Rainiel Rodriguez’s Stock Is Rising Fast for Cardinals

"No. 15. Rainiel Rodriguez, C, St. Louis Cardinals (Previous: 19)," McDaniel wrote. "The development path for catchers can be quite circuitous so there's some demographic risk here, but Rodriguez is a polished power hitter with the tools to stick behind the plate. He doesn't have much physical projection and will need to prove his approach works in the upper minors."

Now, that's interesting. MLB.com currently has Rodriguez ranked as the No. 25 overall prospect in the game. MLB.com has fellow Cardinals prospect Liam Doyle just slightly ahead of Rodriguez at No. 23. McDaniel has them flipped and has Doyle down at No. 28. Rodriguez has played so well that he already shot up McDaniel's list from No. 19 to No. 15.

Rodriguez has had an excellent season so far at just 19 years old. He has seen time at High-A and Double-A and has played in 35 games overall. He's slashing .286/.403/.474 with an .876 OPS, five homers, 25 RBIs, five stolen bases, 22 walks, eight doubles, one triple and 27 runs scored.

One thing that has been interesting so far this season is the fact that he has branched out a bit and hasn't just gotten playing time behind the plate and as designated hitter, but also at first base.

There are few prospects out there who are better pure hitters than Rodriguez. Right now, we're seeing a very good and young Cardinals team up in the majors. But they are just scratching the surface. The big league roster is young and should just get better. On top of this, soon enough we'll see guys like Rodriguez, Doyle, Joshua Báez, Jurrangelo Cijntje, and Jimmy Crooks all make the jump to the majors.

Soon enough, we're going to be talking about St. Louis as a legit contender and it will be thanks to its homegrown talent. That's the most exciting part. This is sustainable.