Top Prospect Cardinals Acquired At Trade Deadline Appears To Be Budding Ace

The St. Louis Cardinals turned the page toward the future when they dealt a slew of important players from their big-league roster at the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline.

Of the many deals, the trade that sent Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to the Texas Rangers appears to be the most fruitful thus far. 

The Cardinals acquired right-hander Tekoah Roby (Cardinals' No. 5 prospect), infielder Thomas Saggese (No. 9) and left-hander John King.

King has been a dominant force with the Cardinals since joining St. Louis -- 1.29 ERA in 14 innings across 15 games. Sagesse has dominated at the plate all season long and continues to do so for the Cardinals farm system.

Roby came over as the most-hyped player in the deal at the position most pivotal to the Cardinals' retooling. Unfortunately, he was injured when the trade went down, and his fresh start was delayed.

Since getting back to the mound, he came as promised. The 21-year-old has a 3.00 ERA with a 19-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .146 batting average against and 0.75 WHIP in 12 innings across four starts for Double-A Springfield. 

A 3.00 ERA is impressive but the other numbers are what pop off the page. He's striking out batters at an insane clip, not walking batters, rarely allowing as much as a single and keeping people off the bases. The sample size is tiny but his pedigree makes his early success appear fairly sustainable. 

Roby has a 4.64 ERA with a 69-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .250 batting average against and 1.20 WHIP in 58 1/3 innings so far this season -- all in his first action at Double-A. 

The star prospect allowed three earned runs or more in five of his first six starts but has only allowed three runs or more once since then across eight starts. In other words, he posted a 6.83 ERA in his first 29 innings through May 9 and has a 2.45 ERA in 29 1/3 innings since.

The jump from High-A to Double-A is one of the more noticeable in professional baseball and he's appeared to have successfully made the transition after a bumpy start.

Roby will continue to gain experience with Double-A Springfield this year and could contend for a spot in the rotation late next season if all goes well. He's expected to be a significant part of their future and is off to a strong start.