- Ryan Ludwick provided the fire power going 1-for-3 with a HR. There’s a variety of reasons that Ludwick may be taking a rehab assignment. I think that besides the impending roster cruch, Ludwick offers a nice bat to help Memphis a bit after St. Louis has stolen all their outfielders.
- Mark Hamilton was 1-for-1 with a walk.
- Lance Lynn had, unquestionably, his best game of the year. He struck out 11 in 6.2 innings walking just 1. He allowed 4 hits and 2 runs.
- Josh Kinney had another perfect inning striking out 1. He hasn’t walked anyone in his last 10 games (10.2 IP) striking out 16.
Springfield 8, Tulsa 5 (7 innings)
- Daryl Jones was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Andrew Brown was 2-for-3 with a double.
- Tommy Pham was 2-for-3 with his first AA homerun.
- Trey Hearne pitched 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 5.
- Tyler Norrick, who is a mess right now, allowed 2 walks and 2 hits for 2 runs in his inning of work.
- Adam Reifer picked up his 8th save with a 2-K, 1 hit 7th.
- Matt Carpenter and Daryl Jones walked twice in 4 PAs each.
- Andrew Brown was 2-for-4.
- Steven Hill had a pinch hit HR. (Via Kary Booher, this was the game winner.)
- Gary Daley went just 3.1 innings allowing 4 runs on 4 walks and 4 hits.
- Blake King pitched 2 innings allowing 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out an impressive 5.
Palm Beach 1, Brevard County 5
- Xavier Scruggs was 2-for-3.
- Alex Castellanos was 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Brett Zawacki was tagged for 4 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks in 6 innings of work. He struck out 2 and had 10 of 14 outs on groundballs. This year is, at best, holding par for Zawacki and, more realistically, is a step backwards.
- Nick Longmire was 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Justin Edwards struck out 7 in 6 innings of work allowing just 1 unearned run on 2 hits and a walk.
- David Kington got blasted for 6 runs in the 8th allowing 3 hits and 3 walks.
Johnson City 4, Elizabethton 3
- Greg Garcia was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Cody Stanley was 2-for-4 with a double. Stanley is a bit old for Johnson City at 21 but he’s still hitting an impressive .958 OPS. That’s like 1.200 catcher-OPS.
- Philip Cerreto was 3-for-4 with a double.
- Cesar Valera was 0-for-2 but walked twice.
- Cale Johnson struck out 6 in 5 innings. He allowed 1 run on 7 hits and 2 walks.
Entries (RSS)
Is Andrew Brown a real prospect? Seems that he’s hit well but no one ever mentions him.
He’s limited to first base. Maybe a fringy prospect but not someone we discuss because he’s only a trade chip (at best) for the Cardinals.
Brown was playing third base earlier in the year and he also has played the outfield. How good he is at any of those positions might be another story, but I know he has played there.
Agree bookerd. I think if his bat is good enough they will find somewhere for him to play.
Brown, when in a groove, is as good a hitter as we have in the system. He just needs to be more consistent.
Brown is a good minor league hitter.
Ankiel was 0-4 with 3 k for Omaha. Is it sad that I still root for him to do well?
no, it’s not sad. if you’re a fan, you root hardest when a guy is down.
The article in the Memphis paper says Ludwick’s homer went 455 feet.
More interesting, though, is this: It says Lynn struck out 5 of the first 6 hitters, with 12 swings and misses. Ankiel, on rehab, whiffed on all three strikes in his first AB.
I had never thought of Lynn as a swing-and-miss guy. He was at 7 K/9 last year at Springfield, and after last night’s game is at 7.3 K/9 at Memphis. It would be interesting to know what pitches produced those whiffs. If it’s something he can repeat, he’s back in the mix for next year’s rotation.
I was at the AA game last night and it looked like divine intervention for Hearne. He started off like he had no clue where the ball was going and immediately gave up 3 runs in the first. I thought that he would be pulled in the first, but he returned in the 2nd and proceeded to retire the next 13 batters with 5 K’s and only 1 BB. I think this could be a great confidence boost for Hearne. Gary Daley had no clue where his pitches were going and I really felt sorry for him. Blake King has his best outing of the season, and I think it might have been the only outing of the year where all of his pitches were working. King made the hitters look silly with their swings. Hope King can build on that performance. Reifer looks solid and getting Swauger was a blessing to go along with Hill and Carpenter. The AA Cardinals look very solid and it looks like they are making their move to make a race for the championship. I just hope that Kozma can start to contribute.
