Discovering the St. Louis Cardinals’ potential Mendlinger, Noah
In 2021, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Noah Mendlinger as an undrafted free agent. Mendlinger was a member of the Peach Belt Conference’s Georgia College, where he was recognized for his academic success with many awards. Mendlinger had a three-season slash line of.340/.419/.481 at the end of his collegiate career.
In June 2021, Mendlinger became an undrafted free agent. After being called up by the Cardinals for a workout, he hit a pair of home runs at Busch Stadium. Regarding the procedure, Noah remarked, “Next thing I know, I’m sitting there with Mr. Flores on the third-base bench.”
This year, Mendlinger received a non-roster invite to the big-league camp for spring training. So far, he’s 1-2 with a walk and a single. Talking with the team’s veterans, especially utility guy Brendan Donovan, has been a great experience for Noah. “Donnie is the best. He was attempting to make the main league roster when I went back to my first spring training in 2022. He recognized who I was over the years and knew who I was,” Mendlinger added. “He performs as needed by the squad and is a pro’s pro. I feel like that’s my duty, too. I’m there to perform the tasks that the team requires of me. It’s putting the team first.
Mendlinger, who is starting his sixth season as a professional baseball player, wants to improve. This past winter, Mendlinger made his first appearance in the Rule 5 draft; however, he was not picked and rejoined the Cardinals. “I reached out to my agent and said ‘Hey, is this something I need to watch out for?'” He’s glad to still be with the Cardinals, and his agent told him that everything will work out for him.
Mendlinger has been working hard this offseason to establish himself in the farm system this season. “No home runs last year is no secret that you want to get that number up a bit,” Mendlinger said. Although he isn’t specifically aiming for home runs, he is making modifications based on data, including his ground ball rate and launch angle. “Slugging in this game has been the wave, and that’s what everybody chases.” Additionally, Mendlinger has been working on increasing bat speed.
Last year, Noah hit a career-high 60.4% groundball percentage. With a modified bat path and accelerated bat speed, he hopes to produce more line drives.
The large stage is nothing new to Noah. He participated in the 2023 World Baseball Classic with Joc Pederson, Trayce Thompson, and Dean Kremer as a member of Team Israel. Additionally, Noah had the opportunity to play for Team Israel alongside colleague Matt Koperniak. In four games in the WBC, he went 3-10 with three strikeouts, a walk, and two runs scored. As Noah played, he took in every second of the WBC. “It was awesome, one of the best experiences of my career.” Mendlinger faced up against Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. He does aim on playing in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, too.
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