Friday’s DFR with a Memphis update in the morning.
- Daniel Descalso was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir was 1-for-3 with a walk. After an abysmal start to his season, he’s now got his season slash lines at .299/.373/.498. Not really sure what, if anything we should be making of this.
- Evan MacLane tossed 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits including 2 longballs.
- Josh Kinney allowed the walk off run in the 9th following an error by Daniel Descalso (who was playing first base). Here’s a hint — maybe if the club played their prospects at their natural positions, things like this would happen less. I’d also have less property damage to my name.
- Jim Rapoport was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Colt Sedbrook was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
- Donovan Solano was 2-for-4.
- Lance Lynn got the start allowing 9 hits over 5 innings. He allowed 3 runs (1 earned) striking out 6. The groundballs keep coming with 7 wormers and just 2 in the air.
- Casey Mulligan struck out 2 and allowed a hit in 1 inning.
- Tyler Norrick pitched an inning allowing a hit, a walk and a striekout.
- Eduardo Sanchez closed out the game in front of John Mozeliak (touching the upper 90s on the stadium gun) striking out the side after a triple and a walk.
- Palm Beach got no hit through 6.2 by a rehabbing Anibal Sanchez of the Marlins. The managed just 2 hits in the game and 2 walks.
- Arquimedes Nieto struck out 4 in 6 innings taking a loss despite a solid outing. He allowed 3 ER.
Quad Cities 4, Burlington Coat Factory 2
- Jermaine Curtis was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk.
- Xavier Scruggs had a double and 2 walks in 5 PAs.
- Roberto Espinoza was 3-for-5.
- Miguel Tapia picked up the win allowing 2 runs (1 earned) over 5 innings. He was tagged for 4 hits while waling 2 and striking out 3.
- Matthew Frevert struck out 3 to pick up and his 4th save. With 25 strikeouts and 6 walks in 22 innings, Frevert has put together a nice season in Quad Cities.
- Kevin Conley was 2-for-4.
- Niko Vasquez was 1-for-2 with a walk. AND A HR!!!! Back on the bandwagon!
- Michael Blazek allowed 5 runs (1 earned) in 4.2 innings allowing 7 hits. He walked 1 and struck out 4.
- Daniel Calhoun struck out 4 in 3.1 innings allowing 2 hits.
- JC had 5 hits (1 double), no walks and 12 strikeouts.
- Andrew Moss pitched a heck of a game striking out 8 in 7 innings allowing 2 hits, 1 walk and 2 HBP.
- Reynier Gonzalez got lit up for 4 runs (3 earned) in the 8th inning.
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Of note the triple that Sanchez gave up was a simple single that Henley dove on and got past him. Sanchez then walked a batter and struck out the remaining 2 batters with runners on first and third.
Sanchez hit 98 on the second to last pitch and 99 on the last one.
Have a feeling Sanchez will be movin on up before too long.
Samuel has stuff just as good as Sanchez but no control. His last 2 appearances he has had alot better control. Got a future Nasty Boys situation in the STL pen :) I say trade Motte and try to get something for him now.
I heard a tidbit somewhere that if the Cardinals don’t get a RH reliever off of waivers to their liking, there’s a good chance they’ll bring up Sanchez to fill that role.
I keep envisioning a scenario where Sanchez comes up and becomes an important part of our bullpen down the stretch and into the playoffs, a la Frankie Rodriguez back in ’02. He came up as a 20 year-old, the same age as Sanchez, and played a big role in the Angels’ World Series run. It’s a stretch, I know, but the possibility is there.
As long as Sanchez promises not to do the coronation dance to the sun gods everytime he does his job correctly on the mound, then I’m ok with that.
WHy in the world would we trade Motte? If you are seriously jumping off of his bandwagon that quickly Andrew, remember that he has a total of about 200 professional innings under his belt. He has not even come close to his ceiling. I would bet on him being the big league closer next year—especially if Ryan Franklin gains Type A status.
PJ – First of all we have a very reasonable option on Franklin so there is no chance we won’t be picking that up.
