In 2016, the Springfield Cardinals (the AA-affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) won the first-half Texas League North championship to qualify for the playoffs behind a strong offense and good pitching. This season, Springfield will rely more on the quality starters that will start the season in AA.
As reported by Derek Shore of The Cardinal Nation (see tweet below), the St. Louis Cardinals double-A affiliate looks to open the season with four of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Cardinal prospects in the rotation. Three of them are ranked inside the top ten, the fourth is ranked 14th.