# 30 - RHP Jack Ralston
Scouting grades: Fastball: 45 | Splitter: 60 | Curveball: 45 | Command: 40 | Overall: 35+
Background: The Cardinals drafted Ralston in 2019 out of UCLA in a class headlined by Zack Thompson in the first round, along with other notable selections including: Andre Pallante, Pedro Pages, and Connor Thomas. Ralston is one of just two players from the class still with the Cardinals who have yet to make their MLB debut, the other being Chandler Redmond. Ralston’s minor league career has been plagued by inconsistent command and injuries, but when healthy, he has shown the stuff to be an MLB-caliber relief pitcher.
Scouting Report: Ralston is an imposing figure on the mound, standing tall at 6’6”, and he throws from an extreme over-the-top arm angle. In 62 2/3 innings at Double-A, he pitched to a 2.73 ERA while striking out 31.1% of hitters and limiting his opposition to a .196/.292/.351 slash line. Across his minor league career, he’s always been someone who has kept hitters at bay in terms of what they’re able to do on batted balls, but prior to the 2024 season, he had an unhealthy career 15.1% walk rate. That number dropped to a more respectable 11.3% in 2024 and was done in a more unconventional way by actually dropping his four-seam usage in favor of a splitter. Ralston leverages his release characteristics to effectively utilize a four-seamer at the top of the zone while working his secondary pitches off the fastball, low in the zone, where he’s able to create a steep approach angle.
Up until 2023, Ralston’s go-to secondary was a curveball, but over the past couple of seasons, especially last year, the usage and effectiveness of his splitter took a major step forward. Ralston threw his splitter 40% of the time, and despite it typically being a tough pitch to grasp for pitchers, his feel for the offering was quite impressive. The pitch sits at around 82 MPH with 3” IVB and 5” arm-side run, and due to Ralston’s outlier 7.1-foot vertical release height, he’s able to create a steep plane to the plate that hitters just aren’t used to. Ralston’s split generated a 54% whiff rate in 2024, ranking among the top in minor league baseball at generating swings and misses for an offspeed offering. Ralston zoned it a respectable 43% of the time while also excelling at generating chase, with hitters unable to recognize the ball flight.
Ralston also throws a 91-94 MPH cut-ride heater that works as an appetizer for the main dish. The pitch gets moderate ride and close to 0 inches of horizontal movement, and he spams the pitch at the top of the zone to set up his splitter. In a vacuum, the pitch is probably at least one standard deviation apart from being an average offering, but it plays up as close to a fringe-average offering with how well he works his splitter off of it and vice versa. I’m interested to see how this pitch plays with the MLB ball at Triple-A, but with some expected loss of IVB using the MLB ball, I still think it’ll work as a decent enough offering to leverage his dominant splitter off of. Ralston also works in a depthy 12-6 curveball, which, paired with his release, has a ton of expected downward movement, though the velocity leaves something to be desired. If possible, I think reworking the curveball into a harder offering with less downward movement—perhaps a deathball-type pitch—could help add another nightmare whiff-inducing offering to his mix beyond the splitter.
Future: Jack Ralston might not be the most exciting prospect in the system as a 27-year-old relief-pitching prospect, but I do think this is someone who will make a big league debut in the near future. The development of his splitter in 2024 was fun to watch, and I believe it’s one of the better offerings in the organization. Among the relief-pitching prospects I have in the back third of the list, including Matt Svanson and Andre Granillo, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Ralston is the name out of that group to have the most impactful MLB career. There are certainly some question marks about whether he can stay healthy and continue to show decent enough command, but I like the stuff enough for him to profile as a potential middle-relief option.
