Stephen Piscotty

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #3 prospect in 2015
  Piscotty has often heard questions about his power and whether it would manifest as he grew stronger and more experienced. He knows this: He's not going to force it. Piscotty has said he "knows the line-drive hitter that I am, and I'm comfortable staying with that." The Cardinals landed two compensation picks when Albert Pujols left for the Angels--one they used for Michael Wacha and the other for Piscotty. They got a level-headed and hard-hitting outfielder who may develop power but will hit for average. Piscotty has an innate feel for the strike zone (98 walks and 132 strikeouts in 303 professional games) and uses that patience to sweeten an authoritative, balanced swing built to hit .300. Piscotty keeps both hands on the bat and learned at Triple-A Memphis how to pull the ball more often instead of settling for line drives to right field. That ability to pull, coupled with more loft, is what hints at more power, though maybe in the 15-20 homer range. Drafted as a third baseman, Piscotty has taken to right field where he has good instincts and where his arm is a plus asset. The Cardinals' acquisition of Jason Heyward means Piscotty is ticketed for a return to Memphis so he can continue playing every day, though he'll debut at some point in 2015 and the club has kept its roster flexibility open for him to be a regular as soon as 2016.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #4 prospect in 2014
  The Cardinals used the two compensation picks they got for Albert Pujols on Michael Wacha and Piscotty, a polished college bat. Piscotty sped to Double-A early in 2013 while shifting from third base to right field, where his skills were a better fit. He responded well to the new position and continued to hit above his level after getting experience. He recovered from a midseason hamstring injury to hit .330 with 18 RBIs in August. Piscotty has a mature feel for the strike zone and profiles as a hitter for average, batting right around .300 at every level. He keeps both hands on the bat and maintains an ability to drive the ball the opposite way. He teases at hitting for more power. His frame and his swing say he will. An official described how he hits mistakes hard, but that 20-homer power may not manifest until he's in the majors. Piscotty's range improved in right field, and he sports the organization's best outfield arm. He will get time during big league spring training before reporting to Triple-A Memphis as the everyday right fielder and middle-of-the-order hitter. Some in the organization believe he'll debut in 2014 as an injury replacement or young bat off the bench.
• 
  Ranked St. Louis Cardinals #10 prospect in 2013
  Even with a new scouting director, Dan Kantrovitz, helming their draft, the Cardinals continued to load up on polished college performers in 2012. They used the 36th overall pick on Piscotty, who won the 2011 Cape Cod League batting title (.349) and hit .340 in three seasons at Stanford. After signing for $1,430,400, he immediately went to low Class A, where he impressed observers with an .824 OPS and a big league approach. Piscotty has a seasoned sense of the strike zone and a good read on pitches. His line-drive swing is built more for high batting averages with plenty of doubles. The soft spots in his robust résumé that kept him from being a first-round pick followed him into pro ball. Piscotty lacks true home run power and went deep just four times in 210 at-bats. Though he has a strong arm, he lacks the hands and range to play a good third base and made 22 errors in 36 pro games there. St. Louis will move Piscotty to right field and advance him to high Class A in 2013. The position change will put even more pressure on him to add more home run power. His ability to do so will determine if he emerges as an everyday outfielder or a high-average utility cornerman.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #26 prospect in 2012 draft
  For the teams that value track record, Piscotty has been a consistent performer. He's hit well all three years at Stanford, hit well in the Alaska League after his freshman year and led the Cape Cod League in batting last year. Piscotty has a strong frame at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds. He has a soild, line-drive approach at the plate and projects as more of a doubles hitter than a home run threat. Piscotty's bat profiles better at third base than it does in a corner outfield spot. But if he has to move there as a pro--which is likely, since he moved to the outfield midway through the season at Stanford to make room at third for freshman Alex Blandino--then it's a tougher profile as a righthanded hitter with limited power potential. Piscotty has a strong arm and is a fringe-average runner and scouts like his makeup and work ethic.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Pacific Coast League #7 prospect in 2015
  Piscotty began the year repeating the PCL with Memphis before he earned a promotion to St. Louis in July. He showed progress in his second year in the PCL before he graduated to the major leagues. Piscotty has long been known for his hitting ability. He has an exceptional feel for the strike zone and a smooth, balanced swing that enables him to hit for average. He has maintained those strengths of his game this season, while also tapping into his raw power more consistently, especially when pulling the ball. His established a career high with a .203 isolated slugging percentage in the PCL, and that increase in power has carried over into the major leagues. Piscotty, a former third baseman, is a capable outfielder with a plus arm. He profiles well in right field, and that is where he primarily played with Memphis. But he has proven to be versatile. With Jason Heyward playing right field in the big leagues, the Cardinals have used Piscotty in all three outfield positions as well as at first base.
