by Richard Douglas
The Cardinals have been one of the best teams the past several years developing talent, helping guide them through the first year without Tony La Russa and Albert Pujols. From 2008-2011 the Cards spent 22.2 million in bonuses on their draft picks which produced Lance Lynn (All Star), Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly and Trevor Rosenthal (playoff appearances), and the pieces for the Matt Holliday trade. This year's top prospect is Oscar Taveras, a 20 year old outfielder form the Dominican. He's been in the system since 2008 when he signed for $145,000. Its looking like its going to pay off as Taveras has decimated opposing pitching in the Rookie, Low A and AA levels so far. His minor league OPS is .906, with just 190 strike outs in 1263 at bats. He hit a career high 23 home runs at AA Springfield, showing some potential for expanded power. He's not an overly speedy player, but he has the range to play in center field, and an arm that could let him play in right. He's had some fits of poor attitude, but it hasn't been a significant red flag. His spring training this year though should have him fast tracking to the majors, with just 6 strike outs in 63 appearances, 27 total bases and a .742 OPS
Matt Adams has already overcome a lot of doubt after being drafted in the 23rd round to becoming the Cardinals 8th overall prospect according to Baseball America. His best asset is a monstrous swing with which he's hit 82 minor league home runs, and a pair in the majors in 27 games with the Cards. His swing is tight and compact helping to keep his strike out rate in the acceptable region (18.6%). At the AAA level he slugged .624, and has always had a solid over .350 OBP. He plays 1B well, but doesn't have enough speed to really make a move to the outfield that would be necessary to get him into the majors. This spring he's hit 3 HRs, and has OPSed .901 with 28 total bases.
Michael Wacha was the top pick for the Cardinals last season after going 27-7 at Texas A&M. He has pitched as both a reliever and starter at the minor league level, where he jumped from Rookie league to the AA level in just one season. His fastball sits at 90-93 as a started and is a bit more out of the pen ans has a slight sinking action to it. His changeup though is his outpitch, because he has excellent deception with it and it dips away late. He also can employee a slider and a curveball, but one should likely be dropped to develop the other since neither is a truly stellar pitch. He truly has baffled and dominated the lower levels, allowing just a .114 average against him and averaging 17.1 strikeouts per 9 innings. His spring this year has been just as good, going scoreless (he allowed 1 run, but it was unearned) through 11.2 innings of work and striking out 15 batters with just 7 hits. He might start at AA but will likely move to AAA quickly.
Carlos Martinez made his AA appearance at just 20 years old last year, His fastball is heating at 94-98 mph, and he throws a solid curveball and a developing changeup. He's allowed a .217 average against him in his time in the minors, while striking out 268 batters in 248 innings. Carson Kelly is another prospect form the 2012 class that has a very high ceiling, because of his smooth balanced swing. He is still just 18, which helps explain the very poor .263 OBP in his first season at Rookie level Johnson City. He plays solid defense but needs better agility to stay at third.
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