Tag Archives: Jordan Swagerty

2012 St Louis Cardinals Top 15 Prospect Rankings

By: J.P. Schwartz
@Jaypers413 on Twitter
JP’s FreedomCardboard Blog

2012 St Louis Cardinals Top 15 Prospect Rankings

Every year at this time I like to rank each team’s top prospects. My criteria is based upon both past performance and future potential to his parent team. This is my ranking of the 2012 St Louis Cardinals Top Prospects. If you have any questions about my rankings, feel free to shoot me a message on twitter @Jaypers413

To qualify, a prospect must have fewer than 130 at-bats or 50 innings in MLB

#1 Shelby Miller RHP
Born: 10/10/1990
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 11-6, 2.77ERA, 139.2IP, 53BB, 170K

#2 Carlos Martinez RHP
Born: 9/21/1991
Highest Level Reached: High-A Palm Beach Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 6-5, 3.93ERA, 84.2IP, 44BB, 98K, .238BAA

#3 Zack Cox 3B
Born: 5/9/1989
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: .306, 27(2B), 13HR, 68RBI

#4 Tyrell Jenkins RHP
Born: 7/20/1992
Highest Level Reached: Rookie League Johnson City Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 4-2, 3.86ERA, 56IP, 13BB, 55K, .296BAA

#5 Kolten Wong 2B
Born: 10/10/1990
Highest Level Reached: Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits
2011 Combined Stats: .335, 15(2B), 2(3B), 5HR, 25RBI, 9SB (1st Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

#6 Oscar Taveras OF
Born: 6/19/1992
Highest Level Reached: Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits
2011 Combined Stats: .386, 27(2B), 5(3B), 8HR, 62RBI

#7 Matt Adams 1B
Born: 8/31/1988
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: .300, 23(2B), 2(3B), 32HR, 101RBI

#8 Charlie Tilson OF
Born: 12/2/1992
Highest Level Reached: Rookie League Johnson City Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: .333 (9 hits in 27 at-bats), 2(2B), 5RBI (2nd Round Pick 2011 MLB Draft)

#9 Eduardo Sanchez RHP
Born: 2/16/1989
Highest Level Reached: MLB St Louis Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 1-1, 2.45ERA, 7.1IP, 2BB, 6K, .125BAA
MAJORS: 3-1, 1.80ERA, 5 Saves, 30IP, 16BB, 35K, .144BAA

#10 Lance Lynn RHP
Born: 5/12/1987
Highest Level Reached: MLB St Louis Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 7-3, 3.84ERA, 75IP, 25BB, 64K, .279BAA
MAJORS: 1-1, 3.12ERA, 34.2IP, 11BB, 40K, .203BAA

#11 Trevor Rosenthal RHP
Born: 5/29/1990
Highest Level Reached: Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits
2011 Combined Stats: 7-7, 4.11ERA, 120.1IP, 39BB, 133K, .247BAA

#12 John Gast LHP
Born: 2/16/1989
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 9-8, 4.02ERA, 161.1IP, 61BB, 113K, .269BAA

#13 Jordan Swagerty RHP
Born: 7/14/1989
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 5-3, 1.83ERA, 8 Saves, 93.2IP, 23BB, 89K, .204BAA

#14 Joe Kelly RHP
Born: 6/9/1988
Highest Level Reached: Double-A Springfield Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: 11-6, 3.68ERA, 132IP, 59BB, 113K, .258BAA

#15 Maikel Cleto RHP
Born: 5/1/1989
Highest Level Reached: MLB St Louis Cardinals
2011 Combined Stats: MINORS: 8-6, 3.81ERA, 134.2IP, 65BB, 135K, .234BAA
MAJORS: 0-0, 12.46ERA, 4.1IP, 4BB, 6K, .333BAA

Disclaimer – I did not attend any minor league games this year, nor do I claim to have any scouting experience. These lists are the product of my own research of statistics and online scouting reports.

2011 St Louis Cardinals Top 15 Prospects Post Season Report Card

With the 2011 minor league season complete we check in on the progress of each of the St Louis Cardinals preseason Top 15 prospects as ranked by our prospect ranker J.P. Schwartz. The post season grading report was done by the publisher of Top Prospect Alert, not Mr. Schwartz, and reflects only the 2011 season and not future upside or downside of the individual prospect. Our 2012 preseason rankings will be published in the coming months.

#1 Shelby Miller GRADE: A
Miller went a combined 11-6 with a 2.77ERA for the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. He walked 53 and struck out 170 in 139.2 innings. Opposing batters hit just .219 against Miller on the season.

