The farm goes 1-2 on the night. Memphis provided the only win.
Hitting:
- Ramon Vazquez went 2-for-4 w/ 1 BB, 1 RBI, and 2 R
- Nick Stavinoha‘s only hit in 5 PA was a two run shot
- Matt Carpenter went 2-for-3 w/ 1 RBI and 2 BB
- Aaron Luna contributed with a solo shot in his 4 AB
Pitching:
- Lance Lynn got the start and his line was as follows, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, and 7 K
- Pete Parise, Cory Rauschenberger, and Victor Marte pitched 1.0 scoreless apiece, Cory added 2 K in his inning
Hitting:
- Tommy Pham went 2-for-5 from the lead off spot w/ 1 2B and 1 RBI
- Matt Adams decided to fuel even more debate by taking 2 BB while going 1-for-3 w/ 1 2B and 1 R
- Charles Cutler went 2-for-4 w/ 1 RBI and 1 R
- Chris Swauger went 1-for-2 w/ 2 BB and 2 R
- Niko Vasquez decided to have himself a night, he went 2-for-3 with a three run home run
- Mike Trout did some damage tonight, he went 2-for-4 w/ 1 HR and 3 RBI
Pitching:
- Nick Additon was solid, going 7.0 IP that included 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, and 2 K
- Richard Castillo backed that up with a scoreless inning
- Brett Zawacki and Jesse Simpson pitched in the next inning, both pitchers were hammered (by the other team)
- Sam Freeman got the final two outs as the third Cardinal pitcher to appear in the ninth
Hitting:
- Greg Garcia went 1-for-2 w/ 1 2B and 2 BB
- Nick Longmire, Cody Stanley, and Packy Elkins had one single apiece
Pitching:
- Zach Russell started and put up a line of 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 7 K
- Cale Johnson finished the game off with 2.0 scoreless innings, he struck out 1 and walked 2
Entries (RSS)
Love how you snuck Mike Trout in there…….wish he was with our franchise…….He was our choice if Miller hadn’t been available. I’m glad we got Shelby but Trout in our system would be pretty great too.
Russell pitched well and deserved a win but the opposing pitcher seemed really good. Taveras’s hit streak ended at 11 I believe
I’d rather have Trout, in retrospect!
Top pitching prospects are nice but always prone to injury, whilst Trout looks a lock to be a well above-average centre fielder for 6 cheap years.
I understand the lure of Trout, but with Rasmus and Holliday in the OF for a long time to come and the pitching staff aging and becoming free agents soon, I think we need the depth in pitching. Frontline starters are hard to come buy and despite looking great in the low minors many flame out or get injured. You need a lot of the those guys. Would much rather have Miller than Trout for our system. And if Martinez becomes a front end guy then you have a great 1-2 punch on the cheap with Wainwright returning from injury to lead the rotation and Jaime as well, we could have a great rotation from mostly home grown talent(I know Wainwright was received in a trade, but he was in the minors and we gave up home grown talent to get him).
With the money you save on the pitching staff you can pay for a MI or RF to help protect Pujols when you pay him long term. Adequate OFs seem easier to find than front end of the rotation guys.
By the time Martinez is a “front end guy”, I’m willing to bet Wainwright is not on the Cardinals and certainly isn’t an ace anymore. Though I agree, it’s certainly a potentially exciting rotation in a couple of years!
My feeling is that if you have a cheap, hugely productive OF (Holliday/Rasmus/Trout would come in at about $20m/yr and probably generate something like 12-15 WAR), you can just go out and either trade for or sign your Josh Johnson-type rotation leader. I lean towards the argument that overall production & surety of that production is more important than having that production (and salary levels) balanced throughout your team. I’m OK on spending $60m on the rotation if we have 3 or 4 cheap all-stars in the field.
Personally I am scared to sign a high profile free agent pitcher. You just see too many have injuries and if you spend a lot to get one and his arm blows out, then you have no money to get a fill in. With a free agent outfielder, or potential trade, there are more to pick from and they generally stay healthier through out their entire contract.
That’s a tough one. On balance, given the whole TINSTAAPP notion, Trout is probably the smart answer, but Shelby is probably a better fit for the Cards’ current and near-term needs. I honestly don’t know which one I prefer.
Niko vasquez is one of the prospects I forget when i run through prospects in my mind. His 2011 has been pretty forgettable so far. Hope tonight’s performance is a sign of improvement to come.
Has anybody here put eyeballs on Sam Freeman since he came back from TJ surgery? Aside from being a potential LOOGY, he was always described as one of the best athletes in the Cards’ system, kind of like Jenkins. Having a potential pinch runner in the bullpen would be entertaining, if nothing else.
I think I agree. With all the pitching our system now has, having trout instead of miller would be more than ok. Having said that, I would Have been pissed on draft day if we had passed on Shelby for trout
Freeman doesn’t seem to be putting guys away via strike out though. I think his velocity is down. He may be learning how to pitch better as a result and if he gets the velocity back he could be even better than before. If he doesn’t, I think he will struggle as he moves up.
If the Cards needed a bullpen arm right now, I’d have to consider Victor Marte (if the 40 man roster wasn’t an issue).
Question on Tommy Pham: What was the reasoning for moving him to the Outfield after he was drafted?
