I’m subbing for Jeff tonight who failed to bring back a series win from San Francisco. Unacceptable. Big game for Memphis but the other clubs fizzle badly.
- Tyler Greene goes 2-for-5 with a HR. I’m at a loss. I don’t know how else to reiterate how surprised and pleased I am with Greene’s play this year. Could we be seeing a toolsy player finally putting it together. He’s now got a .299/.395/.467 line in Memphis with a homerun in the last two games. Birdland scribe Derrick Goold talked with him last August (h/t Liam) and it’s worth another read.
- Jon Jay goes 2-for-4. Jay is slowly righting the ship after an abysmal slump to start the season. He’s got his average up to .272 with a .342 OBP. After hitting .213/.286/.240 in April, he hit .303/.368/.413 in May.
- Brett Wallace went 3-for-4 with a HR. With a .722 OPS in Memphis, the Cardinals have started playing Wallace at other positions; today he started at first. Let’s call it the Allen Craig treatment. Here’s the thing — it’s a bad idea. He’s not going to uproot Pujols and he’s not going to stick in LF (where they’ll undoubtedly try him at some point. So he’s either a 3B for STL or plays for another organization. Let him play 3B for the entire season and see if he can stick; if not, he’s Matt LaPorta and you trade him.
- Mark Shorey and Casey Rowlett both went 2-for-4.
- Mitchell Boggs went 6 innings allowing 9 hits. The strikeouts have disappeared since returning to the minors. He K’d a mere 2 and walked 2 while allowing 1 ER today.
- Jess Todd picked up a 2 out save with 1 K. (Royce Ring had put the go ahead run on the bases to make it a save situation.
Springfield 4, Corpus Christi 9
- Donovan Solano played with an aluminum bat tonight going 3-for-5 with his first HR of the season.
- Daniel Descalso was 0-for-3 with a pair of walks. Quick, was Descalso better in April or May? Answer below. He’s hitting .337/.405/.529 on the season.
- Pete Kozma was 0-for-5.
- Jim Rapoport and Tony Cruz both collected 2 walks as well.
- Lance Lynn was lit up for 7 runs in 4 innings. He allowed 8 hits including a 3-run shot. He walked 3 and struck out 3.
- Marco Gonzalez gave up 2 runs on 5 hits in 2 IP.
- Pete Parise pitched 2 scoreless frames striking out 1.
- Paul Vazquez went deep for the only PB run.
- Scott Gorgen actually had a very nice outing despite being victimized by poor run support. He threw 7.2 innings striking out 9. 2′s were wild though as he walked 2, allowed 2 runs and 2 hits.
- Adam Reifer is (partially) to blame for those two runs. He was called upon to finish the 8th but allowed 2 hits and both inherited runners to score.
- Sam Freeman went out for the 9th allowing 2 hits, 2 runs and striking out 2. Someone should have told the offense about 2′s being wild maybe they would have scored 22 or something. Or just 2, which wouldn’t have really helped.
Quad Cities 0, Burlington 4 (6 innings)
- Brett Lilley was 0-for-2 with a walk.
- Roberto Espinoza was 1-for-2 with a double.
- A nice, if abbreviated, outing for Brett Zawacki who went 4 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned). He struck out 2 and walked 1. The stat to watch with Zawacki is his groundout ratio. Tonight it was 7:3. He features a heavy sinker as his primary weapon so when it’s working he’ll have a lot of groundballs in his stat line.
Descalso –
April: OPS > 1.000
May: OPS > .800
Entries (RSS)
Looks like Brett “Big All Over” Wallace was 3 for 4 with a HR and Tyler “I’m The Better Greene” was 2 for 5 with HR today. I would have to additionally say that Mark Sorey 2 for 4 .294 avg has started looking better. The guys 6-0 230 and appears to be a pretty solid guy.
Scott Gorgen is really starting to pitch well. In his last 4 starts, he’s allowed only 4 ER in 25.1 IP, yet he’s 1-2 over that stretch. Give the guy some run support!
I liked the pick quite a bit when they made it, and he’s starting to turn into a pretty interesting prospect. I’ve only seen him pitch once, during last year’s Super Regionals, but his stuff is legit. He has one of the nastiest changeups I’ve ever seen. This is definitely a guy to keep an eye on going forward.
I’ve been holding off on asking, but I can’t seem to find it… Wasn’t Gorgen’s injury supposed to be more serious? Like, season-ending serious?
Thanks for pitch-hitting AZ!
pitch hitting? Isn’t that what every batter does? I knew Az was good in a pinch but I didn’t know he could hit pitches ;)
Oh my goodness. I need some sleep.
Well, the bum Descalso. He’s slumping to a .800 OPS. Garbage.*
*I’m pretty sure he’s returning to the Earth, but I am still pleased with the way this guy is hitting this year
Also Jon Jay has 11 SB’s, which has to be close to being tops in the minors for St.Louis
Awesome name, Crentist….may I ask what your profession is?
i am resolved to hate any attempt to play wallace at first. i am resolved to tolerate playing him in the outfield, as it will either not work out and hopefully end quickly, or (unlikely) work out.
i could at least hate playing wallace at first LESS if they were playing freese or – god forbid – craig at third. you know, someone with a hope of playing ML third base. unless wallace said his throwing arm was hurting, i can’t imagine why you would play wallace at first and rowlett at third.
az, i just had to add that extra note of frustrated indignation.
He might be hitting less, but he’s walking his way to my heart.
I thought there was supposed to be a draft question discussion yesterday. Did I miss it?
I’m overwhelmed at work.
I’m sending out the questions today. Answers later in the week.
Descalso posted an OPS of .838 in May, with a .311/.376/.462 line, certainly nothing to sneeze at (not that you said it was). Keep in mind that his walk and strike out rates both improved in May, it would seem that he has just been less lucky in May than in April, when he put up numbers we all knew weren’t sustainable.
I agree on Wallace. Play the guy at 3B, and just let him go from there. It’s his ticket to St. Louis, and if he can’t play it he will play 1B in another organization somewhere.
I’m assuming there was some method to the madness of playing Wallace at first. He obviously was slumping at the plate and they may have felt it was partly the pressure to show he could play defense. Sooo they gave him a game at first where it’s easier and there’s no expectations for him anyway,and, if that really was the way it went down, it worked. Missing a few games at third won’t hurt anything in the long run if it propels him out of his offensive slump. Now, if they made a habit of this I’d be where you guys are, but for now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and some kudos for maybe making a delicate and profitable move.