Lots of offense on the farm tonight.
On to the DFR!
Memphis 2, Round Rock 6
- Tyler Greene went 1-for-4 with a 2B.
- Mark Hamilton went 1-for-4.
- Hector Luna went 2-for-4.
- Bryan Anderson was 1-for-3.
- Pete Kozma went 1-for-4.
- Maikel Cleto took the loss, giving up 5 H, 4 ER on 4 BB and 4 K.
- Pete Parise recorded 2 outs, despite giving up 3 H and 2 BB for 2 ER.
- Brian Augenstein threw 1.1 IP with 2 H and 2 K.
- Ron Mahay threw 1.0 IP with 1 H.
- Jess Todd struckout 2 in his IP.
Springfield 6, NW Arkansas 7
- Sugar Shane Robinson went 2-for-6.
- Ryan Jackson, Matt Adams and Chris Swauger went 1-for-4. Adams hit a solo HR.
- Alex Castellanos and Zack Cox went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
- Jose Garcia went 1-for-3.
- Jermaine Curtis was 2-for-5 with a 2B and RBI.
- Michael Blazek was in line for the win, throwing 6 IP of 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 2 K baseball.
- David Kopp did his job, getting 6 outs and only giving up 2 H with 2 K.
- Jorge Rondon, however, only got 1 out in the 9th. When all the damage was done, he turned a win into a loss and gave up 4 H and 2 BB for 4 ER.
Riverbandits 8, Dayton 12
- Kolten Wong went 3-for-4.
- Oscar Taveras went 3-for-5 with a RBI.
- Cody Stanley went 2-for-4 with a HR and 3 RBI
- Jonathan Rodriguez went 1-for-5 with a 2B.
- Michael Swinson was 1-for-4 with a 2B and RBI.
- Victor Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a 2B and 3B, as well as 2 RBI.
- Christopher Edmondson picked up a 2B and RBI in his 5 ABs.
- Seth Blair threw 4 IP with 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB and 3 K.
- Cale Johnson gave up 2 ER on 3 H, 1 BB and 1 K in 1 IP.
- Iden Nazario was tagged for a H and a BB in 2 IP. He struckout 4.
- Angel De Jesus had a rough 5 out outing. He gave up 6 ER on 6 H and 3 BB. Which begs the question, why was he out there so long to put 9 men on base in a relief appearance?
- Dean Kiekhefer got 1 out to close out the game.
Muckdogs 6, Tri City 3
- Garrett Wittels went 1-for-5.
- Joseph Bergman went 1-for-4 with a 2B and 2 BB.
- Jeremy Patton started and went 1-for-1 with a BB and RBI.
- Jordan Rasmus replaced him as a PH and went 1-for-3.
- David Medina went 2-for-5 with a 2B and RBI.
- Virgil Hill went 1-for-3 with a 2B.
- Cesar Valera went 1-for 4 with a RBI.
- Hector Hernandez went 2 IP with 2 H, 2 R (1 ER) on 1 BB and 1 K.
- Patrick Daugherty tallied the win with 3 innings of shutout ball, handing out 1 BB and 2 K.
- Travis Miller threw 2 IP with 1 H, 1 UER, 1 BB and 1 K.
- Danny Miranda logged the save, striking out 3 over 2 IP.
Palm Beach 5, Tampa 3
- Greg Garcia went 1-for-4 with a 2B and RBI.
- Domnit Bolivar and Alan Ahmady went 1-for-5.
- Xavier Scruggs went 3-for-4.
- Robert Stock went 3-for-4.
- Nico Vasquez went 1-for-4 with a HR and RBI.
- Adam Melker went 2-for-4.
- Ted Obregon Trail went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
- Eric Fornataro threw 5.2 IP with 4 H, 2 ER, 4 BB and 5 K.
- Jesse Simpson took the blown save but also the win by getting 1 batter out, despite walking 2 and striking out 1.
- Jordan Swagerty threw 2 IP with 2 H, 1 ER and 4 K.
- Keith Butler shut things down in the 9th for the save with only 1 H.
