Monday’s Games
- Allen Craig was 2-for-4.
- Joe Mather was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks.
- Ryan Kulik managed to allow just 3 runs despite walking 7 (!) batters in 4.2 innings. He was touched up for 3 hits while striking out 1. I’d be interested to see if Kulik’s fastball would play better out of the pen on a consistent basis.
- Eduardo Sanchez retired 5 batters including 2 via strikeout. He walked 1 and allowed a hit. In 13.2 innings at Memphis, Sanchez has continued a nice strikeout rate (14 Ks) but is struggling a bit with more selective hitters (8 walks).
- Daryl Jones was 2-for-5.
- Tommy Pham was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Steve Hill was 2-for-4 with a double and a HR.
- Matt Carpenter was 2-for-4 with a double. Carpenter has cooled a bit after his torrid start at AA but he’s still been wildly successful there. In 276 ABs, he’s got a .315/.410/.493 line with 9 HRs.
- Xavier Scruggs went yard.
- Chris Swauger was 4-for-4 with a pair of HRs.
- Pete Kozma was 3-for-4 with a double. Another disappointing offensive campaign for Kozma in 2010. He’s shown a touch more power but it’s likely a function of his ballpark. His seasonal line is now .241/.317/.361.
- Brian Broderick pitched a string 7 innings allowing 2 runs (1 earned) while striking out 6. He allowed 7 hits.
- D’Marcus Ingram was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Automatic UpgradeDomnit Bolivar scored Palm Beach’s only run on a solo shot.
- Scott Schneider struck out 5 over 6 innings allowing 5 hits and 1 walk for 2 runs. An uncharacteristic outing for Schneider as he allows 8 of 11 outs on flyballs.
- Cory Rauschenberger struck out 2 in 2 perfect innings and recorded 4 groundouts.
- Matt Adams was 3-for-4 with a HR and a walk. Adams has been hitting well lately and currently has a .885 OPS on the season.
- Frederick Parejo homered and walked in 5 trips to the plate.
- Joe Kelly allowed 6 hits in 6 innings. He was on record for 2 unearned runs while walking 2 and striking out 2. 11 of his 13 outs on balls in play were via the groundout. Kelly has good strikeout rates but he’s sporting a phenomenal 64% GB rate which leads the Midwest League.
- Jonathan Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a HR.
- Yunier Castillo was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Roberto Espinoza went yard.
- Nick McCully pitched 7 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 2 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 2.
Johnsonville 14, Greeneville 2
- Cody Stanley was 3-for-6 with a triple.
- Philip Cerreto was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
- Virgil Williams was 2-for-5.
- Reggie Williams was 3-for-4 with a walk.
- Cesar Valera was 2-for-5.
- Ryan Copeland struck out 5 in 5 innings allowing 3 hits and 1 walk.
- Drew Benes pitched a 1 hit 9th inning.
Tuesday’s Games
- Mark Hamilton and Donovan Solano went 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Adron Chambers was 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Brandon Dickson was touched up for 8 hits in 6 innings. He struck out 5 and walked 3 while allowing 4 runs (2 earned).
- Fernando Salas allowed 1 run on 2 hits while striking out 2 in the 8th.
- Steve Hill’s HR binge continues with a 2-for-5 night. Both hits leave the park.
- Andrew Brown was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Matt Carpenter was 3-for-4 with a walk. On Twitter, Kary Booher offes the following impression: “He’s interesting. But doesn’t have great power, needs work defensively.”
- Aaron Luna was 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks.
- Pete Kozma was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Jose Garcia was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Arquimedes Nieto turned in a quality start with 3 runs in 6 innings. He walked 4 and allowed 2 hits while striking out 4.
- Blake King struck out 2 in a perfect inning.
Adam Reifer allowed a hit and a walk for 1 run in 1 inning of work.
- Charles Cutler was 3-for-3 with a walk.
- Richard Racobaldo was 2-for-4.
- Ryde Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a double.
- Deryk Hooker pitched 5.1 innings allowing 7 hits and 2 walks for 2 ER. He struck out 3.
- Devin Goodwin was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
- Alan Ahmady was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
- CJ Beatty and Robert Stock were 2-for-4 with a double.
- Eric Fornataro was lit up for 9 hits and 8 runs (7 earned) in 4 innings.
