The focus in the St. Louis Cardinals and Arizona Diamondbacks deal is on the two players who have been in the majors, but there’s another player involved as well.
The Arizona Diamondbacks traded away franchise icon Paul Goldschmidt on Wednesday, and while Carson Kelly and Luke Weaver are getting the majority of the attention in the deal, the Diamondbacks also acquired infielder Andy Young in the deal. Let’s take a deeper look at Young.
Player Profile
Undrafted out of high school in North Dakota, Andy Young went first to Neosho County Community College in Kansas, and then from there to Indiana State University. Over his two seasons at Indiana State, he hit .297/.397/.488 with 30 doubles, 6 triples, 13 home runs, and 10 stolen bases over 110 games, posting a BB/K of 44/60. The Cardinals found that production still available in the 37th round of the 2016 draft and jumped on it.
Young hit his way up past the GCL to the New York-Penn League in his draft year, posting a .271/.356/.406 slash line with 5 doubles, 6 triples, 3 home runs, and 3 stolen bases while putting up a 17/47 BB/K ratio over 53 games and 225 plate appearances.
In his first full minor league season, Young made a huge impression, starting out at low-A in 2017 and finishing the year in AA. Overall, he hit .278/.359/.471 with 20 doubles, 4 triples, 17 home runs, 8 steals, and a 33/104 BB/K over 117 games and 470 plate appearances.
Young’s solid hitting continued in 2018 as he opened the year in high-A and worked his way up to AA for the second half of the season. Overall, he hit .289/.379/.479 with 13 doubles, 3 triples, 21 home runs, 4 steals, and a 38/85 BB/K ratio.
The Cardinals selected Young to represent the organization in the Arizona Fall League this fall, and he had an impressive showing for Surprise, going .301/.416/.521 with 5 doubles, a triple, 3 home runs, a stolen base, and a 14/17 BB/K over 20 games and 89 plate appearances.