Mendlinger: From Alpharetta to MLB Prospect

When revisiting his experience playing for Team Israel during last March’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect and Alpharetta native Noah Mendlinger admits there were times when it was hard to stay in the moment. Such as when he was playing third base and Puerto Rico manager—and Cardinals great—Yadier Molina was standing nearby. Or when he was manning the hot corner and Venezuela’s Ronald Acuña Jr. strode to the plate.

“I found myself between each pitch looking around and looking at the faces,” said the 5-foot-8, 181-pound third baseman, who, in 2021 signed a minor-league free-agent contract with the Cardinals following his career at Division II Georgia College. “I felt like I was in the real version of ‘MLB: The Show,’ the video game. Between every pitch, your mind can wander a little bit with the crowd there and just looking over into the dugout. It’s definitely hard. You try to lock it in for every pitch. I worked hard at trying to make sure that I could focus my attention and calm my nerves a little bit.”

As it turns out, the 2023 WBC may not be the last time Mendlinger’s on the same diamond with such splashy names.

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In what has been a rather improbable rise through the ranks of the Cardinals minor league system, Mendlinger, who got his first taste of pro ball in summer 2021 with Class-A Palm Beach and played the entire following season at High-A Peoria, last month was promoted to Double-A Springfield where, in his third week, he was named Texas League Player of the Week after hitting over .400. Now he’s starting every night at third for the Springfield Cardinals and is two call-ups away from the big leagues.

“My goal was to always play at the highest level that I could,” Mendlinger, 22, told the Atlanta Jewish Times. “I will say that pro ball was definitely a dream of mine and something I wanted to make happen. Coming out of a little bit of a smaller school, it seemed like a little bit of a reach. It definitely is a dream come true to just look up and play in front of as many fans as we do in some of these awesome stadiums.”

As a sure-handed infielder who can handle multiple positions, Noah Mendlinger could very well be a utility infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals one day.

Despite being an All-Region First Team and All-State Honorable Mention at Alpharetta High School, Mendlinger attracted hardly any attention from Division I schools, and swiftly pivoted to Georgia College in Milledgeville, a program annually in contention for the Division II Men’s College World Series but certainly no breeding ground for one-day MLB stars.

“I think everybody there [Georgia College] had a pretty awesome team collective mindset,” recalled Mendlinger, who lives with his parents in Alpharetta and trains in Marietta during the offseason. “I think you hear at some Division I schools, guys are focused on getting drafted. We knew that some of our highest goals as individuals would be some of the team accomplishments that we put together.

“Milledgeville is not the biggest college town, so we definitely had a good time just sticking to ourselves and hanging out together and enjoying all the things on and off the field.”

Still, as a versatile infielder who can put together quality at-bats, Mendlinger didn’t lose sight of his primary goal. In June 2021, following a phenomenal collegiate season in which he batted .331, he was training at home and looking to transfer to a bigger school when the Cardinals called to invite him to a pre-draft workout at Busch Stadium. If nothing else, it would mean taking batting practice on a big-league field, one in which his childhood heroes, Martín Prado and Omar Infante, once graced. It proved to be something far more substantial. Mendlinger impressed enough members of the Cardinals front office, in particular, assistant general manager Randy Flores, that the organization ultimately offered him the free-agent contract after not selecting him in the 2021 MLB Draft.

“That was just one of the most unreal experiences of my life,” Mendlinger added. “Something I will never forget, for sure. A dream came true that day.”

The same could be said for the World Baseball Classic. For two very different reasons, joining Team Israel for WBC competition—something he hopes to do again in 2026—carried special meaning. First and foremost, it was a fitting way to pay homage to his late step-grandmother, who had recently passed away, and the rest of his Jewish heritage on his father’s side.

“There were a lot of moments through that whole experience where I tried to take a step back and just think of her [step-grandmother], my family, my Jewish heritage, and a lot of people who have played a part in getting me to where I was on that day,” noted Mendlinger. “There are definitely more people behind the scenes than just her, but it was a pretty fresh scar.”

Meanwhile, the 2023 World Baseball Classic offered the opportunity to play on the global stage—one he passed on last decade when opting for domestic travel tournaments over the Maccabiah Games. To this day, he looks back on his decision to forgo the Maccabiah Games with some ambiguity…while unequivocally endorsing the experience for the next generation of Jewish ballplayers.

“It’s hard at this point to say that I would change anything in terms of where I’m at right now,” he said. “There were a lot of weekends spent in travel ball games that we chose instead of the Maccabiah Games. It was definitely something that my dad pushed for. I definitely would encourage young kids to do it. Anytime you get to travel and play on a world stage, it’s definitely something that you should take full advantage of.

“I definitely wish I did it as a kid, but I know there were some other sacrifices we had to make in order to make some other things happen. And travel ball was a big deal growing up in terms of development. We went the right route for sure, but I definitely would encourage anybody to do it.”

As for his current career plans—pursuing baseball while putting aside opportunities to use his marketing education—there’s absolutely zero ambivalence.

“Truthfully, after having started my profession outside the confines of the cubicle, I don’t know if I will ever take that step,” said Mendlinger. “I really love working in the game and I could definitely see some coaching down the line in my future. Hopefully I won’t have to step in and look around for another profession anytime soon.”