Rainiel Rodriguez
Compiled by Staff, with Rob Rains (July 20, 2026)
We at STL Sports Page take a special interest in the Cardinals minor league system as we know they are the stars of the future. While many sites report on the minors, we are actually in touch with scouts and we travel to each of the Class A, AA, and AAA minor league team twice a season if we can. We have no pay wall on our content, so if you know of others who are interestd in the minor league coverage, please pass this article on to them or tell them about us. Our articles always contain fresh quotes from the players themselves and most of the time they ae in person with the players as opposed to on the phone.
Here is a run-down on how things are looking at Springfield, the AA team for the Cardinals.
Rainiel Rodriguez (C)
The best prospect in the organization is still one of the youngest players at the Double A level and the 19-year-old has had very few issues in adjusting to this level very quickly. –Rob Rains
Raniel Rodriguez has been one of the top power hitters in the organization this year. He is finally getting the publicity he deserve. We’ve been following him around the minors and he was pretty much under the radar for a while. Here’s the story I wrote about him last year.CLICK HERE.
Liam Doyle (LHP)
The raw numbers are not a fair gauge of the progress Doyle has made in his first full pro season. He still projects to be a front-end starter in the majors in the very near future. –Rob Rains
When we were in Springfield we were looking forward to seeing Doyle pitch but in the first inning he walked the bases loaded. One of the runs ended up scoring but he got out of the inning and kept the Sod Poodles at one run until he ended up giving up two runs.
Despite loading the bases in that first inning. he showed poise in seemingly pulling it all together for the rest of the time he pitched.
Doyle’s line score that night: 5 innings pitched, 3 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks, 3K.
We wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cardinals promote Liam Doyle to Memphis before the end of the season.
Rob Rains wrote about Doyle when we were here earlier in the season: CLICK HERE.
Won-Bin Cho
The progress that Cho has made this season is one of the best stories in the organization. He and Joshua Baez are the only players in the Cardinals farm system with 17 or more homers and 15 or more stolen bases. and Cho won’t turn 23 until August. –RR
Won-Bin Cho was the reason we took the trip to Springfield: Rob is working on a feature about him.
He has had a great season and he went from Peoria Class A to Springfield Since then, he has had nine home runs so far with Springfield (7 in the first 10 games) That’s saying something since he has just been there since June 23 when he was promoted from Peoria Class A. While in Peoria he hit eight homers in the 2026 season for a total of 17 homers total in 2026 so far.
Chen-Wei Lin (RHP)
He is coming off a rough start on Friday night but the Cardinals have been pleased by his progress after he missed much of last season because of injuries. –RR
The 24-year old from Taiwan has been bringing dominant strikeout numbers to the rotation. He pitched to a 4.08 ERA across 13 games and 10 starts this season.
Shown in the photo, tall Chen-Wei Lin is 6’7″ tall.
Braden Davis (LHP)
Overshadowed by Doyle and Jurrangelo Cijntje, recently promoted to Memphis, Davis has won only one of 17 starts despite striking out 86 batters in 73 innings. Thirteen of his starts have been no decisions. — RR
Braden Davis is having a strong season at Springfield. He was named Texas League Pitcher of the Week in May.
Michael Watson (RHP)
A key member of the bullpen, Watson has struck out 53 batters in 36 1/3 innings but needs to improve his control, having also walked 31 batters. –RR
Michael Watson is having a solid season at Springfield this year with a 3-3 record with a 5.89 ERA and 53 strikeouts over 36.2 innings pitched across 30 relief appearances
He was signed as an undrafted free agent in July 2024.
While we were in Springfield, we got to see Watson come in in relief (for Liam Doyle) and he pitched a scoreless inning.
I did a feature on him last year and if you missed it: CLICK HERE.
Jon Jon Gazdar
Jon Jon Gazdar is a versatile infielder who sees regular action playing both second and third base.
We got to see Gazdar hit a home run when we were in Springfield.
Travis Honeyman (OF)
Travis Honeyman , shown in the photo right, is back playing after missing close to two years with injuries.
He is one of the faster player in the organization. The 24-year-old outfielder has become a standout for the team this year. Honeyman is a popular player and the photo shows him when we were there signing autographs as the line of kids waited to “run the bases” after Sunday’s game.
Newest member of the Springfield Cardinals:
Nolan Sparks (RHP)
Promoted to Double A from Peoria when Edwin Nunez was released, had been a steady reliever and spot starter for Peoria. — RR
Right-handed relief pitcher Nolan Sparks, who was just promoted from Class A- Peoria to Springfield this week earned his promotion after having a dominant season. The 23-year-old was the 13th-round draft pick by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024.
We got to talk to Sparks after he threw a bullpen on Sunday. Since he is new to the team he met with the catcher beforehand and discussed signs. Sparks looks to be a take-charge pitcher as at one point, he asked to be caught “as if it was a right-handed batter up at the plate.”
Who will be promoted to Memphis this season?
Promotions to Memphis are hard to determine, because it depends on who else gets promoted from there or if there are any injuries — RR
When traveling we always stay at a Drury Hotel unless in rare cases when there is not one. The Springfield Drury Hotel is a stop on Route 66 and has a commemorative photo opportunity on the door.
If you stay at a Drury Hotel, be sure you use our special link: CLICK HERE.
Or you can use the promocode “SPORTS” if you make reservations by phone.
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