to the club down the stretch.
Cardinals Notes: O’Neill, Dickerson, Hicks, Thompson
Tyler O’Neill is back on the injured list, as the club put him on the 10-day IL before this evening’s contest with the Brewers due to a left hamstring strain. Lars Nootbaar was recalled from Triple-A Memphis to take his place on the active roster, while utilityman Brendan Donovan kicked out to left field for tonight’s game.
The team didn’t provide a timetable for O’Neill’s recovery. It’s the latest in what has been a very disappointing season for the slugging outfielder. He lost a couple weeks in May battling a right shoulder impingement, and he’s not been as productive as anticipated even when healthy. Through 185 plate appearances on the season, the 26-year-old (27 on Wednesday) owns a .241/.292/.361 slash with only four home runs. That’s on the heels of a 34-homer campaign, and O’Neill’s had a rather startling dip in batted ball quality (barrel rate, hard contact rate, etc.) to go along with the lesser results.
Donovan figures to step in fairly regularly in left in O’Neill’s absence. The lefty-hitting rookie has a .315/.424/.434 mark through 170 plate appearances. That relatively quiet excellence has earned him a spot in the regular batting order, although manager Oli Marmol has had to shuffle Donovan around the diamond with Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman and Nolan Arenado serving as the primary infield.
Nootbaar and the righty-hitting Juan Yepez will likely also cycle through the corner outfield and designated hitter. Veteran Corey Dickerson was signed to a one-year deal over the offseason to play a similar role, but he’s been out for a couple weeks with a calf strain. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes that Dickerson felt continued discomfort after a rehab appearance in Memphis last Thursday, causing him to transition to non-game activities for a few days. The hope is he could resume the rehab stint as soon as tomorrow.
Dickerson would be joined by Jordan Hicks, who is set to start a rehab assignment of his own there tomorrow (relayed by Katie Woo of the Athletic). Hicks has missed the past three weeks with a forearm strain in his throwing arm, the latest issue for a pitcher who underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019 and missed two months with elbow inflammation last season. It’s a welcome development that Hicks is set to return to the mound in relatively short order this time around.
Woo adds that the club is planning to deploy Hicks out of the bullpen. The flamethrowing righty worked exclusively in relief for the first few seasons of his major league career, spending a chunk of the 2018-19 seasons as the club’s closer. He surprisingly lengthened out into a starter this year and cracked the season-opening rotation, making his first seven big league starts (in nine outings) before landing on the IL.
Hicks had a rough showing in that role, though, posting a 5.02 ERA through 28 2/3 innings. He’s struck out a decent 23% of opponents while racking up grounders on more than half the batted balls against him, but he’s also struggled significantly to throw strikes. Hicks walked almost 16% of batters faced, and the club seems set to transition him back to his more familiar relief role.
That could suggest Andre Pallante is ticketed for a longer look in the rotation. The rookie right-hander opened the season in the bullpen, but he’s started three of his four most recent appearances. Pallante, who started in college and in the minor leagues, reached 5 2/3 innings yesterday against the Red Sox — suggesting the Cards are comfortable with him turning lineups over at least twice in an outing.
The rest of the starting staff is established, with Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson and Adam Wainwright making a strong top four. Offseason signee Steven Matz is on the IL with a shoulder injury, but Pallante seems to be settling into the #5 role. Former first-round pick Zack Thompson is also on the active roster and has worked as a starter this season with Memphis, but it appears the club views him as a primary relief option at the major league level for now. Marmol indicated this afternoon that Thompson could see more higher-leverage work moving forward (via John Denton of MLB.com).
Big Hype Prospects: Thompson, Rodriguez, Pratto, Perez, Bello
This week, we take one last check-in on an uber-prospect then turn our attention to new fast-risers.
