Central STL News

On Thursday, several notable performances were recorded across Minor League Baseball. Among them, Rainiel Rodriguez, the St. Louis Cardinals' No. 4 prospect and ranked No. 95 in MLB, had a strong debut for High-A Peoria by collecting three hits and four RBIs. This marked his third game in the past ten days with at least four runs batted in. The 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic has posted a 1.018 OPS in August with 49 total bases over 22 games and leads all qualified Cardinals Minor Leaguers with a 166 wRC+ this season. His 20 home runs are the most among any player participating in their age-18 campaign.

Other prospects also stood out during Thursday's games. Travis Bazzana of Columbus hit a walk-off two-run homer for Triple-A Columbus, which was his first home run at that level since joining last month as the first overall pick in the 2024 Draft. Bryce Eldridge of Sacramento added his 24th home run of the year, setting a new personal best while leading all Giants Minor Leaguers with a .249 isolated power (ISO) statistic this season.

Franklin Arias of Portland became just the fourth teenager to homer at Double-A this season after advancing through Boston’s system following several key promotions to Major League Baseball earlier in the year.

Cam Caminiti delivered six scoreless innings for Single-A Augusta, finishing his outing with seven strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 2.08 across thirteen starts.

In Somerset, Ben Hess threw his first complete game—a rain-shortened contest—striking out five consecutive batters to open the game and allowing three runs or fewer for thirteen straight starts dating back to High-A.

Pedro Ramirez set a career high with five hits—including three doubles—for Double-A Knoxville and has maintained a .278 average despite rarely facing younger pitchers this season.

Zach Cole provided Triple-A Sugar Land’s first walk-off grand slam since becoming an Astros affiliate in 2021; he has hit five homers and driven in twelve runs over nine games since his promotion.

Kendall George reached one hundred stolen bases on Thursday night for High-A Great Lakes, swiping four bags on a three-hit night. He is now just the fourth Minor Leaguer since 2005 to reach triple digits in steals during a single season.

For more updates about news and ticket information from both the Cardinals and Major League Baseball, fans can subscribe to receive alerts directly via email.

"An exemplary debut season stateside just keeps on getting better for the 18-year-old from the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez collected three hits and four RBIs in his first game for High-A Peoria, his third time plating at least four runs over the past 10 days. It’s been an otherworldly heater for Rodriguez, who posted a 1.018 OPS in August with 49 total bases in 22 games. He leads all qualified Cardinals Minor Leaguers with a 166 wRC+ this season and his 20 homers are the most among any player suiting up for their age-18 campaign."

Have the latest news, ticket information, and more from the Cardinals and MLB delivered right to your inbox.