- 22 years old – (HiA Palm Beach / Double-A Springfield / Triple-A Memphis)
- 13th round – 2014
- Pearce just turned 23 this week and has already seen time at HiA Palm Beach (HiA) and Triple-A Memphis. He Ranked in the #5 slot last season and blew away his (9) Factor Score, but held his TPS rate steady. He would blow-up as a prospect if he could only miss more bats. Known more as a finesse pitcher, Pearce’s peripherals were promising across three levels in 2016. In work-horse fashion, Pearce threw 163.2 innings and posted a 3.08 ERA and 1.057 WHIP. Look for the 6’3″- 205 lb. right-hander to spend more time at Double-A in 2017.
- 22 years old – (HiA Palm Beach / Double-A Springfield)
- 4th round – 2014
- Gomber is the lone lefty in a right-hander dominated system, which increases his fantasy ‘stash’ value. What lacks in Pearce, you will find in Gomber. The imposing 6″5″- 235 lb. pitcher registered very Pearce-comprable ERA and WHIP stats, but his 8.2 K/9 rate makes him a bit more attractive.
- 19 years old – (LoA Peoria / HiA Palm Beach)
- International Free Agent – 2014
- Fernandez has held is own despite facing much older competition, and being the youngest pitcher in the Florida State League. The teenage righty was added to the Spring Training roster recently to fill the void from injuries and other pitchers playing the World Baseball Classic. This is good news, as quality time spent working on his command of a plus- fastball (that can run up into the high 90’s) is nothing but positive. He also exhibits a plus change-up, which could place his ceiling as a late-inning reliever. He holds onto his #3 spot, earning the “Legit UTR” stamp.
- 20 years old – (LoA Peoria / HiA Palm Beach)
- International Free Agent – 2013
- To be honest, I had to back track into last years’ spreadsheet to see how close Alcantara came from making the 2015 UTR-OAS roster. If you look back to 2015, he was so close and almost got the “One to Watch” for 2016. Wow, I missed that one, as the 20-year old averaged 28.8 strikeout percentage over two levels. Joseph Werner over at ProspectDigest.com reported that hasn’t happened since Tyler Glasnow in 2014.
- 21 years old – (LoA Peoria)
- 5th round – 2015
- OK UTR Fans…..remember this kids name. And I state that with the same enthusiasm as I did back in 2011 with Trevor Rosenthal at LoA Quad Cities. I then drafted him prior to the 2013 fantasy season and he’s still on my roster. My system hit on Rosenthal when he was starting games, thus making his way as the Cardinals’ closer when the rotation was busting at the seams with arms. Don’t rule out that he could return back to his roots with Seung hwan Oh projected to be the closer in 2017. So here’s Helsley, a starter, but I project him to be the future closer, with his fastball touching triple-digits (100 mph). The now 22-year old was the best kept secret in 2016 with LoA Peoria and has yet receive the deserved ink….so he’ll get it here. He made 11 appearances (9 starts) in the Appy League in 2015 posting a 2.01 ERA over 40.1 innings. He jumped to full season LoA and went 10-2 with a 1.61 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and 10.3 SO/9 rate (109 K’s) in 95 innings. I always try to select a true UTR (below 5th round draft pick) as my “One to Watch”, but Helsley makes the 2017 choice too obvious.
- 24 years old – (LoA Peoria / HiA Palm Beach)
- 25th round – 2014
- Beck was a 2014 UTR-OAS as a starter. Back then, I wrote about the abundance of relief arms within the Cardinal system and that Beck would probably remain as a starter. The table has turned with Beck having the most saves (11) of any reliever in the Cards system below Double-A.
- 24 years old – (LoA Peoria / HiA Palm Beach)
- 26th round – 2014
- 23 years old – (LoA Peoria / HiA Palm Beach)
- 9th round – 2012
- A converted outfielder that throws in the upper 90’s along with deception. Could be decent future set-up guy.
Under The Radar Minors 