Thanks to a well-regarded draft and additional bailout trades, the Cardinals moved their prospect talent base into the upper third of the majors.

At least, that’s what ESPN analyst Kiley McDaniel thinks. After ranking the Cardinals farm system No. 19 before the season, he moved it up to No. 9 in his late season ranking.

Here is how some key hitting prospects are faring:

JJ Wetherholt, INF: The seventh overall pick from 2024 is batting .336 for Triple-A Memphis with a 1.052 OPS after batting .300 with an .891 OPS for Double-A Springfield earlier this season.

Jimmy Crooks, C: The 127 th overall draft pick 2022 is batting .274 with a .778 OPS for Memphis with 14 homers and 79 RBIs. Last year he hit .321 with a .908 OPS while winning Texas League MVP honors for Springfield. In 315 at-b

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