Watching the season finale of House on USA network. Have I mentioned that this is the best TV show on air right now? This is the best TV show on air right now.
Memphis will be updated at a later point in time since they started a late game. Here’s the box if you want to follow it.
- Allen Craig was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Bryan Anderson was flashing some power. He hit a triple and took one over the fence in his 5 ABs.
- Casey Rowlett was 3-for-4 with a double and 3 RBIs.
- Clayton Mortensen posted another solid effor allowing 2 runs (1 earned) in 5.1 innings. He struck out 4 and walked 3 with just 2 hits. More importantly, he maintained his excellent groundball numbers recording 8 of 12 outs on the ground.
- Josh Kinney got touched up for 2 runs in his inning of work. He stuck out 2 but allowed 4 hits.
- Jess Todd would come in to close the door recording a 4 out save, striking out 3.
- Pete Kozma was 1-for-4. The 2009 first rounder may have been ready to move quickly but the 2008 first rounder seems overmatched. He’s hitting a paltry .192/.228/.219. The Cardinals have become one of the most aggressive clubs in promoting their prospects but it’s time to take a bite of crow and send Kozma back to Palm Beach. The fact that he committed his 7th error is just salt in the wound.
- Brandon Dickson got the start striking out 8 in 5 innings. He allowed 8 hits for 4 runs (2 earned).
- Brad Furnish allowed 3 hits in 2 innings pitched.
Palm Beach 2, Charlotte 3 (5 innings)
- The game was completed early due to rain.
- Matt Arburr, 1B, was 2-for-2 with a solo HR.
- Tommy Pham was 0-for-2. He’s hitting .222/.298/.325 on the season. It’s his 3rd professional season and while he’s only 21, he’s shown little if any ability to master the lowest of levels in the minors. He needs to get things together in a hurry.
- Scott Gorgen struck out 5 in 4.2 innings. He allowed 5 hits and walked 2 for 3 runs (2 earned).
- Brett Lilley went 2-for-4 with a HR and a walk. Good to see a little power. Lilley obviously has a good batting eye but more pop would go a long way toward improving his prospect status. That said, outside of Niko, he’s the only position prospect that projects well at QC.
- Charles Cutler went 3-for-5.
- Jon Edwards was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Quad Cities had 10 hits and 5 walks.
- Scott McGregor was abominable during this start. He allowed 9 runs on 1 walk and 8 hits.
- Arquimedes Nieto struck out 4 while allowing 2 hits over 3.2IP.
- Jason Buursma, fresh up from extended spring training, struck out 3 over 3 innings. He walked 1 and allowed a hit.
- Casey Mulligan struck out 2 against 2 hits and a walk in 2 innings. His ERA is 0.48.
Entries (RSS)
House was good. Then it got tedious, formulaic, boring, and predictable around the middle of this season with all the Cuddy baby nonsense. He is such an interesting character to explore but now they’ve just decided to make him bat — crazy. For my money, Lost is the best show going right now hands down.
As for baseball. Awesome night for Anderson. Really hope he can get it all back together.
House slowed midseason but the last three episodes have been the best that I’ve seen in quite a while. The interaction between he and Amber has been a lot of fun to watch, imo.
I’m about 5 episodes behind on Lost. I need to finish watching this season although they’ve done pretty well this year.
Agreed on Lost. It is anything but predictable. Not only is it the best show on TV now, it’s by far the best show in years. Great characters, wild story, keeps you hanging on the edge of your seat. Can’t wait ’til next season!
Is Cutler a butcher behind the plate or something?
Looks like Brett Wallace had an off night only 1 for 5 with no strike outs. His avergae is down to .462. As far as Kozma the kid was drafted out of high school in 2007 and is 2 years younger than Wallace. So the fact that he is at Springfield speaks for itself. He’ll make the adjustment just like he did at Palm Beach it will just take a little longer since it is a higher level. Wallace also has 90 pounds on Kozma.
He isn’t ready for Springfield.
