The wait is over. Courtesy of the Cardinals’ Director of Minor League Operations, John Vuch, we’ll be bringing you the Spring Training minor league box scores. The most interesting things to glean from these box scores is, in my opinion, what players are playing for what clubs. It should give us our first insight into some of their eventual assignments.
Memphis 4, Springfield 5
Memphis
- Charlie Zink, our favorite knuckleballer, recorded 5 outs while allowing 2 ER on 3 hits. He stuck out 2.
- David Kopp had a similarly mixed outing allowing 1 run over 4 outs. Kopp is an interesting case in that he’s had good stuff and his mechanics were generally lauded but he’s suffered several injuries. The goal for him in 2010 is likely to be a productive pitcher but more importantly to simply pitch for the whole season.
- Nick Additon struck out 4 over 1.2 IP and allowed 1 ER.
- Adam Reifer pitched a perfect inning. Reifer’s hit rate was unexpectedly high to date given his purported stuff. Keep an eye on his control and hit rate in 2010.
Springfield
- James Rapoport walked twice.
- Mark Shorey, Tony Cruz, Colt Sedbrook and Mike Folli all recorded a hit. Shorey’s another player in the mix for Memphis’ outfield.
- Richard Castillo pitched 2 innings walking 1 and striking out 1.
- Eric Fornataro got roughed up for 3 runs (2 earned) over 1.2 IP.
- Scott Schneider allowed 1 hit, 1 unearned run, 1 walk and struck out 1 over 5 outs.
- Joel Pichardo (whose name inexplicably reminds me of John Luc Picard) pitched a perfect frame.
- Pete Kozma(naut) singled in a run and touched home as well.
- Curt Smith was 2-for-3 with a HR and a walk. As a player primarily playing first base, Smith will soon find himself in the Allen Craig dilemma if he continues to hit. He recorded a .819 OPS in Springfield last year which he’ll have to improve upon to project toward the majors at either 1B or LF.
- Blake Murphy was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.
- Tommy Pham, perennial toolsy tease, singled and walked.
Palm Beach 7, Quad Cities 8
Palm Beach
- Joe Kelly walked two and struck out 2 over 2IP. Starter or reliever in 2010?
- Jesse Simpson struck out 3 over 2 perfect innings.
- Josh Squatrito allowed 5 ER on 4 hits and 1BB. He struck out 2 in 1 inning.
- Jose Garcia was 2-for-5.
- Xavier Scruggs went yard as part of a 2-for-4 day with a walk.
- Osvaldo Morales was 2-for-3.
- Ivan Castro went yard.
Quad Cities
- Daniel Calhoun allowed 2 ER in 2 IP. He walked 2 and allowed a hit.
- Angel DeJesus allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 2IP. He was touched up for 5 hits while striking out 2.
- Anthony Ferrara struck out 2 in 2 innings. As a reliever, he could move quickly through the system.
- Kevin Butler struck out 3 with 1 hit and 1 walk in his inning of work.
- Jason Novak and Hector Hernandez pitched perfect final frames to seal the win.
- Niko Vasquez hit. . . wait for it. . . a grand slam to cap off the 9th inning rally. The new Tommy Pham? After high praise in 2008, the pendulum probably swung a bit too far with criticism in 2009.
- CJ Beatty, Ted Obregon and Jonathan Rodriguez (JRod, no?) were a part of the grand slam.
- Devin Sheperd doubled.
Entries (RSS)
Love seeing this! Nice to see Niko showing some life. Looking for big things from X Scruggs and Curt Smith this season.
I don’t like seeing Ferrara mentioned as a reliever. He’s a young left handed arm, let’s give him a chance!
Just lost another 15 minutes of time at work each day!!! I am so stoked these are started up again. I dont comment much but I check the site everyday during the season. Love the work you do here. Thanks a million!
I also used to read this site first thing every morning at work. Now that I’ve retired I don’t make it to this page until 9:30 or 10. Look forward to a good season and will make a few games at Memphis and QC as well as most games at Springfield.
