A Cardinals organization already flush with solid catching prospects could nave another potential star in Sammy Hernandez, who will get a shot to show off his skills in the Arizona Fall League, which begins play on Saturday. Top prospects Tekoah Roby and Tai Peete will also play in Arizona.
With rookies Leo Bernal and Jimmy Crooks combining to play 76 games at the big-league level in 2026 and Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages still in place on the roster, the St. Louis Cardinals are obviously flush with catching depth.
Also, Rainiel Rodriguez, the top prospect in the Cardinals’ organization and the top Minor League catching prospect in baseball, is poised to potentially make the leap to the big leagues by the midpoint of the 2027 season and possibly making the logjam at the backstop position even more dense.
But the club’s depth at catcher doesn’t end there with Sammy Hernandez about to get a chance to show that he soon could become another top catching prospect in the Cardinals system.
Hernandez, who starred at High-A Peoria once Rodriguez was promoted to Double-A Springfield, leads the Cardinals contingent into 34th annual Arizona Fall League play, which starts on Saturday.
Right-handed pitcher Tekoah Roby (No. 14 in Cardinals Minor League system), centerfielder Tai Peete (No. 17) will be joined by third baseman Cade McGee, left-handed pitcher Michael Watson, right-handed pitchers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt and Hernandez on the Peoria (Ariz.) Javelinas squad in Arizona Fall League play. Right-handed pitchers Joseph King and Nolan Sparks were added to the Peoria (Ariz.) roster to replace Clarke.
Prospects from the Mariners, Orioles, Padres, Reds and Cardinals will make up the Javelinas squad. Some 14 prospects from MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects list are scheduled to play in the Fall League. In the 2026 MLB All-Star Game, 27 of the players selected to play in the Midsummer Classic spent time previously in the Arizona Fall League.
Left-handed pitcher Brandon Clarke, whose triple-digit velocity on his fastball intrigued the Cardinals after they acquired him from the Red Sox in the Sonny Gray trade last November, suffered another injury setback that will knock him out of the Arizona Fall League. Clarke, the No. 9-ranked prospect in the Cards Minor League system, will undergo a surgical procedure to have loose bodies removed from his left elbow and he has been ruled out of the Arizona Fall League. The Cardinals say that Clarke will report to their Spring Training complex in Jupiter, Fla., later this month to prepare for instructional camp in January.
For years, the Cardinals have looked at the Arizona Fall League as a finishing school, of sorts, for rising prospects. Jordan Walker, Masyn Winn, Michael McGreevy and Bernal all played in the Arizona Fall League in the past and they used that platform as a springboard into MLB consideration.
Roby, 25, was one of the fastest-rising pitchers in the Cardinals organization in 2025 before tearing the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and needing Tommy John surgery that knocked him out of the 2026 Minor League season. The former third-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, who was acquired by the Cardinals in 2023 in the Jordan Montgomery trade to the Rangers, will be pitching in live action for the first time since suffering the arm injury.
Peete, 21, had a stellar first season in the Cardinals organization after being acquired in a February trade with the Mariners and Rays that centered around Brendan Donovan going to Seattle. Peete showed off his rare combination of speed and power by twice hitting for the cycle at High-A Peoria. After earning a promotion to Double-A Springfield, he slashed .319/.360/.489/.849 with five doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI and four stolen bases in 21 games.
In the Texas League championship series, Peete helped the Cardinals jump to a 1-0 lead over Amarillo with a 5-for-5 game with a double, a 421-foot homer and four RBI.
Hernandez, a native of Ponce, Puerto Rico and went to high school in Lakeland, Fla., slashed .279/.411/.529/.940 with 18 doubles, 11 homers and 35 RBI in 65 games with High-A Peoria. After serving as the backup to Rodriguez early in the season, Hernandez drilled five home runs and drove in 14 RBI in August.
Not only did Hernandez show off his strong bat-to-ball skills with an 18.5 percent strikeout rate and a 16.9 percent walk rate, but his wRC+ of 140 ranked behind Rodriguez’s 150 and the 146 posted by Miguel Hernandez in the Dominican Summer League.
