- Daniel Descalso, returning from a shoulder injury, was 3-for-5 with a HR.
- Allen Craig was 1-for-3 with a HR and two walks. In his last 10 games, he’s got a 1.404 OPS. Ummm, I think he’s ready for the big leagues.
- Joe Mather was 2-for-3 with a pair of HRs and a pair of walks.
- Amaury Cazana went yard.
- Donovan Solano was 3-for-5.
- PJ Walters got touched up a bit for 6 runs (5 earned) in 6.1 innings. He allowed 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4.
Springfield 2, NW Arkansas 0 (7 innings)
- Daryl Jones was 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Tony Cruz was 2-for-3.
- Tommy Pham was 1-for-2 with a walk. Is anyone else worried that Pham is trolling us again? I wonder if all those missives from Spring Training got lost in the mail and are just now getting to him. You guys wrote letters too, right?
- Nick Additon pitched 6 innings of shutout ball allowing 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4. Additon has been performing much better during the latter months of this year but his overall line in Springfield remains unexciting.
- Francisco Samuel pitched a 1 hit shutout 7th.
Springfield 0, NW Arkansas 1 (7 innings)
- Springfield collected just 2 hits and 2 walks.
- David Kopp picked up a complete game surrendering just 4 hits and 1 ER. He struck out 2.
- Alex Castellanos was 2-for-2 with a HR.
- Jared Bogany was 2-for-3.
- Matt Frevert struck out 4 in 2 innings of perfect pitching.
- David Carpenter picked up the save (15th) with a 1 hit, 1 K 9th. In 45.1 innings, Carpenter has struck out 44 and walked 13.
- Ted Obregon was 2-for-5 with a double and a HR.
- Alan Ahmady was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk.
- CJ Beatty WAS 3-FOR-4 WITH A PAIR OF DOUBLES.
- Shelby Miller allowed 5 hits and 2 unearned runs in 5 innings. He struck out 1 and walked 1.
Batavia 1, Jamestown 3 (7 innings)
- Nick Longmire was 1-for-4 with a HR.
- Yunier Castillo was 3-for-3. In 2008, Castillo walked 6 times in 152 ABs. In 2009, he did not walk once in 170 ABs. So far this year, he’s accumulated 2 walks. That’s 8 walks in 429 ABs for those of you keeping track at home.
- Zach Russell allowed 3 runs in 3 innings on 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 1.
- LaCurtis Mayes pitched the final 3 innings allowing 2 hits and striking out 1.
Batavia 2, Jamestown 1 (7 innings)
- Victor Sanchez was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
- Pat Biserta was 2-for-3.
- John Gast got the start striking out an impressive 5 in 3 innings. He allowed 4 hits.
- Keith Butler struck out 1 in a perfect 6th.
- Greg Garcia was 3-for-5.
- Oscar Taveras was 2-for-5.
- Reggie Williams was 2-for-3 with a pair of triples and a walk. Williams only extra base hits are triples in Johnson City.
- Boone Whiting pitched 5 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits. He struck out 5. With 43 punchouts against 4 walks in 36 innings, Whiting is worth keeping an eye on.
- Jeff Nadeau struck out 4 in 3 innings allowing 1 hit.
- Hector Corpas picked up his 9th save at JC with a 1 K 9th.
Entries (RSS)
I don’t know about Pham, but Descalso seems to have gotten word that the Cards need a second baseman.
Also of note: Gast picked two runners off first base at Batavia.
OTOH, MIller and Stock allowed 4 SB on 4 attempts.
That’s probably more on Miller since Stock has at least shown a strong arm and ability to cut a running game down. I just get the feeling Miller’s been told to not care, for the time being, about runners on base.
I think every pitch has been told that. They just tell them, look if you make it to the bigs it won’t even matter. Just leave it up to yadi :)
Miller didn’t have the K’s but it appears the only hits he gave up were singles. His ERA is down to 3.39. He did give up 4 SBs. Granted the guys stealing had 16 and 35 SBs respectively coming into the game tonight. Does anyone know if Miller is slow to the plate or Stock has a slow release? Or is this a case of just fast runners got on base.
Lord Marti! Just needed to type that.