Really appreciate these updates – I like the team assembled at Quad Cities, they should do some good things this summer
Welcome back, DFR’s. So, does Additon have a future with the Cards?
CRay-
I have seen Addition a couple times. He has quite a beit of deception, but without a fastball he is smoke and mirrors. The actual ML prospects that I have seen him throw against squared him up pretty well. The not so ML prospects have a horrible time against him. I have a sinking feeling he will fall hard once he hits the show.
*Jean Luc. He was supposed to be French, after all.
@arch support: I was always a Voyager guy anyway. Nonetheless, I think I have to turn in my Star Trek credentials after that.
DFRs are back, NCAA tourney starting today, beautiful weather here in Springfield…yep its spring!
They should go ahead and move Curt Smith to the outfield now instead of waiting until the last minute like they have done with so many others. The problem is that somebody has to play first base in Spfld & Memphis. I am thinking they should just play a non-prospect at that position until Albert gives further notice.
I am hoping for a good season from Niko. It seems like it has been a long time since we have had a highly touted SS prospect. Even with the attempts the Cardinals have made in the first round (Greene, Kozma).
How cool would it be to be named Colt Sedbrook?
Am I missing something, or did Memphis score 4 runs with no offense? That being said…thanks AZ!
Azru,
Reading through some of DeWitt’s comments in yesterday’s stltoday article made it seem like they’d be splurging on some tough signees in the upcoming draft. I was just wondering if you’d take his comments to heart, and if so which prospects might fall to the late 1st and supplemental round due to signability issues. Is a Manny Machado or Josh Sale possibility too optimistic?
Also, I’m partially aware of your stance on Latin American prospects, but do you know of any to keep an eye on for next summer?
Glad to see ther DFRs up again, thanks a ton!
Good to see B. Murphy off to a good start.
I wouldn’t put too much stock in the level guys are playing at at this point. There are still about 15 guys to come down to the minors from the major league camp and that will drop most guys down a notch. Intersquad games are even worse for guaging this.
@cardzfanbub: Still working out the kinks — there was some Memphis offense but it apparently fell through an (read: my) editing crack.
@Franklin: The Cardinals had a perfect arbitration season, imo. They had several easy calls on DeRosa and Pineiro but it’s important to note that they did actually take those free picks — they didn’t have to. I don’t have a good feel for the strengths of the draft class yet so I’d be remiss in commenting on specific players.
There are usually about 3-4 Latin prospects who are really top notch and then a bunch of HUGE (think pitcher-flameout huge) wild cards where clubs pick some toolsy 17 year old. If we’re early on the draft, we’re way early on the international signings. Of course, Wagner Mateo is still available. (I kid.)
@BigJawnMize: thanks for the info – i was afraid of something like that
I am more optimistic about Additon. Junk throwing southpaws can reach the majors. Its hard not to like what he has done so far. Additon is not an older guy like Trey Hearne or Curt Smith, beating up younger kids at the A level. His pitches have something working for him. Maybe he’s a new Bud Smith.
Ryde-
I see what you are saying. But when you see games at low A, you are typically watching only a couple of hitters that will actually make it. I got the impression that Addition was easily getting the 6-7 guys that will never make the show out, but the 1-2 real talents hit him pretty well. I saw a game where Corey Brown (Athletics CF Prospect with a good shot) has a home run and two doubles and the rest of the team went 1 for 19 against him. So he definetly not doing bad for his age/level, but he is not beating the guys with real talent.
I am assuming that he is opening the season at Springfield, so this will be the real challenge year for him. Many guys in a AA line-up have a shot, so we will see if the talent level catches up with him. He needs a better K to BB ratio than he has sported last year.
Additon has already tossed 48 innings at AA and did surprisingly well, better than Lambert, Pomeranz, Boggs, Hawksworth, Ottavino, etc., in a hitters league. His K rate declined and while not a positive, Additon keeps getting them out. This is impressive, given his youth.