St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Report: Camp Day

Editors' Note: Players, and especially pitchers, often play for multiple different spring training "farm teams" during these back field contests, depending on throw days, rest, and who management wants to see on a given day. So don't put much weight on the current rosters.

Memphis 2 - Springfield 2

Memphis

• David Washington: 2-3, 2 R, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K
• Jack Flaherty: 6 IP, BB, 2K
• Estarlin Arias: 2 IP, 2K
• John Church: 1 IP, K

If it seems like you've been reading David Washington's name in DFR box scores forever it's because you kinda have been, the Cardinals drafted him in 2009 and he has been an organizational soldier ever since. The bad news is that he struck out at a 30% clip in AA as a 24 year old, the good news is he had a double digit walk rate, .200ish ISO and a sky high BABIP and he's had a pretty similar line at almost every level. So if the pattern holds he'll have a 10% BB rate, 30 % K rate, .200 ISO and high BABIP in the big leagues as well, so he's just a year or two of seasoning from being Kris Bryant.

Springfield

• Chris Jacobs (1B): 1-3, R, 2B
• Paul DeJong (3B): 1-3, R, HR, 2 RBI
• Arturo Reyes: 6 IP, 3H, ER, 4K

The Cards snagged DeJong in the 4th round of the 2016 draft, and after a brief stint in rookie ball he moved on to the Midwest League where he hit .288/.360/.438 in 245 plate appearances, which earned him the 16th spot in rb's rankings. He fit the power hitting theme to the Cardinals draft last spring and also fits in with their long-running pattern of drafting/developing older position players with advanced bats and no defensive home. He was a catcher at Illinois State, but injuries moved him out from behind the plate. He has the arm for 3B and RF, but also has some experience at 2B and 1B. He'll turn 23 this season so the Cardinals will likely move him aggressively which means he'll may get a shot at the radically different hitting environments of the Florida State League and the Texas League. If things go very well he may hit himself into the big league picture by the second half of 2017, if they don't he may stall out in the upper minors like Jacob Wilson.

• Darren Seferina (DH): 2-2, R, 2B, 2BB
• RJ Dennard (DH): 2-4, R, 2 RBI
• Danny Diekroeger (3B): 2-4, R, 2 3B, RBI
• Thomas Spitz (RF): 2-4, R, RBI
• Derian Gonzalez: 5 IP, 2 BB, 4K
• Steven Farinaro: 3 IP, H, K

Darren Seferina came in right behind DeJong in rb's rankings. His profile is similar to Kolten Wong's; small frame, solid hit tool from the left side, line drive power, the possibility of plus defense at 2nd and plus base running. He doesn't have the base stealing instincts of Wong, nor the over the fence power, but Wong himself was not a high percentage base stealer in the low minors, and early in his career Wong looked like a guy with gap power as well, so the comparison doesn't completely fall apart. It will be interesting to see how the Cardinals handle him this year, he is still relatively young (22 in January) and the Cardinals have a Plan A at second base for the forseeable future, so the club may be patient with him. Especially since there are a few second basemen looking for traction at the levels above him.

Peoria

• Casey Turgeon (2B): 2-4
  
• David Oca: 3 IP, 2 H, 3 K

Casey Turgeon was a 24th round pick in 2014, and after a solid debut in Johnson City where he hit .306/.428/.446 with 20 extra base hits and more walks than strikeouts in 272 plate appearances, he struggled badly last season in the Florida State League. He still showed a good approach (12.1 BB%, 14.4 K%), but his BABIP also dropped 90 points and he lost more power than can be explained away by his promotion the FSL If he wants to rediscover his status as a fringe prospect he'll need to more than double the .047 ISO he posted last season, keep his solid approach and find the BABIP he lost somewhere between Peoria and Palm Beach.