From imminent to impact, Cardinals have Carlson on deck and duo with ‘raw’ potential for future outfield – STLtoday.com

The Cardinals outfield depth chart illustrates the extremes that exist in any minor-league system, where top prospects range from on deck to on the distant horizon. Three of the Cardinals leading outfielder prospects personify this spectrum.

Fletcher, newly 19, is considered a project and several years away, as is his teammate Jhon Torres, 20. Meanwhile, Uber-prospect Dylan Carlson is, as one executive put it, basically a phone call away from the big leagues.

When Fletcher and Torres come into view, Carlson, 21, will be a prominent fixture in the Cardinals lineup if the current forecast holds.

Thats the future, for now.

In an eight-part series that begins here, with outfielders, the Post-Dispatch will examine and identify the future at every position for the Cardinals, from outfield to infield, starters to closer. In addition to using scouts and scouting reports to illuminate the depth of the organization, the purpose will be to spot the next star ready to arrive or the next hole that must be filled.

I think when you look at it from a high level, not at one specific position and consider the whole system, almost every position has somebody that you could project as a major-league contributor through a lens of two or three years from now, said John Mozeliak, the Cardinals president of baseball operations. It becomes a question of who will make an impact. In the outfield, you have young players, but theyre exciting in different ways with different performances at different places in their development.

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From imminent to impact, Cardinals have Carlson on deck and duo with 'raw' potential for future outfield - STLtoday.com