Johnson City 17, Greenville 1
- Steven Ramos went 3-for-5 with a 2B.
- Matthew Williams went 2 for 5 with a HR and 4 RBI.
- Kolby Byrd went 1-for-5 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Neal Pritchard went 2-for-3 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Roberto De La Cruz went 2-for-5 with a HR and 3 RBI.
- David Bergin went 2-for-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Jesus Montero went 2-for-5 with a 2B and 3 RBI.
- Jose Pasen logged the win, giving up 1 UER over 6 IP of 5 H, 1 BB, 8K baseball.
- Matt Rein went 2.0 IP with 2 H and 2 K.
- Manuel De La Cruz struckout 1 in 1 IP.
Entries (RSS)
Anyone notice that Cox is hitting .450 over last ten games?
When will Wong get promoted to Palm Beach?
Wong’s hitting certainly seems to be everything that was advertised so far. It’s only the 4 CS that give one pause. Still it is nice to have your first round pick get off to a hot start.
I think it’s 5 caught stealing after lastnight
Oh man, I agree. I think he’s a quick guy but not exactly a gazelle, so I think he’ll learn to pick his spots a bit better. He’s probably having to adjust to quicker pick-off moves and much faster catcher release times. Wouldn’t mind seeing him get another 100 AB’s or so at QC and then about 100 at PB.
Not sure the CS matters. Wong is never going to be an elite base stealer so really he isn’t going to add any value with the running game anyway. If he shows complete ineptitude at SB they can just never, ever give him the green light, and it’s really not going to detract from his value at all.
not to mention that tony la russa (assuming that wong ever plays for la russa) seems to keep even good basestealers on a pretty tight leash. i don’t think any young players had full green light privileges other than tyler greene this season.
Of all the cards position prospects, Taveras is the one i would hate to see go in a trade the most. And you can hypothetically include wong in that list.
We didn’t re-acquire Hector did we? Guessing that’s probably Aaron Luna in Memphis…
Is it possible the Robert Stock might stay a catcher. It’s a small sample size, but he seems to have figured something out at the plate.
I think it’s catcher or bust now; if they thought he could pitch, he’d be doing it by now.
I agree. He’s not exactly old yet, but if he was going to relieve, I wish they would have done it this season at the latest.
Motte made it to AA as a catcher before the switch so it’s still possible to convert … but agree the chances diminish with each month that passes.
You’re absolutely right. I really don’t want them to wait so long that he’s 28 or so when/if he makes it to the bigs. By that time, you’re thinking he has, what, 4-6 productive years left? If he makes it at age 24 as a reliever, then you’re thinking he can be productive for maybe 8-10 years.
Late last night I looked in on this site and saw that I had posted that “Taveras should be moved up to QC” by mistake. I meant PB and I was politely corrected and I thank you but what I also noted was most everybody thought differently, that he should not be rushed.
I differ, I think Taveras is overmatching low A pitching and should finish at high A. If Robert Stock is having no problem at that level, Taveras certainly shouldn’t.
Did you know that Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle and Al Kaline all came up to the majors at 19 years old and stayed. Mantle came up after only one year at Class D Ogden, Utah. (yes that had AAA, AA, A, B, C, and D then) Mays was pushed from
C thru AAA in one year and Kaline never played in minors.
Did you also know that the Major league Minimum player pay then was !0,000 then and if you signed a player for a bonus of more than that, you had to keep him on the major league team for a year before you could send him out. That is why Kaline never played minor League ball. There have been others. I think Tony Oliva Played one year and came up with the Twins at 19. The $10, 000 rule was to keep rich teams like the Yankees from raiding all the top prospects. Dick Groat was a “bonus baby” (that was what they were called) and never played in minors.
Lastly, Pujols was moved through the system in one year. so why can’t Taveras move at least one level. PS. Mays, Mantle and Kaline are all in the Hall of Fame so it didn’t stymie them.
“Rushing Pete Kozma before he was ready never did him any harm”.
See, I can play this anecdotal game too!
I don’t know if Pete Kozma, if moved slowly, would have been any better than he is today. I think he was/is destined for a utility role. Probably could have found a better example than Kozma.
