St. Louis Cardinals Prospects To Know
Prospects to know from the St. Louis Cardinals org for 2025.
You are reading the free version of the St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects. In this version, you will get the full writeups on the top prospect in the system, the biggest sleeper, and a player I could see breaking out in 2025.
In this edition, you will see what I offer in the full team reports. For every farm system, you will get my top 50 ranked players and detailed reports on the top 30. Each report includes advanced player data, traditional scouting thoughts from live and video looks, plus thoughts from scouts around the league.
Let’s dive in on what you get in the full report!
Glossary:
FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So, this is a realistic outcome.
90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?
Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.
Format for report: Name/Position/Age on 2025 Opening Day/Height/Weight/Highest Level
St. Louis Cardinals Top Prospects To Know
Cardinals Top Overall Prospect
1. JJ Wetherholt, SS, 22, 5’10”/190, A
Wetherholt entered the 2024 season as a favorite to go 1.1 after an incredible sophomore year in which he slashed .449/.517/.787 with 16 home runs and 36 stolen bases. A strong Cape Cod League performance only solidified the college season. Hamstring injuries have unfortunately hampered some of his career and limited him to just 36 games in 2024. They were impressive nonetheless as Wetherholt slashed .331/.472/.589 with eight home runs. He stole less, just six times, but that is not surprising given the nature of his injury.
The contact skills are some of the best in the class, with an overall contact rate of 84 percent and an in-zone mark north of 88. He rarely chases out of the zone and shows excellent pitch recognition. With a chase rate of 14 percent, the number fell to around 10 percent against breaking and offspeed pitches. Those numbers are the best in college baseball.
You may look at a quick twitch athlete who is smaller and like Wetherholt and question the power, but I would advise against it. The power is legit here. I mentioned the power output last with 16 home runs, backed by a 93 mph average exit velocity and a 105 mph 90th percentile. This year, those numbers took another step forward, sitting at 95 mph average and 108 mph 90th percentile. Wetherholt also posted an impressive 58 percent hard-hit rate.
The biggest question in Wetherholt's profile is how he will handle high-velocity fastballs. Big 12 pitching is not the greatest, and Wetherholt’s numbers against fastballs 94 mph or harder were closer to the league average. He also does not lift the ball much to the pull side.
But if you want an exceptional athlete who can play all over the diamond with tools across the board, Wetherholt is your guy.
FFG: Well-Rounded SS
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .280/.380/22 HR/25 SB
Variance: High Due to Lower Body Injuries
Buy/Sell: Buy
St. Louis Cardinals Sleeper Prospect
6. Jimmy Crooks, C, 23, 6’0”/230, AAA
Crooks spent his entire 2024 season in Double-A Springfield, where he posted a strong .321/.410/.498 slash line with 11 home runs. Crooks missed a chunk of time at both the beginning and end of the 2024 season, but when he was on the field, he was highly productive. This followed a strong 2023 regular season and Arizona Fall League.
The underlying data backs it up as well. Crooks makes contact at a solid 73 percent clip, but the in-zone number was north of 81 percent. He rarely expands the zone, as shown by his 11.6 percent walk rate and chase rate of around 25 percent.
The power numbers are strong, and the quality of contact is near that of the elite. Honestly, some underlying numbers are not all that different from Dalton Rushing from a contact quality standpoint. A 90th percentile exit velocity near 107 mph stands out in a big way.
When Crooks connects, he hits the ball in the air often and has a solid all-fields approach. That is not to say he cannot get to the pull-side, though, as he hit some big-time home runs to right field as a left-handed hitter.
The Cardinals have a lot of catching talent in their system, but Crooks might be the best of the group. He is a skilled bat who threw out 33 percent of attempted base stealers.
FFG: Well-Rounded Catcher
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .275/.350/20 HR/2 SB
Variance: High
Buy/Sell: Buy
Cardinals 2025 Breakout Prospect
7. Yairo Padilla, SS, 17, 6’0”/170, DSL
Padilla enjoyed a successful first pro season in 2024 after signing in January for $760k. He immediately hit the ground running, posting a slash of .287/.391/.404 with a home run and 22 stolen bases. The extra-base hit power has yet to show up as he had five doubles and four triples, but he has a frame to add more strength.
Spending a month of the DSL season as a 16-year-old, he was one of the league’s top performers, showing a well-rounded skillset. The contact skills are good, as Padilla posted strong overall and in-zone contact rates. The switch-hitter did have pretty drastic splits, which were much better than those of a left-handed hitter, but the sample was so small that it is hard to form an opinion.
Padilla shows impressive clock times and is a highly efficient base stealer. Evaluators have graded his clock times at 60-70 grade. If he keeps the speed and taps into more power, Padilla becomes a very intriguing power/speed threat.
If you are looking for a prospect who could breakout in 2025 as he comes stateside, look no further than Padilla.
FFG: Five-Tool SS
90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .285/.340/15 HR/25 SB
Variance: Extreme
Buy/Sell: Buy