Cardinals call up top hitting prospect Stephen Piscotty
The St. Louis Cardinals could use some oomph in their lineup, and they announced a move Tuesday that could help with just that. The organization's top hitting prospect, Stephen Piscotty, has been purchased from Triple A Memphis.
Following Sunday's game, the team optioned outfielder Tommy Pham to Memphis, and in order to make room for Piscotty on the team's 40-man major league roster, Memphis infielder Ty Kelly has been designated for assignment.
Piscotty, 24, is considered by Baseball America and MLB.com to be among the top prospects in the organization. The outfielder/first baseman was a supplemental first-round draft selection (36th player overall) by the Cardinals in 2012 out of Stanford University, where he recently completed his degree in atmosphere and energy engineering.
The right-handed hitter was batting .272 (87 for 320) with 28 doubles (fourth in the Pacific Coast League), 11 home runs, 41 RBIs, a .366 on-base percentage and a .475 slugging percentage in 87 games at Memphis this season. Piscotty has raised his season average from .243 to .272 since June 1 by batting .308 (44 for 143) over the past six weeks.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder, a native of Pleasanton, Calif., was named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star team in 2014 and the Florida State (Class A) All-Star team in 2013. He owns a career batting mark of .288 and on-base percentage of .360 with 39 home runs and 196 RBIs in 390 minor league games.
Piscotty, who began his professional career in 2012 as a third baseman, recently began playing first base, appearing at six games for Memphis at the initial sack. He has played 73 games in the outfield this year, primarily in right field (61 games).
Piscotty will be making his major league debut with his first game appearance. He has been assigned uniform number 55.
