Memphis and Springfield off for the night, the rest of the farm had it’s lone win come thanks to the Riverbandits. In which the Cardinals newest prized prospect had himself an offensive day.
On to the DFR!
- Kolten Wong fell a double short of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.
- Ronny Gil went 1-for-4.
- Oscar Taveras went 3-for-4 with a 3B and RBI.
- Cody Stanley went 1-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Victor Sanchez went 2-for-4.
- Michael Swinson went 2-for-3 with a RBI.
- Christopher Edmondson went 1-for-4 with a 3B.
- Ryan Copeland picked up the win, fanning 9 in 7 IP. He gave up 6 for 2 ER.
- Justin Edwards threw 1.2 IP, surrendering 3 R (1 ER) on 2 H and 2 BB.
- Aiden Lucas picked up what suddenly became a save opportunity by striking out the only batter he faced.
- Starlin Rodriguez went 2-for-2 with a 2B.
- Alan Ahmady went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
- Rainel Rosario went 1-for-4.
- Nico Vasquez went 1-for-3.
- Domnit Bolivar hit a 2B and had 2 RBI in a 2-for-4 night.
- Luis De La Cruz went 1-for-2.
- Richard Castillo took the loss, giving up 4 ER on 8 H and 1 BB in 5 IP. He struckout 4.
- Chris Corrigan threw 2 IP with 2 H and 1 ER on 1 BB.
- Francisco Samuel finished out the game with an inning of 1 H, 1 K ball.
- Garrett Wittels went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI.
- David Medina and Juan Castillo went 1-for-3.
- Virgil Hill went 2-for-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Todd McInnis threw 6 IP with 5 H, 2 R (1 ER) and 2 K for the loss.
- Andrew Benes threw 2 IP with 1 H and 2 K.
- Kevin Jacob recorded only 1 out but gave up 3 R (1 ER) on 3 K and no hits.
- Eric Binder tallied 2 outs.
- Steven Ramos went 1-for-4.
- Tyler Rahmatulla went 1-for-4 with a 3B.
- Anthony Garcia went 1-for-4 with a 3B and 2 RBI.
- Roberto De La Cruz went 2-for-3 with 2 2Bs.
- Jesus Montero went 1-for-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Eduardo Hiraldo took the loss going 4.1 IP with 3 H, 5 R (2 ER) on 3 BB and 2 K.
- Roberto Canache threw 1.2 IP with 4 H, 1 ER and 1 K.
- Tyler Mills threw an inning with solo HR, a K and a BB.
- Nicholas Gillung went 1.0 IP with a H, BB and K.
- Dyllon Nuernberg threw an IP with 2 H and 2 K.
Entries (RSS)
Quick Wong update – he’s now walking more than he’s striking out (7 walks to 5 K’s) and has a.355 wOBA, good for a 122 wRC+ in Quad Cities in 14 games. What’s more, he’s doing it with what is probably quite an unlucky BABIP for a guy like him in the league (.306). Looks like he needs to work on his baserunning, though – 1 successful steal in 5 attempts.
Tyler Rahmatulla has a .402 wOBA in rookie ball, which is probably virtually meaningless other than the fact I’m watching out for his name every day in the box scores, at least for now…
Those numbers for Wong are prior to last night’s game. Fangraphs has him with 1 HR, milb.com has him with 2. Fangraphs hasn’t run their script yet, me thinks.
Yeah, I noticed that when I looked up Rahmatulla’s and it hadn’t included yesterday. Even though bizarrely their page said “last updated Thursday 14th”. Guess Wong’s wOBA is up to about .400 now.
I’m very excited about Wong. I know some people at this site and elsewhere were disappointed that we took a 5’9″ 2B with our first pick. I too think there may have been better options on the board, but the more research I do the more I realize that words like “gritty” and “gamer” do a real disservice to Wong. He’s got a seriously talented bat. Last season his park and schedule adjusted OPS was 1.217 and wOBA was .523, both numbers were 2nd in all of Div I baseball (behind only C.J. Cron, the monster bat without a position). His adjusted batting average and OBP led Div I baseball at .455 and .548 respectively. And of course he won MVP in the Cape Cod league.