- Nick Greenwood, acquired in the Jake Westbrook transaction, tossed 2.2 innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits and a walk. He struck out 2. Greenwood kept up the strong groundball tendencies with 5 of 6 outs on the ground.
- Colin Walsh went yard.
- Nick Longmire was 0-for-2 with a pair of walks.
- Joe Bergman was 2-for-4.
- Johnathan Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with a HR.
- Travis Lawler struck out 2 in 2 innings allowing 3 hits.
- Chase Reid struck out the side allowing 1 hit in his inning of work.
- Cody Stanley was 4-for-4 with a walk. Stanley has a .874 OPS. He’s legged out 3 triples. Fastest catcher in the Cardinals minor league system?
- Philip Cerretto was 3-for-5 with a double.
- Cesar Valera was 3-for-4.
- Aiden Lucas struck out 3 of the 4 hitters he retired.
- Hector Corpas struck out 1 for his 10th save in a perfect 9th.
Entries (RSS)
RHP Bryan Martinez had a monster game last night for the GCL Cards: 7 IP, 1 hit, 1 BB, 10 K, 11-0 GO-FO.
He was an all-star in the DSL before getting the call to Jupiter.
Another guy who’s kind of quietly having a good season in the GCL is Anthony Garcia, who was drafted as a catcher out of Puerto Rico in the 18th round in 2009. It’s his 2nd year in the GCL, but he’s still only 18, and he’s now playing in the OF. He’s hitting .338/.458/.600, with just 9 strikeouts (vs. 13 BB) in 23 games.
Meanwhile, Roberto De La Cruz, who’s a couple months older, is hitting .231/.270/.426, w. 30 K vs. 3 BB in 30 games.
Other than a name in the box score, I don’t know anything about him. And I know as well as anyone here to take short-season stats with a grain of salt. So it’s too early to call him a sleeper, much less a prospect, but he could be a guy to keep an eye on.
Bryan Martinez could be the best upside prospect they have lassoed from Latin America.
Carlos Matias may have something to say about that, that said I hope they move through the system together. Some dynamic SP prospects in the lower levels.
Let’s wait until we get official word on Carlos Matias before we go parading around like he’s the next great Latino pitching prospect.
He is a great prospect it’s just not yet determined if he will be allowed to come to the US. Whether he is who he says he is or not doesnt take away from the fact that he has an incredible arm and talent.
I’m not saying that he doesn’t have a very good arm, but if for the sake of the argument turns out be two or three years older than he actually admit that he is, then it becomes a lot less impressive how hard he throws and his control. Part of going international is the fact you can sign a kid young, develop him your way, and really get a lot of upside out of a player. How much upside is there in a 19 to 21 year international kid who just knows how to throw the ball hard?
98mph moving fastball with control? Shows a change-up and curve? In an American collegian (who would be about the same age), I’d be pretty happy.
Collegiate players who sport a 95+ MPH fastball, an average change up and average curve that are small pitchers themselves don’t tend to go very high in the draft.
With collegiate players they have been pitching competitively there whole lives. Most guys in Latin America haven’t and don’t have good formal training. The fact that someone from LA has that type of control and this early in his career has an average curve and change is something to really be excited about. The Internatinal market is about finding hidden talent and then developing it them into great players. None of these guys are already as polished as a college pitcher. I’ll make a Matias comp, Pedro Martinez. He wasn’t polished at all when he was signed, he developed. Matias is already somewhat polished as his control is fantastic but he is still developing as a pitcher. Karma, how can you say that Bryan Martinez could have the most upside other than Miller, without a scouting report on him yet dog Matias who we do know what he has? Badler said Matias has the best fastball period. I”m assuming he means out of hte international market and the draft market. That means he believes Matias has a better fastball than Stetson Allie and Jameson Tallion.
Andrew, you seem to have some cultural preconceptions that you might want to think twice about. Their are some outstanding academies in LA that have outstanding instructors including many ex big leaguers and minor leaguers. Many of the best LA players have been attending these academies since they were 12 years old. With baseball being the biggest sport of opportunity, many of these kids play baseball year around versus American kids that often divide their time between sports.
Many of these kids are unpolished when they sign because they are just 16 and still growing into their bodies and maturing mentally — not for lack of instruction. A guy like MAtias though who is older (18 or 19) often are as advanced or more so than many American kids of the same age. As advanced as a college pitcher? Probably depends on the college.
