Future Redbirds

Without further ado, my Top 5:

5. Adam Ottavino. I’m actually sort of disappointed in Ottavino, mostly due to hindsight and who the Cardinals could’ve had. (JOBA!). I’m most worried about the decline in his K% as the season went on, and his command comes and goes. Compare his peripheral stats with the Mitch Boggs of 2006, and Boggs has better fielding independent numbers. On the positive, he does have very good stuff, and a ceiling higher then about any pitcher in the system other then Garcia.

4. Chris Perez. I have my worries about this dude as well. The walks have got to be curbed or he will not survive. His pure stuff is probably the best in the system but if he can’t control it then he will walk down the path of David Aardsma path of college closers, versus the Chad Cordero, Huston Street path.

3. Bryan Anderson. KG ranked him the 2nd best catcher in the game midseason, and PECOTA pegged Anderson as the third best catching prospect going into 2007. Yes, he did sputter down the stretch, but he’s a young catcher, they wear out from time to time. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who happens to be Anderson’s #4 PECOTA comp had a whopping .724 OPS in 2006, and reestablished himself as one of the game’s best prospects the following year. Hopefully he’ll stop sliding, but in any case, what he did as a 20 year old in AA isn’t anything to sneeze at.

2. Jaime Garcia. It sometimes feels like the system’s overall value can hinges much on his left elbow. The dominance + groundball rates here are elite, but I’m not fond of the walks. But all things considered, he was young for his league and still did pretty well. I think he will be the future number two or three starter, we just need to cross our fingers and hope he really is as fine as we’re told.

1. Colby Rasmus, of course. I am really looking forward to the Rasmus era. My only apprehension regarding him is he’s so exceptionally streaky. He’s either red-hot or ice cold and almost never runs in between.