Five Big Hype Prospects
Zack Thompson, 24, SP, STL (AAA)
44.1 IP, 11.37 K/9, 3.05 BB/9, 4.67 ERA
The Cardinals recently announced Thompson will join the Major League roster, presumably to start one of the games this weekend. Reading the tea leaves, this might be a single-appearance arrival in the big leagues. He should eventually be a fairly regular member of the rotation at times during this season. Like fellow left-handed Cardinals pitching prospect Matthew Liberatore, Thompson’s individual pitches draw strong grades from scouts. However, the repertoire as a whole might leave something to be desired, especially since his fastball and curve don’t tunnel effectively. In other words, they look different out of his hand. That could partly explain his elevated Triple-A ERA despite strong strikeout and walk rates.
Liberatore, a 22-year-old former Rays farmhand, was dinged for a 5.54 ERA in three starts and generated just 6.1 percent swinging strikes. Scouts from multiple outlets have noted the similarities between these left-handed starters. We’ll see if Thompson can make a stronger claim to Major League readiness.
Julio Rodriguez, 21, OF, SEA (MLB)
205 PA, 6 HR, 15 SB, .272/.322/.424
Through the first two weeks of the season, Rodriguez hit a miserable .154/.233/.179 with a 41.9 percent strikeout rate. He struggled, in part, with bad strike calls. Since then, the precocious prospect is batting .303/.346/.487 with all six of his home runs and 11 steals. His strikeout rate during that span is down to 25.9 percent and slowly improving as the season progresses. He’s rapidly establishing himself as one of the most dynamic players in the league.
The obvious next step in his development is improved plate discipline. Rodriguez drew a healthy number of walks in the minors last season, though that could have been a function of opponents working around him. Thus far, he’s proven especially susceptible to swinging outside of the zone. His early experience with egregious strike calls might have taken a mental toll. If he can improve to even a league average swing rate outside the zone, superstardom will be his.
Nick Pratto, 23, 1B, KC (AAA)
186 PA, 10 HR, 4 SB, .221/.349/.461
Prior to this season, Pratto was seen as ahead of teammate Vinnie Pasquantino. Now, it’s not so clear. Both players are first basemen with sufficient thump to make their presence felt out of the designated hitter slot too. The trouble is the Royals entered 2022 with a logjam of cornermen and are resistant to setting aside their veterans. In particular, Carlos Santana has performed poorly since the start of 2020, batting just .203/.322/.311 in 1,061 plate appearances. Their loyalty in the face of contrary evidence is a factor in their 16-33 record.
While Pasquantino is having the spicier season, Pratto’s bat has come alive in the last two weeks. Over his last 59 plate appearances, he’s batting .217/.390/.565 with five home runs. He profiles as a slugger in the mold of Kyle Schwarber, one whose patience and penchant for fly ball contact will serve both as a strength (walks and home runs) and weakness (strikeouts and low batting average).
Eury Perez, 19, SP, MIA (AA)
38 IP, 13.26 K/9, 2.13 BB/9, 3.79 ERA
Unless I’m mistaken, Perez is the youngest member of Double-A, and he’s absolutely thriving. A looming 6’ 8’’ on the bump, Perez has uncanny command for a player his size and generates swinging strikes with ease. To that end, he’s recorded an 18.8 percent swinging strike rate against Double-A competition. He has a traditional repertoire of mid-90s fastball, curveball, and changeup. His build remains youthful. Given his height, Perez will probably add 30 or more pounds within the next couple years.
The Marlins have carefully managed his workload, keeping him to between 18 and 21 batters faced in most starts. In all probability, we won’t see Perez in the Majors this season. He might, however, find his way to the doorstep in time for an early 2023 debut.
Brayan Bello, 23, SP, BOS (AAA)
17 IP, 13.76 K/9, 4.24 BB/9, 3.18 ERA
The Red Sox have a number of interesting starting pitcher prospects headlined by Bello. While their big-league rotation is solid, they desperately need reinforcements in the bullpen. Bello kicked off 2022 in Double-A where he posted a 1.60 ERA with 11.23 K/9 and 3.21 BB/9 in 33.2 innings. He’s hardly missed a beat since joining the Triple-A rotation. A slight uptick in walk rate is the only sign he’s been challenged. Bello features a three-pitch repertoire of above average offerings. His fastball sits in the upper-90s and could play up in relief. He also throws a tight slider and a wipeout changeup.
