Tonight featured the two Cardinals prized pitching prospects having just about zero control. The more polished one was able to work around and it turn in a somewhat effective outing. The other turned in a short, dreadful one that it appears to thankfully have nothing to do with any injuries.
On to the DFR!
- James Rapoport went 1-for-2 with a RBI.
- Tyler Greene went 3-for-4 with a 2B, HR and 3 RBI.
- Adron Chambers was 1-for-1.
- Andrew Brown went 1-for-3.
- Matt Carpenter (2B), Pete Kozma and Aaron Luna went 1-for-4
- Brian Broderick allowed 4 ER on 9 H and 1 BB in 7 IP. He struckout 3.
- Rich Rundles walked a batter and struckout a batter.
- Jess Todd got 2 outs.
- Victor Marte picked up his 19th save despite giving up 2 H in1 IP. He struckout 3.
- Sugar Shane Robinson had himself a day. He went 5-for-5 with a 2B, 2 HRs and 3 RBI.
- Ryan Jackson went 1-for-4.
- Matt Adams went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Alex Castellanos was 3-for-5 with a HR and rBI.
- Zack Cox went 3-for-5 with a 2B, HR and 2 RBI.
- Eric Duncan was 1-for-4.
- Charles Cutler went 2-for-3 with a HR and 3 RBI.
- Chris Swauger picked up a PH.
- Shelby Miller took the philosophy “they can’t hit it if it isn’t a strike” to the mound on Wednesday, handing out 5 free passes but only 4 Hs. They managed 1 ER against him against 4 Ks and he worked around his wildness to turn in 5.1 IP for the win.
- Kevin Thomas threw 2.2 IP with 1 H and 3 K.
- David Kopp threw an IP with 1 H.
Palm Beach 6, Brevard County 5 (10 innings)
- Greg Garcia went 1-for-4.
- Starlin Rodriguez went 2-for-5.
- Alan Ahmady went 1-for-4.
- Xavier Scruggs went 2-for-4.
- Kyle Conley went 1-for-3 with 2 RBI.
- Adam Melker went 1-for-4 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Luis De La Cruz went 1-for-3 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Carlos Martinez did what young, hard throwing prospects do on occasion: have an epically bad game. Martinez lasted just 5 outs but gave up 4 BB and 4 hits to go along with 4 ER and ZERO strikeouts. He also threw 2 wild pitches.
- Christopher Corrigan threw 3.1 IP in relief and only gave up 2 H and a BB.
- Francisco Samuel threw 1.0 IP with 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 2 K.
- Jesse Simpson threw 2.0 IP with 1 H, 1 BB and 1 K.
- Jordan Swagerty kept it scoreless in the 9th with 1 K.
- Jeff Lyman picked up the win when Palm Beach scored in the 10th with 1 IP.
Riverbandits 15, Lake County 3
- Kolten Wong was 3-for-6 with a 2B and 2 RBI.
- Ronny Gil went 1-for-5 with a RBI.
- Oscar Taveras went 3-for-5 with a 2B, HR and 3 RBI.
- Cody Stanley went 1-for-6 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Victor Sanchez went 1-for-5 with a HR and RBI.
- Michael Swinson went 2-for-6 with a HR and RBI.
- Geoffrey Klein went 2-for-5 with a RBI.
- Christopher Edmondson was 2-for-3 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Patrick Elkins went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
- Ryan Copeland picked up the win, turning in 5 IP with 7 H, 2 ER and 7 K.
- Cale Johnsons pitched 3 IP with 2 H, 1 ER and 1 K.
- Drew Benes walked 2 and struckout 1 in 1 IP.
- Joseph Bergman went 3-for-5 with a 2B.
- Nick Martini went 1-for-5.
- Romulo Ruiz went 2-for-5.
- Jeremy Patton went 3-for-5 with 3 2Bs and 4 RBI.
- David Medina went 1-for-2.
- Virgil Hill went 1-for-5.
- Roberto Reyes went 1-for-4.
- Kevin Moscatel went 1-for-4.
- Johnathan Cornelius threw 5.0 IP with 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 6 K.
- Kevin Jacob threw 1.0 IP with 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB and 2 K.
- Eric Binder picked up the comeback win with 1 H and 1 K.
- Travis Miller threw 1 IP with 1 K.
- Danny Miranda threw 1 IP.
- Steven Ramos went 1-for-4 with a HR and 2 RBI.
- Anthony Garcia went 1-for-2 with a 3B and RBI.
- Roberto De La Cruz went 1-for-3.
- Jose Pasen took the loss giving up 5 ER on 7 H, 1 BB and 2 K in 5.1 IP.
- Dyllon Nuernberg went 1.2 IP with 1 H, 1 BB and 1 K.
- Roberto Canache threw an inning and struckout 2.
Entries (RSS)
On C-Mart’s line you have him as giving up 4K’s, are that supposed to be 4 Hits?
is*
yes – corrected
With that many walks and strikeouts Shelby is going too deep into the count.
