The Cardinals are set to name up infield prospect Thomas Saggese for his main league debut, experiences Robert Murray of FanSided. He’s not on the 40-man roster, so St. Louis might want to formally choose his contract from Triple-A Memphis. The Playing cards have already got a pair of vacancies on the 40-man, nevertheless, so that they’ll solely want a corresponding transfer on the energetic 28-man roster.
Saggese, 22, was acquired from the Rangers within the 2023 deadline commerce sending left-hander Jordan Montgomery and reliever Chris Stratton to Texas. Baseball America at the moment ranks him because the system’s fifth-best prospect. He’s hitting .253/.313/.438 with 20 house runs, 23 doubles, three triples, 9 steals (in 13 makes an attempt), a 23.1% strikeout price and 5.9% stroll price in 528 plate appearances this season. BA describes Saggese as a “bat-first center infielder” with an aggressive strategy however above-average contact abilities and a knack for barreling the ball.
Although he’s hung out in any respect three infield positions to the left of first base, Saggese’s main place within the minors has been second base. He’s logged extra time at shortstop than second base this season, maybe in a bid to diversify his ability set, however Masyn Winn’s breakout has solidified shortstop at Busch Stadium and Nolan Arenado stays entrenched on the scorching nook. Saggese’s clearest path to a daily function with the Cardinals can be at second base, which scouting experiences really feel is his finest place anyhow. He has competitors in the long run, primarily within the type of Nolan Gorman, however the slugging Gorman has struggled this season and has but to obviously stake his declare because the Playing cards’ second baseman of the longer term.
Gorman’s struggles reached a boiling level final month, when he was optioned to Triple-A himself. The Cardinals have been utilizing versatile Brendan Donovan at second base since, however Donovan has been hobbled by a foot harm not too long ago and (speculatively talking) may very well be certain for the injured checklist. Even when Donovan avoids and IL stint, calling Saggese to the majors each offers the Cardinals a short-term different and affords them a have a look at a possible key piece of their future infield.
Saggese additionally gives some insurance coverage for Winn at shortstop within the occasion that Donovan misses both a pair extra video games — he was out of Sunday’s lineup — or heads to the injured checklist. Previous to the Saggese transfer, Jose Fermin was the one shortstop choice on the roster apart from Winn and Donovan. If Donovan is sidelined for any time period, Fermin would’ve been ticketed to step in and second base, leaving the Playing cards with no actual backup to Winn at quick.
Saggese would’ve been eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason and would’ve been a slam-dunk to be chosen, so the Cardinals have been all the time going so as to add him to the roster previous to mid-November’s safety deadline. The present well being standing of their infield group could have pressured the problem a bit sooner, however that’ll solely serve to get Saggese some late-season reps in opposition to massive league pitching — a notable growth for him on condition that he’d nearly definitely have been referred to as to the majors in some unspecified time in the future in 2025 anyhow. He clearly received’t obtain a full yr of service at this level, so Saggese stays on observe free of charge company no sooner than the 2030-31 offseason and arbitration eligibility no before the 2027-28 offseason.
