Had a nice night at the ballgame yesterday. Trevor Rosenthal was very impressive. More on him next week. Also, Kolten Wong does a back flip when entering the field. bgh claims that it is not as impressive as the Ozzie Smith flips of yore but the children surrounding me when crazy for it.
- Shane Robinson went 2-for-5.
- Andrew Brown and Pete Kozma both went 2-for-4. Kozma is currently sporting a .564 OPS.
- Adam Ottavino got lit up for 9 runs in 3.1 innings allowing 8 hits and 5 walks. Ottavino struck out 3. I have to wonder, given his definitive splits, how Ottavino would fare in the pen where he was exposed to fewer left handed hitters.
- Bryan Augenstein pitched 2.2 innings allowing 1 hit and a strikeout.
- Ryan Jackson was 2-for-5 with a triple and a homerun. Jackson never quite recaptured his early season batting success but with a .776 OPS, he’s maintained an average hitting profile relative to the league.
- Jermaine Curtis went 2-for-4.
- Zack Cox went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Jose Garcia went 2-for-3 with a double.
- Daryl Jones went 2-for-4 with a double.
- Michael Blazek turned in a solid outing allowing just 3 runs in 6.2 IP. He was tagged for 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7.
- David Kopp pitched 1 inning (his 14th as a reliever) and walked 1 in a scoreless effort. Kopp still hasn’t gotten the increased strikeout rates since his conversion but he has groundballs a plenty.
- Raniel Rosario was 1-for-2 with a walk and the teams only extra base hit.
- Palm Beach collected 3 other hits and 3 other walks on the night.
- Arquimedes Nieto allowed 2 runs (the latter with help from reliever Chris Corrigan) over 6.1 innings. He struck out 6 and allowed 3 walks with 4 hits. Nieto featured an impressive ground ball rate with 10 of 12 batted balls turning into groundouts.
- Kolten Wong was 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Nick Longmire went 2-for-5 with a double.
- Cody Stanley was 2-for-5.
- Victor Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Colin Walsh hit a monstrous homerun into the Mississippi River over right center field.
- Packy Elkins (and yes, he goes by Packy) was 2-for-3 with a double and 4 RBIs.
- Ronnie Gil was 3-for-4 with slap singles in to shallow center field all three times.
- Trevor Rosenthal pitched 6 inning striking out 7. He also had 6 of 8 batted ball outs as groundouts. Rosenthall allowed 5 hits and walked 3.
- Juan Castillo was 2-for-4.
- Nick Martini was 2-for-3.
- Todd McInnis struck out 4 in 6 innings of work. He allowed just 1 run one 3 hits.
- Seth Manness, who has excellent K/BB rates for the season, suffered through some shoddy defense allowing 5 runs (1 earned) over 1.2 IP. He struck out 3.
- Danny Miranda was also touched up for 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk in his inning of work.
- Steven Ramos was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Matt Williams went 3-for-4 with a trio of doubles.
- Tyler Rahmatulla went 1-for-2 with 3 walks. His only hit was a double. Rahmatulla has hit extremely well at Johnson City showing both power and the ability to draw walks. He’s currently sporting a .296/.390/.574 line in 115 ABs.
- Gary Apelian went 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Ronard Castillo was 2-for-4 with a triple.
- Another solid outing for Tyrell Jenkins who pitched 6 innings allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits. Jenkins struck out 5 and walked 2. Jenkins is striking out better than a batter an inning and has a nearly 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio. He’s also showing good groundball tendencies. If there’s any blemish right now it is 42 hits in 35 innings but that is likely to be affected by the caliber of the defense behind him.
Entries (RSS)
If Ryan Jackson could hit even league average over his career at SS, his glove will easily enhance his value.
I really hope the FO/field management commits to good defense up the middle like the old days. I’d be very happy with Jackson at SS being a 7th hitter in a line up.
Rafael Furcal could potentially be keeping that seat warm for the rest of the year. A good ST and Ryan Jackson could be our starting SS.
As long as TLR is here that wont happen. He needs to go!!!
I agree that we need good D up the middle, but I don’t think you can stick a couple of average to below average bats in there, and call it a day. And I’m not saying Jackson would be that, too early to tell. Just saying that we can probably get away with one starter that doesn’t hit well, and if that player is say, Jackson at SS, we need a guy like Wong (or projects to hit well) at 2B.
The Cardinals should not trade any prospects for Furcal. He is a player who has spent most of the
past two years on the diabled list. He has back, knee, and leg problems which limit his
effectiveness of a hitter or fielder and which require frequent trips to the diabled list.
He is not a good fielder today. This would be another stupid and poorly researched trade if it is made.
I would have been happy with .220 and Brendan Ryan this year. I think Jackson should start next year and the coaches should say your a rookie your going to struggle at the plate don’t worry about anything but fielding the ball. That would take alot of pressure off of him andjust allow him to do what he does best.
Just asking. Don’t you think he needs part of the season at AAA to be more ready?
That would be great but that’s not the Cardinal way.
He has improved much since the first half at ss, he needs more practice. The game is quicker in STL, don’t think he is ready for that.
Will be interesting to watch, I don’t think he’ll ever play at ss in STL.
why don’t you think he will be in st. louis? i think if the cardinals give him a legit shot in spring training next year he could make the club and possibly be a starter..i hope anyways
See my comment above. Furcal has been on the disabled list for most of the last two years with knee, back, and leg problems. When he tries to play, he reinjures himself. With the physical problems, he no longer is either the fielder (average) or hitter he once was. Why waste a prospect
on such a question mark.
I cringe at what Mo might give up.
Rumored to be a low-tier prospect because the Dodgers want to unload his salary. I like the move as a low risk, high reward move. Furcal opsed over .800 last year in nearly 400 at bats. His defense will be average–definite upgrade over Theriot.