If Matias is 23 and not even Matias, its fine by me. His current abilities are fine and there is no need for addtional projection.
I tend to agree with the other replies – high 90s with control is high 90s with control. He’s basically a rawer version of Jason Motte right now, stretched out to pitch multiple innings and with likely more upside on his secondary offerings and better movement on his FB
However, the problem is, if he’s 21, 23, or even if he can’t be verified, his signing will be anulled (again) by MLB for lying about his age (again), and he’s not a Cardinals prospect anymore. That has to hurt his ranking a little bit. I’d still say he’s the no.3 prospect in the system, though, if both he and Cox are signed and (in Matias’ case) allowed to play in the US this year.
Not sure if you read his scouting report he’s more than just a young guy that can throw hard. Ben Badler says that he is probably the best International pitcher of this years class and has the best fastball PERIOD. He didn’t say out of the international class but he has the best fastball out of anyone. Matias is a Shelby Miller type prospect with smaller stature and a bigger arm.
But the problem lies in his lack of offspeed stuff, which only get magnified if he’s older than he’s actually reporting he is. He’ll have to spend at least a couple years in the minors working on those secondary pitches before they become even remotely usable in the big leagues.
If he’s older the contract is voided and someone else will have to worry about him and their is a possibilty that afte 2 strikes MLB won’t allow teams to sign him. So for our purposes its 19 or bust. The off speed issue isn’t a big one as he can develop one. I’m willing to wager that he has logged less innings and formal training then anyone in our farm system right now. Miller is very similar as hes more polished but all he had was a fastball. Their were reports of a 12-6 curve but not sure if I believe that as during his time off he was learning 2 totally new pitches. Meaning he didn’t have one before or the team scrapped it and taught him a new one. Matias learning off speed stuff shouldn’t be a problem. In fact I’m not certian they aren’t teaching him right now. Reports of average off speed stuff could be from someone who saw him pitch with the boston organization last year, or even before he signed with anyone. Badler has seen him throw in person and I trust him.
Is Steve Hill a good prospect? Or does he not have the plate discipline or defensive skills at catcher?
Lack of a defensive position is a problem. He can sort of catch, but has a lot of passed balls. Think of him as Ted Simmons Lite, minus the switch hitting. That is by no means a bad thing.
He’s also a 25-year-old in double A (although I guess the only reasons they haven’t moved him up yet would be the fact that Gagnozzi and Anderson are the main guys at Memphis, hopefully Gags gets cut and Anderson in the major league backup next year, so we’ll see what Hill’s got). That’s a bit old to be any sort of prospect who isn’t breaking down the door to the majors.
Phil Cerrato is now hitting .407 with an 1.167 OPS. yes, he’s 22 in the Appy league but that is impressive anywhere. Considering he’s from Longwood college the Appy was probably the right place to start him but I think its time to move him along.
Yunier Castillo is now at .287. If this kid could learn to take a walk I might try to get excited about him. 2 BB in his last 285 AB’s.
Alan Ahmady is now batting .361 with a .991 OPS at QC. More power than I expected out of him.
Steven Hill is now OPSing .889. His underlying numbers look good. His K rate has staid fairly stable while he has increased his walks and his power this year.
Chase Reid now at 28K’s and 1 BB in 16 IP.
I think I may like Martinez more as a prospect than Matias. In addition to a better K rate he has a better GB rate.
Does anyone have a scouting report on P Chase Reid? Very intriguing numbers.
I think that at some time Pete Kozma will no longer be a punching bag due to the fact that everyone wanted them to draft Scott (Boras) Porcello instead of him.
Yes, a time like that will come.
Probably after he hangs ‘em up.
Reid throws 85 mph. Went to Vanderbilt. He was visiible to scouts, but fell to a round in the 40s. He will help the system.
Real interested in finding out what type of stuff Martinez has, I believe he’s a big guy at 6’3 and looks pretty sturdy based on the pictureof im on the Cardinal Nation websites. Either way I’m pleased we have some real good young arms in our system.
Regarding what someone else said about Roberto De La Cruz, he seems to be putting it together has had a few 3 hit games this week and is up to 5 Hr’s so I believe he’s developing well. Glad Ryde Rodriquez seems to be doing ok in Palm Beach but I’m worried about Amauren Cappellan. He’s been absolutely horrible this year.
