The farm went 3-1 overall. Check out the details after the break!
- Daryl Jones, ‘The Forgotten One’, went 3-4 with a double. He’s tired of not being mentioned in our DFR’s.
- Pete Kozma hit 1-3 with a double, walk, and RBI
- Nick Stavinoha drove in 2 out of the 3 RBI’s in the 9th with a single. He finished 1-5
- Nick Additon had a solid AAA/PCL debut as a starter. He pitched 7 innings and only gave up 7 hits (all singles), 1 run, 1 walk, and struck out 3. He recorded 12 outs in the air compared to 0 on the ground, so there’s at least something for any of the pessimists out there.
- Blake King undid Additon’s good start and gave up 4 runs off of 3 walks and a grand slam
- Jermaine Curtis led off and finished 3-4 with 2 walks and 2 RBI’s
- Ryan Jackson was 1-5 with a walk
- Matt Adams was 2-5 with a triple and 4 RBI’s
- Alex Castellanos, Niko Vasquez, and Jose Garcia each contributed a double
- Chris Swauger hit 9th and went 3-5 with 1 RBI
- The only pitcher of note was Nick Greenwood who pitched 2 scoreless innings and struck out 1 for his first save for Springfield
- Zack Cox hit his 3rd HR of the year and 3rd in the past 6 games. He finished the night 2-5. So much for the doubts about his ability to hit for power.
- Edgar Lara and Kyle Conley both added HR’s, as well. Both also finished 3-4 on the night with 5 RBI’s combined
- Jarred Bogany added the 4th Cardinal HR of the night and finished 2-4 with a triple and 3 RBI’s
- Domnit Bolivar and Travis Tartamella both went 2-4 (both singles)
- D’Marcus Ingram led off and went 2-5 with a double and his 8th SB of the year
- Jordan Swagerty made his 2nd Florida State League appearance and had a line of 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, and 3 K. 8 of the 10 outs recorded in the field were on the ground.
- Daniel Calhoun pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, striking out 3 for his 1st save of the year
- Patrick Elkins was 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI’s
- Chris Edmondson finished 2-4 with a double
- Robert Stock went 0-4 and is 0-11 in his first 3 games of the season. One has to feel that this is his last chance to prove he can continue in the Cardinals organization as a hitter before they try him on the mound.
- Brian Tallet struck out 5 over 2 perfect innings. He definitely has very good stuff, but 33 seems pretty old for that level. It’ll be interesting to see what transaction gets made when he’s ready to come back.
- Anthony Ferrara only gave up 1 run and 3 hits in 5 IP, but he also walked 4
- Randy Wells started against Quad Cities and gave up 3 runs (1 earned) over 3.2 innings
Another late night at the ballpark, so I’ll have to apologize for no scouting reports. Extra innings aren’t exactly welcomed while working in baseball. Springfield will be in Tulsa starting Friday, so I hope to post a couple video at-bats from specific players.
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I still don’t understand Stock’s infatuation with sticking as a catcher. He’s thus far in his two years shown that he’s only capable of hitting pitchers when he’s clearly more talented than them. You’ve got money to make young man, do the right thing and switch full time to pitching. Just ask Casey Kelly of the Padres. There is money to be made.
It’s not really his choice, though, is it? He’s going along with what the org wants. If he’s to move to the mound (and FWIW I think he should’ve been playing somewhere over the winter as a pitcher and getting ready for the full-time transition this year) then that’s their decision, primarily.
Didn’t the organization want him to pitch but agreed to give him a shot behind the plate? I was always under the impression that they were catering to him until he realized he needed to pitch.
Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe the org. has ever seen him as a pitcher.
To me, he’s not even a prospect as a pitcher, so if he can’t make it as a catcher, he’s not going to make it. Small right hander with very ordinary stuff does not a prospect make.
If the org. saw him as a pitcher, he’d be a pitcher.
He threw a 95 mph heater in college with I believe at least decent secondary stuff. So I imagine that they definitely think he could at least give it a serious go as a pitcher. Though I wish he would just give up catching already.
Yeah, I think he’s got a bit of upside, but I’d hope they just stick him in the pen from day 1. Given his age, and presumably the fact he hasn’t refined any of his secondary stuff because he’s been catching for 2 years, it’d be best just to try and get him to make it as a fastball/slider guy from the pen and try to move him quickly as an Adam Reifer-type (though I don’t think he has Reifer’s stuff).
Agreed.
Yup. Jason Motte agrees.
I agree if he doesn’t start hitting in next few weeks we need to pull the plug and start getting a return on our investment. He’s now at just .199 in 342 at bats in the MWL and I would hate to waste the 67th overall pick and 525K by dragging this out. I wish we took LSU infielder D.J. Lemahieu of the Cubs who went at the end of the round who at one point was looked at as first round talent at one point since Stock was so dead set on trying it as position player and at this point it would look real nice since Lemahieu is pushing for Triple-A and even if Stock has decent success on the mound he’s stuck behind a ton of good BP options.
