On Monday, I covered the Memphis pitchers and the Springfield starting pitchers. Which is why this article begins with the Springfield relievers.
Springfield (Relievers)
Michael Watson, LHP – 24
Acquired: Free Agent signing, Indy ball
Stats: 31 G, 37.2 IP, 28.8 K%, 16.8 BB%, 40.2 BB%, .376 BABIP, 5.73 ERA/5.84 FIP/5.57 xFIP
I think it is fair to say that Watson’s performance this year is a massive disappointment considering how well he finished last year at Springfield. You do have to be pretty neck deep in the woods to be invested in Watson in the first place, so I’m overstating the level of feeling most of you have towards him. But he had a 30.5 K% and 10.5 BB% with a 1.11 ERA in 24.1 IP last year in Springfield. The ERA was pretty lucky, but still. He has worse stats than last year pretty clearly.
Randal Clemente, RHP – 24
Acquired: International free agent signing out of Dominican Republic in 2020
Stats: 27 G, 31 IP, 35.8 K%, 21.6 BB%, 45.9 GB%, .368 BABIP, 6.97 ERA/5.21 FIP/4.86 xFIP
Although the ERA isn’t better, Clemente seems to be improving as a pitcher from last season. He walked 26.1% of batters last year and struck out 27.5%. He clearly has swing-and-miss stuff… and also has no idea where the ball is going. You don’t usually see a pitcher where knocking off one percentage point off the K% for one percentage point of a BB% would totally be worth the tradeoff.
Jack Findlay, LHP – 23
Acquired: 8th round, 2024 draft
Stats: 30 G, 37 IP, 26.7 K%, 11.5 BB%, 44.9 GB%, .313 BABIP, 5.04 ERA/4.85 FIP/4.75 xFIP
The last time I did an update, I am pretty sure Findlay had just got called up to Springfield. He struck out 30% of batters while walking 6.7%, so it was a well-deserved promotion. He’s doing alright, but considering he spent the vast majority of last year pitching poorly in Low A, him holding his own at AA less than a year later is a huge positive.
Darlin Saladin, RHP – 23 (VEB’s #16 prospect in 2025)
Acquired: International amateur free agent out of Dominican Republic in 2019
Stats: 28 G, 39.2 IP, 27.3 K%, 15.5 BB%, 49.5 GB%, .406 BABIP, 6.58 ERA/4.24 FIP/4.82 xFIP
Most of these pitching lines are not as bad as they seem, for some reason they all have super high BABIPs. I don’t know if it’s because of poor defense or if it’s like playing at Coors Field or some combo of the two. I will say entering the 2025 season, Saladin did look like a legit prospect, so it has been disappointing that one and a half seasons later, he’s not great in AA as a reliever.
Mason Burns, RHP – 24
Acquired: 14th round, 2024 draft
Stats: 16 G, 21.2 IP, 26.7 K%, 12.2 BB%, 63.5 GB%, .231 BABIP, 2.08 ERA/4.31 FIP/4.01 xFIP
Hey we have something here…. and he’s hurt. Of course. He hasn’t pitched since May 24th. I actually think he may be in Memphis right now if he didn’t get hurt. Good strikeout rate, lots and lots of groundballs, and… well too many walks but it’s better than a lot of guys are managing.
I’m not going to share the stats, but there are a good four or five relievers in Springfield who have HORRENDOUS stats that make some of these lines look considerably more impressive. I’m talking like 9.00+ ERA and FIP. I’m not kidding. The ones I shared are the best relievers on the team.
