ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis Cardinals fans have a lot to look forward to in the next few years after seeing a few prospects named to a top-50 list. The three Cardinals prospects named to the list compiled by The Athletic's Keth Law is the most of any National League Central club.
Here's who they are and where they rank:
No. 24 - Matthew Liberatore, LHP
He's on the door step of making his MLB debut with St. Louis later this season as the Cardinals need pitching. The 21-year-old had a rough start to his season playing in Triple-A for the first time, but has looked dominant recently. On Wednesday, he pitched six scoreless innings, striking out nine and walking no one.
He also made two starts for Team USA to help win the Olympic qualifying tournament, but he's not part of the roster going to Tokyo.
No. 47 - Nolan Gorman, 3B
Another 21-year-old, and childhood best friend of Liberatore, Gorman was promoted to Triple-A last month and is one of the leaders in home runs (15) for all of Minor League Baseball.
Law says Gorman "still has trouble with left-handed pitching, with a huge platoon split so far this year," but has tremendous raw power.
No. 49 - Jordan Walker, 3B
The first-round pick from 2020, Walker ripped through Low-A pitching with a .374 average and six home runs in 27 games. He's come slightly back to Earth since being promoted to High-A and is trying to regain his power at the plate.
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The 19-year-old is "a high-upside but very high-risk athlete," Law says. He believes that if is bat develops he could be a superstar.
Also mentioned, but not ranked, was another Cardinals' third base prospect, Malcolm Nunez. He's bounced between High-A and Double-A this year but has been the youngest player in High-A most of the year. Between the two levels he's hitting .258 with five home runs and 26 RBI.
Not mentioned by Law were three players ranked higher than Walker on the MLB.com list of top Cardinals prospects: Ivan Herrera, Zack Thompson and Masyn Winn.
Here's where players from the rest of the NL Central clubs ranked on the list:
Cubs
20 - Brennan Davis, OF
Reds
3 - Hunter Greene, RHP
31 - Matt McLain, SS
Pirates
15 - Henry Davis, C
48 - Quinn Priester, RHP
Brewers
None
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