These 3 prospects could make a splash with Cardinals in 2025
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With the Cardinals shifting toward a youth movement and restructuring their player development system in 2025, several of the organization’s top prospects are about to become major focal points in the season ahead.
Will 2025 be the year when electrifying but oft-injured right-handed pitcher Tink Hence breaks through to the big leagues? Can lefty Quinn Mathews -- just the second Cardinals prospect to pitch at four levels in a season of Minor League baseball in the past 20 years and the Minor League Pitching Prospect of the Year award winner -- cap his meteoric rise by making the Cardinals Opening Day rotation? Can JJ Wetherholt -- the top prospect in the organization, per MLB Pipeline -- push his way to St. Louis by the end of the 2025 season? Others heralded prospects such as Jimmy Crooks, Chase Davis and Tekoah Roby also deserve watching in 2025.
With those questions and other prospects in mind, here are three Cardinals prospects to watch in the season ahead:
RHP Tink Hence (Cardinals' No. 2-ranked prospect/ No. 61 overall)
Hence was seemingly set for big things in 2024 before a mysterious chest/shoulder injury bothered him repeatedly. The 6-foot-1 Hence, 22, has bulked up to 195 pounds, but he still must prove that he can withstand the physical rigors of a long season.
Despite the injuries that resulted in three stoppages, Hence still used his 60-grade fastball to rack up 109 strikeouts in just 79 2/3 innings. He flashed a much-improved changeup to go with his plus curveball and slider in an appearance in the Spring Breakout -- pitches he also used during his Double-A season to compile a 2.71 ERA while holding foes to a .204 batting average.
After pitching 96 innings at Single-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield in 2023, the Cardinals hoped Hence would pass 100 innings this past season and be at Triple-A -- and potentially in the big leagues -- by now. Another chance to accomplish those feats will come in 2025.
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LHP Quinn Mathews (No. 3/ No. 77)
Mathews made national sports headlines in 2023, when he threw 156 pitches in Stanford’s NCAA Super Regional win over Texas. In 2024, he made baseball headlines of a different kind for his endurance and brilliance over a full season.
The 24-year-old Matthews, a fourth-round pick by the Cardinals in the 2023 MLB Draft, swiftly zipped through four levels of Minor League baseball while striking an MiLB-best 202 hitters in 143 1/3 innings. He is just the 10th prospect in Cardinals’ history to compile 200 strikeouts in a Minor League season.
Mathews said during the 2024 season that the biggest difference between him now and when he starred at Stanford is the development of his curveball. His changeup has been given a 60-grade by MLB Pipeline and his fastball from a 6-foot-5 frame deceptively sneaks up on foes from a herky-jerky left-handed delivery.
Considering the high level of games that he pitched in while in college and his age, Mathews will likely be given every shot in Spring Training to compete for a spot in the Cardinals' rotation for 2025.
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SS/2B JJ Wetherholt (No. 1/ No. 18)
Picking in the top 10 of the MLB Draft for the first time in 26 years, the Cardinals were confident that they got the steal of the night by nabbing Wetherholt with the No. 7 selection. A series of hamstring injuries during his junior season at West Virginia caused Wetherholt -- who was the projected No. 1 overall pick at one time -- to slide on Draft night.
Wetherholt got a 65 grade with his hit tool, a 60 grade with his speed and a 60 overall grade from MLB Pipeline. He showed off his enormous potential as a hitter when he slashed .449/.517/.787 as a college sophomore with 16 home runs and 36 stolen bases while winning the NCAA batting crown.
A Pittsburgh native who had grown up around MLB players throughout his developmental years, Wetherholt showed well in 29 games at Single-A Palm Beach this fall. He slashed .295/.405/.400 while hitting two home runs, ripping five doubles and driving in 20 runs. In a sign of just how impressive his hitting eye is, he had more walks (16) than strikeouts (15) during his pro debut.
With Masyn Winn already entrenched at shortstop and the likely face of the franchise for the Cardinals for years to come, the 22-year-old Wetherholt will likely be slotted in at second base to not block his path to the big leagues. He will almost certainly get at-bats with the Cardinals in Spring Training, and he could start the 2025 season as high as Double-A Springfield if his bat continues to play at advanced stages.