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Cardinals Welcome Another Prospect to MLB Top 100, Others Move in July Update

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Jayden Pettus | Last updated Jul 2, 2025 9:00 AM ET

A new member of the St. Louis Cardinals organization has joined MLB Pipeline's Top 100 prospect list in the updated July rankings released on Tuesday.

The Cardinals' new No. 4 prospect, Rainiel Rodriguez, appeared on the list for the first time in his young professional career. The 18-year-old catcher sits at No. 99 in the Top 100 after a hot first half at the plate across two minor league levels.

Rodriguez began the year with the FCL Cardinals of the Florida Coast League, where he put up video game numbers. In 20 games with the team, the young backstop slashed .373/.513/.831 with six doubles, seven home runs and 16 walks, scoring 23 times and driving in 16.

His impeccable start prompted a promotion to Low-A Palm Beach on June 3. After a slow start at the higher level, Rodriguez is starting to turn things around with hits in six of his last seven games.

In all, Rodriguez is slashing .275/.407/.551 with 14 doubles, eight homers and 27 walks, scoring 33 times and driving in 26 runs in 40 games played across the two levels.

Other Cardinals movement in Top 100

JJ Wetherholt, the team's No. 1 prospect, moved up one spot to No. 19 on the Top 100 list following an exceptional month of June. In 21 games played, the 22-year-old shortstop hit for a .356 average while carrying an astonishing .500 on base percentage. He racked up 26 hits including four doubles, one triple and two home runs to drive in 10 runners and score 15 times.

Quinn Mathews, the team's No. 2 prospect, moved down quite a bit, jumping from No. 33 to No. 60 in July's ranking. The southpaw had a decent month, but one bad start in which he gave up five runs on two hits and six walks on June 24 derailed his numbers, possibly leading to the demotion on the list.

Leonardo Bernal, the team's No. 3 prospect, jumped 10 spots to No. 89 after being added to the list last week. His movement was due to 10 players being removed from the list with their replacements being added at the bottom. Still, Bernal continues to overperform for Double-A Springfield, racking up 11 doubles and 11 home runs so far to drive in 43 and score 38 times in 56 games.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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