BTW those stats can be found here: http://www.collegesplits.com/cgi-bin/csLeaders.cgi?conf=DIV&bp=b&stat=OPS&adj=b
Great name on the Tampa Yankees: Medchill. Sounds like an item from Frank Herbert’s Dune series.
Is the a Starlin Rodriguez bandwagon?
Jacob had 3 BB not 3 K.
Fransisco Samuel sighting in PB (though you may not have recognized him as he didn’t walk anyone!)
Why did Starlin Rodriguez come out about a couple of at-bats?
He actually had 4 plate appearances, with a hbp and a sacrafice.
Some interesting second basemen in the lower levels all of a sudden. Starlin Rodriguez at PB, Wong at QC and Rahmatulla at JC are all within about a year of each other in age (Wong is the youngest).
Then there’s Wittels at Batavia, who also seems to play 2nd primarily and is also 21. He may have more positional flexibility than the others, but if his glove doesn’t play at SS, he looks to be in the mix with the others for playing time at second.
There’s also Greg Garcia, who turns 22 next month but is only a couple of months older than Rodriguez.
I don’t doubt that Wong will get priority over the others, and would figure to jump over Garcia and Rodriguez and get the majority of playing time at Springfield next year. But it looks like there’s going to be a middle-infield logjam at PB and QC.
It could get even more crowded if Breyvil Valera, who’s not yet 19, keeps hitting in the GCL and jumps a couple levels to a full-season team.
Nice problem to have, assuming all these guys play well enough to make it a problem.
Can’t believe Oscar Taveres went 3-4 and hasn’t been mentioned yet…. Hope this guy can stay healthy the rest of the year. We need some impact bats moving up the system.
I think so highly of Taveras that when asked who my untouchables are at the trade deadline I put him with Miller and Martinez. His tools are crazy good and he is producing with them as well. If he stays healthy the rest of the year I have no doubts he will be a Top 100 prospect at the end of the year.
I’d like to see Taveres moved up to Quad Cities
Taveras plays in Quad Cities. It’s where he’s been all year.
@Ridgesee. I’m assuming you mean Palm Beach, right? He’s been at Quad Cities all season. And fwiw, I think he needs to stay put until his power numbers return. Since the very first hamstring injury, his power has been almost non-existant.
Do you think it’s more likely that they leave him in QC the remainder of the season and then, depending on fall league and/or spring, he starts the year with Springfield, skipping Palm Beach? Is that too aggressive? If he can keep his average over .350 in QC, and then hits well before the beginning of next season, I think he could be with Springfield.
That’s way too aggressive IMO. He’s still a teenager, and he doesn’t have much plate discipline, his walkrate is pretty poor this year and he’s been slightly reliant on some luck with balls in play. He needs to learn a lot before he’s ready for AA pitching, but with his age and relative inexperience, he’s got plenty enough time to learn all he needs, and he certainly has the tools to do it. Give him the time he deserves.
With the cardinals outfield depth theres no reason to push Taveres imo
I would agree with you for the most part although when you say he’s been lucky in regards to balls in play, it leads me to think you might not have seen him play with your own eyes. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the numbers but this is one of those times where your eyeballs will tell you more than just the numbers.
What I’m talking about is line drives. I’ve never seen someone in A ball (where he plays) hit line drives the way Oscar Taveras. You ofthen hear people say things about special players like “it just sounds different” or “it just looks different”, well when Taveras hits the ball, it just looks different.
He’s a special talent. Granted, special talent doesn’t always translate into major league baseball player but he is different.
Ultimately though, you beat me to it on saying promoting him to Springfield would be way too aggressive. If for no other reason than age (and there are plenty of other reasons….durability, walk rate, power outage, experience, etc.). I say keep him in QC the rest of the year and start him in Palm Beach next year. Line drive hitters aren’t hurt in the FSL like fly ball hitters. I woudn’t expect the league (other than possibly the increased level of competition) to hurt his numbers much.
