# Matt Koperniak & Andrew Marrero Named Cardinals Top Minor Leaguers For the Month of August

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/
- Published: 2022-09-07T12:15:00-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

_Koperniak Led All Cardinals Minor Leaguers in OPS, HR, RBI and Total Bases;_ _Marrero
Led All Pitchers With Six Saves & Struck Out More Than Half His Batters Faced_

**ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 4, 2022 **– The St. Louis Cardinals announced today 
their selections for Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August, with
Springfield Cardinals (AA) outfielder **_[Matt Koperniak](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=kopern000mat&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral)_**
and Palm Beach Cardinals (A) right-handed reliever **_[Andrew Marrero](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=marrer004and&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral)_**
receiving the honors.

Koperniak**, **24, led all qualified Cardinals minor leaguers with a .371 average(
33-for-89), a 1.091 OPS and ranked first for the month in hits, home runs (6), RBI(
22), extra-base hits (13) and total bases (60) across 22 games. He became the third
player in Springfield’s history to hit for the cycle, while tying a career-high 
with four RBI on August 9 at Amarillo. He is the fourth different Springfield player
to earn Player of the Month honors this season.

“Matt’s strong play in August was highlighted by his productive OPS, including his
selection as Texas League Player of the Week for August 8-14,” said Cardinals Assistant
GM & Director of Player Development **_Gary LaRocque_**.

The 6’0”, left-handed hitter was signed by the organization as a non-drafted free
agent in June 2020 after playing four years of collegiate baseball at Trinity College(
CT). He was selected as an organizational All-Star by MiLB.com in 2021 after ranking
in the Top 10 among all Cardinals minor leaguers in average, on-base percentage,
OPS and hits. For the season, Koperniak is slashing .292/.366/.451/.816 with 12 
doubles, 14 HR, 58 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 102 games for Springfield (100) and
Memphis (2).

Marrero, 22, led all Cardinals minor leaguer pitchers with 0.63 WHIP and ranked 
third with 0.71 ERA (minimum 10.0 IP), while striking out 24 of 47 batters faced.
He also tallied six saves in August, the most by a Cardinals minor leaguer in a 
single month this season. The 5’10” right-hander limited opponents to a .119 average
and .358 OPS over 12 relief appearances (12.2 IP), allowing just five hits (one 
extra-base hit) and three walks.

“Andrew’s outstanding month of August has helped Palm Beach compete for a Florida
State League playoff berth,” stated LaRocque.

Selected by the Cardinals in the 18^(th) round of the 2021 Draft out of the University
of Connecticut, the New Haven, Conn. native ranks first among Cardinals minor league
pitchers with a 1.36 ERA with a minimum of 30.0 IP. His 10 saves are second-most
in the Cardinals minor league system this season as well. He has struck out 52 batters
across 33.0 innings this season, averaging 14.2 strikeouts per nine innings. This
is Marrero’s first career Pitcher of the Month award and first for a Palm Beach 
reliever since [Luke Gregerson](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gregelu01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=&utm_medium=referral)
in August 2007.

**— STL —**

### Share this:

 * [  Facebook ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=x)
 * [  Email ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Matt%20Koperniak%20%26%20Andrew%20Marrero%20Named%20Cardinals%20Top%20Minor%20Leaguers%20For%20the%20Month%20of%20August&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyrdcast.com%2Fmatt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august%2F&share=email)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=linkedin)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Nextdoor ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=nextdoor)
 * [  Pinterest ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=pinterest)
 * [  Reddit ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=reddit)
 * [  Tumblr ](https://www.nyrdcast.com/matt-koperniak-andrew-marrero-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaguers-for-the-month-of-august/?share=tumblr)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

### _Related_