Do you go to alot of AA games? Can you give us an assessment of Kozma’s D? He has made way too many errors but I am curious to know from someone that has seen him multiple times does he look comfortable at SS? Is he a smooth fielder and just tries to make the spectacular play and gets errors? Is the 1st baseman not good at stretching or digging balls out of the dirt? I am just trying to find out what it is with him that he can’t keep his errors down. Thanks!
JC,
I go to almost all of Springfield games. Most of Kozma errors are on routine balls. Lately his throws are starting to go all over. It is not Smith or Brown at first. In fact in the last 2 games he has played they have save him a couple of times on his throws. Again most of his errors are routine balls that he does not field and several have been on double play chances. He has very good range and makes a lot of plays from deep in the hole. Right now it looks like he is putting alot of pressure on himself, just by his reactions on the field and in the dugout from his fielding and batting. Last home stand Pop really got in his face after one of his error’s after the inning. There was an article in the paper a couple of weeks ago about his fielding. He said most were do to bad hops. Sorry but the field is not the problem. I have been watching him for two years now and have not seen any improvement. I have been lucky to see Ryan and Greene at Springfield also and from what I have seen Kozma he is not near the shortstop either one of them were and are. Again this is just based on what I see.
Thanks for the info. It is very disturbing to see him continue to make errors and now to know alot of them are on routine plays is even more disturbing.
The man speaks the truth. I have also seen a lot of Springburg games, and generally he just messes up. That field is immaculate, and none of the otehr fielders seem to be having the problems he’s having. It’s disturbing to read him say such things.
I used to work on that field right after it was built. It is definitely not the field. I think it’s won Texas League Field of the Year twice in its first 3 years.
I have watched Pete many times and he has always been a solid player, but he seems to lose focus on the easy plays and make the much more difficult plays. It seems like a focus issue. Pete has never been a great hitter for power and I think that when he was drafted in the first round, they expected him to hit for power and they tried to change his mechanics. It looks like to me that he lunges nearly every time he swings which is why he is popping out so much and striking out so much. Hope this helps, and I hope he can make the adjustments and learn more on how to focus because he is a very good kid and he works hard to be the best.
I think Ludwick is on a rehab assignment because of how awful he was last year for so long after coming back from injury. If AAA needed another bat they could send Jay or Craig back down. Ludwick was not right last year when he came back. I think Ryan gets at least 4-5 games to get his swing back, if he hits well. If he hits poorly he might get even more time.
He was out long enough to justify a rehab assignment. It also gives the parent team a chance to continue to showcase Craig and Jay as major league hitters. They, and Ludwick, might be the only realistic trade bait for pitching help.
still on the release Daley bandwagon … or at least make him an RP and tell him to get 3 hitters out. on another note, does everyone think they could probably make a new Top 10 that doesn’t include DJ?
Hard to believe you make a top 10 that DOES include Jones. There’s been enough solid performances especially from the QC pitchers in the low minors to push him out of the conversation, IMO. He’s not that young anymore, and realistically that’s been the only tool he’s really had for about 18 months now…
Devin Shepherd, who was at Palm Beach, was released yesterday.
He committed to Oklahoma to play baseball out of high school. Everyone was pumped because he was so highly regarded. By the middle of the season he was benched and didn’t play. Word was he had a terrible attitude. Wonder if that is what led to his release?
He gave an interview at the Cardinal Nation a couple of years back and said some good things. Then he seemingly chose not to play last summer, not a good sign. Without a burning commitment to improve, most guys are not going to reach the Majors.
As was Tyler Bighames. Daley is probably going to the BP now also his manager told him he had one more shot. Daley is ok with it and things it will help him long term. Is Curt Smith still playing full time in Springfield?
Tyler Bighames was released? Ouch. Hurts his shoulder, and out teh door he goes.
Was he the SS who was committed to Oregon, but signed with the Cards? Anotehr cautionary tale to just go to school boys…you can’t get that experience back, despite the fact the Cards will probably pay his college.
I believe Binghames had been suspended, and was released after his suspension was over. His was not an injury concern, but a character concern. he had apparently gotten into trouble several times, was caught using “recreational” drugs, and they dropped him after his suspension was over. if others know differently, please correct me, I hope I haven’t gotten him mixed up with someone else but I think that was the issue over his release.
my research on it was got popped twice for testing positive for a “drug of abuse” over the course of last season/post-season and then got a DUI on new years
It sends a good signal to the rest of the players; stick to your game, dont get distracted, and comport yourself well.
