The Quad Cities River Bandits are playing the Kane County Cougars tonight at Busch Stadium.  I’m going to be at the game (provided my flight is on time) and I’ll be the guy… I’ll just be the guy somewhere in the stadium.  How’s that for descriptive?   I’m certain I will be tweeting from the game at @jeff_underscore. Who’s going to the game?  Let’s hear it in the comments.  Viva El Birdos also has a thread for people attending the game so you can figure out how to bother Fritz.

Let’s take a look at the Quad Cities roster in cheat sheet format for you to print out before the game or access on some sort of smartphone during the game to make you look smarter to your friends and random people sitting around you.  It’s all after the jump. (natch)

Probable Starter: Carlos Martinez. Most of us know a lot already about Mr. Martinez, but here’s the quick rundown.  Here’s Baseball America’s Ben Badler on Martinez when he was signed last year for $1.5 million (And then known as Carlos Matias):

At 6 feet, 165 pounds, Matias has a loose delivery and an electric fastball that can sit in the mid-90s and routinely hits 97-99 mph, according to several scouts from other organizations. Between the velocity and cutting action on his fastball, it is a true 80 pitch on the 20-80 scouting scale, already one of the best fastballs at any level of baseball. Matias’ secondary pitches have received mixed reviews, but he throws an average mid-80s changeup with good arm speed and sink as well as a 78-80 mph curveball that flashes late break.

Martinez was signed for $160,000 by the Boston Red Sox, but faulty paperwork got his deal voided and suspended for a year.  And that year did Martinez well as he bumped up his deal tenfold with the Cardinals.

Bullpen:

Boone Whiting – The right-handed Whiting appears to be the River Bandits closer since previous closer Keith Butler was promoted to high-A Palm Beach.  He has struck out 31 and walked only 8 in 26 innings.  Whiting was drafted in the 18th round last year.

Angel De Jesus – Dominican product De Jesus was used as a piggy-back starter in previous short-season ball and has moved to the bullpen full time this year.  Over his minor league career, he has average 7.5 k/9 innings and a 2.78 K/BB ratio.

Hector Corpas – Corpas, from Panama, has been a reliever since joining the Cardinals US affiliates.  Corpas has both walked and struck out 11 in 17 innings, which has lead to his 8.47 ERA.

Cale Johnson – Johnson was drafted in 2009 in the 41st round.  Johnson was a starter last season in Johnson City and is the master of avoiding walks as he has a career rate of 1.4 BB/9 in 3 seasons.

Justin Wright – The lefthander Wright was drafted in the 47th round last year and has been used exclusively in relief.  He has only pitched 30 innings between Batavia and Quad Cities, but has struck out 43 to only 10 walks in 30 innings.

Dean Kiekhefer – Kiekhefer, another southpaw has only been used once since being moved up from Extended Spring training this week.

Aidan Lucas – Lucas was drafted in the 27th round last year and has made two appearances this week since being promoted from Extended Spring.  He was a reliever with Johnson City last year with 19 Ks to 4 walks.

Potential Starting Lineup (From Tuesday Night):

Cody Stanley – Catcher – Stanley was drafted in the 4th round in 2010 and is sustaining a wRC+ of 117 this season (100 being average for park and league) while playing catcher and has an .843 career minor league OPS.

Victor Sanchez – First Base – Right-hitting 1st baseman Sanchez was drafted in the 26th round in 2010.  Sanchez has been bitten by a bit of bad luck this season with a .209 BABIP.  He started the year in QC, was sent down to Extended Spring in late April and just returned to the squad this week.

Starlin Rodriguez – Second Base – Dominican product, Rodriguez was moved to QC from Extended Spring in early May.  Rodriguez was signed by the Cardinals in 2009, but previously made appearances with the Rays DSL team.  Rodriguez’s career minor league slugging is less than his on-base percentage, so he is not considered a slugger.

John Rodriguez – Third Base – Jrod Part Deux was selected in the 17th round of the 2009 draft out of Puerto Rico and hit 12 HRs and slugged .500 for Batavia last season.  He is OPS’ing .804 so far this season as a 22 year old.

Ronny Gil – Shortstop – Mr. Gil, previously known as Grabiel Hernandez is 3 years older than his Grabriel persona.  He is coming off a year suspensions once his potential gambit came to light.  However, as a 22 year old in Quad Cities he has hit .500 in the 4 games since being called up from EST.  Gil was known for his glovework in the Dominican as Hernandez and I can’t imagine that changed through the name change.

Chris Edmondson – Left Field – Edmondson is amongst what feels like the entire roster for Quad Cities that has been moved up from Extended Spring Training.  Edmondson was drafted in the 43 round in the 2010 draft.  The left handed batter has played in both corner outfield spots though his career and has OPS’ed .843.

Nick Longmire – Center Field – Longmire was drafted in the 5th round in 2010 and burst onto the scene with Batavia.  He hasn’t has as much success this season with his walks declining and with a bad luck .220 BABIP.  The bad luck is certainly a factor, but Longmire has not hit the ball well with 54% of his balls in play on the ground and far too few line drives.

Virgil Hill – Right Field – Hill is a natural athlete, who is still very raw as a baseball player, his .535 OPS so far this year is evidence of that.  Hill was drafted in the 6th round of the 2009 draft and has played all three outfield positions.

Greg Garcia – Designated Hitter – Garcia DH’ed on Tuesday night, but has mostly played both middle infield positions for the River Bandits, but his true position is 2nd base.  Just like the other 2nd baseman in Starlin Rodriguez, he is not much of a slugger as his OBP equals his SLG this season.

Bench Players – who we probably will not see much of because of the DH.

Robert Stock – Catcher - A 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft, Stock has not been able to get going and probably will be destined to end up on the mound as a pitcher.  He has hit dreadfully, now on his second tour with Quad Cities.  He was on the DL early this season.

Colin Walsh – Infielder - Walsh was called up from Extended Spring with Gil and Sanchez and has only had 8 plate appearances so far this season.  Walsh was drafted in the 14th round in 2010.

Michael Swinson – Outfielder - Swinson was drafted in the 12th round of the 2008 draft out of high school.  Swinson has struggled a bit as he has not posted an OPS over .662 between Batavia and Quad Cities in the past two seasons.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 26th, 2011 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Carlos Martinez, Nick Longmire, robert stock. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.