Given his performance (or lack thereof) and our depth at catcher in the system, is there any way we put Stock on the mound starting next season? Or do we get him at least another year? I mean, the guy is slugging .263 for crying out loud. Move him to the bump.
that’s “give” him at least one more year, in case you were wondering :)
I say he gets the rest of this year and at least part of next year to evaluate him as a C. But certainly if we are sitting here in July 2011 it is a legit question to say haven’t we given him a long enough shot and it just isn’t going to work out? But to me its still too early regardless of the depth in our system
yes
I wouldn’t be against it after this season. 9 starts in 45 appearances in college … so let him try starting in the minors before we leave him at C too long and we only get another RP out of him.
His best chance is pitcher.
Shelby has not allowed an earned run in his last 17 innings while only walking 3 batters vs 14 Ks. If he pitches another scoreless outing I don’t see how you cannot promote him.
I think it depends on how the playoff situation shapes up, and where he is with total innings. QC is already a playoff team, but PB and Batavia also have shots. So they may keep him at QC if they want him to get some playoff experience, or move him up to PB if they have other pitchers they want to use in QC. They have fresh arms coming in with the draftees who signed recently.
But it’s all moot if he’s near his limit for innings. (He’s at 74.1 now; no idea where the ceiling is.)
I don’t see why there’s any rush to get him to Palm Beach this year with only a little over a month left in the season, especially since this move would be based on his last 4 appearances.
The idea was to keep him a QC the entire year. I don’t see why or how that would change now.
Whose idea was it to keep him at QC the entire year? 4 starts at PB could speed up his mastery of that level next season which could get him to AA faster next season. Maybe he spend half of next year at AA instead of just a month. Then he could start 2012 at AA or AAA and be ready for a September call up. I think you can use this next month to speed up his progress to the big leagues without pushing his arm at all.
I don’t remember exactly where I read it, but I was of the understanding the approach with Miller was not to rush him at all. That’s why they shut him down for a portion of this year. He has great potential but needs work on things (i.e., his shut down to lessen the innings and to learn a new pitch).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the shut down in the middle of June to correct his mechanics. I remember reading that somewhere.
I don’t know. I think it was a combination of ironing out some mechanics and learning a new pitch. Either way, he wasn’t hurt and whatever they did, apparently worked.
It was to work on his mechanics and release point mostly. Before that he wasn’t repeating his motion all that well.
You know, it almost takes an extra bit of skill to only walk six times over three years….i mean, it seems like in the low minors it almost impossible to walk that rarely…color me impressed
I saw that the Cardinals signed Nate Robertson, and he’ll probably be assigned to Memphis. Does anyone know if he’ll be used as a starter or reliever in Memphis, and where he would fit with the big league club: long man, replacement for Dennys, etc.?
He becomes the new Rich Hill.
My guess is he’ll stay at AAA or AA, wherever he was assigned, and then he’ll be a September call-up as either a spot starter or a lefty out of the pen.
So has Joe Mather turned a corner in his recovery and is now getting his power back? Or is he destined to be a never-was?
Looks like the Cards may need a third baseman as Freese reinjured himself tonight (ankle, per Dan N Al). Maybe Mather has his eye on the hot corner.
My whole take on the Shelby Miller situation is that if he continues to pitch this well in the next 3 starts, I think it’s time to move him up to High A. Part of me wants to keep him at Low A in order to keep developing those pitches, but I’m beginning to get worried that he’s just getting away with just his pure stuff, not command or sharpness on those pitches. Moving him up to High A ball will challenge him to throw his pitches better. That gives him about four games to get a feel for High A ball before sending him there fulltime in 2011.
When you look past the face value of his statistics, and look really hard into some of his sabermetric stats, Shelby’s been downright dominant. A .349 BABIP means he’s getting a bit unlucky, which has probably inflated his WHIP and ERA. The 2.70 FIP is telling that his defense has let him down quite a few times.
550 postgame show said it was a calf not the ankle for Freese injury. Why would Miller be getting away on his stuff when his stuff was getting hit harderin the year with the high ERA and so so win totals.
Like I said, look past his balooned ERA and look at the more telling stats of his FIP and his BABIP. His FIP is more telling than his ERA, and his slightly elevated BABIP means he’s getting a bit unlucky with balls in play leading to a higher WHIP. Or even look at his tRA and you’ll notice that is even low. He’s been dominant in Low A ball regardless of what the sexy stats look like.
