Daily Farm Report – 8/14/08
Posted on August 14th, 2008 by roarke in Brett Wallace, Colby Rasmus, Daily Farm Reports, Daryl Jones, Jason Motte, Josh KinneyOnce again, you’ve probably all heard by now, but I will post the link to Team USA’s 7-0 victory over Netherlands. They play Cuba tonight.
Derrick Goold has some notes about Colby Rasmus‘ rehab and Josh Kinney‘s intention to return to the team this season. Goold also posted this article about Rasmus and a whole lot of other minor league related notes.
Kevin Goldstein answered three Cardinals questions in his chat the other day. Since it isn’t a subscription piece, I don’t feel bad giving them to you here in their entirety (although you really should subscribe to BP and visit every day):
KCardinal (KC): With Daryl Jones turning his tools into performance this year, will he make your top 100?
Kevin Goldstein: I’m a big Daryl Jones supporter and he’s got a lot of tools, but Top 100 is pushing it.
MikeJordan23 (Brooklyn): I’ll keep asking until you answer: With Brett Wallace hitting abilities but lack of position should the Cardinals trade him to the AL when he’s eligible or find him a new position? And thoughts on Niko Vasquez?
Kevin Goldstein: Stop asking! You don’t really worry about any sort of logjam until you are forced to. The Cardinals right now have a valuable commodity in their minor league system, but there is no reason to start making any decisions on it. Thoughts on Vasquez? I’m a big, big fan.
Jason Motte (Memphis): Would my one-pitch repetoire hold up in the Majors right now?
Kevin Goldstein: Seriously, what’s up with all the Jason Motte questions? Is there a fan club or something? I love the guy, gotta give it up for any converted catcher who has 97 whiffs in 58.2 innings at Triple-A. That said, I think he’d get righties out right now, but his arm angle and lack of secondary stuff would give him trouble against lefties.
Action all over the system (and the globe) – all the details are after the jump.
Team USA 7, Netherlands 0 (8 innings)
- Brian Barden was moved up in the lineup to the #2 spot and promptly went 0-5.
- Jon Jay was 1-1 and was pulled in the third inning. I have been unable to find out why at this point. does anyone have any inside information?
- Josh Phelps continues his hot streak, going 2-3 with two doubles. Unfortunately, Jays hit and Phelps’ doubles were the only hits the Redbirds got.
- PJ Walters gave up three runs on six hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out nine (!).
- The Flores brothers each threw a scoreless inning, as did Matthew Scherer.
- Luis Perdomo and Fernando Salas almost conspired to blow a five run lead in the ninth inning, but Salas was able to close the game out. Perdomo pitched 1.2 innings and gave up three runs on two hits and a walk while striking out three. Salas got the final out of the game, but gave up a homerun (which scored two of Perdomo’s earned runs).
- Brad Furnish pitched five innings and only gave up one run despite walking six men. He struck out three.
- Luke Gregerson pitched two scoreless innings.
- Andrew Brown was 1-3 with a home run and a walk.
- Donovan Solano was 3-5 with a double.
- Brandon Buckman was 1-2 with three walks and a stolen base. He has turned into an absolute beast since his promotion.
- Jose Martinez was 3-4 with a double and Daryl Jones was 2-3 with a walk and a stolen base.
Brevard County 6, Palm Beach 4 (In 12 innings)
- Tyler Henley was 4-7 with two doubles.
- Pete Kozma continues to struggle to adjust to his new level – he went 0-5 with a walk.
- Daniel Descalso was 2-5 with a double and a walk.
- Matthrew Arburr was 2-6 with a double and a stolen base.
- Antonio DeJesus was 1-3 with three walks.
- Nick Additon had a nice outing: five innings, one run allowed on five hits and three walks, and three strikeouts.
- The bullpen was a bit erratic: Eddie Degerman gave up a run in one inning, the Casey Mulligan Experience gave up two runs over two innings, Davis Billardello pitched a scoreless 1.2 innings, Wayne Daman pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings and Francisco Samuel gave up two runs in his inning of work.
- Domnit Bolivar was the offensive star of the night, going 3-4 with a double (defensively, not so much, as he committed an error).
- Otherwise, the team only got three hits: Adron Chambers, Brett Wallace and Francisco Rivera each went 1-4.
- Chuckie Fick faltered today after a nice run of recent starts. He only lasted four innings and gave up six runs, although only four were earned (he committed two errors himself). He allowed nine hits and a walk and struck out five.
- JD Stambaugh pitched three scoreless innings and Matt Spade pitched a scoreless frame.
- Only five hits for Batavia today: Colt Cedbrook was 2-4 and Jose Garcia, Christian Rosa and Xavier Scruggs each had a hit.
- George Brown got the start and took the loss, but he didn’t really pitch that poorly. He gave up two runs on five hits in five innings and struck out four.
- Thomas Eager followed up with three hitless innings.
- Alex Castellanos was 1-3 with a walk and his twentieth steal of the season.
- Paul Cruz was 2-4 with a double.
- Nico Vasquez was 1-4.
- There was a little trouble in the field, as the team committed three errors (Castellanos, Carpenter, Smith) and Jack Cawley had two passed balls.
- Michael Blazek pitched four innings and the errors hurt him, as he allowed four runs, but only three were earned. He gave up six hits and struck out seven.
- Jonny Bravo pitched four scoreless innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out five.
- David Carpenter was also betrayed a bit by the defense, as only one of his two runs allowed were earned. He gave up two hits and struck out one in his inning of work.
Entries (RSS)
Frankly, I don’t see how Jones could not be classified a top 100 prospect. I wish KG had some time to explain himself on that one.