Sounds good…I must have gotten him confused with the recent SS draftee who hurt his shoulder. Bighames blew his chance, that’s sad to hear.
He’ll have regrets one day.
I think people need to look at Zawacki like many are looking at Kopp. The most important thing is for him to make it through the season healthy – anything else is a bonus.
Anyone know what happened to Kyle Conely. The guy had monster numbers last year for Batavia and Johnson City after being drafted as a 7th rd pick. He started out at Quad Cities this year and then just disappeared. Any idea what happened??
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?pos=&sid=t565&t=p_pbp&pid=552622
Well…back in mid-April he was put on the 7 day DL and haven’t seen anything on him since. He was at QC when he was put on the DL but if you go to milb.com and look at his player page now it shows his status as “Assigned to New Team/Level”. You go to the QC’s site and roster and he isn’t on there either. Not really sure what happened to him
When watching Pete it all depends on what you are looking for to evaluate him. I have seen him many times, and in my opinion he doesn’t hit for the single line drive more times than he should, just goes for the power HR, but it is also in my opinion he has a really sweet swing, which isn’t always so consistant and a lot has to do with being young but when he gets in his count, he produces . He often times swings on the first pitch, no matter what it is. I’ve seen him get caught with a few bad hops. Not sure if he has the footwork for ss, good range of motion though. And yes I have seen him do better on harder plays than routine. ss just may not be his ideal position.
He is a hard worker as stated and the guys like him very much.
Tweet from BJRains: “Austin Wilson is here at Busch Stadium and in uniform. Cardinals trying to win him over like college recruiting trip.” I like the sound of this.
WHATEVER IT TAKES! LOL
Here’s a picture BJRains tweeted – http://twitpic.com/27e1tv
Not even USC can offer that kind of money on a recruiting trip.
HEEYYYOOOO!!!!
man he is huge!!!
He is almost a full head taller than Jay and much taller than anyone else there. Like LaRussa says in the Post, “I hope it’s not the last time we see him in this uniform.” Cardinals’ red suits him very well!
don’t say that too loud… he may think Stanford Cardinal red instead of St. Louis Cardinal red
Maybe it’s still a longshot, but if the guy comes all the way to Busch to get a tour and meet everything, I’ve got to think the odds of signing him are now a lot higher than it seemed they were when we drafted him. It’s a shame it was raining and he wasn’t able to take batting practice on the field. That would’ve surely been something that really stuck out in his mind and could’ve worked in our favor.
Agreed on Wilson, he should have a nice long talk with Pujols. Your info on Bighames is wrong I believe. He came off the suspension list the same time that Alan Ahahmdy did. I believe it was June 9th. He went to EST where he hurt his shoulder which is why he hadn’t yet in GCL.
thanks,I missed the part where he came off suspension with Ahmady, and hadn’t heard about the shoulder. so they gave him a chance and he got hurt. I guess they felt it wasn’t worth the trouble anymore. thanks for the update.
Ok, so I WAS thinking of the right guy…good to know.
Signing Austin Wilson after taking a chance on him that late in the draft would be absolutely huge. Would also like to hear some good news on Cox and Jenkins.
Baseball America writer Jim Callis says in his draft talk he expects both to sign, but doubts Wilson will. If they get everyone but Wilson, it is a very good draft. if they get him, it could be a great draft. here’s to hoping he likes Cardinal red!
If they can land all of those guys, the farm system will have received a huge shot in the arm including the Matias signing.
Just my opinion, but he wouldn’t be there in a uni unless he’s agreed to sign , most likely been to Doc Paletta’s office for clearance before he does and it’s announced.
That sounds just a little too optimistic. If he’s going to be down on the field, presumably taking cuts and talking with the team he’s gotta wear something. A BP jersey makes as much sense as anything.
Maybe you are right, probably just courting him and the family.
But he did get a jersey with his name on it. :)
Anyone know anything that’s going on with Mulligan?
Man. . .I knew Austin Wilson was a tall kid, but he has Dave Winfield size. I think that is Jay next to him, but who are the two others? He looks about 6-6 in that picture.
I’ve seen him list at 6′ 4″ and around 215 or 220 leading up to the draft. Now who knows how accurate that is. But I think we can all agree that he is fairly tall and a very mature looking body type. He is a monster!
One is Craig. The P-D story said he was showing Wilson around. Not sure about the other. Garcia? I think that’s Colby standing on the tarp, with the blue sleeves on his windbreaker.
Thats what I was thinking too. When I first learned of him I saw him as a Dave Winfield type RF. Great athlete, good speed rocket arm.