On another note Mike Folli was traded to Tampa for future considerations. Does anyone know what this entails? Are we most likely to just get money from them or do we get one of their prospects that they are getting ready to release?
I’m guessing one of those two. Does anyone know what we ended up getting from BAL for Lugo? I’m pretty sure I remember it being a PTBNL or cash considerations but don’t remember hearing the outcome.
The outcome was the cash.
Not to poo poo on what Cerrato has done thus far, but Matt Adams and Richard Racobaldo both tore up the Appy league as well last year. His numbers will take a big hit when he advances a level, me thinks.
Well, Rocobaldo was nearly 2 years older and is holding his own at PB this year. If Cerreto is in PB this time next year I’ll be happy with his progress.
Adams is OPSing nearly .900 at QC. If he was a 3B we’d be excited about him. If Cerrato hits for 90% of his JC OPS at QC (like ADams is doing) that still puts him OPSing over 1.000.
He may take a hit but the examples you gave don’t particularly make your case.
A sub .700 OPS is “holding your own”? Racobaldo has been pretty bad at both QC and PB now.
Racibaldo and Cerreto went to small time colleges for baseball, seniors, played 3B, drafted around round 40. Helpful for the system. Can excel against younger kids at JC and help out a full season teams the next year.
Chase Reid has 12 K’s in his last 4 IP. Crash Davis would not be happy with such a fascist display.
Speaking of Crash Davis, the Mets backup 1b that we played against in that series has I think 317 MILB homeruns and had homered in his last 4 major league starts, that was iwth 3 different teams over 4 years.
There’s actually several very young pitchers, in addition to Matias and Martinez at the lowest levels who are putting up interesting numbers. Avendano, Manuel Dela Cruz, and Brand on the GCL squad are all young, striking out at least one an inniing and are either tall, Avendano,6’3″ or just plain big, Dela Cruz and Brand both 6’2″ 225.
There’s a kid named Bautista on the DSL team who’s 4 and 0 with a great era and over a strikeout an inning who’s listed as just having turned 17. The kid’s 5’11″ and 195 lbs so he’s getting fed well down there.
Dela Cruz is a lefty reliever who, I believe received a healthy signing bonus.
Agree that Reid’s stats are interesting.
Pete Kozma is staying back on the ball much better and he is making much better contact on the ball. He has been hitting the ball very solid for a few weeks, but right to a defensive player. In the last week to 10 days, he is still making good contact but for base hits. If he can stay focused on his fielding, and make the easy plays, I think he will have a great career in baseball. I think that Cutler has made some adjustments with his hitting, and he will keep advancing . Springfield Cardinals have a very solid battery of pitchers and hitters and should win their division, if they continue to play at this intensity level.(they seem to expect to win). It seems like the Springfield team has 6 starters and 6 relievers, so I assume one of the starters will be moved into a relief role. I am very impressed with this AA team.
So where does Bryan Martinez start next year? Johnson City? Lower? Higher?
He’s 19 now, turning 20 next spring. If he’s good enough to pitch in the MWL, it makes sense to start him there and let him build arm strength against competition that’s his age or a little older.
But I’m sure the decision-making process is more complicated than what I just suggested. The coaches won’t rely on age or stats in the DSL or GCL to decide if he’s ready.
So in a perfect worl where everything breaks right, who is Bryan Martinez? Brandon Webb, possibly? Maybe Tim Hudson?
No clue who he is comp’ed to no one has a Scouting report yet I don’t think so we don’t know what type of stuff he has.
I was basing my comps off of his ability to get GB outs coupled with the ability to get K’s. I think it’s obvious he has some kind of running power fastball. It’s obviously a heavy pitch that gets great downward run. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t throw 94 with heavy sink/run.
Unfortunately I doubt in throws 94. Luhnow would be talking alot more about him if he did. He tweeted when Pasen hit 93 a few weeks ago so if Martinez had that type of stuff we would probably already know. I can hope though and hopefully the next interview iwth Luhnow someone can ask more about Martinez. He is obviously one of the two best prospects we have in the DSL.
I’ll second that but my guess is that if he continues as he has started at the GCL he will make the jump to QC. It might not be out of the question for him to get a start or two at JC this year.