Looks like between last year and this year Kozma palyed a total of around 40 – 50 games at Palm Beach.
Regarding Cutler, he was a 14th round pic last year. Don’t be surprised if he is promoted to PB soon.
Back to Kozma he played 42 games at PB. Last year when he was promoted to PB he played 24 games and hit .130. This year at PB he played 18 games and hit .315. Looks like he made the adjustment. Additionally looking at his stat line he has only struck out 6 times in his last 39 at bats at AA. If he were over matched at the plate you would see more strike outs.
I’ve been advocating a Cutler promotion all week. He’s out-hitting the Palm Beach catchers by 150 points. Does anyone know what his defense is like?
Kozma’s BABIP by level/year.
2008 at PB .200
2009 at PB .404
2009 at Springfield .226 with a 17% line drives.
So he’s not doing completely horrible this year at Springfield. He’s getting fairly unlucky. About the errors…. maybe he’s just not separating his hitting from his fielding and letting his misfortune at the plate dictate his play on the other side of the ball.
BTW, loved the House finale.
I see that Mr. Anderson tripled and homered in the Memphis game. (He also struck out three times.) At least he was in the lineup. At this point I view him as a reasonably valuable asset, if nothing else (given the management’s mindset). There’s nothing to be gained by letting him sit on the bench while less talented players catch. From a business point of view, the Cards ought to play him as much as possible; maximize his trade value. If he’s not going to get a chance in St. Louis, at least try to get something valuable in return.
I agree Kozma was promoted too soon, and to put more pressure on the kid whose name is not Porcello seems questionable; his failures get magnified.
Has anyone else noticed that nearly all of Kozma’s errors have occurred with Curt Smith at 1b? He had a nice run defensively ay AA before Smith’s promotion; has anyone seen him play this year? Are the errors all on Kozma or are they throwing errors due to poor first baseman? If not, they are pretty concerning, even more than his overmatched batting IMO.
Someone help me out here….
When someone is a can’t miss prospect like Porcello….what is the harm in giving him the $10 mill he wants when he is drafted. Relative to what lesser players earn isn’t that a steal?
@ozziehof
Kozma errors are not because of Smith. Hamilton is mainly playing 1st base since Brown went on the DL. Hamilton is the worse 1st baseman I have seen in the 5 years of watching Springfield play. He has a problem digging anything low. Some of Kozma errors are because hr is rushing his throws, but I from what I have seen Hamilton is some of the problems.
In Lynn’s 1st two innings the other night Hamilton did not charge a slow roller. It hit the bag and that runner scored the run that inning. His comment after the game was things happen. In the other inning when Kozma had a throwing error Hamilton did not come up with a low throw.
I know I am on Hamilton, but after watching him last year and this year in the field it’s hard for me not to. He just acts like he does not know the basics. I know he is having a good year at the plate, but he is just a DH only.
As far as Kozma you can see he does have ability. I watched Tyler Greene is 07 and 08 and Brendan Ryan before that and they both looked better in the field. You could tell if they put it together at the plate they would make the show. I just am not sure about Kozma yet. May does a great job as hitting coach here is Springfield so hopefully it works with Kozma also.
I do not agree with his promotion to AA. Why not stay at high A and develop with confidance, there is no way he is near the MLB level. He has years to go. They could have moved him near the end of the season. If they move him back (which I doubt they will), that’s devastating to young players confidance.
Nothing wrong with letting your first round HS picks grow up a bit in a lower level. I just don’t see pushing HS kids. Ben Revere is a good example, putting up good numbers, the Twins still have him at high A, along with lots of other first round picks out of HS for many teams, same age. Just because you are a first rounder doesn’t mean you have to be pushed through so quickly, college kids, whole different thing, they have age working against them, HS players do not.
He has a good approach at the plate and will a monster hitter as he matures and a real nice kid, not sure that ss is really his position.
