SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS MEDIA NOTES GAME #4 HOME GAME #4 AWAY GAME #0 FRIDAY, MAY 7, 2021 7:05PM SPRINGFIELD CARDINALS (1-2) VS. WICHITA WIND SURGE (2-1) St. Louis Cardinals Minnesota Twins Today’s Starters: Springfield – RHP Kyle Leahy (0-0, 0.00) Wichita – RHP Austin Schulfer (0-0, 0.00) Upcoming Probables: Saturday, 6:05pm – SPR RHP Alvaro Seijas (0-0, 0.00) vs. WCH RHP Dakota Chalmers (0-0, 0.00) Sunday, 6:05pm – SPR LHP Domingo Robles (0-0, 0.00) vs. WCH RHP Josh Winder (0-0, 0.00) Pitcher Profile – Kyle Leahy (0-0, 0.00)… High Strikeouts – N/A Most Hits Allowed – N/A Longest Outing – N/A Most Walks Allowed – N/A Shortest Outing – N/A HR Allowed (Season) – N/A 23 year old makes his season debut on the mound tonight Made Double-A debut on 9/2/19 with 3.0 scoreless innings vs. Midland, allowing just one hit while striking out a pair Prior to finishing with Springfield, split 2019 between Low-A Peoria (4-8, 3.00 ERA, 16 GS) and High-A Palm Beach (1-5, 6.30 ERA, 6 GS) In 2019, ranked among STL minor leaguers in IP (10th, 123.0), ERA (10th, 3.73) and opponent BA (10th, .256) Dealt a career-high 8.0 scoreless innings for Peoria on 6/11/19 at Clinton, scattering just five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts Tallied a career-best 10 strikeouts twice with Peoria in 2019 – 6/25/19 @ Clinton (6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 10K) and 7/11/19 vs. Lansing (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2R, 10K) Played collegiately at Colorado Mesa and went 13-0 with a 1.41 ERA as a sophomore in 2017, earning 1st Team All-American, 1st Team Academic All- American and South Central Regional Tournament MVP Named All-State in baseball and basketball while at Erie High School in Erie, CO His father, Tim, played college basketball at Kansas State while his uncle Tom Leahy played professional baseball in the Braves organization Last Outing: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (9/2/19 vs. Midland) CARDINALS REGULAR SEASON BREAKDOWN CURRENT STREAK – .................................. 1-0 LONGEST WINNING STREAK –……………….......1-0 LAST 5 GAMES – ......................................... 1-2 LONGEST LOSING STREAK – ….……………........0-2 LAST 10 GAMES – ....................................... 1-2 BEST RECORD – ......................................................... 1-2 HOME RECORD – ................................ ....... 1-2 WORST RECORD – .................................................... 0-2 AWAY RECORD – ....................................... 0-0 2021 vs. Wichita – ......................................................... 1-2 Cardinals’ Chirps… Last game... The Cardinals got in the win column with their first victory of the young season, 7-6, against the Wind Surge. For the second time in the first three games, neither starter surrendered a single run with Cardinals LHP Connor Thomas tossing 5.0 scoreless innings and RHP Cole Sands countering with 4.1 scoreless frames. The Cardinals broke through with a solo shot by CF Justin Toerner in the 5th, but the Surge swung in front with a five-run rally in the 7th that included a grand slam from LF Aaron Whitefield. Springfield, though, plated five of their own in the 7th with a pair of two-run singles from 2B Nick Dunn and DH Ivan Herrera, as well as an RBI base hit by SS Delvin Perez for the 6-5 lead. After a Wichita 1B Damek Tomscha RBI double tied in the top of the 8th, LF Juan Yepez dealt the final blow with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th, launching Springfield to the 7-6 win. Starting off strong… Cardinals starters have been rolling to open the season, combining to post a 1.38 ERA with just two runs allowed in 13.0 innings across the first three starts. Neither LHP Domingo Robles (5.0 IP, 0R, 5K on Tuesday) nor LHP Connor Thomas (5.0 IP, 0R, 5K on Thursday) allowed a single run, while RHP Andre Pallante struck out a team season-high seven across 3.0 innings on Wednesday. Early streaks… LF Juan Yepez, SS Delvin Perez and 1B Luken Baker have each hit in all three games to start the campaign. Yepez’s go-ahead home run on Thursday was his first blast of the year, going along with a double and a 4x10 start overall. Perez is tied with Yepez for the team lead with four hits as well, going 4x12 with a quartet of singles, while Baker has tallied a single in each start for a 3x12 open to the season. Top Flight… The Cardinals start the season with eight of St. Louis’s Top 30 prospects as ranked by MLB.com, including 3B Nolan Gorman (ranked #2), C Ivan Herrera (#3), C Julio Rodriguez (#15), 1B Luken Baker (#18), INF Juan Yepez (#21), RHP Andre Pallante (#26), OF