Bello is poised to immediately reinforce the Red Sox pitching staff, either by joining the bullpen directly or freeing Garrett Whitlock to resume a late-inning role.
Five More
Grayson Rodriguez (22): Rodriguez was 20 batters into what many (including me) believe was his final minor league start when a lat strain ended his outing a few batters early. Such injuries can be complex and difficult to rehab. He’ll likely be shut down for at least several weeks before a throwing program is considered.
Ethan Small (25): Small received his first cup of coffee last Monday. He’s a southpaw whose fastball and changeup blend together beautifully even if they lack the big velocity associated with this era. His third pitch, a slider, lags behind the others. With Freddy Peralta and Brandon Woodruff sidelined, the Brewers might need Small again soon.
Taj Bradley (21): Bradley has built upon his breakout 2021 season with a mirror replica in Double-A. He’s posted a 2.20 ERA with 11.20 K/9 and 2.20 BB/9 in 41 innings. A promotion to Triple-A should be forthcoming, at which point he’ll become one of the youngest players at the level.
Gunnar Henderson (20): Speaking of young Double-A players on the cusp of reaching Triple-A, Henderson has put together an otherworldly .433/.500/.767 line over his last 30 plate appearances. Overall, he has more walks than strikeouts along with eight home runs and 12 steals in 200 plate appearances. A promotion is overdue.
Jordan Westburg (23): Although his overall performance hasn’t been as emphatic as Henderson’s, Westburg was just as hot since May 25. He’s batting .406/.486/.594 over his last 37 plate appearances. While Henderson appears to be mid-breakout, Westburg is merely showing modest skills growth.
Cardinals Promote Zack Thompson, Designate Kramer Robertson
The Cardinals announced a series of roster moves Friday, most notably selecting the contract of 2019 first-rounder Zack Thompson, who’ll join the pitching staff with the Cards slated to play four games in the next three days. Infielder Kramer Robertson was designated for assignment in a corresponding 40-man roster move. The Cards also optioned lefty Matthew Liberatore and right-hander Kodi Whitley to Triple-A Memphis and recalled righty Johan Oviedo from Memphis. Furthermore, the Cardinals announced that outfielders Tyler O’Neill and Dylan Carlson will begin minor league rehab assignments — O’Neill in Triple-A and Carlson in Double-A.
Thompson, 24, was the 19th overall pick in 2019 and has ranked among the Cardinals’ best pitching prospects since being selected that day. He’s not as highly touted as Liberatore, who was just optioned out, but ranks 15th in their system at Baseball America and ninth at MLB.com. The lefty saw his stock drop in 2021, when he posted an ERA just north of 7.00 and walked 12.8% of his opponents in Triple-A. However, that came after an aggressive jump from Class-A Advanced, where he’d thrown just 13 1/3 innings, and on the heels of a year-long layoff from pitching in a game setting due to the canceled 2020 minor league season.
Thompson has gotten out to a much better start in 2022. He’s still far from dominant in Triple-A but has worked to a 4.67 ERA in a hitter-friendly setting while sporting dramatically improved K-BB numbers. His strikeout rate is up from 18.5% in 2021 to 30.1% in 2022, while that 12.8% walk rate has been curbed to a very solid 8.1%. He’s induced grounders at a 44% clip — very slightly above the MLB 43.1% average — which should pair nicely with the Cardinals’ elite infield defense.
Scouting reports on Thompson note that his velocity took a step back in early 2021, though BA notes that it improved over the season. At his best, Thompson sits in the low 90s but can reach back to dial it up as high as 97 mph on the radar gun, and both BA and MLB.com tout his plus curveball and its elite spin rate. If he’s back on track in terms of velocity, there’s a chance for Thompson to eventually settle in as a mid-rotation starter in St. Louis, where the team’s overall defensive mastery can help to boost any pitcher’s raw run-prevention numbers.
