The Cardinals signed catcher Chance Sisco to a minor league deal last week, as initially noted on Sisco’s MLB.com profile page. Sisco has already been on the field with Triple-A Memphis, which marked his first action in affiliated ball since he played with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in 2022.
Formerly a top-100 prospect during his days in the Orioles’ farm system, Sisco had a few flashes of that potential over four-plus MLB seasons in Baltimore from 2017-21, but he ended his O’s tenure with a .199/.319/.339 slash line over 598 plate appearances. After the Mets claimed Sisco off the Orioles’ waiver wire in June 2021, the catcher appeared in five games with New York and he hasn’t since been back in the big leagues.
Following his 2022 season in the Twins’ farm system, Sisco played in the Mexican League in 2023, and has spent parts of the last two seasons with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He has a whopping .274/.416/.609 slash line over his 399 PA with the Ducks, and that production helped land a spot on the Memphis roster.
Sisco gives the Cardinals a bit of extra catching depth while Willson Contreras is on the 10-day injured list. Contreras fractured his middle finger after being hit by a pitch on August 24, but the fracture wasn’t serious enough to require surgery, so he is tentatively slated to return around the middle of September. Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages are handling catching duties in the interim, and Sisco brings a bit of added experience at the Triple-A level.