Matt Adams has a big day offensively while Boone Whiting and Michael Blazek vie for the top pitching performance.
One transaction to note today: Josh Squatrito was released. A low level reliever who had very good K:BB rates, he’s gotten caught up in the glut of arms that get purged each spring. Realistically, he’s a long shot to ever make the majors but best of luck to him wherever he decides to pursue his pitching career.
Memphis 5, New Orleans 12
- Kevin Thomas was roughed up for 6 ER in 2 innings of work.
- Tyler Norrick in what may constitute his worst spring outing pitched 1 inning but walked 4 batters allowing 1 ER and striking out 1.
- Ramon Delgado and Rich Rundles were both touched up for runs as well leaving. . .
- Cory Rauschenberger as the only pitcher to have a scoreless outing: 2IP, 3 H, 1K
- Donovan Solano was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
- Adron Chambers tripled.
- Tyler Henley had a single and a walk.
Springfield 7, Jacksonville 6
- Micheal Blazek pitched 4 innings striking out 4 and allowing 2 hits.
- Arquimedes Nieto was tagged for 3 runs (2 ER) in 3 innings of work on 4 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 1.
- Adam Reifer pitched a perfect inning to pick up the save.
- Matt Adams was the star offensively going 4-for-5 with a HR. He also got kudos for a defensive play on a ball hit down the line.
- Alex Castellanos had a pair of hits including a double.
- Nick Derba and Chris Swauger each had a walk and a single.
Palm Beach 14, Jupiter 4
- Andrew Moss allowed 1 ER in 2 IP on 3 hits while striking out 3.
- Nick Greenwood was saddled with 2 unearned runs in his 2 innings of work. Greenwood allowed 3 hits and struck out 1.
- Adam Melker was 3-for-5.
- Raniel Rosario was 2-for-3 with a HR.
- Zach Cox was 2-for-3 with a double.
- Ivan Castro was 2-for-2 with a double.
- Nick Longmire homered.
Quad Cities #1 2, Greensboro 5
- Tyrell Jenkins allowed 4 hits in 1.2 innings and walked 1 for 3 ER. I’d guess that Jenkins starts the year in Johnson City or Batavia. Given how raw he his as a pitcher, Quad Cities would be a real stretch for him.
- Tyler Lyons struck out 3 and walked 3 allowing 2 hits in 1.1 innings of work.
- Audry Perez was 2-for-3 with a HR.
- Oscar Taveras was 2-for-3 with a pair of stolen bases.
Quad Cities #2 6, Marlins Squad 3
- Angel DeJesus allowed 3 ER in 2.1 IP on 4 hits and 2 walks while punching out 2.
- Boone Whiting had a scoreless effort across 3.2 IP. He struck out 4 and allowed 3 hits. I’d love to see Whiting assigned to QC as I’m really intrigued by his control last year.
- Kleininger Teran was 2-for-3.
- Steven Ramos walked and singled.
- Colin Walsh singled and walked twice.
- Virgil Hill tripled.
Thanks to Farm Director John Vuch and staff for compiling the notes that make the DFR possible during spring training.
Entries (RSS)
Cards have some intriguing names down low…Audry Perez, Cody Stanley, Nick Longmire are obvious, but digging deeper, some of the Latin kids are moving to the states this year, and some lower draft picks are showing potential.
Will be interesting to see who takes a step forward, and who is overmatched by increases in competition. At least the system is getting better.
I know I’m ready for Javier Avoncado and Bryan Martinez to make the jump to America. Not sure how many position players from the DSL will make the jump to SS this year, some may go to GCL though. Our main Latin American strength is pitching not position players.
I assume you mean Javier Avendano? IF so, he has been in the US since the second half of 2009 and all of 2010. Martinez also “jumped to the US in 2010.
I know I assumed that that he meant moving to the States as in short season ball, not GCL.
Technically the GCL is short season ball.
But it’s an instructional league right?
No it is not. Full games, full stats, etc. Instructional leagues are just that. Games are often shortened or lengthened if they want players to get more or less reps. Sometimes a player will bat for the other team, Substitution rules are loosened, and all sorts of other stuff. None of that happens in the GCL. Not in the DSL or VSL either in their summer leagues. They are regular leagues governed by regular rules. The one main difference in the GCL is that the games are normally played on a backfield and there are no tickets sold (though people can go watch). But regardless of the location, they are regular games and it is considered a short season rookie league just as Johnson City is.
I still say that Squatrito should become a catcher. He’d have a career there for that name, all by itself. :-) Anyway, I second the emotion of hoping things work out for him. You hate to see the dream die for any of these guys unless it was clearly an unrealistic fantasy from the outset.
The reverse Motte! I’d love to see a minor league player pull that off.
Too bad for Sqautrito after a great 2009. I can only guess that his recovery from his shoulder injury turned out like many pitchers’ attempts to recover from shoulder surgery.
He actually sat 87-89 in his lone spring training outing only 11 months after surgery
Looks like Mashin’ Matt Adams may be starting the season at Springfield; I like the (possible) aggressive placement, too, of guys like Rosario & Longmire.
And how about two steals for Oscar T.? (And this is the player whose greatest weakness is his speed, according to K. Goldstein–who’s to say an 18-year-old kid won’t get a little faster as he physically matures?)
Correct me if I’m wrong, but he’s also using projection with players when he evaluates them. I don’t want to come off as sounding argumentative, but it’s almost always the case that players get slower as they mature and put on weight, not faster.
If he’s a 50 runner, that’s pretty good. On a 20-80 scale, that’s firmly in the middle of the bell curve.
