The links are coming! The links are coming!
How many lanterns is it for ‘by internet’?
There’s a lot of links tonight so we’re jumping early. 5 games tonight as Memphis has a double header today. This might be the longest DFR I’ve written this year. Sit back, relax and enjoy.
Allen Craig is versatile now. I get a little bitter over reading headlines like that; not because they are false but because I think the organization would be best served with Craig at third and Wallace in AA.
”I think I was just swinging at everything,” Craig said. ”I wasn’t being patient. I wasn’t recognizing that they weren’t giving me too many pitches to hit. I was just trying to get something done to help the team, but it just wasn’t working.”
There’s just not a lot of players in the organization right now that come to mind with good plate discipline. Brett Lilley, Tyler Henley, Daryl Jones. . . Wallace should be on that list but he seems to be free swinging a bit as of late.
Autozone Park and the Memphis Redbirds are struggling with debt. This isn’t new news but it is a bit concerning. The St. Louis Cardinals made overtures to purchase the team prior to the economy really taking a dive.
Jim Rapoport, you might be in the wrong organization. A profile on the Springfield Cardinal centerfielder says the following:
The pool of outfield prospects in the Cardinals organization is crowded, and Rapoport stands out because of his speed and defense, not his bat.
The problem is that the pool of outfield prospects is crowded with good defenders who can also hit. Jon Jay is no slouch in centerfield. Tyler Henley, now my favorite prospect with CR in the bigs, brings some slick leather. Daryl Jones is never going to be a true centerfielder but he’s got the wheels to be a Carl Crawford style defender in left. But Rapoport is having a nice go of it in AA with a .363 OBP and a walk rate around 13%.
Matt Baker does a profile on David Kopp and the injuries he’s struggled with. Kopp was recently promoted to AA. This is also a player that’s been a point of contention between injury experts who have praised his mechanics and reality which has frayed his labrum. Great read. Oh yeah, he blogs too.
Perhaps my worst choice for a top prospect list, Eddie Degerman finds himself on the DL.
Baker also takes a look at several players on the S-Cards roster including my fav, Tyler Henley.
The 23-year-old outfielder had looked good at times before this homestand, but he never really jumped out at me. Then, last week, I check his stats, and he’s hitting .330 — a very quiet .330, as someone in the press box noted. After three RBI yesterday, a grand slam Saturday and a nine-game hitting streak, he’s no longer flying under the radar.
Derrik Goold has the info on a Latin American prospect, Wagner Mateo, that the Cardinals are being linked too. After throwing some money at Roberto de la Cruz last year, they’re getting a little more play with the bigger prospects down there. I have a hard time getting too excited about Latin American prospects. I fell like there’s a significant gap in what we, as third party observers, can glean. There’s just not as much info out there on these players for us to tap into which makes me hesitant to act as if they are known quantities to me. That doesn’t mean that the Cardinals don’t know what they’re doing — they have scouts and an Academy down there — but I’m not going to thump my chest on the topic.
Brian Walton reports that the tandem pitching rotation in Quad Cities is being done away with early. It’s really hard to be interested in the River Bandits this year but I’m definitely not a fan of the tandem pitching system so I’m glad this is happening.
Stephen Strasburg lost. I think he might slip to #19 now. If the Cardinals pass on him, I might have an anuerysm.
- Tyler Greene and Jon Jay were 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Joe Mather, playing right field, was 1-for-2 with a walk.
- The Cardinals were defeated by Jeff Smardiszscewaaja. He pitched all 7 innings, hit a homerun and picked up the win.
- Evan MacLane allowed 4 runs in 6 innings on 8 hits. He struck out 1 and walked 1 before turning it over to
- Fernando Salas who allowed a hit, a walk and a run.
- Tyler Greene was 2-for-4 with a double. Request to the Memphis scribes (or Derrick Goold): please ask if there is something different with T. Greene’s swing this year. He’s not show this kind of contact ability and patience at the plate previously.
- Bryan Anderson played 1st base. I refuse to read anything into this. Matt Pagnozzi went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Adam Ottavino walked 3 in 4 innings allowing 5 hits. He struck out 3 and was responsible for both the Iowa runs. He’d only thrown 62 pitches before being pulled, which seems odd since this was the second game of the day.
- Josh Kinney tossed 2 innings allowing 3 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 2.
- Jess Todd picked up the win with a 2K, 1 hit 9th. He’s 3-1 on the season with 28Ks in 22 innings and just 7 walks.
Springfield 5, Corpus Christi 4
- DJ Tools was 2-for-4 with a walk hitting leadoff.
- Donovan Solano was 2-for-4.
- Daniel Descalso was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Pete Kozma was 2-for-4.
