The farm went 2-2 last night. Let’s jump into it…
- James Rapoport and Pete Kozma went 1-for-4.
- Nick Stavinoha went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Ramon Vazquez hit a PH 2B in his only AB.
- Adam Ottavino took the tough luck loss throwing 6 IP of 4 H, 1 UER baseball with 4 BB and 5 K.
- Cory Rauschenberger gave up a ER on 3 H and 2 K in 2 IP.
- Jermaine Curtis went 2-for-4 with a 2B and RBI.
- Charles Cutler went 1–for-4.
- Jose Garcia went 3-for-4.
- Deryk Hooker picked up the win with 7 strong IP of 2 H, 2 BB and 4 K pitching.
- Nick Greenwood recorded the hold despite giving up a solo HR while getting 2 outs.
- Jose Rada notched the save with 1.1 IP. He gave up 2 H and 3 K.
- Zack Cox and Alan Ahmady went 1-for-4.
- Audry Perez went 2-for-4 with a 2B and RBI.
- Edgar Lara went 2-for-4.
- Maikel Cleto took the loss after yielding 3 ER on 6 BB and 4 H in 6 IP. He struckout 6.
- Samuel Freeman threw an inning, allowing 4 H, 3 ER and 1 BB. He had 1 K.
- Chase Reid struckout 2 in 1 IP.
River Bandits 4, Kane County 1
- Greg Garcia went 1-for-5.
- Frederick Parejo and Patrick Elkins were 1-for-3.
- Oscar Taveras went 1-for-4.
- Cody Stanley went 1-for-4 with a 2B.
- Juan Castillo went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Starlin Rodriguez went 1-for-3.
- Jordan Swagerty went 5.0 IP with 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 K for the win.
- Hector Corpas threw an inning.
- Cale Johnson threw 2 IP with 2 H and 3 K.
- Keith Butler picked up the save with 1 H and 1 K in 1 IP.
Entries (RSS)
Ottavino is interesting. finding a way to pitch well, give up few runs, but walking everyone but the bat boy. He either is very lucky so far, or is finding the way to make the big pitch with guys on base. anyone remember other pitchers who walked a lot of batters but found ways to win? I remember a successful pitcher of years ago, 50′s or 60′s, who had that skill, his name escapes me now.
liriano?
Time to move Jordan Swagerty up, IMO. Coming out of a big-time college program where he was the closer, he “should” dominate at low A, just as he’s been doing. It needs to be established whether he will be as effective against more advanced competition. I realize that part of the reason for starting him at QC was to see whether he could handle the heavier work load of being a starter, but that part of the experiment seems to have gone so well that there’s no point any more in leaving him there for that reason alone.
I don’t know, I think leaving him down at the level he is and allowing him to work on his secondary offerings, which he didn’t use as often as a closer, will serve him well when he does move to the next level.
If you follow Goldstein at all, you’ll read him often say that a pitcher dominating a level with only fastball/curve isn’t ready for the next level even if he has good stats until he develops the changeup.
At this point, I don’t know, as I haven’t seen him pitch in the minors yet, but there is more to movement decisions than statistics (I’m not trying to imply that you don’t already know this).
He does have a changeup in fact he recently said that it may be his new best pitch even though he’s always been known by his curveball. Swagerty has multiple breaking pitches, multiple fastballs and a good change. He’s not getting by on stuff but has above average stuff and very good pitchability. His fastball isn’t overwhelming or anything I compare him to Kyle McClellan but he has better contract at this point.
Cost controlled Kyle McClellans have value. We have a number of high upside pitchers in the low minors that we took risks on so I like that we are balancing them against someone like Swagerty. I vote with those advocating we move him up soon.
Little worried they only had him go 5 yesterday when his previous starts were 7 innings. I figure a move that will soon happen is Swagerty to Palm Beach and Cleto to Springfield.
I thought Cleto might be ready for AA too, but the 6 BBs in this outing is concerning. I know it’s just one start, but walks were a big issue for him last year, and if you look at his career then you can see that his first four starts this year are the outlier (in terms of control), and not this outing.
I want to believe he has turned the corner on his command issues, but a 6 BB outing isn’t going to help. Hopefully his next start is more like the previous four.
It’s tough having two players on your 40 man roster down in high A. We need Cleto to put himself in position to contribute to the big club in 2012. There will be a crush for space on the Cards 40 man roster after this season.
Cleto is not going to be in St Louis next season. Maybe 2013.
I agree. It appears that Cleto has the “stuff” to be a successful major leaguer IF he can harness his control. Therefore we should place him wherever he has the best chance of that happening. If the coaching at Palm Beach has been instrumental in the improvement he should stay there until we think he’s “got it”. If he has then he’ll probably move up quickly.
I meant I agree with Cardinal645. Sorry
Am I the only one that looked at this Farm Report and was THRILLED to see Hooker put together a really strong start? I was starting to wonder about him as I have him rated higher than most.
I like Hooker too, but he has been awful so far this year.
What’s wrong with Tavarez, only 1 for 4? . . lol.
Also as another note it was nice to see both Stanley and Castillo playing in QC. This Castillo kid is intriguing…would like to see him get regular AB’s but I am also quite high on Stanley as a solid hitting C.
Anyone else worried about ZCox’s .318 SLG %……. 3 xbh in 115 or so AB’s is not good imo! I know it’s early, small sample size, etc, but that’s just awful for “the best college hitter in the draft”
This is Cox’s introduction to pro ball. He’s doing ok.
I don’t think i’m comfortable with the classification of “ok” in regards to his first full season.
Seth Blair’s struggles are making Cox seem like a star.
Cox only played two years of college, yet has been assigned to high A. He is hitting ok for average. Slugging can be added later.
Palm Beach was supposed to be “conservative” for Cox and he was supposed to be able to start at Springfield and hit right off the bat. We knew Blair would be more of a project as he has the stuff but hasn’t really put it together yet. A player with a Major League Contract should not only have 3 extra base hits at this point in the season. To put this in perspective in only 14 games last year CJ Beatty had 3 doubles and 2 home runs. Cox has 28 games and only 3 doubles. Beatty was a light hitting outfielder who was already released by the organization.
If Blair was really a oproject, we shouldn´t have drafted him.. His pside deosn´t warrent a first round pick if he is a prospect. I may be wrong, but I believe he was advertised as one of the more polished college arms available at that poin – far from a project.
If I remember correctly Swagerty was the polished one Blair had to harness his stuff. Blair really got everyons attentino when he hit 98 on his first game of his final college season. Blair has 2 very good breaking balls but has always rushed his delievery and had issues controlling his fastball. If you remember his college world series game again Arkansas and Zach Cox he was dominate for the first few innings and completely lost it in the 4th. Personally I think he trys to overthrow his fastball and it gets everything else out of whack. He wasn’t drafted as a BPA but as a college guy that would sign for slot.
Everyone knows my opinion on Cox, I’m worried but not too suprised about what I’m seeing.