Tomm, the problem is there is no such thing as a can’t miss prospect. others on this site can name, better than I can, legions of “can’t miss” prospects, especially HS pitchers, who…..missed. Porcello was a risk coming out of HS. Baseball America had an article recently on HS pitchers drafted in the 1st round and how many “make it”. it was under 10%. and if they were 1st round picks, they were “can’t miss” or pretty close to it. you don’t know until you risk the money. Porcello is doing well now and I wish him all the best, but as a policy drafting HS pitchers is really iffy. maybe for someone who had as high a ceiling as Porcello they could have made an exception, but I can’t fault any team for not wanting to throw $10 mil at a hs pitcher. I believe his bonus was considerably under that but you get the point. if you had $10 mil in bonuses to spend, why not draft 5 high end pitchers later in the draft who were not drafted due to college commitments and spread it around? you would likely have a bigger band for the buck by doing that.
my bad, can’t keep things straight in this old head. that info came from Eric’s article on drafting HS pitchers, not BA. the article explains itself, good work Eric. remember Ken Henderson? Brien Taylor? Matt White? guys who were asking for millions of dollars, who flamed out and never made it. I am sure there are a ton more names like them. also, has anyone noticed in pictures of Strasburg that he has the “inverted W” pattern that the Cards are so leary of, the one the SC pitchers have like Prior, who have had such health problems? saw a picture of him and I swear I recognized it. wondered if anyone else had.
Thanks Jeffery, that helps to get a first-hand account. I wonder if Hamilton’s deficiencies affect Kozma mentally, such that he tries to hard to make the perfect throw…
Not trying to be an apologist, he has to learn to adapt. I agree with others that he has been rushed; to his detriment.
Watching kozma at Springfield is a lot like waiting for Christmas in a Jewish home. It’s a big disappointment. I don’t mean to be too hard on him but he has simply looked terrible. The one positive I can see is that he certainly has the range to succeed, but the mental side of his game is lacking severely at this point.
@ Jeffery,
Hamilton is a poor defender who makes juan encarnacion look energetic. He is simply a frustrating player to watch, I wish they would just promote him so I don’t have to watch him anymore.
Does Royce Ring have any trade value? The guy is unhittable at Memphis but will never be promoted as long as Miller and Reyes stay healthy. I don’t know if he was dominating like this in the Braves minor league system and is just a quad-A pitcher, or if he’s just figured it out in this organization.
Maybe someone will remember that he was once a 1st round pick and think he’s the next Billy Wagner? It’d be nice.
i’m watching the georgia tech-fla. state game…and i don’t know anything about age….but the cardinals will draft ga. tech pitcher brandon cumpton at some point in the future…won’t be a high pick probably, but he’s a college pitcher who throw’s a low 90′s fastball with some sink and an inconsistent curveball…when he throws the curve well its a nice pitch…he screams cardinals draft pick
that is all
In Kozma’s defense, his range/hands seem to be fine and his errors seem to be mostly on the throws. Wonder what his defense would look like with Pujols at first base rather than Curt Smith and friends?
Hamilton has been at first for half of Kozma’s errors but I certainly would not say that his defending abilities are causing these errors. It is hard to make the plays when the throws are actually hitting the base runners. From what I’ve seen out of Hamilton, he is an average first baseman who has made progress in his defending abilities. I would hardly say that it looks like he does not know the basics. My family has enjoyed watching him hit this season and we were disappointed to see him go down last night.
As for Kozma, he is good player and I’m sure that he will learn to adapt with time and experience.
I am surprised you continually mention Lilly as a major league prospect. I can´t rmember you ever touting someone who was playing in a league that they were 1-2 years too old for as being a major league p´rospect – why is Lilly different?
Check out the numbers on the catcher Espinoza. Don´t know anything about his defense (but I suspect it is decent or he wouldn´t have been in the Midwest league last year at age 19). He is now 20 and on his second go around and his OBP and BB/K rates are impressive for a youngster.
Can I make a request for a scouting report on kinney? It would be nice to hear how he’s progressing. He seems uneven from afar. Is he still rusty? Elbow bugging him? Have his mechanics shifted?