Springfield gets rained out tonight so we’ve got 5 games to cover.
- Allen Craig just keeps hitting. He went 2-for-4 with a double. At this point, I’ve little interest in seeing him in St. Louis unless the Cardinals are going to play him regularly. Given Jay’s performance to date, that seems unlikely so I’ll simply be pleased to see Craig finish the year out strong in Memphis.
- Joe Mather was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.
- Kevin Howard was 2-for-3 with a HR and a walk.
- PJ Walters had a strong outing allowing just a solo HR among 7 hits and a walk in 6.2 innings. He struck out 5.
- Fernando Salas threw two innings and allowed 1 hit and a walk. He struck out 5.
- Niko Vasquez was 2-for-4.
- Charles Cutler was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Domnit Bolivar provided all the scoring necessary going 1-for-3 with a HR and a walk.
- A superb outing for Arquimedes Nieto who threw 7 shutout innings allowing 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 7.
- David Carpenter picked up his 9th save with a 1-K perfect 9th inning.
- Luis Mateo was 2-for-5.
- Matt Adams was 3-for-5 with a pair of HRs. Adams is putting up a solid line showing good power but only moderate plate discipline. His season stands at .298/.350/.498 with 12 HRs and 24 doubles in 299 ABs.
- Ryde Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Frederick Parejo and CJ Beatty were both 2-for-4 with a double. Beatty also homered.
- Eric Fornataro had a bit of a wild outing walking 4 in 6 innings while striking out 7. He allowed just 1 hit and 1 ER.
- Jesse Simpson failed to retire a batter allowing 2 hits and 3 walks for 3 ER.
Batavia 3, Staten Island 4 (10 innings)
- Audrey Perez was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Raniel Rosario was 1-for-4 with a HR.
- Andrew Moss tossed 6.2 innings allowing 9 hits (2 HRs) and 1 walk for 3 ERs. He struck out 5. Moss is posting solid peripherals with a strikeout an inning and a 3:1 K:BB rate. With a 60%+ groundball rate, he’s performing well in his second season at Batavia.
- Greg Garcia was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Oscar Taveras was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Kleininger Teran was 3-for-5.
- Romulo Ruiz walked 3 times and doubled in 5 PAs.
- Cesar Valera, SS, was 2-for-5.
- Virgil Hill was 1-for-4 with a walk and a triple. The speedy outfielder is posting a .905 OPS in JC.
- Boone Whiting allowed 6 hits in 5 innings for 2 ER striking out 4.
- Aiden Lucas struck out 2 of the 4 batters he retired/faced.
Entries (RSS)
Is anyone else having a problem of reading the box scores at milb.com?
@Kyle: Not at the moment.
Would it be a huge mistake to trade Ludwick and platoon Jay/Craig—-either now or in the offseason?
@PJ:
Yes. Big mistake.
@PJ: “Now,” no, because even if he comes off the DL instantly, there’ll still be a concern about his readiness and health. However, I could see Luddy as attractive trade bait coming down to the waiver-wire deadline at the end of the month. Jay is quite obviously ready (although he’s equally obviously not as good as his current average); RH platoon partners are a dime a dozen, so penciling Craig into that role isn’t risking much; and there’s the old Rickey maxim about trading a player too early rather than too late. If he’s back on the field after the ASB and looks like the Lud of old, he should fetch something in return that the team needs.
@PJ:
That depends on the return clearly. I’d think if the Cards could come up with a trading partner willing to give up a cost controlled MIF (maybe SP?) then a deal could work out in the Cards favor. Let’s say Luddy is a 3.5-4 WAR player going forward and our SS position can be expected to produce 1.5-2 WAR (I think that’s possible). That leaves the current as 5-6 WAR. If we could get a team to give us a 3-3.5 WAR SS and play Jay/Craig in right (2 -2.5 WAR) we’re still at a 5-6 WAR total between the two positions while avoiding arbitration / a decent size extension with Luddy.
Clearly you can quibble with my hypothetical assumptions, but you get the general idea of the framework of a deal I’m talking about. Now do such players exist? Probably not, but I also don’t think the idea can be summarily dismissed.
I was not a big fan of the Greg Garcia pick in the 2010 draft but I can’t complain too much with his play so far. My understanding is he is a very good defensive player but he is also putting up very respectable offensive numbers. Seems to be a solid doubles hitter. Anyone seen him play in the field? Thoughts?
@JC: I haven’t seen Garcia play but I wouldn’t get very excited yet. He’s a college kid playing at the lowest pro level. In the past, it seems the Cards have sent most of the college picks to Batavia. Examining JC’s roster, that appears less so this year. In fact, the birth dates appear similar on both the Batavia and JC rosters. In the past JC would contain mostly high-school and extended-spring training players and Batavia college draftees and previous JC players. Does this represent a change of thinking on the Cards’ part? Anyone have any insight here?
@CRay: Yeah…I wasn’t getting too excited but more curious if he has a chance or more skills than what I was giving him credit for on draft day. I still doubt he makes it but was curious if anyone has seen him live and what kind of impression they had. Thx.
IF Garcia is anywhere as near as good as Jackson at SS then you have to rate him higher on the future depth chart due to Garcia’s hitting to this point.
@cariocacardinal: Jackson’s defensive ability at SS coming out of Miami is VERY VERY RARE. Keep that in mind. He was MLB ready from a defensive standpoint which is unheard of especially from a demanding position like SS. So I can’t see anyone putting Garcia anywhere close to the refined SS that Jackson was at this point.
@JC: You know more about Jackson than I do, no doubt, but if he’s major league ready defensively, shouldn’t there be some major concerns re: his errors so far this season?
@Zach: Thats a fair question. I am not sure what to think about the amount of errors he has this year…not sure if they are throwing errors, fielding errors or equal amounts of both. He isn’t someone with alot of speed but he is very light on his feet on D and have phenomenal instincts, soft hands and a great glove to go with a great arm. Think of the Cubs Castro and how smooth he is at SS. With that said sometimes great defensive SS try to make the great play too much (Castro is another good example) and their errors pile up…maybe that is the case with Jackson…not sure. Maybe someone that has seen him in many games this year can comment more.
@cariocacardinal: His hitting at Johnson City or in college? Surely you don’t mean the handful of ABs in Johnson City and U. of Hawaii is not exactly a bastion of baseball talent.
@Zach: I’m perplexed by the errors and, while I’m sure someone will take this as me hating on another prospect, I think it has some to do with the players he’s throwing to at 1st and their inability to scoop or get anything that isn’t at their chest. Completely unfounded speculation though.
@azruavatar: Well if you base it on his JC stats, Garcia would have to drop from his .800+ OPS so far to less than .500 OPS the rest of the season to OPS about the same as JAckson did at JC. I don’t really see that happening.
Hawii may not be a baseball factory but the WAC has turned out its share of players the last fews.
@cariocacardinal: Sorry, I missed that you were discussing relative to Jackson. I’m skeptical that the glove is as good as Jackson (I mean, damn Jackson looks good at SS) but Jackson’s bat is pretty awful. I don’t think we’re necessarily in disagreement here — I just failed at reading comprehension.