Indeed. It was perhaps a slightly facetious answer also, for which I apologise if taken the wrong way. Just trying to point out that anecdotal observations from half a century ago are probably not that relevant today, especially when talking about an exceptionally young player who still needs to make significant improvements in his game (esp. patience) as he ascends the ladder. I really feel the received wisdom is slow is best in these situations.
1. No matter how good of a prospect you might consider Taveras to be, he is NOT Mays/Mantle/Kaline/Pujols. He just isn’t.
2. Baseball was, as you partially pointed out, SO different back then that promoting guys then and now are just completely different. The talent pool for MLB is so much deeper now than it was then that even incredible talents like Mays, Mantle, and Kaline would probably have had to spend more time in the minors.
Back in 1950 they filled MLB rosters solely from guys that lived in the US, which had a population of 150 million back then. Now rosters are filled from the US, most of Latin America, and some Asian countries. For perspective, the US has a population of 300 million now. Plus, for monetary reasons, playing professional baseball is a much more attractive occupation today than it was in 1950.
3. If we’re talking straight-to-the-majors guys, I’d guess the best examples would be Mel Ott and Ken Griffey Jr. Ott was 17 when he first played in the bigs, and Griffey was 19.
Thank you for your lesson Cardinals645 but I an 77 years old and have followed baseball closely for over 62
years and I already knew everything you stated long ago and I think I could defeat everything you said but why bother, you wouldn’t except it anyway. Thanks for your opinion.
Way to tell him ridge… ;o)
I’m somewhat ambivalent to the notion of where Taveras should be, but certainly understand your viewpoint. My 92 year old father would like both Miller and Taveras promoted quickly. He’s not sure they’ll let him watch the Birds in heaven…. Of course, that’s a faith issue, cause I keep insisting that since it’s God’s team, he will watch the Birds on a big screen every night.
There is little doubt in my mind that Taveras can hit at any A league. But, as we have seen from Adams, going to Palm Beach isn’t a necessary part of the equation. It is possible that they’ll keep Taveras in QC the whole year and ship him straight to the “launching pad”, as they like to refer to Springfield, next year. Or they could ship Taveras to PB tomorrow.
I think that if Taveras hadn’t been hurt a couple times this year, he’d already have reached PB. I don’t think they would have wanted him in PB with his leg injury because he might have equated it to struggling at the next level rather than an owie. Just an opinion.
Now that he seems healthy and swinging the stick well, again, I wouldn’t be surprised that he and Wong are shipped out around the same time….whether that is this year or at the beginning of next year is problematic.
They must feel that Taveras is still learning stuff in QC or for sure he would have left already.
i am more worried about taveras staying healthy. he’s only been able to get 150 PA’s (compare to j-rod’s 300 or so) with all his injuries. i don’t care so much about promotion as letting him heal.
hahaha OK; sorry if that sounded harsh, I was just listing what I considered to be flaws in your argument. If you have the time, I’d be curious to hear your counter arguments. I’m not easily convinced, but perhaps you’ll be an acception.
BTW — My point is NOT that Taveras couldn’t handle PB or that promoting him at this point would be disastrous for his development, but that it’s not necessarily a ‘no-brainer’ that he should be in PB right now. In fact, I too hope to see him finish the year at PB, but I’d prefer he spend another month or so at QC first.
Swagerty should be starting. Regardless of the explanations about roster crunches, innings pitched limits or his eventual presumed destination of the major league bullpen, I see no reason whatsoever for a guy who has dominated all the way up to high-A as a starter in his first season to be moved to the bullpen. Really not a fan at all of seeing him wasting his potential in middle relief in palm beach.
I should add I realise that they’ve left the option open to move him back, but he shouldn’t be there in the first place.
This is to save his arm. He will be starting again next year.
That’s not guaranteed. There’s a possibility he may return. Many see him long-term as a reliever and the Cards have a history of moving successful starters in the minors to relief.
Did it with Todd and Broderick for instance.
I believe they have stated he will be starting next year and the only reason he changed to reliever is because of the innings.