Hindsight is the best scout in baseball
Lemahieu was who I wanted the first time around.
That wasn’t an earthquake it Central Arkansas, that was Matt Adams lumbering for a triple!
Haha, does him getting a triple mean people can leave the guy alone about the fat or “bad body” thing??
Ive seen bengie molina get a triple, doesnt change the fact that he has a bad body
That has to be a joke, no way Bengie can run that far and not have a heart attack….. Or was it in 1983??
He has 6 of them including this stand up job for the cycle last year http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=9966159
In a word? No.
It was actually his second of the year too. haha.
Perhaps part of the rumble can be attributed to the 3 guys who scored ahead of him.
Edgar Lara has actually got his K rate down below 25%. If he can get his BB rate back up a little he might now have a chance.
Addition continues to baffle with his success — but I’ll take it!
Check that on Lara – he will be a 6 year minor league FA at the end of the season if not on the 40 man roster. In other words, he will have to really take off here (and soon) and probably will need a promotion to Springfield where he will need to also do well if he is to remain in the Cards organization.
“Extra innings aren’t exactly welcomed while working in baseball.”
Ain’t that the truth!
I worked for a season after college for the Rockford Reds (now the Dayton Dragons) and extra innings games absolutely sucked. Btw, when it rains, do you have to pull tarp too? It was kind of fun at times but there were times where it was absolutely pouring and you had no warning to get a rain coat on. Nothing like pulling tarp in a torrential downpour while wearing your polo shirt, khakis, and your used-to-be-somewhat-nice brown shoes……….
I’ve had plenty of tarp pulls, but nothing in a downpour so far. I’m still waiting on someone to slip under the tarp and get stuck under there. There was a really funny video of this recently from some guy in the majors.
When I was working in the Bush Leagues they used to at least give us a warning that the rain was coming so we could change into our tarp shoes. My least favorite part was getting there early the next morning to get the tarp of the field so it didn’t ruin the grass.
Wow, is it coincidence or what? Heard Castellanos was Hit by Pitch again last night. His 4th by the same team. Was taken out of the game. I think he needs to wear an Armor suit when he plays Arkansas. What’s up with that?
Springfield won. Matt is ranking in the RBI”s
Cox is hitting well. So did Bogany and Ingram.
Don’t worry about Tallet. He’ll be on the 25-man as soon as they figure out a way to put Franklin on the DL with a strained nostradamius muscle or something like that.
I am among those who drank the Stock kool-aid and are now coming to the realization that it was a mistake. Wonder if the team could send Motte over, during the all-star break, for a little talk with the young man? For that matter, exactly how _did_ Motte make the transition?
crazily!
Don’t look now, but Kozma has a higher BA than Chambers. And, Chambers had an error last night. This is profoundly depressing for this Chambers fan.
Might there be such a thing as a Kozma-line, something akin to the Mendoza-line? The Kozma-line is a relatively static point in the batting and fielding scale that is noteworthy for being low. If you’re at or below the Kozma-line, you’re in trouble.
As a big Chambers supporter I am extremely disappointed in him so far this year. Looking for him to turn it around anytime now!
An aside, Lance Lynn’s FIP this year is pretty darn good. I’m really hoping he finished out the year exceptionally so that he’s ready to go next year in the rotation, if need be
Personally, I’d like to see Lynn get a trial in the Show some time around the All-Star break, not so much with the intention of plugging him regularly into the rotation or even looking seriously at what he can do, but rather, as a way of reducing McClellan’s inning count/work load for the season. I’m somewhat concerned that K-Mac is going to be overworked this year. Getting a couple of weeks of Lynn starts mid-season and a couple more in September would be a good antidote to that.
Good point, McClellan would probably benefit from a few spot starts. I just don’t see much for Lynn in the St. Louis rotation going forward, barring some type of injury in the future to one of the rotation members. If McClellan holds strong w/ Waino (back sometime next year), Garcia, Lohse, Westbrook in 2012, then there is no need for Lynn. In 2013 even with a departure or two, it should be Shelby Miller time, with other prospects better than Lynn to follow. Obviously, injuries could play a large role in the configuration. So maybe, Lynn is just depth.
Good idea dude, literally call him up for two or three spot starts mid season and toward the end. It would help him and McClellan drastically.
Just to caution slightly, his good FIP this year is largely a factor of his unsustainably low HR rate. He’s improved his GB rate fractionally so far this year (though probably not statistically significantly), but his K/BB rate is basically unchanged from 2010.
Hoping for a strong finish from him but for the moment he still looks like no more than a 5th starter to me.
Anyone heard much about his velo this year? Is the mid-90s FB for real?
Yea, I used to be a Stock defender as I liked his athleticism behind the plate. But after seeing Cody Stanley and Juan Castillo both pass him he really has no shot at catcher he just needs to pitch. That draft pick of his could have been used on Max Stassi or Wil Myers. BTW I was at the game last night from the 3rd row Stock didn’t even come close to hitting the ball and airmailed a ball over hte 3rd basemen after a strikeout.