Someone needs to help him to use his talents more wisely, he needs to learn to pitch to contact (when needed) to get out of innings. The farther up he goes the more patient hitters are.
FWIW, he did get squeezed but didn’t show frustration (he was nibbling), good move on his part as it could have resulted in HR, that is usually what happens (frustration).
If you saw how many runs Tulsa scored the previous 2 games, I guess we could understand why he was pitching very carefully. Nobody wants to become roadkill.
I saw, I heard. I know that is why he was nibbling.
Lots of offense. Less than exciting performances from our top 2 prospects, but a bunch of other guys having some days
It rather looks as though Kolten Wong is having very little difficulty adjusting to life as a pro. How soon could we see him at High A?
Palm Beach has a glut of middle infielders right now: Domnit Bolivar, Greg Garcia, Ted Obregon & Starlin Rodriguez. Unless they release someone, I don’t see where that squad has room for Wong.
The presence of a guy occupying a roster spot does not necessarily make for a “glut.” If Obregon can’t put up better than a .572 OPS, he’s an obregoner.
Bolivar is in his 6th season with the organization! I’d be fine if they released some of these guys but I’m not sure I see that happening.
Speculation/question: Would/could Wong be a candidate to finish this season out pretty much where he is, go to the AFL this fall, and then be on a shorter trajectory to AA in Springfield next year (ala Z. Cox???)
10 points to gryffindor for “obregoner.”
I have to think Wong and Taveras both get a little time at PB this year. I assume Wong will follow Cox’s path next year, start at PB then get promoted to Springfield in the first half but since he got into the system early maybe they start him at Springfield. Glad to seem him do well but with his college experience he should be tearing up low A pitching, not going to know exactly what we have till he gets to Springfield.
Wong is a bit ahead of Cox IMO. He started earlier which helps. However, his bat seems better adjusted and he appears to be a player that can bring more “hit the ground running” tools than Cox. This is not to say that Cox is a worse player, but possesses tools that take a little more adjustment.
Agree. It’s also nice that Wong actually IS an honest-to-Pete second baseman and not somebody who we think could be moved there at some point in the future if we did a little cosmetic surgery to his defensive profile.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they leave Taveras in QC all year to have some success, stay healthy, and get the added bonus of a little playoff experience.
Rainel Rosario is already up at PB, and they don’t have a ton of room at the Inn.
Assuming Taveras hits well, I think it’s only a matter of time before he gets promoted. I’d say a mid-to-early August promotion is on order.
As for Wong, if he weren’t being blocked I’d say he was going to get promoted any day now.
Why do you say that? Springfield and PB distort hitters’ performances in opposite directions. The MWL is a very good level of competition for a 20-year-old in his first month of pro ball. It doesn’t favor pitchers or hitters.
Plus, QC will be in the postseason this year. PB probably won’t. Not sure if the org sees it this way, but I’d rather see the top prospects play together through the postseason. Minor-league championships don’t mean anything, but they do put players into a more intensely competitive environment.
Plus, over the past few years it’s seemed to me that the prospects who lead teams to championships tend to do a little better than expected in the majors. That’s strictly anecdotal, of course, based on tiny sample sizes, and probably wouldn’t stand up to any kind of scrutiny.
Never thought of it that way, lou. Makes a lot of sense.
I hope I get to see Copeland in Quad Cities at the end of the month. A dream three day rotation would be Whiting, Copeland and Rosenthal but I think I will only catch 1 or 2 of those three.
I’m not understanding the sudden interest in Copeland. The man is 23 years old. He SHOULD be able to dominate a league where the average hitter is a year and a half younger than he is. Furthermore, he’s not really “dominating” them; his ERA is higher than average for QC (although still good by league standards, that team has some serious pitching, and his WHIP is good). QC has a ton of guys who might be interesting pitchers. What’s so notable about this one other than that he’s a small lefty? QC has other interesting guys fitting that description too.
@Gruntosaurus… I dont think anyones making bandwagon here for people to pile into. All they are doing is noting that he’s been noticeable lately. In his last two starts he has 16 ks and 0 walks. You dont need to throw 100 to be effective, and ya he’s an average type build and short for a pitcher. But he works quick and is effective. Isnt a good lefty in the bullpen what every cardinal fan is complaining that they need? Not every pitcher needs to be Kyle Farnsworth.
I just want to see how the stuff matches up to the statistics.
Also, you should know better than to quote ERA as representative of his performance. 44 innings, 50 strikeouts, 6 walks, 34 hits, a strong groundball rate . . . what part of that isn’t dominant? It’s nice to be able to see guys first hand that are performing well so that I can speak with credibility about their long term viability. That’s much the same reason I want to see Whiting.
Fair enough, AZ, and I do encourage seeing him first hand. But I still don’t see what’s so intriguing about him. He’s not even the tiny lefty with the team’s best WHIP or K/9 among tiny lefties; that would be Justin Wright, who as far as I can tell, excites no one except maybe his mother, and is more than a year younger than Copeland in the bargain.