To place Jones as a Top 100 prospect, he’d have to believe the 400 PA sample is the only performance that’s relevant. Everybody would be up in arms if he followed similar reasoning with Rasmus.
I posted that Motte quetion and asked it a couple of times to get an answer. I guess Goldstein doesn’t notice how relevant the Cardinal’s bullpen problems make Jason Motte.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. The software did it again. Retyping in 3, 2…1
Why yes Kevin, there is a Jason Motte fan club and we even have a newsletter!
It’s really a shame that there isn’t a team out there that needs Phelps. I hate seeing this guy waste his hot streak vs AAA pitching. Even if it only brought the Cardinals minimal value, I’d like to see him get some playing time somewhere. He’s earned it.
Please don’t be hurt Jon Jay. How many promising young OF’ers of the Cardinals can get hurt in 1 season?
Jay hurt his shoulder slidding back to first.
His throwing shoulder?
Even if Goldstein is correct that Motte’s effectiveness at present on the MLB level would be limited to righties (which I think is questionable), Motte would be a valuable September callup if all he did was act as a roogie down the stretch. TLR loves the lefty-righty matchup game and is sure to make frequent use of a reliever who can blow away righties.
PJ’s Last 3 starts = 20.1IP 10H 5ER 10BB 24K
How ’bout them apples.
erik,
Ultimately for Jones to even crack the Top 100 prospect list, it would mean he would have to be (theoretically) one of the top 3 or 4 prospects in the system — assuming every team has an equal amount of players in the Top 100, which we all know isn’t true. Has Jones’ stock risen that much this year? I agree he’s an awesome prospect and I get giddy as hell when I see his results every day.
But ultimately that means our prospect rankings would have to be:
1) Rasmus
2) Anderson
3) Jones/Todd/Mortensen/Ottavino/Wallace/Kozma/Everyone else
Has Jones made that big of a leap this year? I’m not sure yet. I want to see him continue this success into next year. I’m a firm Jones believer, but I don’t want to get my heart broken if he goes into the tank next year.
Looks like Walters is doing his best to make me eat crow after asking if he’d reached a level he couldn’t pitch at.
I’m torn: happy for Walters, bitter for being proved wrong.
First of all, Jones has made a huge leap. Minor league splits has a fun new toy that you can neutralize luck and park. Cumulatively, Jones has a .303/.399/.461 line. He’s posted peak EqA’s of over .300 at 2 levels. He’s 21. He has 5 tools. I think his walk rates and line drive rates support that he’s improved his swing and overall approach. His power numbers are up. The only thing that was keeping Jones from being considered an elite prospect was that he wasn’t hitting. And now he is.
Last year Rasmus-Perez-Anderson were our top 3 and all were in the top 100. Garcia just missed and probably won’t be eligible. Perez is certain to be non-eligible the way things stand. Wallace is probably #2 or #3 on most rankings on our team. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to put Jones #3 on the Cards list, but I guess I don’t know the rest of the minors the way I’d like to to know who would rank ahead of Jones.
Last year KG ranked Desmond Jennings, a comparable player to Jones tools and numbers at 17, and there’s a few people out there that would now take Jones over Jennings.
And as far at top players going into the tank, it happens. Just look at Jose Tabata or Jordan Schafer. I’m not saying either are now hopeless causes, but they were top ranked guys who have had troubles this year. Personally, I think Jones is for real.
Lance Lynn was put on the DL for QC and Jorge Rondon was promoted from Johnson City.
Somebody yesterday was asking about Reifer, I assume he will be in the Quad Cities next year. Palm Beach will probably have at least Parisie and Marquies next year. So QC will need a closer.
Wonder what the no-news on Rodriguez means…
Liam:
I guess no news is better than news that he signed with Cincinnati…
Is there any evidence that single season A-ball line drive rates predict performance a couple years down the road? Not a rhetorical question.
greenback-
I have to disagree with you when you say that he would have to be taking 400 PAs alone, versus all the other plate appearances, etc.
The difference in doing that with Jones vs. doing that in a negative way with Colby is that these numbers don’t occur in a vacuum. If you look at it that way, then yes, that point makes, sense, but obviously that’s not the whole story.
With Jones, you’re looking at a player who was projected to be an elite talent, but was very raw. His numbers are finally beginning to come around, lending credence to the early projections people had for him. With Colby, you’re talking about a player who has been projected to do great things, who has done very well so far, and has had a bad season. Now, both years may encompasse approximately the same number of plate appearances, but when you’re comparing the two, one of the players appears to be progressing toward what was expected of him, while one is experiencing what appears to be an anomalous struggle.
Now, if scouting reports on Colby were to begin saying that he has regressed significantly, in terms of his plate discipline or whatever, then there would be some credence to that. We haven’t heard those arguments, though, so I have to assume that that isn’t the case.
I think what you would be missing with the above train of thought is the bigger picture, the direction that each player is moving in. Like I said, if you were to take those 400 PAs (or however many), in a strict vacuum, then you could make that argument, that those 400 shouldn’t count any more than the other 1000 that Jones has had. But that ignores the whole notion of ‘progression’.
I have no idea if LD% in A ball mean anything, but I would love to see somebody do some research and find out if they do.
The more I think about it, the more I understand Jones being a borderline top-100 prospect.
If you look past the fluke batting average at Palm Beach, he’s still a guy who is striking out nearly as often as he was last year. Looking ahead to his major league career, he still doesn’t look like he will hit for a good average or be more than an average on-base guy. That’s a pretty significant difference between Jones and Jennings.
Jones’ power has increased this year – which is great. I’m just not sure that alone is enough to vault him from ‘toolsy/raw’ to ‘top 100′ guy. The standards are pretty high for corner outfielders, as they should be.