Peoria
Tanner Franklin, RHP – 22 (VEB’s #12 prospect)
Acquired: 2nd round, 72nd overall in 2025 draft
Stats: 17 GS, 62.1 IP, 28.1 K%, 11.5 BB%, 41.7 GB%, .291 BABIP, 4.62 ERA/5.18 FIP/4.94 xFIP
With some of these pitchers, and I don’t know if you’re like me, you’ll notice a disparity between what you think the K/BB numbers should produce for FIP and what the FIP actually is. And in most cases, it’s hit by pitches. They are factored into the FIP formula. Franklin has 6 HBPs, so just mentally add that to his BB% and his FIP numbers make a lot more sense. Anyway, me personally, the numbers that matter are a strong K%, a slightly too high BB%, and a normal GB%. Things are on track despite the slash line being less than ideal.
Yhoiker Fajardo, RHP – 19 (VEB’s #19 prospect)
Acquired: Traded with Hunter Dobbins and Blake Aita for Willson Contreras
Stats: 16 G (14 GS), 68.2 IP, 32.3 K%, 8.1 BB%, 41.5 GB%, .370 BABIP, 3.93 ERA/4.47 FIP/3.80 xFIP
In case you have any regret at trading Willson Contreras for some reason – I don’t know why you want Burly in the outfield – I have to say the returns on his trade have been very good so far. Close to best case scenario quite frankly. Fajardo has been unbelievable and if anything tells me that minor league BABIP is super weird, it’s Fajardo producing strikeouts on 32.3% of his ABs and somehow still coming away with an insanely high BABIP.
Jacob Odle, RHP – 22
Acquired: 14th round, 2023 draft
Stats: 7 GS, 28.1 IP, 32.2 K%, 17.8 BB%, 40.3 GB%, .267 BABIP, 4.09 ERA/6.54 FIP/5.71 xFIP
Odle spent April and May in Low A and dominated, posting a 1.91 ERA with a 36.4 K%. He’s still missing a lot of bats in High A, but he’s missing the strike zone. He pitched yesterday and I did update the stats I could, which is actually good news, because his FIP will be a lot better. He struck out 9, walked 3, and hit a batter in 4.2 IP. He didn’t allow a homer either. I think the xFIP will improve too, but it’ll be a much bigger boost to the FIP. This is a 14th rounder posting those K numbers, it’s ridiculous.
Leonel Sequera, RHP – 20
Acquired: International amateur free agent signing out of Venezuela in 2022
Stats: 17 GS, 75.1 IP, 24.2 K%, 10.1 BB%, 51.1 GB%, .371 BABIP, 7.41 ERA/6.16 FIP/4.63 xFIP
I will refrain from judging him, mostly because the big knock on him, as far as being a prospect went, was that he didn’t strike people out. He’s improved his K rate from 20.9% to 24.2% and his BB% isn’t that much higher either. Last year it was 8.7%. His groundballs have remained the same. Why is his slash line so bad? Over a fourth of the flyballs he allows go out of the park. That is one home run per start and 2.03 per 9 innings. He’s still just 20 and the three stats I care about (K%, BB%, GB%) are fairly strong.
Nate Dohm, RHP – 23
Acquired: Traded with Jesus Baez and Frank Ellisalt for Ryan Helsley
Stats: 16 G (11 GS), 43.2 IP, 23.4 K%, 14.1 BB%, 41 GB%, .366 BABIP, 6.80 ERA/4.79 FIP/5.63 xFIP
It is genuinely hard to judge pitchers in the minor leagues right now and I guess by association, I suppose we should distrust some of the hitting stats. If everyone is having a BABIP problem, I kind of think it’s the league. Dohm’s K% is the same as last year, his BB% is a little better, and his GB% is noticeably better… for some reason his xFIP is a full run higher. So the run environment certainly has changed.
Frank Ellisalt, also in the Helsley trade, has been injured all season.
Ty Van Dyke, RHP – 22
Acquired: 10th round, 2025 draft
Stats: 9 G (6 GS), 36.1 IP, 19 K%, 12.7 BB%, 39.4 GB%, .311 BABIP, 6.44 ERA/5.20 FIP/6.08 xFIP
I’m trying to save myself a little time by not sharing the stats of the lower level when a guy is promoted, especially if the guy was promoted before my previous update (Van Dyke’s last Low A start was May 13th and my pitching update was May 24th), however it does have the effect of only seeing the negative part of a guy’s season. Van Dyke was excellent in Low A, with a lot of Ks, not many walks, and a decent GB%. He is arguably ahead of schedule despite underwhelming stats.