But he’s pretty muscular and filled out already, he isn’t some gangly kid, he’s solidly put together.
Sorry but after seeing Taveras, his speed isn’t a weakness, he plays hard and runs as hard as he can every time. He’s alot faster than I thought he would be especially running the bases. Wher is Rosario and Longmire going to be placed? It hasnt been determined yet.
Does this mean Matt Adams is starting the season at Springfield? He could develop into a pretty interesting prospect if he continues to rake like he has at previous levels. Heard Pujols spent some time helping him with his defense during ST, if he could be average defensively than his value goes up more..
Final roster are still in flux according to scout.com, but if Adams keeps slugging the ball in ST and has a decent outting defensively, then he may well start in Springfield.
And I think that would greatly benefit him. If he’s going to impress, it’s going to be with his bat and the stadiums in the Texas League are worlds better for him to hit in than the parks in the FSL>
This is definately strategic…….I have a feeling that Adams will CRUSH Texas League pitching and will once again be the best bat in our system. If we lose Pujols then Adams and Hamilton compete for the job next or the year after if we resign Pujols we then have hopefully a more well known and possibly elite hitting prospect that we can trade. This is the year for Mark Hamilton and Matt Adams to raise there value externally not just in our system.
There is no way the replacement for Pujols, should he leave, will be Hamilton or Adams. It will be a free agent most likely, or Allen Craig.
Why not? Both have legit Major League talent and Hamilton has proved this Spring he can hit Big League pitching. Adams isn’t far behind him. So we go out and spend 8-10 Million on a 1b when someone almost as good is in our system and at league minimum? That makes no sense to me at all. I’m assuming that I think Adams and Hamilton will be much better than you think they will be.
I’m not so sure I’d be making bold statements about a player’s obvious ability to hit big league pitching and basing them off of one Spring Training.
So Tackle your not impressed with Hamilton so far? He’s done nothing but hit in the Minors and in Spring Training? What more does he have to do? Other than his health record he has been as good as Craig.
Hamilton has hit for a .222/.294/.444 (.738OPS) line this spring. Can’t say I value ST stats all that much, but if I did, Hamilton’s ST stats, like his sub-.300OBP, aren’t winning me over.
My comment had nothing to do with Hamilton, it in response to what was your basis for making your claim (i.e., spring training hitting especially, as bc points out, hasn’t been all that impressive).
Hamilton’s biggest weakness is that he’s a first baseman. Comparing him to Craig is unfair. At least Craig has versitality. Hamilton is a firstbaseman. Which, in all honesty, is the position that failed corner outfielders and 3rd basemen who can rake go to play.
Hamilton played OF in college and still can. He was going to last year but his season was interrupted in the middle with an injury. That and Memphis already had a very crowded OF. Hamilton is actually probably a better OF than Craig is.
Tackle has the right idea. For one, ST stats mean absolutely nothing in such a small sample size, on weird fields and weird weather conditions, and mostly against guys who will be working at Dillard’s in a few years.
Andrew, I appreciate your passion, and your dreaming on these guys, but if either one develops into even an average player in the major leagues, we should consider ourselves extremely fortunate.
You are making giant assumptions Andrew. The numbers that even an average 1B’man have to be able to put up to be worthwhile are pretty good, and we’re going to rely on a pretty ordinary prospect in Mark Hamilton, and a guy who hasn’t reached AA yet?
Let’s just say, I doubt that.
+1. This whole situation has a Jim Lindeman feel to it.
Oh, you’re breaking my heart.
I was a kid (probably 7th or 8th grade) when Lindeman came up. Saw him play in Spring Training that year and he was automatically my favorite player. How disappionted was I?
And now you just dug him up and threw him out there at me. Heartless.
I know it’s hard to believe that small school guys that weren’t drafted high will ever be productive players but it happens often. I’m saying Adams and Hamilton can hit from looking at there history of hitting. They have hit everywhere they went. As has Craig. My question is why is Craig more legit than either of these two guys.
2010 MEM PCL .298 72 258 53 77 20 0 18 60 151 35 70 0 0 .389 .585 .974
So Hamilton hit .300 with 18 hr and 60 rbi’s in 72 games with an OBP of .389 and an OPS of .974
Sometimes guys that don’t have top billing turn out to be good players.
310 121 464 71 144 41 0 22 88 251 33 78 5 1 .355 .541 .896
Adams .310 average 22hr, 88 rbi, 251 TB .355 OBP and .896 OPS in a pitchers league. And spending half the year being the only offensive threat in the line up. Adams has as good a year in the Midwest league as anyone not named Mike Trout.
I do think he will start at Springfield, he’s seems to have already passed Curt Smith and Xavier Scruggs. We may been Adams sooner rather than later if we lose Pujols next year
I wonder if Scruggs could end up back at 3B in Springfield where he played some his first year. There may be somewhat of an opening there if Cox actually does start in PB. I don’t see them giving up on his bat yet. He K’s a lot but he has as much power as anyone in the system. But I wouldn’t write Adam’s name in pen yet for Springfield.
Niko has 3b I’m assuming, didn’t graduate to there at the end of last year? I think Adams has clearly passed X man though he still may get a few AB’s.
We’ve seen what happens to Niko when he’s moved too fast. I don’t particularly want to see him go through a season similar to 2009 again.
Didn’ the play all year with Palm Beach last year? I don’t remember ever seeing him at QC last year, not sa ying it didn’t happen though.
I assume you are talking about Vasquez – played more games at QC than at PB!
Niko played 73 games in QC and 59 in Palm Beach. Not sure how much more time to give him in PB. Especially with Cox taking his position.