Juan Yepez might be my favorite prospect story
I believe my exact term was "lottery ticket"
On May 20, 2017, the St. Louis Cardinals sent first baseman Matt Adams to the Atlanta Braves for a 19-year-old infielder named Juan Yepez. The little known Yepez, who was signed for $1 million—then a Braves franchise record for an international signing—out of Venezuela at 16, was hitting .275/.309/.387 with 1 home run for the Single-A Rome Braves of the South Atlantic League. Not exactly a stellar return for a left-handed hitting first baseman who was a career .271/.315/.469 with a 111 wRC+ over six seasons and change in St. Louis. But maybe it was.
In 2018, Yepez showed a flash in 25 games for Peoria, he hit .415/.462/.596 with 10 doubles, but just one home run. After a strong start to the 2019 season after returning to Peoria, he made his way to Springfield to finish the season before the 2020 season was cancelled.
When the minor leagues returned in 2021, Yepez had put it all together. After hitting .270/.387/.571 in 19 games for Springfield, Yepez was promoted to Memphis where he would hit .290/.382/.589 with 22 home runs the rest of the way, finishing with 27 home runs and 29 doubles on the season. Yepez then staked his claim in the Arizona Fall League where he hit .302/.388/.640 with 7 home runs in 23 games for Glendale.
Yepez would be sent down to Memphis to start the season, where he was hitting .279/.323/.651 with 9 home runs in 22 games to start the season when he got the call up to replace Edmundo Sosa on the roster due to a positive Covid test.
Appearing in five games so far, Yepez has gone 9-for-19 with three doubles and a home run. It looks like he might be giving the offense-starved Cardinals a reason to keep him around awhile.
Unfortunately for Yepez, his strongest defensive position is third base. His second strongest is probably first base. Two places the Cardinals are set. Though he does have time in the corner outfield and that is where he’s appeared twice in the field for the big-league Cardinals. But the outfield is where the Cardinals need the most help right now. Either way, I think Yepez is my favorite prospect story.
When teams trade a guy away for an anonymous prospect in the low minors that you have to dig to find any information on, the term I like to use is a lottery ticket, because that’s what you’re getting. John Mozeliak actually used that term to describe him too. Maybe you hit the jackpot, but you’re probably just hoping to recoup the cost of the ticket and most of the time you don’t even do that.
Back in March, I worried that the Yepez might be the next in the long line of Cardinals’ players who deserve a spot in the big leagues, but end up languishing in Memphis until they’re flipped for a couple of relievers at the deadline before becoming an All Star for another organization. He had a solid spring, but returned to Memphis. It was suggested in comments by Mozeliak that Yepez wasn’t happy about the team’s decision to send him to Memphis either. And it’s hard to blame a guy who has nothing left to prove in Triple-A being unhappy about being sent back to Triple-A.
But now five years later, Yepez is looking like he’s got all the tools to be a lineup regular in the big leagues and there’s a DH spot up for grabs that nobody on the roster has yet to stake their claim to on performance.
He’s certainly making the case that it should be him.
Who’s Hot, Hitter’s Edition
(minimum 15 plate appearances the last 10 days, out of 309 qualifying hitters)
Juan Yepez, 273 wRC+ (T-3rd in MLB)
Paul Goldschmidt, 180 wRC+ (T-44th in MLB)
Nolan Arenado, 126 wRC+ (108th in MLB)
Dylan Carlson, 121 wRC+ (114th in MLB)
Yadier Molina, 110 wRC+ (132nd in MLB)
Who’s Hot, Pitcher’s Edition
(minimum 15 batters faced the last 10 days, out of 287 qualifying pitchers)
Adam Wainwright, .193 wOBA (T-37th in MLB)
Nick Wittgren, .273 wOBA (114th in MLB)
Jake Woodford, .280 wOBA (T-123rd in MLB)
Miles Mikolas, .291 wOBA (132nd in MLB)
Andre Pallante, .332 wOBA (178th in MLB)