Justin Toerner (#29) and RHP Griffin Roberts (#30). Gorman (#32) and Herrera (#91) also rank among MLB.com’s Top 100 prospects in all of baseball. New Skipper in Town… The Cardinals are excited to introduce Jose Leger (leh-HAIR) as Springfield’s 7th Field Manager in team history. Leger, 38, enters his fourth season in the St. Louis organization after serving as the Cardinals Latin American Field & Academy Development Coordinator since 2017. Previously, the native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic spent eight seasons (2010-17) as a manager in the New York Mets system, winning the South Atlantic League’s Manager of the Year Award in 2015 and skippering the 2017 Low-A Columbia Fireflies team that had 2007 Heisman Trophy Award Winner Tim Tebow on it. Leger is joined on Springfield’s staff by returning Pitching Coach Darwin Marrero, new Hitting Coach Tyger Pederson, returning Athletic Trainer Chris Whitman and returning Strength & Conditioning Coach Dan Vega. Whole new Wichita… The Wichita Wind Surge played their long-awaited first game in team history on Tuesday and picked up their first-ever win with the 2-0 victory. After initially being tabbed to play in Triple-A before the 2020 season was cancelled, the Wind Surge have a brand-new riverside ballpark in Wichita and were reorganized to the Double-A Central for 2021, reprising a south-central Kansas presence in this league after the Wichita Wranglers had spent 18 years in the Texas League from 1989-2007. The Surge also bring a new affiliation to the league, as fans will get their first-ever look at prospects from the Minnesota Twins, who have the 12th ranked farm system in baseball according to MLB.com. Bird Seed… LUKEN BAKER – Hits in first 3G to start AA career (3x12)… Currently ranked as #18 STL prospect by MLB.com… Finished 2019 with a team-high 43 extra-base hits for High-A Palm Beach, including 5G with 2 2B...ranked among FSL leaders in 2B (2nd), XBH (3rd), BB (T7th) and TB (T7th)... Won August, 2019 MiLB Player of Month - .346 (28x81), 4 HR, 14 RBI, 11 2B, 1 3B, 23 G… ranked 6th among STL minor leaguers with a .319 batting average in 2018 between GCL and Low-A Peoria... 2017...in 145 games at TCU, hit .347 in 145 games with 28 homers, 26 doubles, 109 walks, a .465 OBP and a .986 fielding percentage...ranked by MLB.com as Cardinals' No. 23 prospect entering 2021... 2nd round pick in 2018 out of Texas Christian University NICK DUNN – First AA hit was 2R single in 7th on 5/6… Finished his first full pro season in 2019 with 29 multi-hit games and seven three-hit games for High-A PB... Had at least two hits in 10 of final 16 games in 2019, batting .348 (23-for-66) over that stretch... Named 2018 New York-Penn League All-Star after hitting .274, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 14 2B, 51 G with Short-A State College... 1st Team All Big 10 selection as JR at Maryland in 2018 - .330, 10 HR, 39 RBI, 17 2B, 39 R, 54G…Lettered in baseball and football at Shikellamy (PA) HS, hitting .477, 7 HR, 0 K as SR… Father, John, played college baseball at Bloomsburg (PA) Univ… 5th round pick in 2018 out of University of Maryland NOLAN GORMAN – Currently ranked as #2 STL prospect and #32 MiLB prospect by MLB.com… Rated as STL “Best Power Hitter” by Baseball America in 2020- 21… Played 15G in 2021 MLB Spring Training - .174 (4x23), 2 2B, 4 RBI… Participated in 2020 Alternate Training Site at Hammons Field… Through first 188 pro games from 2018-19 - .263, 32 HR, 43 2B, 7 3B, 106 RBI, .828 OPS… 82 of his 182 career hits are XBH… Already has five career multi-HR games… 2019 honors include – MLB Futures Game, MiLB.com Org All-Star, Midwest League Midseason All-Star, Midwest League Best Defensive 3B in BA Best Tools Survey… In 2018 with Johnson City (Rookie) had 33-game on-base streak with .467 OBP from 6/23-8/6/18. Played for USA Baseball in 2017 helping team win World Cup Championship and Gold Medal. 1st round pick in 2018 out of Sandra Day O’Connor HS in Glendale, AZ IVAN HERRERA – First AA RBIs on go-ahead 2R single in 8th on 5/6… Currently ranked as #3 STL prospect and #91 MiLB prospect by MLB.com… Named Cardinals Top International Prospect by MLB.com… Participated in 2020 Alternate Training Site at Hammons Field… At just 19, was youngest player in 2019 Arizona Fall League, hitting .324 (11-34), 2 2B, 6 RBI for Glendale… Named to 2019 AFL Fall Stars Game… In first 166 pro games from 2017-19 - .309, 11 HR, 99 RBI, 31 2B, 92 R… Has thrown out 34.3% (74 CS / 216 ATT) of would-be base-stealers in career… Named 2019 Baseball America Low Class-A All-Star and MiLB.com Org All-Star… Posted career-high 5H on 7/14/19 with Low-A Peoria vs.