Palm Beach
Cade Crossland, LHP – 22
Acquired: 4th round, 2025 draft
Stats: 17 G (16 GS), 34.4 K%, 17.6 BB%, 41.4 GB%, .298 BABIP, 4.87 ERA/4.42 FIP/4.35 xFIP
When both the K% and BB% make you audibly let out an expletive, you know you have an interesting line. That is a very high strikeout percentage. That is also a very high walk percentage. If he somehow duplicated this line up the ladder, he would have the floor of a reliever at the very least. So I hope he keeps missing this many bats.
Andrew Dutkanych IV, RHP – 22
Acquired: 7th round, 2024 draft
Stats: 6 G (2 GS), 19.2 IP, 27.9 K%, 15.1 BB%, 41.3 GB%, .311 BABIP, 5.49 ERA/4.38 FIP/4.76 xFIP
He never ended up making the top 20, but he had a decent amount of support back in March. I think that was jumping the gun a little bit. And don’t worry he’s still considered a starting pitcher – his last outing, he did not literally start the game, but he threw 5 innings. And if you were wondering, he only threw 17.2 IP all last season, so the Cardinals are managing his innings. He also began the year hurt.
Brian Holiday, RHP – 23
Acquired: 3rd round, 2024 draft
Stats: 8 GS, 32 IP, 23.1 K%, 6.9 BB%, 52.2 GB%, .253 BABIP, 5.91 ERA/5.94 FIP/4.21 xFIP
Yeah tell me the pitching environment in the minors makes sense right now with this stat line. Above average K%, great BB%, good GB% – terrible numbers. Granted, it’s home runs fault. He has allowed a homer on 27.8% of flyballs, and the league average is 11%. His xERA, for whatever that’s worth, is 3.63. I’m encouraged by his start despite the homers.
Payton Graham, RHP – 22
Acquired: 7th round, 2025 draft
Stats: 10 GS, 33.1 IP, 22.6 K%, 11 BB%, 32.6 GB%, .301 BABIP, 5.67 ERA/4.74 FIP/5.26 xFIP
Now this line being bad, I understand. Along with Dutkanyvch and Findlay, Graham was drafted with the full realization that he had recently undergone Tommy John surgery. Graham only actually started 4 total games in college. He spent his freshman and sophomore years in relief and needed TJ surgery after just one start in his junior season. So Graham does not have many innings in his past. He threw a high of 33.1 IP in his sophomore season.
Ethan Young, RHP – 22
Acquired: 5th round, 2025 draft
Stats: 8 GS, 27.1 IP, 26.3 K%, 11.3 BB%, 36.7 GB%, .405 BABIP, 7.24 ERA/4.34 FIP/4.59 xFIP
Young has been injured since May 14th and is on the minor league 60-day IL. He wasn’t put on the 60-day until July 17th, which could have been a procedural move to make room for the draftees since he has been injured for 60 days already and I think it works retroactively. Or he could be done for the year. I can’t find any information on his injury.
Nelfy Ynfante, RHP – 21
Acquired: International amateur free agent out of Dominican Republic in 2022
Stats (Low A): 18 G, 37 IP, 24.5 K%, 6 BB%, 37 GB%, .263 BABIP, 2.92 ERA/4.02 FIP/4.06 xFIP
AA: 7 G, 13 IP, 12.3 K%, 15.8 BB%, 30 GB%, .135 BABIP, 6.92 ERA/8.66 FIP/7.82 xFIP
Yes, this is an unusual stat line to give for a guy who is Low A, but Ynfante was weirdly promoted to Springfield for 7 games. I don’t know why but the Springfield bullpen is so bad, he was middle of the pack, so they could have just been desperate. Anyway, he was sent back to Low A (and not High A, curiously), where his numbers are solid.
