I know we have beat this one into the ground, but Jim Callis of Baseball America takes on Brett Wallace’s fielding ability and how it drives his position and projection in the majors. His conclusion is that because of Albert Pujols, his lack or range for LF and his impressive bat, Wallace will stay at 3B. He’s not going to wow anyone with his lateral range, but will be able to play a solid 3B. And of course, he has the bat to overcome most any defensive shortcomings. Stop by and read the whole part about Wallace, it is a quality and well reasoned response to a mailbag item.
And now that Carpenter picked up an injury in the big club’s game, we will have to see who will be the first starter up from Memphis. P.J. Walters and Mitch Boggs are obsessively checking their cell phones as we speak.
All four teams were in action tonight and the system went 3-1. All the fun is after the jump.
Memphis 8, New Orleans 3
- Clayton Mortensen started and went 5 innings and gave up 2 runs, 1 earned on 2 hits and 3 walks. He also had 4 strikeouts. Good, solid outing by Mort.
- Matt Scherer followed him with 2 innings of one hit ball with 3 strikeouts.
- Tyler Greene (SS) was 2-4 with 1 RBI.
- Jon Jay (CF) was 2-4 with one walk and 3 runs scored.
- Nick Stavinoha playing 1B went 2-3 with 2 RBIs.
- Allen Craig at 3B went 3-4 with 2 RBIs.
Springfield 8, Midland 7
- Steve Hill, playing catcher, continues his hot start going 3-5 with 1 RBI. But, he was caught stealing and got picked off 1st. Come on Steve. Keep your head in the game!
- Mark Hamilton at 1B went 2-5 with 3 RBIs.
- Donovan Solano at SS went 2-5 as well, but made an error in the field.
- Kyle Mura started the game for Springfield and my mother taught me that if you do not have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Mura – 1.2 IP, 6 hits, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 HR allowed.
- Trey Hearne came in with the fire trucks and put out the flames over 4.1 innings only allowing 1 run.
- Elvis Hernandez is in the building and got the win with 2 perfect innings.
- Francisco Samuel got the save in the 9th striking out the side, but did allow 2 hits and 1 run in the process.
Palm Beach 6, Sarasota 3
- Palm Beach’s starter was Ryan Kulik who gave up 1 run over 3 innings and struck out 3.
- Blake King followed with 2 no-hit innings.
- Mark Diapoules went for the double (Blown Save, Win).
- Eduardo Sanchez closed out the last two no-hit innings.
- Adron Chambers – LF, was the hero of the day as he went 4-4 with 2 triples. Speed to burn!
- The other Shane, Shane Peterson was in RF and went 2-4 with 1 RBI.
- Jermaine Curtis finds himself in the DFR again playing 3B and going 1-2 with 2 walks and scoring 3 times.
- Nick Derba at catcher was 2-4.
Quad Cities 7, Beloit 10
- George Brown started for Quad Cities and gave up 4 runs (3 earned) over 4 innings, but did have 6 strikeouts.
- Gary Daley – see above – 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB.
- Andres Rosales followed Daley with 1.2 IP and gave up 1 walk and struck out 2.
- Osvaldo Morales at 1B went 2-5 with 4 RBIs.
- Charles Cutler was at catcher and went 2-5 with 1 RBI.
- Jon Edwards (RF) was 2-4.
- Aaron Luna was at 2B and went 1-4 with a HBP and 2 runs scored.
Entries (RSS)
Is DJ hurt? He’s missed two games in a row now after being hit by a pitch and removed on Sunday. Anyone have an update?
When is Jermaine Curtis going to be moved to second base?
HL- DJ is ok. I overheard talk at the Springfield game today that they were resting him til they picked back up on Thursday.
Mura, I really like the guy; but wow. He looked sharp even, everything was cutting and looked like himself. But everything was left up in the zone.
Hearne looked really, really convincing. Real sharp stuff, excited to see him progress this season.
I was most impressed with Elvis Hernandez, who I knew nothing of until today. His stuff was filthy! He was getting great movement on his fastball, and his curve looked pretty advanced.
I never caught Wallace at 3rd last season. I was really pleased to see the quality of his hands and arm. I did however watch him not even budge for a ball hit down the line that I would estimate atleast 25 ML 3B’s get. Anychance that Oquendo could help him?
I have been wacthing Joe Mather at Memphis and he doesn’t look like the same hitter he was last year. He is really srtugling and it appears that they are pitching him outside and off the plate. With his batting stance and watching him he doesn’t hit to right field. Unless he makes some changes it will be a long season at Memphis and not St Louis for him. Just wondering if the injury he had last sep is still bothering him..
The farm system always cheers me up after a tough loss. I mean, Clayton Mortensen tripled! How cool is that?
Allen Craig, we love you.
Every time I see “Luna 2B” in the box score, I automatically think of Hector. Anyone else have this problem?
Boggs has been called up to replace Carpenter. Chris Perez has also been called up.
