Liberatore prospect fans seven in six scoreless innings

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Liberatore fans seven in six scoreless innings (Sept. 22)
Matthew Liberatore continues to blank opponents.

The No. 4 Cardinals prospect produced his second scoreless outing of the month, as he struck out seven while allowing four hits in six innings in Triple-A Memphis' 6-1 win over Gwinnett.

The 21-year-old dealt with trouble but escaped jams at the right time as he retired 16 of the 24 batters he faced. Liberatore continues to vamp up his usage as he finished the night throwing 93 pitches (61 strikes).

Liberatore lowered his ERA to 5.12 and now has 110 strikeouts in the Minor Leagues. -- Edwin Perez

No. 30 prospect ties Minor League homer lead (Sept. 18)
Moisés Gómez once again did what he’s been doing all season -- hitting home runs.

The Cardinals’ No. 30 prospect swatted his way back into a tie for the Minor League lead in homers, leaving the yard twice for Triple-A Memphis in its 8-4 win over Iowa. The 24-year-old clubbed the first pitch he saw in the sixth over the wall in left field for a two-run dinger before belting a solo shot to right-center in the ninth. It was his 13th homer with the Redbirds and his 36th overall, tied with Hartford's Hunter Goodman for the most in the Minors.

In 112 games this year, the outfielder is slashing .298/.373/.625 with 23 doubles, 48 walks and 87 RBIs. -- Stephanie Sheehan

Graceffo takes perfecto into sixth for Springfield (Sept. 15)
Gordon Graceffo was nearly perfect.

The Cardinals' No. 3 prospect continued the trend of strong starts, carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning in Double-A Springfield's 8-0 win over Tulsa before a two-out single broke up the bid. Still, the right-hander finished his outing with six frames of scoreless ball, striking out nine batters for the third time this season. The 22-year-old worked extremely efficiently, firing 48 of his 67 pitches for strikes while running only one three-ball count all night.

It's the third scoreless outing in a row for MLB's No. 83 prospect after a string of seven starts in which he allowed at least one earned run. The 6-foot-4 hurler lowered his Springfield ERA to 3.94 and has racked up 139 strikeouts in 139 1/3 innings across two levels. --Stephanie Sheehan

Hence continues dominance with another scoreless start (Sept. 15)
The numbers don’t exactly jump off the page for Tink Hence.

He hasn’t pitched more than four innings in any outing across his two-year professional career, and his career high strikeout mark is eight. But whenever he takes the mound, it’s all but a guarantee you’re about to see something close to perfection.

In Game 2 of the Single-A Florida State League semifinals between Palm Beach and St. Lucie, the Cardinals’ No. 6 prospect turned in yet another scoreless outing, allowing just two hits while striking out three and walking none. Full story »

Liberatore continues his case for postseason callup (Sept. 10)
Matthew Liberatore needed a bounce-back game, and he had one.

St. Louis' No. 4 prospect spun six scoreless innings, allowing five hits and a walk while fanning five batters in Triple-A Memphis' 4-1 win over Norfolk.

In his last outing, the first-round (16th overall) selection of the 2018 Draft was tagged for seven runs over 4 2/3 innings.

Moving back and forth between the Majors and Triple-A has allowed the 22-year-old to gauge the difference in competition, and his rebound game gives the Cardinals reason to keep him in mind with the postseason inching closer.

The left-hander made his debut on May 21 and appeared in eight Major League games, throwing 29 2/3 innings, garnering a 5.46 ERA while fanning 25 batters in the bigs. In the Minors this season, Liberatore has earned a 5.10 ERA after starting in 19 games and striking out 102 batters. -- Ethan Sands

Herrera smashes two homer at Triple-A (Sept. 9)
Nearly half of Iván Herrera's home runs for the season came in Triple-A Memphis' 6-5 loss to Norfolk.

The Cardinals' No. 7 prospect was on a deep fly kick, notching the third multihomer game of his career.

He tallied the Redbirds' first run of the game with a solo shot to left-center field in the fourth inning. The 22-year-old followed that with a two-run homer to left in the sixth. All three runs scored for Memphis were his byproduct to this point.

The Panama native ended the night 3-for-5, finishing the night with a single in the eighth to left field.

Herrera made his Major League debut on May 24, and with Yadier Molina in his final season with the Cardinals, he's preparing himself for his potentially permanent call to the big leagues. -- Ethan Sands

Hence finishes regular season on a high note (Sept. 7)
Tink Hence has been phenomenal on the bump all year long.

As the regular season comes to a close and Single-A Palm Beach gears up for the postseason as the top seed in the Florida State League East, pitching is a crucial part of any team, and the Cardinals' No. 6 prospect brings reliability heading into crunch time.

In his most recent outing, the right-hander tossed four scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while fanning four batters.

This is the 11th outing in 2022 where Hence hasn't allowed an earned run, garnering a 1.38 ERA over the regular season. He pitched in 16 games, starting in all appearances, tossing 52 1/3 innings and fanning 81 batters. -- Ethan Sands

Hence closes impressive month on mound (Aug. 31)
Tink Hence ended August the way he started it, dealing clean innings.

The Cardinals’ No. 6 prospect made it three scoreless outings in August as he allowed one hit while striking out six in four scoreless innings in Single-A Palm Beach’s 6-3 win over Daytona.

The 20-year-old was dealing throughout his start, as he retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced. Hence finished the night with 58 pitches (38 strikes) in his start.

He lowered his ERA to 1.49 and brought his K tally to 77 in 48 1/3 innings this season. -- Edwin Perez

Jones homers, adds 3 doubles for Chiefs (Aug. 28)
Seven innings were all L.J. Jones needed for a career day.

The Cardinals prospect homered, doubled three times and drove in eight runs for the High-A Peoria Chiefs in a rain-shortened 14-1 win over Beloit. The doubles and RBIs set career highs for the 2020 fifth-round Draft pick.

Jones got Peoria on the board in the first inning with a two-RBI double, his 30th of the season. His 12th home run of the year was a grand slam in the second inning that put the Chiefs ahead 7-0, and a second two-RBI double made it 9-0 in the fourth.

The eight RBIs tied a Chiefs single-game record. Jones has driven in a total of 57 runs in 91 games this season. -- Jacob Resnick

Hence tosses another scoreless outing at Single-A (Aug. 24)
After a brief blip on the radar, Tink Hence is back to posting zeros for the Single-A Palm Beach Cardinals.

St. Louis' No. 6 prospect worked four scoreless innings, allowed three hits and struck out four in Palm Beach's eventual 5-4 loss to St. Lucie. It was smooth sailing for Hence, who also touched 98 mph with his fastball.

After allowing three runs in his last start for the first time this season, the right-hander tossed his eighth scoreless outing in 14 total appearances. All told, Hence has allowed just eight earned runs in 44 1/3 innings with an impressive 71 strikeouts to just 12 walks. -- Jacob Resnick

Baez displays power in first career multihomer game (Aug. 20)
Joshua Baez has continued to produce in his first five affiliate games.

The No. 11 Cardinals prospect has been able to hit the long ball but has not had a multihomer game in his young career. Baez accomplished that feat, going 3-for-5 with two homers and five RBIs in Single-A Palm Beach’s 14-2 win over Fort Myers.

The 19-year-old's power display came early as he hit a two-run shot to left field in the first inning. Baez was not done there as in his next at-bat he crushed a two-run long ball to left-center field in the second inning.

The outfielder’s power display brought his homer tally to three and slash line to .275/.362/.529 this season. -- Edwin Perez