The national publication put out its list of potential 'breakout prospects' for the new year on Monday.
Last week, Top 100 prospect rankings were released by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. The St. Louis Cardinals were given four Top 100 prospects from BA and five from MLB Pipeline, giving fans some positive thoughts about the organization heading into 2026.
While the major league roster will suffer as a result of the current rebuild, the minor league group continues to produce excitement and hope for the future.
And while the likes of JJ Wetherholt, Liam Doyle and Joshua Baez are well-known and well-hyped, there are other prospects for fans to follow. Baseball America listed three potential breakouts for the organization as spring training gets set to open in 2.5 weeks: Ryan Mitchell, Deniel Ortiz and Jake Gurevitch.
Here's what you need to know:
About Mitchell #
Ranked No. 13 in the Cardinals' Top 30 by Baseball America, Mitchell is just 19 years old. Drafted in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, Mitchell certainly comes with pedigree and expectation, however, we've never seen him on a professional field as he did not play a game after getting drafted.
As a result, he could start the season at Rookie Ball or Single-A. A Tennessee native, he's a disciplined hitter from the left side. He's able to play infield or outfield, giving him some nice versatility.
About Ortiz#
Ranked No. 20 by Baseball America, Ortiz is 21 years old and drafted in the 16th round in 2024 out of Walters State Community College. In 2025, at a combination of Single-A and High-A, he hit .300 with a whopping .416 on-base percentage. In 107 games, he had 13 homers and 51 RBIs, also adding 39 steals.
Given that he played just 30 games at High-A, it wouldn't be surprising to see him start there again in 2026 before advancing to Double-A at some point.
He plays third base.
About Gurevitch#
Ranked No. 23 at Baseball America, he was a third-round pick of the Cardinals in 2025. Now 21, he played his college ball at the University of San Diego. He played 22 games at Single-A after the draft, hitting just .181 with a homer and four RBIs.
It's a very small sample size, so don't read too much into the low numbers. He'll likely begin the year at Single-A again before moving up to High-A.
He plays first base.
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