The St. Louis Cardinals are kicking off Spring training with a bang, bringing the heat with them to Jupiter, Florida.
Temperatures in Jupiter, Florida are heating up at Roger Dean Stadium during the initial days of Spring training for the St. Louis Cardinals. No, it’s not global warming, but Cardinals’ hurlers are bringing the heat with triple digit numbers on the radar gun. A trio of Redbirds have reached at least 100 MPH thus far, which is an excellent sign for the future, including the here and now for 2018.
H is for Hudson
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) February 21, 2018
H is for Helsley
H is for Hicks
H is for HEAT#STLCards prospects Dakota Hudson, Ryan Helsley & Jordan Hicks (who hit 102 mph) are lighting up radar guns in Florida (and they're going to jump up on the new @Cardinals Top 30 list too): https://t.co/FjwwbpnlaM pic.twitter.com/yr1wvxaGzV
Joe Trezza of MLB.com gives us a behind-the-scenes scoop on the promise of three St. Louis Cardinals prospects — Ryan Helsley, Jordan Hicks, and Dakota Hudson. All three rank in the top 25 within the St. Louis Cardinals farm system. However, if their performance in Jupiter is any indication of things to come, they might get the call to the MLB level as soon as this season.
St. Cardinals hitters Luke Voit and Kolten Wong lived to tell the tale of their encounters with these three pitchers in the initial stages of the preseason. Wong praised Hicks specifically, impressed with the youngster’s stuff.
"“It’s heavy, hard and with lots of sink… He’s going to shatter some bats.”"
A lot of hype surrounded Hicks coming into Spring training, and Voit says to believe everything you hear.
"” I was impressed, just like everybody else was.”"
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Not to be outdone, Helsley caught the eye of teammates and coaches — showing off his arsenal of four pitches. His go-to pitch is the fastball, which reaches 98 MPH consistently, even exceeding 100 MPH, at times. He also boasts a nasty sinker and a “wipeout” slider.
Hitting triple digits wasn’t the highlight of the week when Helsley struck out contact hitter Breyvic Valera — a rarity come to find out.
"“He never strikes out. If I struck him out, it was an OK day.”"
Indeed it was an “OK” day and may be an even better tomorrow for him and the St. Louis Cardinals. Outside of signing All-Star slugger Marcell Ozuna, the Cardinals haven’t done much else in MLB free agency to counter the Chicago Cubs or the Milwaukee Brewers.
Next: Dexter Fowler expects to have a tremendous 2018
However, they may not have to, with their young pitchers developing much sooner than expected. Plus, with the return of Alex Reyes from Tommy John surgery, the Cardinals may have found a more affordable way to solve their bullpen woes from a year ago and spend their money on adding a few more offensive pieces to the puzzle instead.