Oh, I agree, up to a point. I watched him once earlier this year (about 4 ABs I think) and every ball in play was hit hard. It’s also worth noting that MiLB BABIPs are always very high (especially at the lower levels) because the quality of fielding is often pretty dreadful. ALL THAT SAID, though – .443 BABIP. I really can’t see any way that can’t be at least a little bit lucky, no matter how talented the player (although I haven’t looked at what the highest BABIP is in the MWL, I’d imagine he must be pretty much at the top of the tree at this stage of the season). All that said, he’s just turned 19 and is putting up huge numbers – I’m a big Taveras fan, I think he’s my #3 prospect in the org.
I know no cares much about DSL We have a player dominating the league like Babe Ruth did in the 20′s
first the stats .407/.496/.648/1144 BA/OB/SlG/OPS of course he is first in all those catagories.
but the margins are were it seems unreal + 45 pts in BA /+ 17 OB/ +34 slg/ + 95 OPS his name is Robelys Reyes
he his kind of old for the DSL will be 21 in two weeks. FYI Oscar Taveras hit .257 and OPS was .731 in 2009
The Cards don’t usually move DSL players up mid season but I think they need to make an exception with Reyes. He hit over .300 and is dominating this year.
I had forgotten that Reyes is only in the DSL this year because he had a visa issue. There are limited details in this article (subscriber only) http://stlcardinals.scout.com/2/1075421.html
Juan Castillo has now played in 13 games at Batavia after earlier playing in 13 games at QC and 13 games at PB. Hitting .396 for the Muckdogs, probably time to move him back up.
I think he started a huge brawl and came at the pitcher with a bat during it. He’s in purgatory right now and is being pushed for his behavior.
Robby Reyes is indeed having an incredible year—but he’s ancient for the DSL (nearly four years older than O.T. was in the same league).
Speaking of Taveras, he’s already in my top 20-30, based on his Appy and MWL dominance at such a young age. Like Matt Adams, I’d certainly *prefer* to see more walks; but like Adams, a guy hitting .350+ can’t be criticized too much.
In other words, the marginal BB rate (whether Adams or Taveras) is the difference between a great hitting prospect, and a *perfect* hitting prospect, rather than the difference between great and non-great. In my opinion. ;)
One really nice thing about Oscar’s season thus far is his developing ability to hit southpaws, after his split problems last year. Right now versus lefties, O.T. is hitting for a higher average than he is against righties—with more power, fewer strikeouts, and more walks. Specifically, he’s hittin’ .406/.486/.625 with a 5/4 BB/K against same-handers.
I agree with leaving Oscar at Q.C. for the rest of this year, but I also agree that starting next year, even though he’ll still be a teenager, Oscar’s development might be best-served by the challenge of AA.
Was just wondering, is there anything that can be done if this hamstring problem with Taveras is a chronic one?
If it is a chronic issue, which is unlikely, (I think the original injury just a bad strain) the only thing you could do would be preventive stuff like giving extra focus to strengthening the muscle and making sure it gets stretched out well. IMO the QC training staff is probably telling to him to continue to take it easy, escpicially since Oscar hasnt been through an injury of this type before. For all we know he might not be 100% yet.
Top 20-30 in all of baseball, or in the Cards’ org? I’m assuming the former, although that seems a tad bullish to me.
Also, Taveras is a step ahead of Adams IMO because he’s got plenty of time to improve his walkrate. He’s only been in the USA about a year and if they want him to focus on taking more pitches, he’s young enough to learn that, I think. I think it’s harder for Adams because there aren’t too many 22-year-olds who’ve improved their plate discipline a great deal at that stage of their careers. Taveras is also putting up considerably better numbers in QC as a 18/19yo than Adams did as a 21yo, and plays a more demanding defensive position pretty well.
Taveras got a new special streching program that the Quad City Times mentioned when he got back from his injury the second time.