Goold has a (speculative) confirmation.
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/cardinal-beat-updates/2009/04/chris-carpenter-looks-like-hell-be-out-for-awhile-la-russa-says/
Mather seems to have totally lost hist Mojo from last year. I too wonder if he is injured. I’m glad to hear Perez has been called up. I was hoping for Walters over Boggs but maybe they don;t want to burn a roster spot for him yet?
Boggs? Really? I was hoping against hope for Walters instead.
Get well soon, Carp!
I’m going to assume that Boggs over Walters had something to do with Boggs already being on the 40 man.
there are 3 open spots on the 40 man roster. if they wanted walters, the spot was there. it seemed like he had earned the job, but i hope boggs does well. its good to hear perez is up, but i really hope motte isn’t the one heading down. he has pitched pretty well since being moved out of the closer’s job. kinney is the one that deserves to go down if they insist on having thompson on the team.
Well I told my dad that 20 starts and not being injured at the end of the year would be a positive thing for Carp. The crap thing about this is that it could be a 3 week type thing or a 8 week type thing…McCellan starts, Perez fills his spot in the pen.
Does anyone else think we need to get Todd ready as soon as possible so we can kick PuppyKicker off this team?
Few–there are open spot on the 40 man, but if they add PJ they have to pay him a lot more than what they pay him now. They already have to pay Boggs the 40 man salary.
I do not know that this is the reason they called up Boggs over Walters, but it is my speculation.
yeah i get that part. i guess just call me naive for hoping that moves would be made based on what gives the team the best chance of winning instead of what costs the least.
I think it is time for a Memphis mafia influx into the STL bullpen. Kinney has not looked sharp. Thompson has worn out his welcome (and I have always been a Wonderbrad fan). We have the arms in Memphis in the form of Boggs, Perez, and Todd. It is time we use them!
On an unrelated topic—who is the 2B of the future? Luna or Vazquez?
i would hope one of those guys would step up and grab that label b/c they both provide such upside offensively, but if i had to guess right now i might have to take daniel descalso. he doesn’t provide the offensive upside, but he is a slick defender with the chance to hit for average and gap power.
In years past, this organization would punt good prospects and take garbage ones to fill temporary needs. It’s been the most frustrating thing to see, especially as the farm got better.
Mitchell Boggs isn’t a bad pitcher. He’s got good velocity and average secondary pitches. But he still hasn’t developed an above average secondary offering. When he pitched in the big leagues last year, he showed flashes of looking like he belonged and flashes of a guy that was brought up way too soon.
Yeah, I’m not sure why they would bring up Boggs again. I love his stuff and think he will make it in the big leagues but unless he’s improved big time over last summer, we all know how the story ends, I think Walters has earned a call up based on his numbers but I would like to see Ottavino get a chance. He may not be the one who deserves it but I think he would give the team a chance to win
I was likewise at the Springfield game yesterday and a couple things stuck out (for me, at least)…
Mura – is cannon fodder…I sat next to a couple guys w/ a gun and he was hitting 88/89…and I thought his curve was sloppy and location was indeed up in the zone…color me not excited…although his defense really let him down…which leads me to…
Solano/Descalso – these two owe all middle infielders an apology after their efforts yesterday. I was really looking forward to seeing Solano play, as I’ve read a fair amount about his glove, but he looked hesitant out there to me…butchered an important groundball…and then had an opportunity to save Mura from that damaging 2nd inning and pulled up on a pick-dive while not knocking down the line drive one hopper. Not good…but not as ugly as…
Descalso. That kid might as well of been playing with a frying pan. Flat out dropped a nice throw from Hill on a steal attempt that would have got the runner. Then he let a easy ground ball rattle off both his knees…guh. Solano then muffed his grounder shortly thereafter. Both these guys owe Mura a round.
On the good side, Elvis Hernandez looked sharp. Good velocity, in the 91-93 range…nice slider…lean frame that can still put some muscle on. I saw him at Quad Cities and wasn’t nearly as impressed as I was yesterday. Hearne pitched decently…thought it was more a case of he got away with some mistakes, though. Samuel does indeed throw hard…91-94 on the scouts gun…and when he missed, he seemed to miss low (which is good)…although a couple got away from him where they tried to climb the ladder. He has a chance to become something special…provided he knows where the ball is going. 50-50.
Hitting wise, Steven Hill was by far the most impressive hitter on the field. His first at bat should have been 15 feet over the LC field fence, but the wind was terrible and carried it for an out to the warning track in center/right center. His last three hits were bullets. That said, his base running skills are not good…bordering on a general lack of interest. He got picked off 1B by 3 feet and he had a ball into the RF corner that Yadi would have got a triple on. :-\ On a semi-positive note, he caught the whole game and really didn’t look to bad…couple nice plays smothering pitches…and his arm was adequate. Again…dude can flat out hit…but makes you wonder who you have on the bench to pinch run.
