It is the moment everyone has been waiting for. The first recap of the season! After a hopefully draft and a decent start of the season where I was hanging around 10th place, the team has faltered down to last. Which is expected. I started making moves that traded away my best performing players for prospects. If everyone pans out, we should be looking at a very formidable team in the coming years.
Lets start with the bad. The players who did not pan out for me.
Caleb Durbin – Has been a giant failure with the bat and has resulted in me dropping him.
Evan Carter – Never came around. All of his numbers are bad and i decided to dop him.
Kristian Campbell – While he was picked up as a prospect, after about a month I took a look at his numbers and they were not good. Basically all of the problems he had before, he made worse. He was dropped to make room for a trade.
Luis Morales – He did not look good in his time in the big leagues. I ended up dropping him for some better opportunities.
Cade Horton – This one is a little unfair, he looked good, until he needed tommy john surgery. This was a big blow for my team. He will be riding the bench the rest of the year.
Shane Bieber – Originally projected to be back the first week of May, he is still sitting on the IL and has not made any rehab starts.
Cam Smith – I still have hope for Cam. His advanced numbers all point to him being a better player than his production indicates. Not a all-star level player, but someone who should be hitting around 0.250, walking a lot, and stealing bases. Which is what I want him around for.
We had several players who either performed exactly how I thought or were just kind of meh that we do not need to get into. Instead lets jump right into the good that has come to the team.
Nico Hoerner – Got off to a hot start. Upped value enough for me to trade him.
Bryan Reynolds – A consistent hitter overall, got good enough to include in a trade package to get some extra value.
Dalton Rushing – Started off red hot, however, playing time has been a big concern and he has started to cool.
Seiya Suzuki – After coming off the IL he went on a heater. I was able to trade him off for some big pieces.
Parker Messick – Red hot out of the gate. I wanted to keep him around, but I got offered a trade that was too good to pass up.
Call ups – Colt Emerson and Noah Schultz have made their big league debuts and are getting the experience they are needing.
Above I mentioned trading players away, in total I have completed 6 trades since the draft. If you want an in-depth look at those trades I will put them below. I wanted to show the team off first, and give my thoughts on each player.
Batters:
C – Adley Rutschman – Performing well, still looking to trade him.
1B – Alec Burleson – Been too streaky with his good and bad, but overall has been solid.
2B – Ceddanne Rafaela – Making good strides this year.
3B – Nick Gonzales – No power to speak of, but a solid role player to fill a need.
SS – Colt Emerson – A tough start to his big league career, but I am glad he is getting experience.
OF – Carson Benge – Since picking him up, he has been phenomenal for me.
OF – Cam Smith – Hoping for a turn around.
OF – Daulton Varsho – Looks like a solid player.
U – Dalton Rushing – Started off hot, has cooled down.
U – Daniel Susac – Just came off of IL, hoping his hot bat continues.
Bench – Jett Williams – Starting to heat up in the minors.
Bench – Josue De Paula – Looking good in the minors.
Bench – Braden Montgomery – Tore up double A and then got promoted to Triple A, hoping he gets called up before end of the year.
Pitchers
Sean Burke – Been extremely average.
Noah Cameron – Has not been great, got for the next few years.
Bubba Chandler – Up and down, but high upside.
Braydon Fisher – Just picked up, been solid.
Kyle Leahy – Been extremely average, picked up to fill up a roster spot.
Noah Schultz – Ups and Downs but getting the experience he needs.
Jack Wenninger – Might get a call up with Clay Holmes injured and the other call up did not look great. He has been stellar in Triple A.
Shane Bieber – Still on IL.
Seth Hernandez – #3 prospect in baseball. Looking good.
Cade Horton – Out for year.
Rhett Lowder – Shoulder injury, started to fade before that.
Spencer Schwellenbach – On IL, hoping to comeback soon.
Hagen Smith – Been okay, in the minors, learning.
Blake Snell – Made on start and then back to the IL.
Thomas White – Top Prospect, looking okay in minors, been hurt.
This team is a bottom dwelling team at the moment. I am very realistic with that. However, I have a ton of hope for this team. We have a lot of potential, and since we are at the bottom I can afford to sit on guys and try to let them figure it out.
Since we started with batters last time, lets take a dive into my pitchers of the future. First, lets take a look at my Tier 1 guys.
Seth Hernandez – He is not projected to be called up until 2028, but at his current trajectory I wouldn’t be surprised to see him up next year. He has been dominating the minor leagues. He has a strong arm I am hoping he is the ace of my staff for years to come. At only 19 he has a lot of room to grow and could potentially develop even deadlier stuff. Arm health is a concern with any pitcher, so hopefully the Pirates are taking care of him.
Noah Schultz – A shaky start to his big league career, but the talent is there. He needs to get some more control of his pitches, which should come with time. He is only 22 years old so he has plenty of time to grow. Standing at 6’10” his long arms and legs distract hitters and releases so close to the plate his perceived velocity is off the charts. I think he should work on his control, even if that means dropping down his speed on pitches. Releasing so close to the plate will give him more speed than the radar suggests.
Spencer Scwellenbach – When healthy, we have seen what he is capable of. The key is him staying healthy. The second half of the season will be a big tell on how his arm will hold up. At only 25 he is still young and a future ace of this staff.
