Under the Radar Prospects: Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals are the subjects of this week’s installment of Under the Radar Prospects

The St. Louis Cardinals are the subjects of this week’s installment of Under the Radar Prospects in which five unheralded players within a team system are identified as players to watch out for. Among the five players this week is a southpaw hurler rapidly rising up prospect rankings, a catcher that has performed well at every stop, an outfielder with an appealing skillset, and two hurlers producing promising results.

Quinn Mathews, LHP - St. Louis Cardinals

23-year old Quinn Mathews is having an astounding initial foray into professional baseball. Selected in the 4th round of the 2023 draft, Mathews didn’t pitch for the Cardinals organization that season due to an exorbitant number of pitches thrown during his collegiate season at Stanford. However, Mathews is proving well worth the wait. Mathews started six games in Single-A where he compiled a 1.47 ERA | 2.20 FIP with a 44.4 K% and 9.4 BB% over 30 2/3 innings pitched. Opposing hitters were obviously overmatched by Mathews so the southpaw received a quick promotion to High-A, where the results haven’t differed by much. Through his first six starts since the promotion, Mathews has a 2.87 ERA | 2.31 FIP with a 35.7 K% and 4.2 BB% across 37 2/3 innings pitched.

Among the 168 minor league pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched this season, Mathews has the highest whiff percentage (18.1%); the next closest is Brandon Sproat with 16.4%. Heading into the season, Mathews’ fastball was likely his most subpar offering, but his velocity has increased a few notches making an above-average pitch. This is in addition to a solid slider and curveball, as well as an elite change-up. Mathews is surging up most prospect rankings and could find himself as the Cardinals top pitching prospect in the near future.

Nathan Church, OF - St. Louis Cardinals

Nathan Church is a solid all around player capable of doing most things well on the field. He is an average runner with an average defensive capability. He has an average contact tool and his power rates average as well all from the left side of the plate. Selected in the 11th round of the 2022 draft by St. Louis, Church played his first full season in 2023 and showcased exactly the type of player he is as he hit .279/.364/.360 with 3 HR and 21 stolen bases over 119 games; he struck out just 11.6% of the time with a 8.9 BB%. His toolset doesn’t blow you away, but it makes for a very useful baseball player.