I don’t think that’s official. I don’t remember reading any statement from Mo, Lunhow, or Vuch on that. I think that is just speculation.
Well as few as 10 years ago, he probably would still be starting. Teams have become so protective of their young arms, that they monitor their innings closely so they don’t increase their workload a great deal each season.
You have to remember that he was a reliever in college and hasn’t pitched this many innings before. I think it’s a good idea to slow him down. I also think that this could allow him to see a promotion to AA this season, and that may allow him to start the season there next year as a starter.
Ahhh, poor baby. Back in my day, pitchers like Swagerty would’ve thrown upwards of 2000 innings a month, without sleep, and if their arms fell off we just told them to rub some dirt on it and get back pitching.
Kids these days are mollycoddled.
I think that pitchers in your day use all the healing nutrition out of the soil, so when pitchers try that today, it doesnt work
Damn straight! If you hurt your leg my high school coach told you to run on the other one. Seriously.
Explaination isn’t roster crunching its the guy has hit his all time innings limit many weeks ago as he’s been a reliever in college. You don’t want to blow out his arm in only his first year of professional ball. they will build up his innings till he can stay a starter.
Fangraphs has Matt Adams leading all of AA ball in SLG. That is all.
Matt Adams will destroy us all
Can’t believe he only has 20 homers – seems to hit one literally pretty much every day!
The GoBs injured him for a few weeks in a feeble attempt to slow his meteoric rise to glory.
Ssshhhh! They’ll hear you!
Ridgesee tines have changed a lot and I don’t think your evaluation is valid, your comparing a 19 yo kid to hall of famers.. yeah there have been players come up in there teens even in this era that have had a lot of success but that is like the top .02% of players, plus he is just getting back on his feet after an injury.. he is young let him develop and have success at each level
I’m as big a fan of Taveras as anybody – but I agree the comparisons to three of the all-time greats is a reach. That doesn’t mean that Taveras can’t develop into an all-time great, what I’m saying is that back when those guys played they were simply head and shoulders above anyone in the minors. Taveras is not at that level….yet. That said, I wholly support promoting him to PB.
Actually, he kinda is…
A fun side note…Keith Law released his revised top 50 prospects:
1. Bryce Harper
2. Matt Moore
3. Shelby Miller
4. Carlos Martinez
Looks like the rotation may look very good very soon…Wainwright, Garcia, Miller, Martinez
Kudos to the scouting department and their hard work over the past few years…Seeing Shelby pitch is way better than watching Journell or some of the other MAJOR busts we had 10 years ago
Not to pull the scab off of the old wound, but as recently as last season the Cards farm system was being rountinely ripped for not producing players….most particularly by a writer who calls himself a Tsunami. I routinely quibbled with him and others who called those of us who thought the system WAS producing players as hyperventilating prospect geeks. This system is really good. Besides the handful of really excellent prospects, it has a depth of potentially useful players, either for big club roster depth or trade. I think alot of people owe Jeff Luhnow an apology.
Adams picked up yet another IBB after an error opened up first late in the game. Oscar Taveras now has a .454 BABIP and his splits are out of this world
H: .453/.482/.653/1.136
A: .290/.333/.371/.704
In my mind, that shows he still has some maturing to do.
He hits .453 in a comfortable, friendly environment, but loses focus outside of it. The splits arent bad because I’d take .290 from the majority of players, but he’s still young and foreign to this country. I’m okay with letting him mature a bit longer before a promotion.
No reason to promote him so quick I don’t think he ever fully recovered from his first injury and played hurt for awhile before being sidelined again. Not sure if the deep shin bruise had to do with the hammy or not. He also needs to pick up the power production some.
Everyone knock on wood when talking about Miller and Martinez. I remember in the ’90s I was slobbering over the similar situation with our Birds when we had 2 of the elite pitching prospects in the minors. It was Matt Morris and Alan Benes. Both shortly after came up with devastating arm injuries. Matt still had a decent career after nearly 2 years on the shelf, but Benes was never the same. Broke my heart! I was hoping for them to pair up with a couple of other dynamite kids named Ankiel and Drew. Ouch!!!