Editor’s Note: A.E. Schafer aka the red baron has once again compiled a rather impressive list of Cardinals prospects doing a write-up on 40 individual prospects. As a convenience to our readers, he releases the list in a couple big chunks so everyone can read about all of the prospects at once. While that is a convenience to all of us who eagerly await the arrival of prospect lists, it might not be as convenient if you are looking for a player’s particular scouting report. So, as a further convenience, we are putting the individual scouting reports in separate posts to make individual players easier to find. You can find the full lists on our 2018 prospect page here. —CE
Winston Nicasio, RHP — I haven’t seen Winston Nicasio pitch. Ever. He made a short appearance in the High A playoffs this year, but I didn’t get to watch any of those. However, I was told in the course of bothering one of my very few organisational sources that Nicasio was a guy I should pay attention to. So here I am, throwing the name out.
Here’s what I know: Nicasio will turn 21 soon, is 6’2”, wiry, and slings a 92-94 mph fastball from a low arm slot that gives him tremendous run on the pitch. He’s very raw, but has great pure arm speed and a fastball that at least gives him a chance.
This was a short one, so here’s another blurb. This, from Eric Lohenhagen at FanGraphs:
A 20-year-old Dominican righty who got a six-inning cup of coffee out of the High-A bullpen at the end of the year, Nicacio pitched fairly well in the GCL, posting a 2.61 ERA in 51.2 innings. He sits 90-94 with a Madison Bumgarner-y delivery, will flash an average breaking ball and changeup. He’s a potential back-end starter who’s a great distance from the majors.
Only one more short write-up to go before we get to the big list.