Stock is hopeless as a hitter.
I am cautiously optimistic about Cox. I wouldn’t jump off the “he can’t hit for power” train too soon.
We were in Peoria last night.
Tallet was impressive. The Chiefs stadium gun doesn’t warm up until about the fifth inning, and then it sporadically produces competely random numbers. And, I do not have the ability to guess speeds, but despite that lack, I thought he was throwing around 90 to 92. The impressive part was that all the fastballs were outside and some inside corner and nothing higher than the knees. Then he finish them with sharp curves. The Midwest is the curve league (for learning it) Those who can consistently throw one or hit one are generally sent to High A. So, take the five strikeouts with a grain, but it was impressive watching all the curves drop right into the same spots as the fastballs. Tallet was dead on and if he feels good today, he is ready.
Ferrara started the third and pitched through the seventh. I wondered if he was trying to emulate Tallet. I am not familiar with him, but I thought maybe he was overthrowing. He looked like he was pushing the fastball. They kept sailing up and away. He was behind a lot in his first inning. A mound conference occurred with runners on second and third and no one out. He concentrated better after that, threw more curves and did a better job getting the fastball down. Limited the damage to one run. He gave up only one other hit, but he was constantly behind.
He seems to prefer the fastball and was failing behind almost every hitter. He’d recover with the curve and then want to finish them with the fastball. Usually, he was getting that up and was stuggling to get it past. They fouled off a number of them, so it must have been rising. Several of the walks were after foul offs and then missing outside with a close one. I had several guys down as using up eight pitches. He ended the seventh with a 97 pitch count (on my card)
By the way, Peoria has the absolute best scorecard i have ever seen. And, they give it away. They sold them at a quite reasonable cost when the Cards were there. When the Cubs took over, they started holding them at a booth, but gratis. I think it is because Cub fans can’t or won’t read. If they did, they’d find out and root for someone else.
The gun came on, sort of, while Anthony was on. The first three numbers were 90, 91, 90. Then 96, 59, three in the 70s and a 98. They mean little. The 98 came on an obvious curveball. My guess, he’s usually in the low 90s, but can hit the mids.
Keith Butler finished the 8th and 9th. He also registered around 90 or so. I think that’s probably right, with an occasional foray to maybe 92. He looks very impressive. Easy motion, relaxed, and short arm like a dart thrower. He hit corners and generally stayed down, so 90 is fine. What was outstanding was the number of swings and misses on changeups. He took speed off about a third of his tosses. I didn’t notice much, if any break, but some sink. The Chiefs were lost. They swung early and over. I don’t recall any foul offs. They couldn’t read the change at all.
Randy (senior moment) started on rehab for the Cubs. He was pretty much himself. Same stuff, not hot, but he gets some movement. However, he was not sharp. Kept missing the corners and then getting lots of pitches up.
Packy Elkins (who seemed impressed to know that he and his nickname are frequently mentioned on the web) caught a letter high pitch and ripped a double into right. I don’t recall who hit just ahead of him. He’s the one who got the first lined hit. But, Patrick pulled his past the RF and hit a couple other line drives. He looked just fine. He played third, but didnt’ have any tough plays. He just doesn’t appear to have third base power.
Nick Longmire looked fine in CF, but I would concur that the swing is pretty long and a bit loopy.
I feel for Robert Stock. He does fine receiving the ball. On the one steal attempt, he got the ball down there in plenty of time, but the throw was to the runner side of Garcia and he just blocked it and dropped it. Stock looks like he can’t see the ball. He was obviously fooled on some curves. Off time on changes and slow curves. He just looked lost.
There wasn’t much else i could tell. I liked Cody Stanley’s swing, but he’s not a big guy. They only had a half dozen hits, but won 3-1. The Chiefs pitcher who pitched half the game was very impressive. He hit corners and was well ahead of everyone. All his innings were efficient, some of them only five or six pitches.
Great report. Thanks!
I love these first hand reports.
Wow. Thanks for this.
thanks for taking the time to write this up
Fifthed. Randy Myers, I assume?
Incidentally, I would still like to post some photos from the Albuquerque-Memphis game of a week or two ago. How to do that here? I got requests.
“Randy” Wells.
Think you may have been a little hard on Ferrara. His control wasn’t what it normally was I agree with but I don’t think he was overthrowing except for maybe the first inning but he settled down. He was sitting at about 91-92 and he’s got a pretty good curveball. Theres a reason he’s done well this year, he has a good idea on how to pitch.
Fair enough.
I wasn’t trying to be critical. I have not seen him before and didn’t know what to look for.
I certainly wish him the best.
Ferrara’s in his 4th year, regardless of time missed for injuries, he needs to get some consistency to be taken seriously as a prospect.
Some are in their 4th year after college, Ferrara in his 4th from high school. Not everyone begins pro ball from the same point.
Well he’s succeeded when he’s played and he’s succeeding this year so not sure what else you can ask from him at this point other than to stay healthy.