#2 Zack Cox GRADE: A-
Cox batted a combined .306 with 27 Doubles, 13 Home Runs and 68 RBI’s between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield. He walked 40 times and struck out 98 times in 135 games.

#3 Carlos Martinez GRADE: B
Martinez went a combined 6-5 with a 3.93ERA between the Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits and High-A Palm Beach. He walked 44 and struck out 98 in 84.2 innings. Opposing batters hit .234 against Martinez on the season. His ERA in High-A was nearly three runs higher than in Low-A.

#4 Tyrell Jenkins GRADE: B-
Jenkins went 4-2 with a 3.86ERA for the Rookie League Johnson City Cardinals. He walked 13 and struck out 55 in 56 innings. Opposing batters hit .296 off Jenkins on the year.

#5 Eduardo Sanchez GRADE: A
Sanchez went 3-1 with a 1.80ERA and 5 Saves in 26 big league appearances with the Cardinals. He walked 16 and struck out 35 in 30 innings. Opposing major league hitters batted just .144 against Sanchez on the season. In the minors, Sanchez went 1-1 with a 2.45ERA in 7.1 innings between Double-A Springfield and the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

#6 Jordan Swagerty GRADE: A
Swagerty went a combined 5-3 with a 1.83ERA and 8 Saves between Low-A Quad Cities, High-A Palm Beach, and Double-A Springfield. He walked 23 and struck out 89 in 93.2 innings. Opposing batters hit just .204 off Swagerty on the season.

#7 Joe Kelly GRADE: B
Kelly went a combined 11-6 with a 3.68ERA between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield. He walked 59 and struck out 113 in 132 innings. Opposing batters hit .258 off Kelly on the year.

#8 Allen Craig GRADE: A
Craig batted .315 with 15 Doubles, 11 Home Runs and 40 RBI’s for the big league Cardinals. He walked 15 times and struck out 40 times in 75 games. In the minors, Craig batted .244 in 12 games between Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis.

#9 Oscar Taveras GRADE: A+
Taveras batted .386 with 27 Doubles, 5 Triples, 8 Home Runs and 62 RBI’s for Low-A Quad Cities. He walked 32 times and struck out 52 times in 78 games.

#10 John Gast GRADE: C+
Gast went a combined 9-8 with a 4.02ERA between High-A Palm Beach and Double-A Springfield. He walked 61 batters and struck out 113 in 161.1 innings. Opposing batters hit .269 against Gast on the season.

#11 Nick Longmire GRADE: C+
Longmire batted .242 with 22 Doubles, 8 Home Runs and 42 RBI’s for Low-A Quad Cities. He also stole 10 bases. He walked 29 times and struck out 83 times in 97 innings.

#12 Cody Stanley GRADE: B
Stanley batted .264 with 24 Doubles, 2 Triples, 11 Home Runs and 66 RBI’s for Low-A Quad Cities. He walked 27 times and struck out 92 times in 101 games.

#13 Lance Lynn GRADE: B
Lynn went 1-1 with a 3.12ERA in 18 big league appearances with the Cardinals. He walked 11 and struck out 40 in 34.2 innings. Opposing major league hitters batted .203 against Lynn on the year. In the minors, Lynn went 7-3 with a 3.84ERA for Triple-A Memphis.

#14 Daniel Descalso GRADE: B+
Descalso batted .264 with 20 Doubles, 3 Triples, 1 Home Run and 28 RBI’s for the Cardinals. He walked 33 times and struck out 65 times in 148 major league games.

#15 Anthony Garcia GRADE: A-
Garcia batted .308 with 14 Doubles, 4 Triples, 6 Home Runs and 31 RBI’s for Rookie League Johnson City. He walked 21 times and struck out 36 times in 51 games.

Our Interview With St Louis Cardinals Pitching Prospect Jordan Swagerty

Baseball has been very good to Jordan Swagerty. Among the highlights of the 22 year old righthander’s baseball career to this point is a stint with the US Junior National Team, two trips to the College World Series with Arizona State, a second round pick in the 2010 draft, and now Swagerty has developed into one of the St Louis Cardinals top pitching prospects. In his first season as a pro Swagerty went a combined 5-3 with 8 saves and a 1.83ERA between the Low-A Quad Cities River Bandits, the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals, and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals. On the path that he is going, it is likely that you could see Swagerty in Busch Stadium at some point in 2012. We hope you enjoy our Q&A with Jordan Swagerty.