QC as a whole is (or at least was, before today) giving up almost a full run per game less, on average, than the rest of the Midwest League, and at least one hit/9 fewer than the league as well. Clearly there is some good pitching going on there; it isn’t enough of a pitcher’s park to explain that low scoring. Seeing any of that pitching is a good thing.
I’m excited by any lefty in the system that is succeeding right now. Let’s promote this guy, maybe he can jump a few levels as a LOOGY. Sure could use on in the majors in 2012 or 2013.
I’ll be there at the end of the month too, i’ll tweet you so maybe we can meet up! but Ry wont be pitching that weekend unfortunately
Looks like Cox is starting to get it. See XBH next to his name quite frequently.
He takes a while at each level but he produces.
If Wong stays at QC all year I see that as a ringing endorsement of what they think they might have in Starlin Rodriguez. I think they want Rodriguez to play everyday. He isn’t ready for Springfield but they aren’t about to move him back down to QC when he is hitting .375 with a 31% LD rate.
that’s nuts – he’s already got as many doubles in PB as he did in QC in almost a third of the time. That’s got to be fluky right?
maybe his time in QC was fluky in a bad way. He’s hitting LD’s. As long as that continues he will do well. He also has the speed to get doubles just based on speed alone without gap power.
Rodriquez can fly and the spacious room in the FSL makes it very likely to get doubles. The guy is a player for sure though. He did really struggle with breaking pitches when I saw him. Maybe they are working that out.
I think Kolten Wong is the real deal . . . I think he will be starting 2nd baseman in St.louis in 2013.
Notes from Spgfld 7/20
Miller. Wouldnt say that he had a bad game, just didn’t have his best stuff and was clearly working on his off speed pitches (which I would argue is a very good thing in the long run). Have seen him four times now, and he threw far and away the fewest fastballs in last night’s game. Touched 97 in the first, sat 91-93–which is a tick slower than in previous starts.
He did have a scare in the sixth. Looked like Cutler noticed something and IMMEDIATELY everyone on the infield, the trainer and Warner converged on the mound. Shelby was visibly telling everybody he was o.k., threw a practice pitch and resumed pitching. I think he faced one or two more hitters, but it appears to have been nothing. That along with his pitch count likely shortened his outing. He did not appear to be tiring at all, and certainly could have finished the sixth if allowed to do so.
Didn’t appear he was squeezed all that much, although I didn’t have a great seat and can’t say for certain. Looked like he was simply working on pitches other than his fastball. If he can shut down a good offense while doing that there will be no stopping him.
Adams hit 3 balls very hard on the night. His SF was a bomb to deep straight-away center. Double and single were hard hit.
Nothing flukey about Cox’s results of late. I don’t think he faced a lefty last night, but he controlled his at bats better than I have seen him all year. His first hit was a cheapie swinging bunt down the third base line that he beat out. However, his double was a shot to right center and the HR was a nice piece of hitting the other way-340-350ish. Probably a double in most MLB parks. Did make a silly error on a pop up in the field. Also fielded a couple of tough chances flawlessly.
Best outing I’ve seen from Kopp. Sat 95 in the ninth.
I got first hand info that he missed quite a few, and glad to hear he is working on his secondary stuff. He was working inside, outside, down and not up which would produce a possible HR. He does need to work on them hitting the off speed to produce bloopers.
The umpire was making it tough on him, something they do often to prospects, I have noticed.
Next time out, try to get right behind the backstop when Shelby is pitching, you will understand what is so special.
:)
Cox has improved so much, his defense especially, the hitting was always there (I think), just needed some confidance. he made an error but made it back up at bat.
Normally sit between home and first about half way down. Had a free ticket to the Redbird Roost which isn’t the best vantage point for monitoring the strikezone. Still have to disagree that it was an unusually tight strike zone, although the umpires at this level (and any level) certainly aren’t perfect.
I couldn’t agree more that he is special. As noted above, his fastball (other than the one he cut loose in the first) was down a couple of ticks. I also am developing the opinion that Springfield’s gun must be a couple of mph hot.
I have no objection to him taking something off and working on his other pitches, however. Now will be the chance he ever has to do that. Also, even doing that, he was clearly in control–walks aside. It was one of those kind of outings where there was usually a guy or two on base but it never felt like he was in legitimate danger of giving up more than a run or two.
Also really liked seeing how concerned his teammates were about his welfare in the 6th. They were all at the mound in a heartbeat. Obviously well liked by his teammates. Not every high profile guy that has come through Spgfld in the last five years has been.
i was wondering if miller and martinez’s results might have come from a lot of work on secondary pitches. it probably makes sense to emphasize them more now.
maybe kopp makes it as a reliever? doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for him as a starter.
Gruntosaurus,
Copeland Is doing well, He’s a lefty… so lets all give him some love !