Jim Connell

JCONNELL@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Individually, each one is a rising pitching prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization.

Together, the four are like a team of superheroes with thunderbolt-infused arms, a pitching rotation the likes of which is seldom seen in minor-league baseball.

Let’s call them Springfield’s “Fantastic Four” … or maybe “The Shutout Squad” … how about “The K Krew”?

When the Springfield Cardinals open their 70-game home schedule on Thursday night at Hammons Field, taking the mound for the home team will be 21-year-old Sandy Alcantara. He won’t be wearing a mask or a cape, and his secret weapon isn’t so secret.

It’s a right arm that can consistently deliver fastballs that blaze past the 100-mph mark on the radar gun.

Add in Jack Flaherty, Dakota Hudson and Austin Gomber, and you’ve got a quartet that even attracted the attention of manager Mike Matheny when his big-league Cardinals were in town for an exhibition game a couple of weeks ago.

Matheny was downright envious of Springfield manager Johnny Rodriguez and what he gets to work with.

“These kids who were in camp with us, they mixed in very well, especially a couple of these young arms that I’m going to steal from Johnny’s team,” Matheny said. “I’m anxious to watch them continue to pitch.”

Rodriguez knows what he has to work with in Double-A is a rare treat.

“It makes you a better manager, if you have the horses,” Rodriguez said, later adding, “They have the stuff to be dominating every day.”

It wouldn’t be a surprise to see more than one of this quartet pitching at Busch Stadium in future years.

For now, though, they will be tough to miss.

Alcantara stands 6-foot-4 and checks in at a lanky 170 pounds, Flaherty is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, with Hudson at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds and Gomber at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds.

It may be hard for these “superhero” pitchers to hide. Here’s a look at their personas, both on and off the field, which make them worth watching.

Sandy Alcantara

Alcantara is ranked No. 6 among all Cardinals’ prospects by Baseball America.

He signed as a 17-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2013 and has been lighting up radar guns ever since. He has 263 strikeouts in 249 2/3 innings in his minor-league career and worked six shutout innings in his first outing this season — a victory over Frisco on April 7.

His English-speaking skills are still developing, but he knows enough to keep his teammates from getting too comfortable.

Like when asked what his best pitch is, and he replied without a pause, “it’s my changeup.”

Gomber and Flaherty reacted with disbelief, saying that he can throw his fastball at 100 mph plus.

Alcantara’s response: “Yeah, I know. But my changeup’s good.”

On an off day, you may find Alcantara hanging out at home, playing video games or watching his favorite movie: “I Am Legend,” with Will Smith.

Or he may be down the street from Hammons Field at McDonald’s, enjoying one of his favorite meals of McChicken sandwiches and french fries.

That got another reaction from his pitching mates.

“McChicken? Maybe that’s where your 100 comes from,” Gomber said with a laugh.

Jack Flaherty

Flaherty checks in at No. 8 on Baseball America’s ranking of Cardinals’ prospects and was the starter both in the exhibition game against the big-league club and on opening day of the Texas League season.

The right-hander was a first-round pick in 2014, out of Harvard-Westlake High School in Studio City, California, and has spent each of his first three seasons in the pros at a different level, in Rookie League in 2014, Low-A in 2015 and High-A last season.

Through two starts with Springfield this season, he’s 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA. He shut out Frisco in 6 2/3 innings in the season opener, then gave up one run in seven innings in beating Midland on Tuesday night. He's given up seven hits and one walk in 13 2/3 innings, striking out 10.

Flaherty doesn’t have the mitt-popping fastball that hits triple digits on the radar gun, instead making his impression with an above-average changeup and the ability to locate all of his pitches consistently.

Flaherty said the high level of talent in the starting rotation figures to push each pitcher every time out.

For example, if a starter pitches six shutout innings one night, “the next guy is going to want to go out and throw seven shutty and keep it going,” he said. “There’s always going to be competition between every guy.”

