Spring training is in full swing and the St. Louis Cardinals are creating plenty of buzz. The reigning National League champions have a stacked roster at the major league level. It is the continued improvement of the players in the farm system that keeps the fans coming back for more early in spring.
The roster offers very few surprises for 2014. This is a great time of year to get a glimpse of a team’s future, however. The future stars around the diamond for the Cardinals are keeping fans chattering about the possibilities.
Buzz is not always a positive thing. While the Cardinals have plenty of positive things happening around the youth in the organization, one of the team’s top prospects, Oscar Taveras, has yet to take the field. There is also no timetable for when he will. Kolten Wong, another prospect that is slated to have a spot in the starting lineup this season, is turning heads with his continued lack of production. The work ethic is there but the results will need to come around eventually.
Meanwhile, Randal Grichuk, the newest prospects in camp, is doing all the right things to prove that he is ready to realize his potential in a new uniform. Sometimes, it is the work going on before and after the games that lay the ground work for future opportunities.
Of course, it is the surplus of young pitching that always draws attention and the Cardinals have young pitching in a seemingly endless stockpile. That stockpile showed up in a big way over the weekend and had fans chattering almost immediately.
The following prospects are causing plenty of buzz with fans and pundits alike this spring.
Statistics in the following article are sourced from MLB.com unless otherwise noted.