Injuries to Jack Flaherty and Steven Matz have thinned out the St. Louis rotation at the moment, so Thompson could parlay this first big league look into a more prominent opportunity if he impresses early on. Looking forward, Adam Wainwright is only on a one-year deal, and it’s not clear what the future holds for him. Thompson and Liberatore could be vying for permanent rotation spots alongside Flaherty, Matz, Dakota Hudson and Miles Mikolas before long, now that both have reached the Majors for the first time.
From a service time vantage point, Thompson’s promotion comes far too late in the season for him to accumulate the service time needed to reach a full year in 2022. As such, the earliest he could potentially reach free agency would be after the 2028 season. If he sticks in the big leagues from here onward, he’d likely reach Super Two status and be arbitration-eligible four times rather than three, but one look at the manner in which Liberatore has already been shuttled back and forth a few times suggests that Thompson could be handled similarly.
As for the 27-year-old Robertson, he was selected to the 40-man roster back in early May but appeared in just two games before being optioned back to Memphis. Robertson went hitless in his lone plate appearance, though he did pick up an RBI. The 2017 fourth-rounder is a career .242/.367/.396 hitter in 222 Triple-A games and has routinely turned in elite walk rates throughout his minor league tenure. He’s never hit for a high average or displayed much power, however, and he’s been primarily a second baseman and third baseman rather than a shortstop, which curbs his appeal as a utility option. Robertson does have all three minor league option years remaining, so it’s possible another club will look at that and his gaudy OBP marks and see some optionable infield depth.
The Cards will have a week to trade Robertson or attempt to pass him through outright waivers, at which point all 29 other clubs would be able to place a claim.
Cardinals Add Three To Summer Camp Roster
The Cardinals have added right-hander Seth Elledge and lefties Zack Thompson and Rob Kaminsky to their Summer Camp roster at Busch Stadium, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers tweets. Doing so means each has been added to the team’s 60-man player pool. The Cardinals’ initial pool contained 44 players, and they’ve since added third baseman Elehuris Montero to camp as well (although he was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, as were southpaws Genesis Cabrera and Ricardo Sanchez).
Thompson, 22, is both the most highly regarded of today’s trio of additions and also the furthest from the Majors. The University of Kentucky product was the Cardinals’ first-round pick (No. 19 overall) in 2019 and ranks as their No. 5 prospect at FanGraphs and MLB.com. Thompson, however, only pitched two innings of Rookie ball and 13 1/3 frames with the Cards’ Class-A Advanced club in 2019. His inclusion is likely more for developmental purposes than due to his status a a legitimate option in 2020. He was seen as something of an injury risk in the ’19 draft but draws praise for a plus curve and above-average changeup. He was with the team during the initial Spring Training and tossed three perfect innings with three strikeouts.
Both Elledge and Kaminsky are more likely to be called upon should a need arise in 2020. Elledge, 24, is a pure bullpen prospect who came to the Cards in the trade that sent Sam Tuivailala to the Mariners. He posted a lackluster 4.26 ERA in 67 2/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A last year, but his overall body of work as a pro is sharp — as was his work in the 2019 Arizona Fall League. Elledge has averaged nearly a dozen punchouts per nine innings pitched but also saw his walk rate jump in Triple-A last year (19 free passes in 34 1/3 innings). With John Brebbia out until 2021 (Tommy John surgery) and Jordan Hicks set to open the year on the IL while rehabbing his own Tommy John procedure, Elledge gives the Cards some right-handed relief depth.
Kaminsky, 25, was a first-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2013 but was traded to the Indians for Brandon Moss two years later. Things didn’t pan out for Kaminsky there, and after spending parts of five seasons in Cleveland’s minor league ranks, he became a minor league free agent this winter, ultimately landing with the Cards on a minors deal.
A 2017 forearm injury cost Kaminsky the entire year and may have helped prompt a shift to the bullpen. He was quite good as a reliever in Double-A both in 2018 and 2019, but he struggled in the supercharged offensive environment in Triple-A last year (5.11 ERA, 31-to-14 K/BB ratio in 24 2/3 frames). Like Elledge, he’s a non-roster player but could conceivably see some MLB action in 2020 if the Cardinals need to tap into their depth.