# Thomas Saggese And Max Rajcic Named Cardinals Top Minor Leaugers For The Month Of August 2023

- Link: https://www.nyrdcast.com/thomas-saggese-and-max-rajcic-named-cardinals-top-minor-leaugers-for-the-month-of-august-2023/
- Published: 2023-09-05T13:29:41-05:00
- Author: Eugene Tierney

### **_THOMAS SAGGESE & MAX RAJCIC NAMED CARDINALS TOP MINOR LEAGUERS FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST_**

#### **_Saggese Led Cardinals Minor Leaguers in Hits, RBI, Slugging, OPS & Total Bases;_ _Rajcic Awarded Second Cardinals Pitcher of the Month Honor_**

[⌊Cardinals Top Minor Leaguers⌉⌊Cardinals Top Minor Leaguers⌉[

**ST. LOUIS, Mo., September 5, 2023 – **The St. Louis Cardinals today announced 
their selections for [Minor League Player](https://www.nyrdcast.com/tag/player-of-the-month/)
and [Pitcher of the Month](https://www.nyrdcast.com/tag/pitcher-of-the-month/) for
August, with Double-A Springfield Cardinals infielder **_[Thomas Saggese](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sagges000tho&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**_(
pronounced soo-JAY-_see) and High-A Peoria right-handed starter **_[Max Rajcic](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=rajcic000max&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**_(
pronounced like “magic”) _taking home the honors.

[⌊Thomas Saggese⌉⌊Thomas Saggese⌉[

Acquired at the MLB Trade deadline in a package from the Rangers in exchange for
[Jordan Montgomery](https://www.baseball-reference.com/search/search.fcgi?pid=montgjo01,montgo001jor&search=Jordan+Montgomery&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br),
the 21-year-old Saggese slashed .352/.426/.714 in August and led all qualified Cardinals
minor leaguers in hits (37), RBI (26), slugging, OPS (1.141), runs scored (23), 
triples (3), extra-base hits (17), and total bases (75), while sharing the system
lead in home runs (9). Additionally, the right-handed-hitting infielder ranked among
minor league leaders in total bases (2^(nd)), extra-base hits (T-3^(rd)), slugging(
5^(th)), hits (T-7^(th)), home runs (T-6^(th)), and OPS (T-9^(th)).

“Since joining the Cardinals, Thomas has put together an outstanding August, with
his slugging and OPS among the top hitters in our system,” said Cardinals Assistant
GM & Director of Player Development **_Gary LaRocque_**.

Overall this season, Saggese is hitting .320/.387/.553 with 24 home runs between
Springfield and Frisco in the Double-A Texas League, and leads all of Minor League
Baseball in hits (154) and total bases (266) while ranking 4^(th) in RBI (104). 
Saggese also leads the Texas League in batting average and RBI, but trails only 
teammate **_[Chandler Redmond](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=redmon003cha&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**(
29) in home runs in his pursuit of the league’s triple crown.

The Carlsbad, California native has appeared primarily at second base for Springfield,
while hitting safely in 23 of 27 August games, highlighted by hitting for the cycle
on August 19 vs. Wichita (AA-Twins).

Saggese, ranked as the organization’s 12^(th)-overall prospect by _Baseball America_,
joins **_[Nick Dunn](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=dunn--000nic&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**(
June) as the second Springfield Cardinals infielder this season to be recognized.

[⌊Max Rajcic⌉⌊Max Rajcic⌉[

Rajcic, 22, went 2-0 with a 1.55 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and a .248 average against across
five starts in August, ranking among Cardinals August qualified leaders in ERA (
1^(st)), WHIP (1^(st)), innings pitched (29.0, 4^(th)),  opponent average (3^(rd)),
and strikeouts (24, T-7^(th)). He began the month with 13.0 scoreless innings across
two starts, and never yielded more than two runs in any start in August.

“Max was impressive in five games in August, helping to lead Peoria to an 18-9 record
for the month,” stated **LaRocque**.

The 6’0” Orange County, California native also was awarded the Cardinals Pitcher
of the Month of June, becoming the organization’s first two-time winner since **_
[Gordon Graceffo](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=gracef000gor&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**
and**_ [Inohan Paniagua](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=paniag000ino&utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**
last season and only the second ever to take home Pitcher of the Month honors twice
in his first professional season, joining left-hander **_[Rick Ankiel](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/ankieri01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&utm_source=www.nyrdcast.com&utm_campaign=2023-09-05_br)_**
in May and June 1998.

Selected in the 6th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, the former UCLA Bruin owns an 9-
6 record with a 2.48 ERA, 1.014 WHIP, and 123 strikeouts across 123.1 innings pitched
in 23 starts. Ranked as the club’s 18^(th) overall prospect by _Baseball America_,
the right-hander leads all qualified Cardinals minor leaguers this season in ERA,
average against (.217), and opponent OPS (.575) and ranks 2^(nd) in strikeouts and
WHIP.

**— STL —**

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