Archive for November, 2010

With the recent news that the Cardinals outrighted Matt Pagnozzi and made him a minor league free agent and AZ’s article about the place of Bryan Anderson on the big club, it seems like as good of a time as ever to look at the catcher depth and depth chart in the minor leagues.  Assuming that Bryan Anderson makes the Cardinals as the left-handed, slick hitting backup catcher, that leaves us with an interesting group.

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Surprise 5, Mesa 7

• Tony Cruz was at first base and went 1-5 with an RBI.
• Zack Cox DH’ed and went 2-4 with a walk, an RBI and a caught stealing.  Cox has been so much better since his early struggles.

Surprise Rafters 6, Peoria Saguaros 5

• Adron Chambers was in CF and went 1-4 with a walk and 2 Ks.  Chambers had two stolen bases.  That sounds about right for Chambers on a standard day.  Less Ks would be nice though.
• Tony Cruz was DH’ing and went 2-4.  He’s batting .352 on the fall.
• Pete Kozma was 1-4 with a strikeout and 2 errors in the field.
• Ramon Delgado gave up 1 run on 1 hit in 1 inning for the “blown save”.
• Blake King got the first two outs in the 9th, allowing 1 walk.  He struck out 1, but they brought someone else in to get the last out and steal the save away from Blake.

Bryan Anderson was drafted in 2005. He was a much hyped offensive potential for a backstop who others thought would develop power down the road. When that power projection didn’t come to fruition, Anderson took a big hit in the eyes of analysts. Each year, it seems like I make an obligatory “Bryan Anderson is still good/useful/prospecty” post regarding his value.

Acknowledging that Bryan Anderson is a valuable commodity or future MLB backstop didn’t always translate to advocating him in the majors. It did always advocate for him being ahead of Matt Pagnozzi on any proverbial depth chart though. It seems like the Cardinals have firmly committed to that decision — whether that was always the internal ranking or if all parties involved believed in that assessment is a different story and not one I’ve been privy to — with their release of Matt Pagnozzi, per Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post Dispatch.

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Sorry for the late post everyone.

11/5/2010

Mesa 13 @ Surprise 5

The Hitters:

• Adron Chambers went 1-for-5 w/ a 2B and a R from the lead off spot.

The Pitchers:

• Blake King got shellacked in his 1 inning, giving up 4 runs on 1 HR, 3H, and 1 BB.  He also had 1 SO.

11/6/2010

Arizona League Rising Stars Game

East 2 @ West 3

• Zack Cox had two uneventful at bats going 0-for-2
• Leslie Anderson from the Tampa Bay organization was the offensive hero of the day by going 2-for-4 w/ a solo HR
• As with most all-star games, there were a lot of pitchers and w/o seeing them, I can’t be sure who truly looked good.

Surprise 5, Scottsdale 9

• Adron Chambers was 1-for-4.
• Zach Cox was 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Tony Cruz was 3-for-4 with a walk.
• Pete Kozma was 0-for-3 with a pair of walks.
• Ramon Delgado allowed 2 runs over 2 innings on 3 hits while striking out 2.

Zach Cox will also participate in a Rising Stars exhibition game on Friday. Jonathan Mayo has the details.

Surprise 3, Scottsdale 9

• A big day for Tony Cruz who goes 2-for-4 with a HR. That’s his 3rd HR in 46 ABs in the Arizona Fall League. Currently, the HR leader has 4 in the AFL.
• Brian Broderick went 4.2 innings allowing 7 hits for 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 walks and a strikeout. The concern with Broderick is that he doesn’t have strikeout stuff. He’s completely reliant on his sinking fastball and his defense.  The surprise had a pair of erros in the game (and they haven’t been defensively sound to date) so there’s some gray area with Broderick. He is generating a lot of groundballs during his time in the AFL.

(As I work my way through another overtime intensive week at the office, I know posting has been light but I’m not sure if that will change in the immediate future.)

Surprise Rafters 2, Phoenix Desert Dogs 2 (Final – 11 innings)

• Adron Chambers and Zack Cox were both 0-4 with a strikeout each.
• Pete Kozma was 1-3 with a double, walk and stolen base.
• Blake King was wild, but not effectively so with 2 walks and a wild pitch to allow 1 run in .2 of an inning.

Surprise Rafters 3, Phoenix Desert Dogs 2

• Adron Chambers lead off for the Rafters going 1 for 3 with an RBI.

• Tony Cruz was 3-4 with 2 doubles.  He was at catcher and did have a passed ball and one stolen base allowed.  However, he did pick off 1 player on first base.

• Zack Cox was 1 for 3 with a triple and a walk.

• Ramon Delgado pitched an inning with all zeroes.  (except for the inning number, natch)