12 Cardinals Prospects To Watch Beyond The Top 30

The Cardinals Top 30 prospects rankings are up now for Baseball America subscribers, with full scouting reports, BA grades and tools grade projections for all 30 players.

Through the process of narrowing the list down to a Top 30, there are other intriguing names who didn’t make the cut but are worth monitoring, with the potential to jump into the Top 30 in the future. Some of those are players who might be in the upper levels and could see big league time this year, though likely in a limited role, while others are lower-level players still in the complex leagues with more upside but plenty of risk.

Beyond the Top 30, these are 12 prospects to watch in St. Louis’ farm system.

Andre Granillo, RHP. A two-pitch reliever who can run his four-seam fastball up to 98 mph, Granillo struck out 82 batters across 52.1 innings in 2022, reaching Double-A by season’s end. His low-80s slider dominated in 2022, holding hitters to a sub-.200 wOBA against the pitch. 

Jose Fermin, SS. Acquired from the Guardians during the offseason, Fermin is a versatile defender with a contact-over-power profile at the plate. Fermin fits best as an up-and-down utility option with the ability to fill-in all over the infield while providing competitive at-bats due to contact and advanced swing decisions. 

Nick Trogrlic-Iverson, RHP. Trogrlic-Iverson signed as a nondrafted free agent out of Gonzaga following the five-round 2020 draft and has performed well across a variety of roles over his first two professional seasons. A release height outlier, Trogrlic-Iverson has shape for a variety of pitches, including a plus changeup that averages over 17 inches of arm-side run. 

Andrew Marrero, RHP. A 2021 18th-round pick out of Connecticut, Marrero has the best breaking ball in the Cardinals system, a 2,900 rpm hammer that generated whiffs at a better than 50% rate in 2022. A relief-only prospect, Marrero pairs his plus slider with a low-90s fastball with above-average ride. 

Matt Koperniak, OF. A 2020 nondrafted free agent out of Division III Trinity (Conn.), Koperniak has hit .298/.384/.443 across two minor league seasons. Koperniak reached Triple-A in 2022, and displayed above-average bat-to-ball skills with average swing decisions and fringe-average power. He is an advanced hitter with an up-and-down corner outfield profile.

Victor Scott, OF. A standout athlete drafted by the Cardinals in the fifth round of the 2022 draft out of West Virginia, Scott is a plus-plus runner with plus raw power but below-average bat-to-ball skills. A strong defender, Scott has the speed and athleticism to stick in center field long term. 

Edwin Nunez, RHP. Nunez has loud stuff but has struggled with command throughout his professional career. Nunez pairs a mid-90s four-seam fastball with a plus low-80s slider with over 18 inches of sweep on average. Nunez has the stuff to develop into a high-leverage reliever but his command is a major hurdle. 

Dionys Rodriguez, RHP. An undersized righthander who made 25 starts in 2022 for High-A Peoria, Rodriguez pairs a mid-90s four-seam fastball with a low-80s slider, a mid-80s changeup and a mid-to-high-80s cutter. 

Jeremy Rivas, SS. A standout defender at shortstop, Rivas is a defense-over-everything prospect. He shows average bat-to-ball skills, but his plate skills are dragged down by an overzealous approach. Rivas fits best as a defensive replacement capable of filling in at multiple positions across the infield. 

Pedro Pages, C. The best defensive catcher in the Cardinals system, Pages has fringe-average plate skills with above-average raw power. He was left unprotected by the Cardinals in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft, but he went unselected. 

Leonel Sequera, RHP. An undersized righthander signed out of Venezuela as a part of the Cardinals 2022 international class, Sequera performed across 11 appearances in the Dominican Summer League during his pro debut. He pairs a low-90s fastball with ride and cut with a low-80s slider that generated whiffs at a 42% rate in 2022. He’s a high-upside arm with projection remaining on his fastball. 

Michael Curialle, 3B. Curialle was a standout high school star at California powerhouse JSerra Catholic, where Curialle replaced 2017 No. 1 overall pick Royce Lewis as the starting shortstop. Curialle matriculated to UCLA, where he underperformed over three seasons with the Bruins and struggled to meet expectations. He fell to the Cardinals in the 12th round in 2022 and signed for a bonus of $150,000.