- Trey Hearne was 1-for-2 with a 3-run HR. He also pitched 5 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 3.
- Francisco Samuel pitched to 3 batters, walking all 3, before being pulled. He landed on several top prospect lists, which seems to be the kiss of death for low-level relievers in our organization.
- Tyler Norrick picked up the save allowing 1 hit and striking out a batter.
Palm Beach 6, Lakeland 7 (10 innings)
- Adron Chambers was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Tommy Pham was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Mark Diapoules pitched 6 innings allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 2.
- Blake King struck out 3 in 2 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned). He walked 1. Don’t look now but he’s approaching a 2:1 K:BB ratio. No seriously, don’t look because he’s still walking nearly a batter an inning.
- Sam Freeman pitched a 1-hit 9th.
- Adam Reifer took the loss allowing 3 hits in the 10th. He’s now 1-5 on the season. He’s been absurdly hittable for a guy with his purported stuff and walking too many batters. He landed on several top prospect lists, which seems to be the kiss of death for low-level relievers in our organization.
- Charles Cutler, Jared Bogany and Osvaldo Morales were each 2-f0r-5.
- Frederick Parejo was 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Scott McGregor pitched 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk. He struck out 5.
- Arquimedes Nieto, after destroying enemy ships with mirrors and sunlight, wound up with a blown save allowing 2 ER in 3 innings. He struck out 3.
Entries (RSS)
Tyler Greene’s hitting adjusment probably has a lot do to with having played with Pujols and Schumaker along with getting some coaching from Hal McRae while he was up. Schumaker has shown incredible patience this season and it’s paid him dividends at the plate. No need to mention AP’s influence.
encouraging article on kopp. he has always been one of my favorites even before we drafted him. shoulders are a scary thing no matter how minor the surgery, so it is nice to hear he has his stuff back.
Looks like the Koz has started hitting. It always amazes me how people think that there is something wrong with a 20 -21 year old guy when he gets promoted to the next level and struggles his first 20 games and people are crying for the guy to be demoted. There is a reason for this and it is called making an adjustment to the next level.
As for Wallace, yes it appears the guy is not getting hits in the box score but the guy is hitting the ball. Just needs to make an adjustment to the off speed pitches. If the guy is not making contact with the ball thats one thing. But he is, just hitting grounders right at people and he isn’t going to beat out any of those. The guys only had 15 games at Memphis if he’s still strugling at 25 games then we’ll see. Let just wait and see what happens in the next ten games.
Kozma never adjusted to Palm Beach. That’s why the Springfield promotion was so bizarre. He’s got a .529 OPS now at Springfield — shall we throw a party? I’ll get the ballons.
Good info on Kopp, hope he can continue his progress.
Definitely agree with the camp that says Wallace should be in Double A and see how Craig does at third base in Triple A . Allen Craig’s glove at third isn’t worse than Brett Wallace’s is it?
Redbird-
I have talked with a handful of minor league players that have said it takes at least 100 at-bats to just kinda get acclimated at each level.
Arburr went yard, you left that out. :)
Pitchers might get pulled early because of where they come up in the batting order, lot depends on the score, etc.
Help me out here, I’m a little confused about the OPS statement on Koz. It appears that he had a .765 OPS this year at Palm Beach along with a .315 Avg. The guy does not hit for power.
You’re right in that he doesn’t hit for power (.069 ISO). Between the sketchy defense and the lack of power, I don’t see anything more than a utility player yet.
Kozma was hitting .315/.381/.384 at Palm Beach. Slugging is obviously not there but it is a pitcher’s park and he was getting on base. I certainly wouldn’t have promoted him, but it’s not like he was struggling
What if the coaching staff flat out told Kozma ‘You probably won’t hit much to start but don’t let that discourage you. We know you have the mettle and the tools to adjust sooner than later.” Wouldn’t this kind of frankness make it much easier for Kozma to deal with his early struggles?
You don’t get better by sitting out and you certainly never have a big investment ride the pine.
Don’t look now but Nick Stavinoha has can through again today. Just missed a grand slam by a couple feet. Baby Duncan better watch out or Stav will take his job!
Back to the Pag Nozz, this just doesn’t make sense unless you believe in Nepotism. But then again didn’t the Organization release Andy Van Slyke’s son last year? Something’s up with this Pag Nozz thing. He is 4 years older than Anderson and perhaps they are trying to see if he’s worth protecting next year from the rule 5 draft. Not! You don’t paly this guy over Anderson.
did you just “not” again?
Re Tyler Greene’s improvement, this could be dated back as far as the Arizona Fall League, I believe. I recall that he had a very good winter there. Thus, Pujols and Cards’ camp are not the foundation.
Tyler Greene article by Goold from last August