Sprint Start Got St. Louis Cardinals’ Prospect Cesar Prieto To Majors

Cesar Prieto’s defection from Cuba was like a Hollywood movie scene. His journey through the minors to make his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night was much more mundane.

Prieto struck out as a pinch hitter against hard-throwing Tony Santillan of the Cincinnati Reds in his MLB debut. That’s not quite the storybook way he got his chance to do it.

CINCINNATI: Cesar Prieto of the St. Louis Cardinals swings in his MLB debut as a pinch hitter in the 10th inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on Aug. 29, 2025. (Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images)

Getty Images

He told his remarkable story to Rob Rains of STLSportsPage.com last March. The infielder was a young star with the Cuban National Team in 2021, playing in an Olympic qualifying tournament that May in West Palm Beach, FL. And he literally bolted down the street for freedom.

“It was super hard to make that decision (to defect), but at the time I knew it was the right thing to do because I was doing it for something really good in my future,” Prieto told MLB.com via translator Kleininger Teran. “I feel lucky to have this opportunity to come to America and play baseball here and I want to make the most of it.”

Every MLB team was aware of Prieto. Beginning at age 18 in the Cuban National Series in 2017, Prieto hit .365 in 247 games. His game was like that of current San Diego Padres star and three-time batting champion Luis Arraez. Prieto had incredible bat-to-ball skills, but not much power or speed: 17 homers and 24 stolen bases.

At 5-foot-9 and a stocky 180 pounds (now 195), that was to be expected. In the field, he was a steady performer, mostly at second base with time at shortstop and third.

The Baltimore Orioles signed him for $650,000 as an international free agent in January 2022. That summer, hit .273 with 11 homers over two levels. The next year, he really made an impact – yet was dealt at the 2023 trading deadline.

The Orioles were on their way to winning the AL East and wanted to add pitching for the stretch run and playoffs. They sent minor leaguers Prieto, Drew Rom and Zach Showalter to the Cardinals for right-hander Jack Flaherty.

Flaherty, now with the Detroit Tigers, bombed in Baltimore, going 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA in nine games.

Prieto just kept hitting. Overall in 2023, he batted .323 with 10 homers and 69 RBI for three teams. In 2024 at Triple-A Memphis, he hit .279 with 14 homers, 56 RBI. In 107 games for Memphis this year, the lefty hitter had a .295 average, 29 doubles, 9 homers and career-high 11 steals. He also was caught 13 times.

For a guy who got to America by running, he’s better suited for staying put on the bases.

Long Lineage Of Little Lefties

It always seems as if the Cardinals have a lefty swinging second baseman standing less than six feet tall with high-average, low-power results. Since 1980, the list of starters includes:

• Brendan Donovan
• Kolten Wong
• Daniel Descalso
• Skip Schumaker
• Adam Kennedy
• Tony Womack
• Fernando Vina
• Delino DeShields
• Luis Alicea
• Geronimo Pena
• Tommy Herr
• Ken Oberkfell

Short-stature switch hitters standing tall at second for the Cards over that time were Tommy Edman and Jose Oquendo. They also seemed to have been built along a cookie-cutter assembly line.

Three Greats At Second

St. Louis has had three of the very best second baseman in history in Hall of Famers Red Schoendienst, Frankie Frisch and Rogers Hornsby.

Schoendienst was the starter in St. Louis from 1945 until a mid-season trade in 1956. He came back in a reserve role in 1961-63, then became the Cardinals’ manager from 1965 until 1976, returning in a fill-in role in 1980 and 1990.

The switch-hitter batted .289 with only 84 homers over his 19 seasons as a player. A 10-time All-Star, he also played for the New York Giants and Milwaukee Braves.

Frisch also was a switch-hitter. The 5-11 infielder also played third and some shortstop. He started his career with the Giants in 1919 and was dealt to the Cards for the great Hornsby after the 1926 season.

He was a player-manager from 1933 until 1937, winning the 1934 World Series and later managed the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs. He learned from hard-nosed Giants manager John McGraw and carried the same pug-nose, ready-to-scrap qualities as a player and skipper.

Frisch hit .316 over 19 MLB seasons with 105 homers and 419 steals.

Hornsby, perhaps the greatest right-handed hitter ever, stood only 5-11 but had great power. He also became a player-manager and often went from team to team because his outspoken and tempestuous personality would overshadow his incredible batting skills.

Hornsby was at his greatest for St. Louis from 1915 until 1926, when he wore out his welcome. In 1,580 games for the Cardinals, he hit .359. He had the most incredible five-year span (1921-25) in history when he averaged:

• .402 (1,078 for 2,679)
• 215.6 hits and 123 runs
• 41.2 doubles and 13.2 triples
• 28.8 homers and 119.6 RBI
• 70.4 walks and 39.6 strikeouts
• .474 on-base percentage, .690 slugging percentage and 1.164 OPS

With five teams over 23 seasons, Hornsby hit .358 with 301 homers, 1,584 RBI. He was the NL MVP in 1925 with St. Louis and again in 1929 with Chicago.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Outlook For Prieto

His track record says he should hit enough to maintain a spot in the lineup. How much he plays may depend on the organization’s constant musical-chairs approach to where guys end up. The Cardinals have good young hitters and pitchers in the system and must figure who can help and who can go.

Donovan has been the primary second baseman in 2025 but is currently on the injured list. In 480 career games for St. Louis, he has a nice .280 career average. He also has played first, third, short, left and right – so if Prieto can become a solid MLB hitter there should be room for both somewhere in the lineup.

Prieto was ranked as the Cardinals’ 19th-best prospect a year ago by MLB Pipeline. He was knocked off the list this year. He’s 26 and most good players have already established themselves in the big leagues.

The Cardinals’ No. 1 prospect is a second baseman. J.J. Wetherholt was picked No. 7 in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft. A lefty hiiter at 5-10, 190 pounds, he fits the organizational template for the position – but with more potential pop at the plate.

Signed for $6.9 million out of West Virginia University, Wetherholt has hit .309 with 18 homers in 125 minor-league games. Most impressive, he has 78 walks to 79 strikeouts.

Prieto and Donovan may soon being playing another position in St. Louis or for another team. Either way, second base looks to be in good shape for the St. Louis Cardinals.