I think his biggest issue (at least in the first half of the season when I saw him pitch) was consistency. Even if they didn’t have the piggy back system, he’d still been hard pressed to pitch past the 4th inning due to high pitch counts. Seemed like he’d have a dominant inning followed by one where he ran ever pitch count to 3-2.
I agree. When I saw him pitch early in the year against Kane County, they really couldn’t hit him but the did (and eventually beat him) because he’d get himself in trouble.
It’s those things (control, efficiency, consistency) that I believe will keep him where he is. It looks as though he’s getting past it, but it’s only been a handful of starts.
Sorry, but I guess I’m just in the “why the big damn hurry” crowd. I figure he’s got, at best, 2 more years in the minors no matter what. So I’d prefer he took advantage of low A ball right now and got some playoff experience.
This whole playoff experience is completely blown out of proportion. Pitching in the playoffs for a Low A ballclub isn’t going to prepare him for the big leagues and the playoffs.
Is that just your opinion or is there something behind it?
Personally, I think you might be undervaluing personal competitiveness. (was it Mozeliak or Lunhow who mentioned how they wanted to cultivate “winning’ in the lower levels this year?)
Ultimately though, I just don’t get the point of moving him up with only 2 or 3 starts left in the season.
The benefit is that he might see areas where he needs to improve to succeed against better competition and then have all Winter to work on them.
More or less an opinion, but it’s kind of like winning a pee-wee championship and then winning a state championship at a high school level later. There is very little similarities.
The balooned ERA and WHIP while the FIP and BABIP stay where they at means he might be getting careless with his pitches or just doing what he needs to get by. He’s pretty much mastered Low A hitting regardless of what the ERA and WHIP say he has done, so I’d rather give him the taste of High A ball. Remember, we can always bring him back down to Low A for the playoffs if the Cardinals wanted to. I’d just much rather prepare him for next year.
What are the chances he pitches this winter?
If Shelby Miller’s biggest accomplishment is being able to say that he pitched in the Low-A championship in 2010 (and his team won) … I think we will all be disappointed. I really don’t think a Low-A playoff experience would help (pitching in front of maybe 10k people) in the majors.
I agree with Wade and Karma on the playoff deal. I think giving Shelby a taste (3-4 starts) of the next level preps him for the coming season. He will then start with confidence or start with an idea on what he needs to work on rather than starting from scratch. Either way it seems like it puts him ahead of staying where he is. I would think innings wise it all depends on this season. If he can do 100-110 innings this year, 120-130 next, then 140-150 in 2012 it would set up nicely to be the 4th/5th starter for the Cards in 2013. He could get between 150-170 innings and stay on the arc of only adding 20 innings per year. Again that all depends on where he ends up this year.
I won’t be. This is still a very young kid, and I’d much rather see him handled with extreme care and not pushed on inning count, level, or anything else, than take any risk at all associated with him trying for too much. For the same reason, I’m not wild about him playing winter ball.
If he hasn’t given up an earned run in 17 innings how is moving him up a level challenging him too much to the point it could hurt his development?
I agree he should not pitch winterball. It would be shocking if he does.
I *meant* long-term accomplishment. Let him go ahead and see what the next level is. If you’ve got a smart kid, wouldn’t you advise him to take some college-credit/level classes his senior year of high school if he had mastered high school classes?
And I don’t want him playing winter ball either. I don’t want his innings pushed, but I would like for him to see more advanced hitters this season.
I can’t imagine that Craig would be worse at 3B than Lopez has been. Let’s rotate Lopez, Schu, and Ryan and get Craig most of the ABs at 3B.
There is always pressure in playoffs at any level. When you were in peewee ball were the big games less important because they weren’t the majors? Hell no, when you’re on that team, it’s the most important thing to you. It’s the same at all levels. If it isn’t you ought not be playing.
Not denying that there is pressure in a playoff setting, but I think the pressure of being up a rung on the ladder would be better for his development than pitching against the same level he’s been excelling at.
I never said that there isn’t pressure. But to act like the pressure is the same at a Low A level as it is at the big leagues is simply asinine.
no one is
If Miller is making good progress (as his last few starts may indicate) then makes sense to let him keep making progress in QC. Let him consolidate his gains/improvements, which often takes more than a few starts, rather than rushing him off to Palm Beach into a different situation for only a short time. Facing the highest level of competition possible is not necessarily the most important thing right now in his longterm development.
But how do we not know he’s not just getting by on his stuff? Moving him up even slightly is going to challenge him to develop even further.