Memphis @ Alberquerque, 9:05pm: Brandon Dickson
Springfield @ NW Arkansas, 7:30pm: Scott Schneider
Palm Beach vs. St. Lucie, 5:35pm: Eric Fornataro
Quad Cities @ Kane County, 7:00pm: Anthony Ferrara
Archive for May, 2011Somewhere, in the backyards of America, Lance Berkman is inspiring a whole generation of children to tippy toe out of the box and lay their bat down as if it’s made of Faberge. Late nights on the farm, on to the DFR! Read the rest of this entry » Let’s take a ride in the way-back machine – back in the summer of 2008 when Niko Vasquez made his huge introduction to professional baseball with a .410 wOBA in short season Johnson City all while playing shortstop. Needless to say, there was a shortage of paper bags around Cardinal Nation. But with a 149 wRC+ (which is league and park adjusted) – there was reason for excitement. Unfortunately, Vasquez has not come close to replicating those numbers any year since. After a terrible 2009, he bounced back for a quality 2010 in Palm Beach and Quad Cities, but his 2011 season so far in Springfield is looking more like 2009 than 2010 after 93 plate appearances. Vasquez is hitting a lot of ground balls – a 56.7% clip, which contributes to his very low BABIP of .259. So far he is still striking out a lot as he usually does, but his walks are down slightly. That all being said a slash line of 205/280/349 is not going to get him anywhere fast, especially since he is only playing 3rd base at this point. wRC+ has him at 58 at this point. In the late summer of 2008, Vasquez gave us something to be excited about and we are still looking for his name again and again, trying to recapture that magic. It is still WAY early in 2011, but we haven’t seen the Vasquez we are looking for playing in the hitters friendly AA Texas League. Memphis @ New Orleans, 7:00pm: P.J. Walters Springfield @ NW Arkansas, 7:00pm: Michael Blazek Palm Beach @ Ft. Myers, 6:05pm: Joe Kelly Quad Cities @ Kane County, 6:00pm: Seth Blair The farm went 2-2 last night. Let’s jump into it…
The Cardinals prospect, slugging first baseman, Matt Adams has slugged over .520 every stop in 3 years in the Cardinals system. Perhaps, not coincidentally, he skipped the bat-sapping effects of Palm Beach and the Florida State League, starting in Springfield this year after ending last season injured in Quad Cities. His adjustment to Springfield has had only a small effect on his numbers as he is striking out more so far this young season and walking less compared to his career averages. He has gone from 2/1 K/BB to 4/1. However, more strikeouts and less walks haven’t hurt his overall numbers. Adams wRC+ (which AZ explained last week is Fangraphs stat that is park and league adjusted wOBA) is still 121 where 100 is average. So, Adams is still hitting, including his first career triple this season. Looking at his batted ball rates, it is not much of a mirage at all. Adams is hitting 22% line drives and only 2.5% pop-ups. It is obvious that he is making good contact. However, with only 22% fly balls and 5 home runs, his shots are leaving the yard at a 15% rate, which is a bit high. His BABIP is .333 which is probably right about level for the minor leagues. Adams’ wOBA according to statcorner is .417 and his Adams’ wOBA adjusted for home park is .397 and his park and batted ball adjusted wOBA is .394. Those numbers make me think that his contact numbers are no fluke this season in AA for the 22 year old. Looking at his batted ball rates, Adams is even hitting the ball better than last season in Quad Cities in which he had 40 doubles and 21 HRs. Going forward, Matt Adams is a first baseman or a DH that will find his way to the lineup because of his bat. It is encouraging that he skipped a level and continued his quality hitting. Memphis @ New Orleans, 11:30am: Adam Ottavino Springfield @ NW Arkansas, 11:00am: Deryk Hooker Palm Beach @ Fort Myers, 6:05pm: Maikel Cleto Quad Cities @ Kane County, 6:00pm: Jordan Swagerty The farm goes 1-3, while a couple of the starters would like to forget about their night. I apologize in advance for not giving scouting reports of Top 15 BA prospects, but I’ll make it up to ya guys later. Valdes was brought in to be a potential LOOGY in the Cardinals pen with the prospects of pitching in Memphis if that didn’t happen. The acquisition of Brian Tallet bumped Valdes down on the depth chart entering spring training and he began the season in AAA Memphis. Valdes has been an on again off again starter throughout the minors but he’s off to a weirdly bad/good start to the year. Memphis @ New Orleans, 7:00pm: Lance Lynn Springfield @ NW Arkansas, 7:00pm: Nick Additon Palm Beach @ Fort Myers, 6:05pm: John Gast Quad Cities vs. Wisconsin, 7:00pm: Trevor Rosenthal |
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