ST. LOUIS – Nearly one month into the Minor League Baseball season, the St. Louis Cardinals have prospects finding their strides at nearly every level of the farm system.
In recent weeks, second baseman Nolan Gorman, outfielder Moisés Gómez and shortstop Masyn Winn have kept hitting and hitting, giving Cardinals fans a glimpse of the future.
Nolan Gorman, a 2018 first-round draft pick and second baseman for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, is hitting .298 with a Triple-A-leading 11 home runs and 17 runs batted in. He has strung together a 16-game hitting streak from April 8 to April 30, which included a power surge of six home runs over six games.
Gorman recently took home International League Player of the Month honors in April. He hit .338 in the season’s first month, which has paced him among the Top 10 Triple-A hitters in slugging percentage and OPS.
MLB Pipeline ranks Gorman 31st among minor-league prospects and No. 2 in the Cardinals’ farm system. The strong start could have him knocking on the door of a major league debut, despite a crowded infield with Tommy Edman at second base.
Moisés Gómez, an outfielder for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, is also raking in recent weeks. Gómez, who signed with the Cardinals as a minor league free agent last winter, has hit his way to one of the more surprising starts in minor league baseball. He currently leads the Texas League, one of three Double-A divisions, with 14 home runs, 30 RBI and a .410 batting average.
Gómez slugged his way to not only the Texas League’s Player of the Month honors, but also the St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Player of the Month accolades. He has showed no signs of slowing down, riding an eight-game hitting streak into Saturday and picking up hits in all but three of 22 games this season. More impressively, he has two three-game home run streaks and three other instances of home runs on back-to-back games.
Gómez is making a strong case for a minor-league promotion to Triple-A Memphis, but that may take some time with steady contributions from fellow outfielders Lars Nootbaar, Alec Burleson and Conner Capel. He was unranked in MLB Pipeline’s latest-released team prospect rankings.
Down at the Single-A level, Masyn Winn is taking charge of the Peoria Chiefs’ offense in the Midwest League. Winn, a second-round draft pick in 2020, is leading qualified hitters in the Midwest League with six triples, a .465 on-base percentage, and a 1.118 OPS. His 28 hits and 11 stolen bases also rank within the Top 5 in the league.
Winn was drafted out of high school as a shortstop and pitcher, but has invested most of his first two minor league seasons as a hitter. He tossed one scoreless inning for the Peoria Chiefs last September. This season, he has yet to take the mound this season. Regardless, he is adding to his craft as a reliable contact hitter with speed.
MLB Pipeline ranks Winn as the fifth-top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Like Gorman and Gómez, his fast start could lead to consideration for a minor league promotion.
To track Cardinals prospects, including MLB Pipeline’s top-ranked players in the organization, click here.