Cade Horton – A dominant rookie year had my hopes high, the elbow injury at the beginning of the season is a concern. He will need to prove he can still be dominant when he returns next year. I have confidence that he will get back to his dominant ways.
I have several players in my Tier 2 categories. This are guys who are still young and could be dominant, but they need to prove it still, or there is just a hint of doubt in my mind.
Noah Cameron – 26 – needs to eliminate hard hits.
Bubba Chandler – 23 – needs to limit his walks.
Rhett Lowder – 24 – needs to stay healthy and get some swing and miss stuff.
Hagen Smith – 22 – up and down in minors, but has potential.
Thomas White – 21 – injury bug needs to stay away from him.
Now lets take a look at my top batters of the future, starting with the Tier 1 guys.
Colt Emerson – Has not looked great since his major league call up, but he is still young and learning. His fielding is excellent and his one hit so far was a home run. Give him time to get his footing and he will be a solid player for our team.
Carson Benge – After a really rough start to the year he has found his swing. More importantly, he is getting on base and getting steals. He is still young and building into his frame, the power should show up in the coming years. The most impressive part was being able to make adjustments at the big league level. This leads me to believe he will be able to stick around and become a star.
Alec Burleson – He is a bit older than the rest of my team, but still only 27. In my opinion he will never be a 30 homer guy, at least not on the Cardinals. His bat to ball skills are too good. He will gladly take his slap double to left field if the other team is going to give it to him. He still has power and will run into some. The Cardinals are letting him use those bat to ball skills though and encourage it. Other teams might tell him to focus on the power. I will take a 0.300 AVG, 25 homer, 100 RBI first baseman every day though.
Ceddanne Rafaela – His numbers don’t jump off the page at you, but for a second baseman his numbers are respectable. He is still coming into his own and has dealt with minor injuries this year. I expect him to become more of an offensive threat in the coming years.
The next tier if what I am calling 1a. These are my minor league guys who are doing really well. However, I believe it it is much harder for hitters to adjust to major league pitching than pitchers to adjust to batters, so I can’t count them as tier 1 until I see them up.
Jett Williams – doing great in Triple A, especially with stealing bases.
Josue De Paula – in a loaded Dodgers organization but is raking.
Braden Montgomery – looks really good in Triple A, and is a guy I was originally looking at in the draft, but didn’t get.
My Tier 2 batters consists of guys who are young but need to either get playing time to prove they can stay on a team, or they need to prove more with their bat.
Cam Smith – 23- Advanced numbers say he should be better.
Dalton Rushing – 25 – Needs to get consistent playing time.
Daniel Susac – 25 – Needs to get consistent playing time.
I apologize for the long recap, a lot has happened since the start of the season. Hopefully another recap will go out around the trade deadline. For anyone interested in the trades that were done, please look below, for everyone else, thanks for reading!
Latest Trades
4/11/26 – Seiya Suzuki and Parker Messick for Jesus Made and Ceddanne Rafaela
It was tough to part with Parker Messick, he was doing great things, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get Jesus Made. At the time he was #3 prospect in baseball, now he is up to #1.
4/12/26 – Carlos Correa for Andrew Abbott
This just felt like a no brainer. Correa is old and wouldn’t be good when my team is good. Abbott was having a down year, but is still young and had bounce back potential.
4/28/26 – Corey Seager, Abner Uribe, and Nico Hoerner for Mookie Betts, Noah Cameron, Carson Benge, and Anthony Volpe
To start with, Corey Seager and Mookie Betts were including to essentially even out salary to make the deal work. The deal centered around getting Cameron and Benge. I wanted to capitalize on Nico’s hot start and get good value for him.
5/1/26 – Emmanuel Rodriguez for Emerson Hancock and Braxton Ashcraft
This one came as a surprise to me. I had done trade talks with the guy before this, and he seemed to want a little more for his players. But he sent me this trade and I immediately accepted. I was not sold on Rodriguez and I got two studs.
5/6/26 – Emerson Hancock, Braxton Ashcraft, and Jesus Made for Bubba Chandler, Josue De Paula, Graham Ashcraft, and Thomas White
Hindsight is 20/20, and at the moment, this trade doesn’t look great for me. It has only been a few weeks, and I am sure when it is all said and done this trade will look more even. My main concern is how well Braxton Ashcraft has looked and how many walks Bubba Chandler is getting. Not to mention Thomas White’s ‘undisclosed injury’. However, in a few years if this trade ends up with #3 starter Emerson Hancock, #2 starter Braxton Ashcraft, and Jesus Made being a top 10 players in baseball for #1 starter Thomas white, #4 starter Bubba Chandler, and top 20 player Josue De Paula, I would be okay with it.
5/19/26 – Bryan Reynolds, Mookie Betts, and Andrew Abbott for Blake Snell, Braden Montgomery, and Spencer Scwellenbach
This was a move decided on the fact my team is going to be in the basement. Spencer will be ready for next year and ideally Braden will make the major league roster by the start of next season. Blake Snell will hopefully comeback before the trade deadline and I can flip him for a young guy.
The Kutty Katt's Thoughts 