YOU’D be an upgrade over Theriot. Hell, even I might be. LOL
Kind of like the Wong flip deal. I wonder if it is something he has always done or if it is actually a tribute to the Wizard. Either way, I think it is cool. Somebody creative may need to come up with a nifty nickname for the kid. Mine suck, but if I come up with something, I’ll post it.
Tyrell Jenkins is exceeding my expectations. He has gone from high school to pitching solidly in the Appalachian league. He is having a successful intro to pro ball and could win a job next spring at Quad Cities. Good job Tyrell.
Same. I had my reservations with him as well. The physical tools were quite apparent, I just wasn’t sure if he was too much of a project for the Cardinals.
Anybody heard anything about Anthony Garcia? He’s missed J.C.’s last 3 or 4 games….
Was wondering the same thing. You can’t listen to tonights games I beleive. The opposing team has an internet broadcast.
Neito had a shutout through 6 innings. 2 straight impressive outings by him.
Oscar T isn’t hurt is he? Just a night off?
Observations from the Memphis game last night…
Got to the game in the 2nd inning
Kozma has limited range, when he dives for a ball, he has alligator arms to get to it.
Brown is in a deep funk at the plate.
Hammer not coaching third tonight? Don’t see him in the dugout either
Chambers showing bunt early really messes with the pitcher
Craig is still hurt it appears
Rodriguez for Round Rock is far more accomplished a bunter than any of our guys
Ottivavino lost his stuff in the 4th. Kept looking in the dugout, not sue why he had a rough time a guy batting .200 with 1 RBI in Blanco. Walked in a run and it wasn’t even close. Next guy throws a 2-1 ball to the net for another run score
Brown has the luckiest two hit game on record, broke bat single and a ball that finds a way through.
Carpenter just about Charlie Browned the pitcher in the 5th.
Anderson is very tired of getting hit on batter’s back swing. Words being exchanged again.
Augustein doing a good job
Did I mention how dark the field was?!!!!!!
Rundles looking sharp
Kind of funny… Scoreboard and announce both have DEBRA instead of DERBA
Felt bad for Luna, In the 8th he replaces Craig as the DH apparently at the last minute. Saw him touch his toes, stretch his back, take one swing then get in the box. struck out on 3 pitches
Carpenter makes an dumb play in the bottom of 8. Should have just held the ball instead of throwing a rainbow into the dugout.
Run scored in 8th a no doubt error on Kozma. Hometown scoring gave it a hit.
Not sure how we go the number of hits we did. None were strung together. Not sure what we hit with RSP but I bet it was bad.
ZacK Cox, not Zach
thanks
Does anyone have enough info on both Jermaine Curtis and Jose Garcia at Springfield to know if they could be adequate bench players in the majors with another season of experience.
Previously I asked if anyone had seen Luis de la Cruz, the catcher at Palm Beach, to give an opinion on his defensive abilities.
MLB Trade Rumors just posted that they are close with the Dodgers to get Furcal. Has anyone heard anything as to whom might go to LA?
Colby Rasmus’s younger brother.
interesting info on Wong..i like the backflip, of course reminds me of ozzie..
Very excited for Jackson. A SS who can hit league average is extremely valuable, but especially one who is such a slick fielder. Realistically he probably won’t be a league average hitter in the majors, but I think, based on his minor league track record, we could expect maybe a wRC+ of around 90 (roughly what Dan Descalso has done this year, for comparison). I searched through Fangraphs to see what a year of 90 wRC+ with plus defense would look like. In 2009 Rafael Furcal finished with a wRC+ of 91 and 5.7 fielding runs. He was worth 3.4 WAR that season. I’d be thrilled with that kind of production out of SS (Theriot has been worth -0.1 WAR this year. Sigh…)
If we want to be really optimistic we can look at Jose Reyes’ 2007 campaign. A down year for him offensively, he finished with a wRC+ of 107 (Jackson will probably never manage this but maaayyybe during his prime in a career year… I can dream dammit!). Reyes was absolutely superb defensively that season with 11.7 fielding runs (this is equivalent to Brendan Ryan last year). This all added up to 5.8 WAR. Again, it’s a real stretch to say Jackson will ever approach this, but I think it’s illustrative of just how valuable a league average hitting SS with a plus glove can be.
That’s some good analysis, and really speaks volumes how valuble Jackson is as a prospect. Especially considered the middle infield has been a vortex of suck for such a long time. Also, consider me on the Jackson bandwagon. All aboard!
Release Theriot and add Jackson to the 40 man? A boy can dream.
I think Ottavino is tired. A year ago he had serious shoulder problems. He didn’t pitch that much last year so his shoulder may be tired. A worse case scenario would be that he is injured.
I have the same suspicion. IMO, he should be moved to the bullpen to reduce the innings load–probably where his future will be anyway.
The stl post 2 weeks ago said that he was going to placed on the DL with elbow tightness and he never was. Thus his next two outing were horrible. I think they are trying to do him dirty after last year.
I don’t see how he would have any trust left in the organization. They wanted him to get shoulder surgery a very serious matter almost immediately after his injury last year. He got a second opinion found out he didn’t need it rehabbed his arm and had a good start to this year. He’s really declined lately but I also believe because he’s hurt. You wouldn’t think a organization would be upset because a player gets a second opinion and finds out that they don’t need to get surgery. I would hope not.
This is the reminder Carioca
So now we have to worry about what outfielder LA is going to get for Furcal. Can they have anybody but Taveras?
Wow, they traded Castellanos. I loved and enjoyed watching that kid while he was in high a. He played awesome outfield and had great speed and power. Alex we wish you great success with the Dodgers. We will miss you.