Fastest catcher in the Cardinals organization? That’s not saying much. Regardless, count me as a Cody Stanley fan. I have high hopes.
Guess who:
Player A: 333 PA at Springfield .321/.416/.500 line
Player B: 154 PA at Springfield .281/.403/.438 line
Both 3rd basemen, one who most think will move to first sooner rather than later…the other who will likely stick at 3rd(at least according to most scouting reports I’ve read)
Give up?
Player A is Matt Carpenter this season
Player B is Brett Wallace last year
Booher says he needs to work on his defense…I have read and heard in the past that he will never be a gold glover, but that he can certainly hold his own at the hot corner…Does Booher mean he needs to work on his D to be a ML 3rd baseman, or that he needs to work on it in order to become a great prospect….because his offensive performances since joined the organization have me giddy
He was answering a question about where he fits on the major league depth chart: I took him to mean that his power and defense would be where he’d fall short at MLB-level competition today.
I had thought there was a significant age difference. But Carpenter is just 9 months older than Wallace. And, like Carpenter last year, he’s playing AA in his first full season of pro ball. So the comparison is more apt than I’d thought it would be.
It’ll be interesting to see how fast Cox moves up, assuming he signs next week, and whether he sticks at third or moves to second. (He also has enough arm to play right field, if the bat plays up but the glove holds him back.)
Big difference between the two though. Wallace was oozing with potential, because like the Cardinals announcers were saying the other night, he swings with pretty much just his arms.
I wouldn’t say oozing with potential. Yes its good that they feel they can add some lowerbody power to Wallace on the down side we don’t know how tha will effect his bat control. Not only that but Houston is already talking about Carlos Lee possibilty being moved to first less than a week after they traded to get their firstbaseman of the future Brett Wallace. That leads me to believe that they may not be so high on him now that they have seen him. Seems that has happened with the A’s and Blue Jays already. I wish him the best but this just reiterates how good of a decision it was to trade him for Holliday. On another note if we had not traded him for Holliday, I would have been a little bummed that we didn’t pick super prospect Aaron Hicks instead. I believe Hicks was drafted right after Wallace.
I think it’s more of the thinking that Wallace might not be ready just yet. Remember, best case scenario when we drafted was mid year this year. He wasn’t supposed to be ready until next year.
And back to comparing Carpenter to Wallace, Carpenter is getting a bit luckier than Wallace when looking at BABIP (.379 to .348), but the difference is Wallace has been in that .340 range, where as Carpenter’s has fluctuated. And I see Wallace’s ’09 season as one of his worst as a professional, where as Carpenter is having one of his best. Combine that with the fact that Carpenter is a year older, and I find it rather unimpressive. Also, compare ISO power and Carpenter’s career year is right around Wallace’s average.
But other than that … ;)
Carpenter is in just his first full year of pro ball. Funny to call it his “career year.” 2009 was one of Wallace’s “worst as a professional.” It was Wallace’s first full year as a pro.
Truthfully, there’s no way to be sure yet just what we’ve got in Carpenter. Bloviating about “career years,” etc., is simply not to the point, lacking a career for context. This is a situation where it would be much more apropos to see a real live scouting report. What do people who’ve actually seen him play (more than once), and who have the expertise to evaluate a swing and plate discipline and defense and all that stuff, think? I note that Kevin Goldstein at BP has made approving noises about Carpenter a couple of times now, and while he’s not a scout, he listens to people who are.
But those who have watched the two say there isn’t even a comparison, Wallace is the superior prospect.
I don’t doubt the statement but the only issue is when organizations actually get Wallace they get rid of him like a hot potato.
Wonder if Freese’s re-injury caught the attention of Zack Cox, and Ludwick’s trade the attention of Austin Wilson. Obviously a lot can happen when those guys are ready to hit the big leagues in a few years, but still. . .
Carico- You may be right but I just don’t see Matias already being a polished pitcher already having reached his upside. They can go to academics isn’t it true that most don’t even start to play organized baseball until 16 or so. If I remember correctly Seattle was fined regarding Matias as they tried to stash him in their academy and not let other teams know who he was. My main point is I don’t think Karma’s assumption that Matias is just a fireballer is fair because he doesn’t have a plus curve or change yet. Those pitches can be developed as the Cardinals just recently taught them to Shelby Miller. Really how many pitchers already have a well established curve or change at 19?