Other thoughts…Hamilton actually had a couple nice at bats…ripped two doubles…but I doubt that kid will ever hit left handers consistently. Rappaport impressed me w/ his defense in center and base running…no pop…but he’s got that little something that makes you want him on your team. Descalso, despite his glove antics, had a couple nice at bats…fairly compart left-handed stroke. A major dissapointment for me was Henley…I was excited to see him play…and he didn’t do much of anything…other then hit me a foul ball that my 7-year old slept with last night. :)
And finally, the reason I drove down to Springfield (other then watching my little sister pitch her college game) was to see Wallace. His performance was…myeh. You could see some positives…plate presence…selectiveness…good baserunning fundamentals…functional glove/arm at 3B when hit in his range…and he did get a seeing-eye single through the right side for an rbi…but he didn’t seem locked in at all. He “topped” every pitch he put in play…and none of them jumped off his bat. I was hoping to see a Walrus scorched line drive in the gap and assess his home to second speed…didn’t happen. That said, it was not a great day temp or wind-wise…and there will be plenty of games where he will undoubtedly leave fans with the impression he should be in a Cardinals uniform right now. Fitness wise…everyone knows the dude is thick in the middle…but he’s not fat-assed like Bob Hamelin was…he has that “athlete” look to him…just not your prototype baseball body. I realize that is very old news to this group.
My only siting on Daryl Jones was when he coached first one inning. I’ve seen him play in Quad Cities, but I would have liked to have seen DeJesus’s at bats go to him yesterday. But all in all, fun day.
Thanks for the report, Double A.
IMO, the point to focus on regarding the 40 man roster and adding Walters isn’t so much money as it is starting his clock. If Walters is up here for just 2-3 starts is that worth starting his clock? Probably not.
Its the same reason they didn’t want to add Perdomo.
I don’t know if Carp misses just 2-3 starts but if he does then that is really a situation you want Boggs for.
Lets also not forget that Boggs gave up just 1 run on 5 hits in 6 innings in his first start this year. Its not like he isn’t throwing well.
speaking of the 40 man roster, can someone please explain to me why matt scherer is on it? you never hear any talk about him possibly coming up. he didn’t come up last year when the bullpen blew, he is seemingly behind perez and todd in the bullpen pecking order this year, and yet he is on the 40 man roster.
Boggs will help out in the bullpen this week. PJ will make a start in Chicago.
Scherer likely has incriminating photos of everyone in the Cardinal front office.
I guarantee you that is the best reason.
^^ They have to put him on the 40 man this year if they want to protect him.
i guess what i was getting at is why would you protect him when you didn’t protect perdomo when perdomo clearly has better stuff and is much more likely to be drafted? i would have bet a pretty good chunk of change that no one would have drafted scherer in the rule V draft. yeah he is a decent pitcher, and a nice guy to have around in AAA, but he has no upside and is a dime a dozen reliever. at best scherer is the last guy in a bullpen. no one wastes time on those types in the rule V draft. perdomo could be a set-up guy someday. he has the kind of fastball people jump on in the rule V.
Sorry–my response was supposed to be to UncleBuck. When he said they probably don’t want to call up Walters because they don’t want to start his clock. They have to put him on the 40 man this year, so what difference is a few months?
PJ earned a call up and I don’t think there is really an excuse for him not getting it.
i’ll agree with that
Everyone on here has their favorites and an opinion of who should or should not get called up. Boggs has “earned” a call up just as much as anyone else has on the farm. He was 3-0 last year with the cards before he had that debacle with New York and when he was called back up he had not pitched in 12 days and they started him against New York his first outing back up. He has shown he can be successful at that level and given a chance will be over a long period of time. As I remember both those outings against New York could have been different with a play or two being made behind him. His success at the next level depends solely on his ability to ptich to his strengths and not fall behind batters and give up free passes.
all i know is that they reshuffled the memphis rotation to set walters up for a possible start last saturday if the opener got rained out. they ended up not needing a starter, so walters goes in memphis and pitches lights out. what could have changed in the last week?
the only thing i can think of is that boggs might just be coming up for some bullpen relief right now and goes down when they bring walters up to start on sunday.
Don’t they have to put Walters on the 40 man roster for NEXT year in order to protect him? He can be left off this whole season and still be protected by being added in December. 2010 would then be when his clock starts, not 2009. And if Luhnow would have liked to see Walters get more AAA time or only come up if needed for more than 2-3 starts, then that would be ideal.
Anyways all of that doesn’t matter if Walters was indeed called up. It sounds like Carpenter is going to be missing more time than I hoped. Maybe Walters earns himself an extended stay. The opportunity for a good amount of big league starts is there apparently(sadly).
I can’t wait to see the kid pitch.
pardon me if this is a stupid question, but the dirt i hear on wallace is good glove, bad range.
have we thought at all about trying him at catcher? if he doesn’t have the range to make it in the outfield or the middle infield, and his prospects are questionable at third, have we looked at him behind the plate? we’ve had some good minor league projects on 3b/C conversions.