TPA: What was it like playing on a pair of loaded teams at Arizona State? Do you still keep in touch with your teammates as you all progress through the professional ranks?
Jordan Swagerty It was a great experience to play with those guys at ASU. You could trust any player in any situation which led to us winning a lot of games. Many good friendships were formed and I still keep in touch with many of them, like Jason Kipnis and Mike Leake.

TPA: What lessons from your two trips to the College World Series have you taken with you as a pro? What was the overall experience in Omaha like for you?
Jordan Swagerty I learned many different lessons in the CWS. It helps you learn to perform with everyone watching since it is on TV. It was great competition. My freshman year we played well and ended up in third place. Next time we were two and done unfortunately. Also it’s fun to play in a packed stadium like you get in professional baseball. Omaha is a great town! The people of Omaha are so supportive of the World Series which makes it a lot of fun.

TPA: Tell us about your experience playing for Team USA. What was it like playing at the International Level? What are some of your best memories of the experience.
Jordan Swagerty Team USA was fun getting to play against teams from all over the world. I played on the USA Baseball Junior National team and we won a bronze medal in the 2007 Pan American Junior Championships in Mexico. Getting to play in another country is something I will never forget. The fields are different, the fans don’t speak English and there is another country on the field against you. We played against Canada, Chinese Taipei, Aruba, and Cuba. A great memory for me was getting to catch most of the games even though I am a pitcher now. I actually went as a 2-way guy and ended up catching all but one of the games, even though they had Kyle Skipworth who was a first round draft pick the next year.

TPA: You began your pro career as a starter at Quad Cities and had a great deal of success, got a few more successful starts in Palm Beach before having transitioned to the bullpen before getting promoted to the Springfield bullpen. Which role do you enjoy most and what are the key differences in approach you take with each role, and how tough was it to make the transition from college closer to pro starter and then back to reliever again.
Jordan Swagerty It has been a fun ride so far getting to play in three different leagues and many different ballparks. Starting was a good experience for the fact that I got to work on all my pitches but getting back to the pen is nice. I feel very comfortable in that role. It wasn’t a big surprise and I knew it was coming because of the number of innings I was pitching as a starter. I think as a starter you have to be prepared for a full day of work and as a reliever you have to be ready everyday and pay attention to the game for when you get out there.

TPA: What has been the biggest differences you’ve noticed between Low-A, High-A and now Double-A as you’ve moved up the ladder this year and what adjustments have you had to make.
Jordan Swagerty The major adjustments that have to be made as you move up is controlling pitches in and out of the zone and knowing different situations to throw pitches in. The differences I have seen are how good the hitters are. They really take advantages of bad pitches. I’m still looking to improve. For instance, I tend to pitch around the zone, but when I get a 0-2, 1-2 count, pitchers’ count, I need to miss off the plate more, get the hitters leaning.

TPA: Who has been the most influential person to you thus far in the Cardinals organization? What’s been the best guidance or advice they have given you?
Jordan Swagerty Dennis Martinez my pitching coach in Palm Beach really helped me through the experiences he had in the big leagues. His main thing he preached to me is going right after hitters, get ahead and never give in.

TPA: What’s been your best memory so far as a pro, both from something on the field, as well as something crazy you have had happen while in the minor leagues.
Jordan Swagerty Best memory for me has been getting the call-up to AA in my first year. It really wasn’t expected. Something crazy has been the 15 hour bus ride through the night to get back to Springfield. We had a night game in Corpus Cristi and left at 11pm and got in 3 hours before game time the next day.

TPA: Last year when you were drafted the Panini Company put out a baseball card of you with Magic Johnson’s autograph on your card instead of yours. What did you think of that whole deal, and what has it been like signing hundreds of stickers and baseball cards since you’ve turned pro?
Jordan Swagerty That was definitely unexpected but there could be worse guys to be mixed up with, let alone a NBA Hall of Famer. I have a couple of those cards at home that my parents saved for me. Signing has been fun. It takes a while to sign and is a little bit hard on the wrist but over all a great experience and something that I don’t think I will ever get used to.

TPA: What led you to join the world of Twitter? What’s the experience been like so far? You can follow Jordan on twitter @JordanSwagerty
Jordan Swagerty Many of my friends had joined Twitter so I saw them tweeting all the time and didn’t want to be left out. I think it is a great way for fans to keep up and know what we are up to at the field and with the team. It has been nice to get tweets from fans and hear their voice as well.