Mike E – Mo was quoted in the News-Leader yesterday that he was impressed with Sanchez but he was most likely staying at Springfield all year.
Andrew – Why in the world would we trade Motte? Outside of the one really bad game against the Phils in July he has been very good since mid-June and if you look at his game logs over the course of the year he has given up more than a run in 4 games. I am not saying he has been stellar this year but don’t forget that 2 years ago he was the one that was lights out in the minors and we were all raving on him. Give the guy a chance…the Cards rushed him to the majors before he had a legit 2nd pitch…he has had to learn that pitch at the MLB level which is very hard to do.
Scruggs has 11 RBI’s in 5 games for QC.
I don’t like Motte because he doesn’t have much skill pitching, he throws one pitch and thats it. His velocity is going down slowly and he has no movement or off speed pitch to speak of. He had great numbers in the minors because he just threw it past everyone. I just don’t see him every being more than a guy that has a 98 mph straight fastball, those type of guys get lit up consisitantly. I say trade him while people still think he can be a MLB Closer. When I think Motte I think Kyle Farnsworth only a straighter fastball. Also I wouldn’t want to get rid of him without being so high on our future in the Bullpen, with Sanchez, Samuel Reifer and possibily Kelly or Bittle. Are you saying you wouldn’t trade Motte now for a 2 or 3 in the rotation pitching prospect?
Also the difference between Motte and Sanchez, is that Sanchez has great control, great movement, and a great curveball. His skillset is much different than Motte. Never been a big fan of Motte, I liked Perez much more and wish that Cleveland would choosen Motte rather than Perez
@Andrew. I can understand your not being a big Motte fan. But even if you see him as Kyle Farnsworth, a cost-controlled Kyle Farnsworth is a nice thing to have in the pen. I think he has been overexposed due to the overall lack of depth in our pen. He needs to be used in small doses to come in an pump heat to a few batters then depart (more like the Springer roll from last season). Tony has given him a larger roll out of necessity. Personally, I think Motte still has upside given the short amount of time he has actually pitched. He ditched the curve because the major leagues on a team in a pennant race is no place to work on developing a pitch; however, it occasionally looked good early in the season. He very well could develop that pitch over time.
You may be right but with the guys we got in the system who are already better than him, Sanchez, and probably Samuel theres no need especially with other needs the system has Essentially he can be used once a series before other teams catch on that he only has heat. Right now we we have to have a K then I want Motte, but with that you have to risk he grooves one or he walks 3 guys. I’m sure someone may let us get a pitching prospect from someone with the upside of Motte.
Another instance of why I don’t trust Motte not even in a mop up roll, he has 1 pitch and no control. I really hope they work with him during the off season on some command and a secondary pitch
Andrew – we could not get as much for Motte as you think. He is a 27 year old pitcher who throws heat, he does not have any secondary stuff, and to date has not shown any real signs of taking up the closer’s role soon. I think we could get a utility player or maybe a decent middle reliever at best. Also we don’t have enough bullpen depth to make up for the loss of Motte especially with Mo trading away the one guy who could have filled Motte’s role in Jess Todd. Neither Samuel or even Sanchez is ready to step up to the big leagues just yet. I watched Sanchez live the other night and while his control is better than Samuel’s he still needs more seasoning before he is ready for the big leagues. After all he is only 20 years old and in my opinion if he were called up tomorrow or next week, which Mo has already said probably won’t happen, he would be only a little bit better than Motte.
Andrew – While I understand the opptimism about guys throughing 98 mph AA is an entirely different level that the bigs. These guys need to make sure they have a secound picth that they can throw to get people out in the bigs.
I don’t see how anyone can say Samuel is better than Motte. Despite his “electric” stuff, he’s been demoted from closing out AA games. If the dude can’t control his pitches soon, he’s gonna be left in the dust by other prospects. It’s do or die for this guy but comparing him to Motte seems odd to me. I’m not the biggest Motte fan but let’s face it – there’s no one at AAA that can seemingly fill his role. SO let’s not take shots at a guy who was thrown to the wolves because out bullpen had no depth.
