Bader, Flaherty top Cards' Minors deck

Harrison Bader and Jack Flaherty will ring in the new year with some well-earned hardware.
The Cardinals named the pair of Top-100 prospects as the team's best Minor Leaguers in 2017 on Thursday. They will be presented their awards at the St. Louis Baseball Writers' Association of America Awards Dinner on Jan. 14.

Both Flaherty, the club's No. 3 prospect, and fifth-ranked Bader made their Major League debuts in 2017.
Flaherty began 2017 with Double-A Springfield, where he went 7-2 with a 1.42 ERA over 63 1/3 innings before earning a promotion to Memphis in June. The 2014 first-round pick was 7-2 with a 2.74 ERA in 85 1/3 frames with the Redbirds and was named to the Futures Game in July. In total, Flaherty logged a 2.18 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP and 147 strikeouts in 148 2/3 innings. He finished the year with St. Louis, where he struggled to an 0-2 mark and a 6.33 ERA in 21 1/3 innings.

Bader spent the lion's share of the season in the Pacific Coast league. In 123 games for Memphis, the 2015 third-round pick posted an .816 OPS with 20 homers, 74 runs scored and 55 RBIs. He was promoted to St. Louis for his Major League debut on July 25. In 32 games with the Cards, Bader posted a .235/.283/.376 slash line with three homers and 10 RBIs.