Jake Shelagowski, RHP – 22
Acquired: 13th round, 2025 draft
Stats:11 G (2 GS), 34.2 IP, 24.7 K%, 11 BB%, 43.8 GB%, 5.71 ERA/4.07 FIP/4.83 xFIP
I don’t really need a WAR figure for the minor leagues, but one helpful thing it would do, quite honestly, is share exactly the context for the numbers. If it used FIP, Shelagowski would actually have a positive WAR, I’m fairly sure. If it used xFIP, I’m not sure what it would be, but I don’t think it’d be negative. How bad does an ERA of 5.71 look? It’d just be interesting to see how it compares to a replacement player in that league.
Alex Breckheimer, RHP – 22
Acquired: 16th round, 2025 draft
Stats: 10 G (2 GS), 33.1 IP, 25.5 K%, 10.6 BB%, 44.7 GB%, .289 BABIP, 5.40 ERA/4.74 FIP/4.46 xFIP
Breckheimer is another pitcher who is on the 60-day IL right now. Not that you got all that excited about these stats, but does suck to see an injured pitcher.
Jesus Garcia, RHP – 20
Acquired: International amateur free agent signing out of Venezuela in 2024
Stats (CPX): 5 G, 8.1 IP, 28.6 K%, 3.6 BB%, 57.9 GB%, .053 BABIP, 0.00 ERA/2.68 FIP/3.80 xFIP
Low A: 14 G, 22.1 IP, 17.2 K%, 8.6 BB%, 47.1 GB%, .262 BABIP, 4.43 ERA/5.69 FIP/4.84 xFIP
Garcia pitched about as good as you possibly can while he was at the complex leagues, so the Cardinals promoted him pretty quickly. He’s found more of a challenge at Low A and I wish for more missed bats, but it’s not that bad.
Standout Performances
Yairo Padilla came back from the injured listi and homered in his first game. He went 3-4 with a double in his next game and yesterday he went 1-3 with a single. He’s looking good when he’s healthy.
Sebastian Dos Santos had a 89 wRC+ before he went 2-4 with two doubles in yesterday’s game. So the 18-year-old has had a decent start, mostly thanks to a 15.3 BB%.
Jack Gurevitch sure is on a roll. On Tuesday, he came to the plate five times, he homered three times, doubled once and walked. Yesterday, he homered again, but the bum was out his other three times to the plate. He’s an extra base hit machine.
Tai Peete had a very Tai Peete game on Tuesday, going 3-5 with a triple and two homers, with the two outs being strikeouts of course. Yesterday, he came to the plate five times and didn’t strike out once, going 2-5 with a double.
In his most recent start, Fajardo threw 5 innings, struck out 10, walked one and allowed 3 runs.
Won-Bin Cho hit his 10th homer in 20 games while at Springfield, and his 18th of the season. He also singled, walked, and stole a base. It’s pretty fun he’s a prospect again!
Rainiel Rodriguez has a 112 wRC+ (before he went 0-4 with a BB yesterday) in a relatively unexciting way, except for the fact that he is 19-years-old having an above average line at AA.
If you think the Cardinals bullpen is bad, check out the Springfield bullpen. Three relievers pitched in yesterday’s game. The ERAs of those pitchers were 14.85, 7.96, and 14.04. One of those lines has thrown over 30 innings, one over 15, and one has 7.2 innings.
Brycen Mautz appears to be in the bullpen now. He threw 2 scoreless innings with 4 Ks yesterday. There is a good chance he’s being primed to replace Romero as the lefty reliever role when the Cardinals deem Mautz ready.
Early on, Chase Davis has a .200/.429/.500 line and already hit a homer. As you might expect, he’s walked a lot and he’s also struck out a decent amount.