Samuels control has been 100 percent better the last 2 games but I don’t think he will get his spot back because of how special Sanchez is. The difference between Samuel and Motte is that Samuel has alot of natural movement to his fastball and has a very nasty slider. While he doesn’t have much control hes a pitcher. With Motte you can tell hes a converted catcher. I would be willing to bet that at the MLB level even right now Samuel would do better than Motte. Both have control issues, Motte’s straight 97 mph pitcher is alot more hittable that Samuels 96 mph with late movement.
Andrew – I will agree with you that Motte is more of a thrower than a pitcher, but he has a fairly good idea of where the ball is going. The reason he walks people is because his straight 96 mph fastball has to be spotted for the simple reason it has no movement. And even mediocre big league hitters can hit a poorly spotted straight 96 mph pitch. This being said Samuel cannot spot a pitch worth anything. He misses his spots by 3 or 4 inches, and all the movement in the world cannot make up for not being able to get the ball over the plate. I agree with you that he has been better of late, but 2 games do not a season make.
I completely agree Samuel is by no means a sure thing but his only weakness is his control, his issue with control may be varying arm slots I dont know. From what I’ve read his ball is so live that alot of times it tales right out of the strike zone. I think alot of the control issues is once you get a standard repeatable delievery that heeds itself to better control. We gave ALOT of Big League closer talent in our system right now. No need to make Motte our future when we have 3 people down on the Farm that can be or are already better than he is.
Andrew – The fact remains is in mid-August we aren’t going to bring up a guy that is probably not ready for the majors (speaking of Sanchez and Samuel) and expect him to be a rock solid 7th or 8th inning guy. With our trades this year we are going for it this year. I personally think it is the right decision to keep both of them in the minors the rest of the year. Next year is a different story…we have some guys that should be able to contribute alot in our pen. If there is one thing our system has (especially after this years draft) is a lot of solid back of the bully type relievers. If we are going to get help for the bullpen it is most likely coming from a waiver claim.
I’m not claiming that we need to let go Motte now, just that Sanchez is already Major League ready and already better than Motte, I think they are shy about bringing him up because of how Ankiel imploded when he was that young in the Big’s plus Sanchez is only 155 pounds right now. Sanchez has a fastball just as good at Motte but it has natural movement, he has a slider that is about 87, and a 72 mph curveball all that he can throw for strikes. I think the comparison between Sanchez and F. Rodrigquez in 02 is a good one.
Samuel is another story and still needs to develop control to get a shot at the big league level.
Its interesting how Curtis and Conley have started to hit with authority, after being dropped a level. Maybe players need fresh starts, to get out of their terrible ruts.
Andrew – How is the Ankiel comparison even relavent? A few differences in the 2 players. First Ankiel was a top prospect that was highly hyped and had to try to live up to the hype. Second Ankiel was a start and had the pressure of trying to go our at give at least 6 good innings…Sanchez would be coming in most likely in the 6th or 7th and for no more than an inning. Lastly Ankiel came up for 33 or so innings the year before he imploded…and he had a full season in 2000 (ROY year) before imploding in the playoffs. I have no clue how you are making this stuff up. As far as Sanchez being MLB ready…he might be…but I think it wouldn’t hurt for him to get more work against advanced hitters in AA or AAA. I think he is definitely someone we should be excited about what he could become in the bigs for sure.
I’m not saying hes not ready I used the Ankiel comparison as a possible reason that the FO won’t want him up this year. Being called up in the heat of a pennant race can be very taxing mentally and maybe the FO doesnt think that a 20 year old can handle it. So no I’m not saying they are the same people or the same situation but they FO may be thinking Ankiel before bringing up a 20 year old to have an important role down the stretch
If Sanchez were doing well for Memphis, he would be more likely to be called to the majors. Its unusual to call a kid up from AA, though it can happen. McClellan made the jump, but during spring training, after displaying pitches for Duncan.