Minor League Previews: PCL American Southern

July 9, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; World team right fielder Oscar Tavares (15) at bat in the first inning of the 2012 All Star Futures Game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Memphis Redbirds

Parent Club: St. Louis Cardinals

Memphis is the affiliate with the most talent in the Cardinals system, and it features one of the top prospects in all of baseball, Oscar Tavares.

Pitching

Boone Whiting may be getting the ball to open the season for the Redbirds, but he is not the pitcher to watch on the staff. Instead, the lefty Tim Cooney is the pitcher with to keep an eye on in Memphis. Cooney is not a hard thrower Cardinals fans have recently gotten used to the team producing, but is instead a finesse pitcher with a multitude of pitches. His fastball sits in the low-90s, but has a plus change and two above-average breaking balls. The bullpen in Memphis will also feature the veteran David Aardsma to add some name recognition to the pitching staff.

Batting

Oscar Tavares will kick off the season in Memphis, but the top prospect in the Cardinals system is expected to finally make his big league debut this season. Tavares is a hitting machine with plus power to go with it. He is a guy that could certainly win batting titles in the future, but also stick in the home run races. In the field he is above-average across the board, but doesn’t have a true elite tool defensively.

Sharing the outfield with Tavares in Memphis will be a pair of fomer first rounders. Stephen Piscotty was the other compensation pick the Cardinals received when Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels, the other being Michael Wacha. Piscotty displays the patience at the plate one would expect from a Stanford baseball product, but he has really hit at every level too. His lowest batting average at any given level is .292 and he possesses a cannon arm in right field.

The final piece of the outfield will be Randal Grichuk. Grichuk came over from the Angels, along with Peter Bourjos, in exchange for David Freese. While Grichuk will always be the answer to the trivia question “what outfielder did the Angels draft one pick ahead of Mike Trout?” he should carve a decent career out for himself as well. Grichuk does not have the pure hit tool of either Tavares or Piscotty, but he does have a solid arm and can put up some decent power numbers.

The infield will also include some solid talent with Xavier Scruggs and Greg Garcia. Both guys feature an OBP about 100 points better than their average, while Garcia provides solid defense up the middle at short and Scruggs is coming off three consecutive 20+ home run seasons at first base.

Sep 20, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Johnny Hellweg pitches in the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Miller Park. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

Nashville Sounds

Parent Club: Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers have one of the weakest farm systems in baseball, but do have have a talented Triple-A roster.

Pitching

The majority of the talent on the Nashville club is in the pitching staff. Mike Fiers has shown he can get the job done in the rotation, but failed miserably last season in the bullpen at the big league level. He kicks off the 2014 campaign in Triple-A where he will fight to earn a spot back with the big club.

The Nashville Sounds have two guys that could be considered aces at the Triple-A level, but there is some question as to what they may become in the show. Johnny Hellweg will get the opening day start after putting up a disappointing 6.75 ERA with Milwaukee in eight games, seven of those starts, in 2013.

Jimmy Nelson also starts the season back in Triple-A, but he heads back after having an impressive taste of big league action to end 2013. He made just one start, but appeared in three other games, while allowing just a single run in ten innings.

The staff will also feature Ariel Pena and Michael Blazek. Pena is a hard throwing righty with control issues, while Blazek spent time in the bullpen with both the Cardinals and Brewers last season, and could have a future as a closer.

Batting

While the Sounds lineup will feature some players that have spent time in big league lineups with the likes of Jeremy Hermida, Caleb Gindl, Matt Pagnozzi, and Pete Orr, the player to watch is Hunter Morris. Morris has put up impressive power numbers throughout the minors, but his average took a major dip in 2013. Following a Double-A season in 2012 where Morris his .303 with 28 long balls, he hit only .247 last season but still managed to put 24 over the wall.

Sep 17, 2013; Detroit, MI, USA; Seattle Mariners relief pitcher Carter Capps (58) pitches in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Detroit won 6-2. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans Zephyrs

Parent Club: Miami Marlins

The Marlins big league club might surprise some people this season with their impressive pitching staff and plenty of young bats, but depth could prove to be an issue as the Triple-A squad is far from the most talented in the division.

Pitching

The Marlins system has produced some impressive arms over the past couple years, and there are more to come, but they are not yet with the Zephyrs. Carter Capps may bring the biggest name value to the team after being traded to the Marlins by the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Logan Morrison. Capps will likely be up with the Marlins before too long, which will leave Brian Flynn as the arm to watch in New Orleans. Flynn led the PCL with a 2.80 ERA in 2013, but that didn’t help him in his four big league starts, as he posted an ERA of 8.50 and averaging just over four innings per outing.

Batting

The lineup for New Orleans might be even worse off than the pitching staff as the season begins. The Zephyrs will roll out just three position players that are even on the 40-man roster, and only one player with a real chance at playing time at the next level. That one player is Jake Marisnick, who got 118 plate appearances in the big leagues in 2013 and put up a triple slash line of .183/.231/.248.

Sep 20, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Neftali Feliz (30) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the eighth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Round Rock Express

Parent Club: Texas Rangers

When first scrolling through the Round Rock roster one name jumps out, Super Bowl winning QB Russell Wilson. Yes, the biggest name on the Express does not even play baseball anymore, but he makes the roster while on the restricted list, so he will never actually play for the team. While there may not be any other current football stars on the team, there are still plenty of quality baseball players, which is good since the Express play with a 5 oz. white ball rather than the oblong pigskin.

Pitching

The Express will roll out guys with good MLB success like Neftali Feliz, Colby Lewis, Justin Germano, and Nick Tepesch. Feliz is a surprise inclusion on the Triple-A roster, and likely won’t be down for too long after losing the closing job to Joakim Soria. Feliz lost most of the past two seasons due to injury, and Colby Lewis will join Feliz as a guy who is coming off injury. Lewis got in just 18 minor league innings in 2013 after coming back from flexor tendon surgery.

Batting

The Express lineup is also littered with former big leagues. Brent Lillibridge, Kensuke Tanaka and Kevin Kouzmanoff will try to extent their careers in Round Rock. Andy Parrino heads to Triple-A after losing the battle to take over at second base for the Rangers following the Jurickson Profar injury.