Minor League Baseball

St. Louis Cardinals Prospect Nathan Church Unleashes Record-Breaking Outfield Assist

Nathan Church made the most of his time in the St. Louis Cardinals’ Spring breakout game against the Miami Marlins on Friday, gunning down a runner with a 99.7 mile-per-hour throw home.
Sam Connon|
Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Nathan Church (91) warms-up during spring training.
Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Nathan Church (91) warms-up during spring training. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsMiami Marlins

Nathan Church has a cannon, and he isn't afraid to show it off.

In the bottom of the second inning of Friday afternoon's Spring Breakout showdown between the St. Louis Cardinals and Miami Marlins, Andrew Pintar singled with a line drive up the middle. Deyvison De Los Santos tried scoring from second on the play to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead, but Church had other plans.

The 24-year-old gathered the ball, took one crow hop, then delivered a perfect strike from 200 feet out to gun De Los Santos down at the plate.

The inning-ending assist was clocked at 99.7 miles per hour. No Cardinals player has ever recorded a faster outfield assist in the Statcast era, per MLB Pipeline.

Church opens 2025 as the No. 21 prospect in the Cardinals' farm system, per MLB Pipeline. He is the organization's No. 2 outfielder prospect, though, trailing only Chase Davis.

MLB Pipeline grades Church's run tool at a 70 and his arm and field tools at 60s.

Through 16 Grapefruit League contests this spring, Church is 0-for-13 with four walks, a hit-by-pitch and a strikeout. He was 0-for-2 at the plate before he hit the bench Friday.

Church is a .266 hitter with a .696 OPS in his minor league career, which started after the Cardinals selected him in the 11th round of the 2022 MLB Draft. He hit .364 with an .815 OPS in the Arizona Fall League in 2024, convincing St. Louis to invite him to big league spring training camp.

Related MiLB Stories

  • WILLIAMS TALKS SMACK: After Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer hit a home run in Spring Breakout, Rays shortstop Carson Williams knew he had to respond. CLICK HERE
  • BIG 3 ALL GO YARD: Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer and Roman Anthony each hit home runs in the Red Sox's Spring Breakout contest on Thursday night. CLICK HERE
  • ROMO, AMADOR REASSIGNED: The Rockies optioned top prospects Drew Romo and Adael Amador to Triple-A on Wednesday, taking them out of the running for Opening Day roster spots. CLICK HERE

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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