ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The St. Louis Cardinals announced Sunday their selections for Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for August, with Springfield Cardinals (AA) outfielder Matt Koperniak and Palm Beach Cardinals (A) right-handed reliever Andrew Marrero receiving the honors.

 

Koperniak, 24, led all qualified Cardinals minor leaguers with a .371 average (33-for-89), a 1.091 OPS and ranked first for the month in hits, home runs (six), RBIs (22), extra-base hits (13) and total bases (60) across 22 games.  

The Hoosac Valley High School graduate became the third player in Springfield’s history to hit for the cycle, while tying a career-high with four RBIs on Aug. 9 at Amarillo. He is the fourth different Springfield player to earn Player of the Month honors this season.

 

“Matt’s strong play in August was highlighted by his productive OPS, including his selection as Texas League Player of the Week for Aug. 8-14,”  Cardinals Assistant GM and Director of Player Development Gary LaRocque said in a news release from the Major League club.

 

The 6-0 left-handed hitter was signed by the organization as a non-drafted free agent in June 2020 after playing four years of collegiate baseball at Trinity College (Conn.). He was selected as an organizational All-Star by MiLB.com in 2021 after ranking in the Top 10 among all Cardinals minor leaguers in average, on-base percentage, OPS and hits.

 

For the season, Koperniak is slashing .292/.366/.451/.816 with 12 doubles, 14 HR, 58 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 102 games for Springfield (100) and AAA Memphis (two).

 

In 2019, Koperniak led the North Adams SteepleCats with a .376 batting average in 38 games. He also drove in a team-high 37 runs and led the team in home runs (five) and doubles (15) that summer.

 

Marrero, 22, led all Cardinals minor leaguer pitchers with 0.63 WHIP and ranked third with 0.71 ERA (minimum 10.0 IP), while striking out 24 of 47 batters faced. He also tallied six saves in August, the most by a Cardinals minor leaguer in a single month this season. The 5-10 right-hander limited opponents to a .119 average and .358 OPS over 12 relief appearances (12.2 IP), allowing just five hits (one extra-base hit) and three walks.

 

 “Andrew’s outstanding month of August has helped Palm Beach compete for a Florida State League playoff berth,” LaRocque said.

 

Selected by the Cardinals in the 18th round of the 2021 Draft out of the University of Connecticut, the New Haven, Conn., native ranks first among Cardinals minor league pitchers with a 1.36 ERA with a minimum of 30.0 IP.