Cardinals prospect Thomas Saggese working on limiting whiffs in Fall League

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Late within the 2024 season, Thomas Saggese had an illuminating dialog with Cardinals right-hander and 2021AL All-Star Andrew Kittredge concerning the younger infielder’s strategy on the dish.

“He was telling me he has good command, and generally to him, meaning he can throw strikes when he desires to, however not essentially paint the corners,” Saggese stated. “Clearly he has good management and he can manipulate the ball the place it’s going to the surface a part of the plate or inside a part of the plate. However he was like, ‘We don’t have loopy, loopy management.’ … [Major League hitting coach Turner Ward] was saying the identical factor, ‘They’ve to return into your zone. It is advisable to get them in your zone,’ and that’s helped lots. [It’s] actually simply placing in a aware effort.”

The message appears to be sinking on this autumn.

The Cardinals’ No. 4 prospect has reached base in every of his 11 Arizona Fall League video games — the third-longest on-base streak within the loop thus far — after going 2-for-3 with a double and two walks on Sunday in Glendale’s 8-4 win over Peoria at Camelback Ranch.

Saggese’s .519 on-base proportion ranks second within the AFL by way of the primary three weeks of the season, and his 11 walks (in comparison with 9 strikeouts) are tied for third-most on the prospect-laden circuit. He’s finished that over 52 plate appearances, the identical quantity he collected within the Majors following his debut with St. Louis on Sept. 10. Saggese walked solely twice, or 3.8 % of the time, in The Present.

Evaluating Main League pitching to Fall League pitching isn’t an excellent one-for-one, particularly when so many arms within the desert are right here after lengthy layoffs. However Saggese has regarded notably completely different throughout his days with the Desert Canine. Per Statcast, he swung at 41.2 % of the pitches he noticed exterior the zone within the Majors, the best fee amongst St. Louis gamers on the prime degree. His 37.3 % chase fee at Triple-A was solely reasonably higher. On Sunday, the gloveless right-handed slugger noticed 13 pitches out of the zone and solely provided twice (15.4 %).

A kind of out-of-the-zone swings resulted in Saggese’s fourth-inning single on a 1-2 slider from right-hander Ryan Birchard (Brewers) that landed beneath the zone on the surface nook. In earlier months and years, that might have strengthened Saggese’s aggressive strategy; on Sunday, very similar to jazz, he’ll focus extra on the swings he didn’t take.

“I’ve at all times been see-ball, hit-ball,” Saggese stated. “However I’m extra pondering together with the pitcher and what he is making an attempt to do and actually not giving the pitchers an excessive amount of credit score. They’re making an attempt to throw strikes. They’ll miss in the course of the zone lots, and after they do, that’s after I make my cash.”

True to the phrase, Saggese’s double got here on a 2-2 slider that right-hander Ryan Bourassa (Braves) didn’t bury beneath the zone within the fifth inning, permitting the Glendale No. 2 hitter to hook it down the left-field line and drive dwelling two runs.

Acquired from the Rangers finally 12 months’s Commerce Deadline within the Jordan Montgomery deal, the 2020 fifth-rounder entered the Cardinals system with a bat-first fame. He was the 2023 Texas League MVP after main the Double-A circuit in common (.318), OPS (.936), wRC+ (142), hits (158), extra-base hits (60) and whole bases (274) between each Frisco and Springfield. However his swing-heavy methods have been uncovered at Triple-A Memphis to start 2024, the place he slashed .253/.313/.438 in 125 video games for a below-average 93 wRC+.

Earlier than his promotion to the Majors, Saggese heard from the Cardinals that they deliberate to ship him to the Arizona Fall League, hoping to get him extra seems at second (the place he’s performed completely with Glendale) and to hone in on his offensive plan. His ascent to The Present didn’t change that, and his early outcomes have confirmed {that a} extra affected person Saggese would possibly arrive on the plate in St. Louis in 2025.

“I do know that they’ve to return to me,” Saggese stated. “After they do, scare them again out of the zone, hit one thing exhausting, do some injury someplace.”