I remember him being listed as a SS out of high school. Was it throwing, fielding, concentration, range??
His bat would sure look nice as a SS/2B prospect…if not a supersub.
Similarly, anyone with some insight please answer the same question regarding Aaron Luna.
Thanks in advance.
Pham was wild with his throws to first.
Any other insights?
I never saw any wild throws to first but his release was terrible. His transfer from glove to hand was slow. His arm was kind of 3/4 with a hitch. It looked kind of ugly to be honest. but the real problem was the combination made his throws to first take to long despite a strong arm.
Would a move to 2nd work?
I think he has a bunch of value, but his tools might be even more valuable as an infielder. Same with Luna
Pham is super athletic he is best suited for CF or RF. His arm rates at a 70 and his speed rates as a 70. His power rates as a future 60. He’s where he needs to be. It seems he just needs to be more consisent. The last few games made some really impressive catches in CF.
Thanks guys
I was just wondering. He seems to be popping up a lot in the DFRs. I would love a high ceiling project to turn out after watching a few not pan out in recent years
Okay, so I didn’t have time to comment over the weekend but I went to the QC/KC game Friday night and had a few impressions I’d like to pass along. Also, I know I read that Big Jawn was at the game as well, so I’m curious if my impressions match up with his. Also, also, I saw in the other thread that Andrew asked about the doubles and triple Tavares hit…I’ll comment on that here since that old thread isn’t getting as much air time anymore.
Pitching:
I only saw Ferrara and Wright pitch and while they both did well, nothing really stood out to me. Kane County is not an exceptional team. I remember last year they were a thorn in QC’s side but after switching affiliations (from Oakland to Kansas City this year) they’ve lost something. Other than their players and coaches. They just weren’t very good. Had a few kicked balls on the infield and didn’t wow with anything on the mound.
Wright does throw hard, and for a lefty that’s pretty cool (KC didn’t have their radar gun working the night I was there), but he only struck out 2 hitters. He doesn’t impress me much. Ferrara, seemed to have a pretty good control of the game, but I’d be surprised if he succeeded anywhere above A ball.
Hitting:
The lineup is kind of hit or miss. Oscar Taveras is absolutly amazing right now. He literally squared everything up. His first at bat he pulled a low line drive into the right field corner for an easy triple. Seemed like everything he hit, he hit hard an on a line. On his last double, he actually got a little fooled on the pitch but adjusted (defensive swing?) and drilled the ball, on a very awkward swing, opposite field past the 3rd baseman who really didn’t have much time to react and even if he did, I don’t think he would have fielded it cleanly.
Longmire definitely has a hitch in his swing (lack of a more technical term), but the home run he hit, he absolutely powdered. it was a no doubter the second it left the bat.
The outfield defense looked really good. Edmondson in LF, Longmire in CF, Taveras in RF. Taveras moves well in the outfield and has an acceptable arm. Made good reads and made a couple plays looking into the sun. Longmire struck me as very comfortable in CF. Went back well. And Edmondson came in on a couple of balls and made good catches.
The infield, imo, isn’t as talented. But, I didn’t see too many issues. I don’t think Castillo has the arm for SS.
If i think of anything else, I’ll pass it along. Feel free to ask any questions.
Interesting about Wright. He has 23 SOs in 14 innings as a short lefty so I figured he was doing something special.
best i can see is he throws hard but I’m not sure how hard.
Right now the only possible bullpen arms are marte and fick. Marte has the inside track already having pitched in the majors. The 40 man can be dealt with, as there are some contenders to be taken off.
here’s the winning (well, I guess losing) run from Saturday night’s game … http://mikesciosciastragicillness.com/2011/05/09/who-wants-to-see-dee-gordon-score-the-winning-run-from-first-on-a-bunt/
Random question to anyone who knows: what is going on with Francisco Samuel? He had a lat strain in Spring Training and they said he’d be out six weeks but it’s been over 8 weeks now and haven’t heard about him returning.
Random question #2: David Kopp is listed on our 40 man but he hasn’t pitched for us this year. Tried to find out if he was injured too but I could not find anything. Any help would be much appreciated.
Both are injuried. Samuel threw for the first time last week, Kopp threw for the final time last week and is on his way to Springfield.
Thanks for the info. Interesting that Kopp has been demoted back to Springfield. Makes sense given that he struggled at AAA last year though.
Kopp was not demoted, he is being sent to familiar territory to get in much needed work. He is on the 40 man roster so it really doesn’t matter where one gets their work in, does it?
Kopp was not doing well with elbow pain last season, first really became an issue when he went to Memphis. Unfortunetly it’s very difficult trying to adjust in a new surrounding with injury issues, he refused the DL so he headed back to springfield, where he was needed more at the time.
With much discomfort (which was caused by an irritated ulnar nerve) he never missed a start last year, had minor nerve transposition surgery late fall, some minor stuff occured trying to get back too soon.
His promotion last year had to do with an injury at AAA. He ended the year at AA I believe.
Andrew is correct, he had to go cover when they sent Ott up to STL, he would have been returned anyway.
Ah, ok. That’s an unusual situation that I obviously couldn’t glean from the stat sheet. Sorry for the false assumption.