Cardinals' Prospect Keeps Defying Expectations; MLB Call Coming in '27?

A student of the game, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom will regale anyone who will listen about how it was the St. Louis Cardinals and then-team president/GM/field manager Branch Rickey that invented the Minor League system in 1919.

Frustrated with his inability to nab young talent through open bidding – sound familiar, Cardinals fans? – Rickey convinced owner Sam Breadon to purchase controlling interests in Minor League franchises in Houston and Fort Smith, Ark., that would develop and produce young talent for the big-league club.

Bloom, who just completed his first season while running the Cardinals’ front office, has done extensive studies on Rickey’s work more than a century ago and how many of the franchise’s 11 World Series titles were fueled by a Minor League system that was far more developed than any other in baseball for decades.

When that system fell into disrepair, it was Bloom’s job to fortify a player development process that the Cardinals know must be their lifeblood in a free-agency world. Rightly so, Bloom made re-tooling the franchise’s Minor League system his top priority – in terms of adding coaches, evaluators, analytics staff and top-tier players.

While trading veterans Sonny Gray, Willson Contreras, Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan and later Dustin May, JoJo Romero and Lars Nootbaar, Bloom’s return was more than a dozen prospects and draft picks. All his work, while adding prospects such as Alexander Frias, Josiah Ragsdale, Tai Peete, Trevor Condon, Tegan Kuhns, Jurrangelo Cijntje, Yhoiker Fajardo, Sandro Santana and Daniel Eagen, allowed the Cardinals’ Minor League system to zip to No. 2 in the MiLB rankings, per Baseball America and No. 4, per MLB Pipeline.

Add those newcomers to a group of top prospects that includes Rainiel Rodriguez, Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin, Tekoah Roby, Jesus Baez and Mason Molina and it's easy to see why Baseball America ranked the Cardinals' Minor League system No. 2 in MLB. 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be breaking down the top 30 prospects in the Cardinals’ Minor League system. Today’s prospect capsule is on left-handed starting pitcher Mason Molina, wo earned a promotion from Double-A to Triple-A last June 30 and he was one of Memphis’ best pitchers over the final month of the season. 

Player name: Mason Molina

Age: 23

How acquired: The Cardinals acquired right-handed pitcher Skylar Hales, Molina and International free-agent bonus money from the Rangers in exchange for right-handed pitcher Phil Maton on July 31, 2025.

2026 statistics at Double-A Springfield and Triple-A Memphis: 27 games/27 starts, 8-4, 3.57 ERA, 123 2/3 IP, 101 hits, 49 earned runs, 11 homers allowed, 150 strikeouts, 53 walks, .221 batting average against.

MLB Pipeline rankings: NR MiLB/No. 23 with Cards 

Key numbers: After some early wobbles upon getting promoted to Triple-A Memphis on June 30, Molina finished the regular season with a flourish and looked even better in his one playoff start. He went 4-0 over his final five starts by allowing just 15 hits and one earned run and striking out 33 with just six walks in 25 2/3 innings worked. At one point he had a 20 2/3 inning scoreless streak over four consecutive starts. Then, in a must-win playoff game, he shut out Rochester (Nationals) over five innings and allowed just one hit while striking out six and walking two.

Looking back at 2026: In his first full season in the Cardinals organization, Molina took full advantage of his opportunities and now he could find his way to St. Louis for his MLB debut in 2027. In 14 starts with Double-A Springfield, the former college standout pitcher at Texas Tech and Arkansas went 3-2 with a 2.87 ERA. He struck out 82 batters and held foes to a .199 batting average over 69 innings at work. With Triple-A Memphis, he struck out eight in his first start and then had strikeout performances of eight, nine, nine and eight punchouts. Despite seeing his ERA jump to 4.45 at Triple-A, Molina went 5-2 and limited foes to .246 hitting.  

Looking forward to 2027: After seeing his velocity jump to 95 mph in 2026, Molina could be an under-the-radar pitcher who becomes a big leaguer in 2027. Once he was promoted to Memphis in 2026, Molina showed off his upside by throwing a five-inning, complete-game shutout at Charlotte on Aug. 26 (five hits, nine strikeouts and no walks) and in a six-inning shutout of Durham on Sept. 6 (two hits, nine strikeouts and one walk). Even though scouts have doubts about Molina’s upside as a big-league pitcher, he continues to defy expectations. Molina will likely get an invite to MLB Spring Training, and if he pitches well then and early in the 2027 season, he could be the first starter promoted in the event of an injury.