• 
  Ranked Pacific Coast League #13 prospect in 2014
  Piscotty's line-drive hitting approach has produced more gap power than home-run juice thus far in his career, an outcome that belies a man of his muscular 6-foot-3 stature. After moving from third base in college to right field in the Cardinals system, he must learn to hit a few more balls over the wall to profile at his new position. One rival scout projects Piscotty to do just that, for he began lofting the ball more consistently this season at Memphis. Another scout thought him capable of 20 homers per season in the big leagues. "I like him a lot," the second scout said. "He's a future regular who will hit for average and power." Others evaluators dinged Piscotty for a tepid second half--he hit .254/.329/.351 in 57 games from July 1 onward--wondering if fatigue or stressful PCL travel could be the culprit. Piscotty's move to the outfield, where his plus arm plays in right, has been "occasionally adventurous," in the words of one evaluator. Others noted that he did not run or throw as well this summer as he had in the past, which could limit him to left field.
• 
  Ranked Florida State League #14 prospect in 2013
  Piscotty played third base and pitched at Stanford but has moved to right field for the Cardinals since signing for $1,430,400 as the 36th overall pick in 2012. He finished his first full season in Double-A and has played like the polished college bat he was expected to be entering that draft. With present strength and good hands, Piscotty combines contact ability with solid-average power. He has a good swing path and swings aggressively on pitches in the strike zone. He?s learning which pitches he can drive and projects to hit 15-20 home runs while hitting for a high average. While he still needs to improve his footwork and be more consistent with his arm slot, which is different for an outfielder than it was in the infield, Piscotty is playable defensively in right field.
• 
  Ranked Texas League #9 prospect in 2013
  The third of five Cardinals picks before the second round of the 2012 draft, Piscotty reached the TL in short order, arriving from high Class A Palm Beach in June. He dealt with a hamstring in July, missing two weeks, but thundered through the final month by batting .345 and driving in 18 of his 24 runs. The Cardinals moved Piscotty off third base, forcing him to learn right field on the fly. He excites evaluators because he already has the best outfield arm in the system and the power at the plate to mash 20 homers. One scout acknowledged that his swing resembles Ryan Ludwicks as Piscotty finishes with both hands on the handle. He looks to drive the ball and stays up the middle, which gives him a chance to collect opposite-field hits and generally hit .270 or better. He was tough with two strikes, batting .300 even when behind in the count. He has decent speed for a right fielder. Piscotty showcased his comfort level with the position switch during a late-season performance in which he made a home-run robbing catch and, in the same week, made a throw from the warning track to second base, hitting the shortstop in the letters.
• 
  Ranked Midwest League #20 prospect in 2012
  Like Jankowski, Piscotty went from the supplemental first round of the 2012 draft to our MWL Top 20. He stepped right into the No. 3 spot in the Quad Cities lineup and showed the hitting ability that earned him a $1,430,400 bonus. He works counts and never gives in to pitchers, wearing them out with line drives from gap to gap. "The kid was unbelievable," Burlington manager Aaron Nieckula said. "He already has a big league approach. He'd just spit on offspeed pitches and wouldn't swing at anything out of the zone. He's very disciplined and works himself into hitter's counts." No one doubts Piscotty's ability to hit, but the two concerns that knocked him out of the first round continued to linger after his pro debut. He's more of a doubles threat than the home run source teams want in a third baseman. And while he has a strong arm, he's an erratic defender (22 errors in 36 games) who lacks soft hands, range and quickness.

Top 100 Rankings

• Ranked Baseball America's #79 prospect in 2015
• Ranked Baseball America's #70 prospect in 2014

• December, 2012 Scouting Report
  Background: Even with a new scouting director, Dan Kantrovitz, helming their draft for the first time, the Cardinals continued to load up on polished college performers in 2012. They used the 36th overall pick on Piscotty, who won the 2011 Cape Cod League batting title (.349) and hit .340 in three seasons at Stanford. After signing for $1,430,400, he immediately went to low Class A, where he impressed observers with an .824 OPS and a big league approach. Scouting Report: Piscotty has a seasoned sense of the strike zone and gets a good read on pitches. His line-drive swing is built more for high batting averages with plenty of doubles rather than home runs. The soft spots in his robust resume that kept him from being a first-round pick followed him into pro ball. Piscotty lacks true home run power and went deep just four times in 210 at-bats. Though he has a strong arm, he lacks the hands and range to play a good third base and made 22 errors in 36 pro games there. The Future: St. Louis will move Piscotty to right field and advance him to high Class A in 2013. The position change will put even more pressure on him to add more home run power. His ability to do so will determine if he emerges as an everyday outfielder or a high-average utility cornerman.