Caravan Cardinals take different paths to big leagues

The youth movement in St. Louis is in full swing in 2025.

The stated goal for the Cardinals this year is leaning toward their young players to develop in the big leagues and set the foundation for the next time the franchise feels compelled to make a move for the next missing piece.

What's fascinating about baseball compared to other sports is the unconventional journey each player makes to get to the highest level of the sport. Football and basketball players go straight from college to the pros, but a baseball player can be drafted out of high school, come out of a college that's not NCAA Division I or be discovered at an independent league.

That is the theme that ties the group of players that made the trip to Cape Girardeau for the Cardinals Caravan on Monday, Jan. 20. No. 4 prospect Thomas Saggese was drafted out of high school. Kyle Leahy was drafted out of Division II Colorado Mesa and his fellow bullpen mate Chris Roycroft was a Division III athlete signed out of independent ball.

Each of them found different paths to the nest of the Redbirds.

2 years, 2 important calls

Saggese was drafted by the Texas Rangers, but made his debut with the Cardinals because of a trade in 2023 that sent pitchers Jordan Montgomery and Chris Stratton to the eventual World Series champions. At the time, Saggese was batting .313 with 15 home runs and 78 RBIs in 93 games for Double-A Frisco.

Like many who follow sports, Saggese was desensitized to the realities of a player being traded until it was his name on the ticker.

"You see on TV, people get traded, and it's just like, 'OK, let's see what they can bring to the other team,'" Saggese said. "Then when you're in their shoes, you don't realize, like, I gotta pick up my whole life."

It's not uncommon for packs of prospects to move up the organizational ladder together. During his three seasons in the Rangers farm system, Sageese forged bonds with teammates so strong that he was a best man at a wedding over the offseason.

"Like, everything I know is in Texas," Sageese said. "Just leaving people like that, leaving your best friends, not to mention you're picking up your entire life and moving cities in one day. It's kind of wild."

The transition became much easier for Sageese once he was back on the diamond. He continued his prolific pace, batting .331 with a 1.065 OPS with Double-A Springfield on his way to being named Texas League MVP.

The next important call came from his Triple-A manager last September.

It was a call that Sageese saw coming, especially after going hitless against Omaha on Sept. 8, two days before his first big league game.

"I think I was a little upset because I didn't do well in that game," Sageese said. "But I get a call from my Triple-A manager, and he says, 'I got some good news, you're going into the big leagues!' That moment was really crazy because I wasn't at all expecting it, really. So it was a little wild."

From Joe to Pro

Among the group, Roycroft has led the most ordinary life. He balanced life as a two-sport athlete at DIII Aurora University with jobs as a delivery driver and in customer service at the local sporting goods store.

After graduating in 2019 and going undrafted, Roycroft worked at a classic car shop while staying in shape looking for the opportunity to finally arrive.

"Just chasing the dream and just trying to make it work in any way possible," Roycroft said. "A lot of times, I thought about quitting, and I just kept persevering, and I was resilient and just kept going."

That opportunity arrived in the form of the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League. Standing tall at 6-foot-8, it wasn't hard for scouts to notice him.

"I think the biggest thing was my ceiling and my marketability of my height, 6'8", and throw pretty hard," Roycroft said. "So the ceiling is like a potential, like, this guy could mold himself into something pretty great. I think that was the biggest thing that sold him on it."

Roycroft made his MLB debut on May 7 of last year and struck out 33 batters in 34 1/3 innings over 27 appearances. Like many major leaguers, he, too, has a memorable story regarding his first call-up.

"I got the call at nine in the morning," Roycroft said, "and for whatever reason, like, I never put my ringer on my phone the night before. For a miraculous reason, I did it this time, and it actually woke me up and so then I answered a call, and Ben Johnson (Triple-A manager) was super cheery. I'm like, 'What is this guy? Why is he all excited?' Then he finally gave me the news, and I about cried."

Welcome to the Show

Leahy's MLB debut came before the rest of the pack and didn't get the rosy "welcome to the show" moment that is normally seen in highlights.

"It was just a dream come true, and then you quickly realize it gets real now," Leahy said. "Now you got to perform."

Leahy made his big-league debut July 7, 2023, in Chicago, against the White Sox. He struck out Tim Anderson in his first at-bat, but gave up a game-tying solo home run to Luis Robert Jr. on the very next plate appearance. The dream became a reality and then reality hit.

Leahy made only three appearances within a week in 2023, but made it back to the big leagues in 2024 and was more of a mainstay in the Cardinals bullpen, making 33 appearances with a 4.07 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings.

"Life comes at you fast," Leahy said. "You achieve one goal of getting to the major leagues, and then you want to stay, and you do whatever you can to figure that out."