He welcomes the competition, no matter the sport. And he doesn’t appear to lack confidence.

When asked if there's anything he's better at than anyone else in the clubhouse, he thought for a minute before proclaiming “Anything but ping-pong or golf, I’m better than anybody here. Any other sport.”

When Gomber balked at that claim, Flaherty turned his attention to another popular sport.

“If you want to get a football out here, we’ll put on a show,” Flaherty said. “I’ll just drop dimes.”

Dakota Hudson

Hudson was taken in the first round of last June’s draft out of Mississippi State. He’s ranked No. 9 in the organization by Baseball America.

He played on a Bulldogs team that went 44-18-1 and reached the Super Regionals last year. Hudson was the ace of that staff, going 9-5 with a 2.55 ERA.

After being drafted with the 34th overall selection by the Cardinals, he made 12 appearances in Rookie League and at High-A Palm Beach, mostly in relief.

He may be the most polished pitcher of the four, with a fastball that resides in the mid-90s, an effective curveball and a slider that Baseball America calls “the best of its ilk in the organization.”

He said the current level of talent on the Springfield pitching staff is inspiring.

“These guys are the best I’ve ever played with,” Hudson said. “I just want to learn from them a little bit and see how they do, to help me out as we go. It should be an interesting year.”

Hudson did not get the decision in his first start, going 5 2/3 innings and giving up two earned runs against Midland.

One of Hudson’s hidden talents comes when he takes aim not at a spot where his catcher is setting up from 60 feet, 6 inches away, but throwing a dart at a board from 7 feet, 9¼ inches away.

There’s one catch — the right-handed pitcher needs to throw darts with his left hand.

“I can’t play right-handed,” he said. “It’s like I can’t even get the dart to go straight.”

Austin Gomber

Gomber also has ambidextrous tendencies.

A left-handed pitcher on the mound, Gomber said he can throw right-handed, up to the mid-80s on the radar gun.

And he can throw it where he wants?

“I don’t know about that,” he joked. “But I can throw it pretty good.”

He is, though, excited about the prospects of being a member of this pitching staff.

“It’s pretty special,” he said. “It’s the best rotation I’ve ever been a part of. … We’ve got a chance to go out and throw a shutout every night here. There’s not a lot of teams that can say that.”

He’s the only one of the “Fab Four” — or whatever the group of superhero starters ends up being called — who would admit to having a guilty pleasure.

“I like Taylor Swift,” he said without hesitation. “I don’t really consider that a guilty pleasure. She’s the most famous person in the world — how is that a guilty pleasure?"

Gomber was a fourth-round draft pick in 2014 from Florida Atlantic, and his career took off when he was given the task of sharpening his curveball following that season.

The No. 14-ranked player in the organization by Baseball America, Gomber returned in 2015 and went 15-3 with a 2.67 ERA at Low-A Peoria, sharing Cardinals Minor League Pitcher of the Year honors.

Going into this season, Gomber has a 24-13 record and 2.62 ERA in his minor-league career. In his first start of the season, Gomber lasted only two-thirds of an inning, giving up four earned runs in taking the loss at Frisco on Saturday night.

That first start aside, Gomber’s biggest strength is his incredible consistency, and ability to place his pitches — the curveball, a fastball that hits the low-90s and a decent slider — wherever he wants, inning after inning.

It’s another look for a rotation full of talent, promise and … well, at least baseball’s version of a team of superheroes.

“I think when you’re on a staff like this, the competition is going to get ramped up to the next level,” Gomber said. “The chances that one of us is going to throw seven shutout (innings) is a little bit higher than in a normal rotation. I just think it’s going to make all of us better.

“Watching us go to work, and then the competition, you’re going to get the best from us every night.”

RoughRiders at Cardinals

When: 7:10 p.m. Thursday

Where: Hammons Field

Radio: KWTO 98.7 FM

Promotions: Magnet schedule giveaway (first 3,500 fans), $1 bratwurst, postgame fireworks