Ugly performance from Jaime Garcia yesterday as the big league club stood 1 week away from Opening Day.
The Farm went 2-1-1 on the day. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for March, 2011Obviously, the minor league team a player is on for the spring games mean little or nothing, but just in case it’s little, here are the (pre) assignments that caught my eye. Kevin Thomas in Memphis. Thomas put up some solid numbers through Palm Beach, but I would be very surprised if he skipped Springfield. Matt Adams in Springfield. He had a good year for Quad Cities, but once again, jumping Palm Beach, despite its bat suppressive abilities would be surprising. Carlos Martinez and Tyrell Jenkins in Quad Cities. Some people think that both players will make their first appearance in QC for the season, but I don’t know if they are going to rush either high upside pitcher to full season ball right away. Additionally, since the QC team was the lowest level competing so far in the spring training games, there were more surprises including Aiden Lucas and Trevor Rosenthal who both have 1 and 2 years in rookie ball respectively. Rosenthal probably could smoothly make the transition, but it would be more of a stretch for Lucas. Maikel Cleto in Palm Beach. Cleto spent almost all of last year in A+ ball with Seattle, would be very surprised if he did not start out in Springfield. Derrick Goold has the cuts most notably CJ Beatty and once intriguing Jose Martinez. The cuts are of people who either 1) weren’t very good or 2) were rather one dimensional. Beatty could hit some but wasn’t much of a fielder. Martinez went through some personal difficulties that cost him much of the last two years. As a middle infielder, he’s more likely to hang around in the minors. Best of luck to all the players in their future endeavors. As big league camp enters, officially, it’s final week, those recently demoted join their other farm system brethren in some inter-organizational competition. I’ve yet to sit down to watch today’s broadcast from ESPN (DVR’d) but I can’t wait to see the big blast by former Future Redbird Allen ‘Milkcarton’ Craig. To the DFR.
After an impressive 2009 in Palm Beach, the chatter was certainly building about the lefty who the Cardinals thought he was so nice they drafted him twice. In 2007, he did not sign, but they were able to get the job done in 2008. However, Freeman’s sleeper status was put to bed as his whole 2010 season was lost to an elbow injury and Tommy John surgery. It does feel good to see Freeman back in the Vuch reports and eventually the DFRs. As a reliever in Palm Beach he did have 30 Ks to 13 walks in 33 innings and a FIP of 2.56. Despite those numbers, I’m not expecting the world of Freeman coming off the injury. But, hopefully Freeman will build the numbers and the buzz back up to the level they were pre-TJ. Seeing him pitch scoreless innings in the Vuch Report is the first step. 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. I think Matt Carpenter is a great prospect. Personally, I think he’s poised to take the starting 3B job from David Freese either during 2011 or by 2012. That said, I think he belongs in Memphis to start 2011. Make sure and read the recap for the QC#2 team. Impressive pitching performance. Thanks to James for the Spring Training Photos. There’s some really great ones of Shelby Miller after the jump. The Cardinals played a pair of scrimmage games today including a faceoff of Arizona State pitchers. |
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