A varsity win, how novel!
On to the DFR!
- Shane Robinson went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
- Mark Hamilton went 1-for-3.
- Matt Carpenter was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
- Tony Cruz and Aaron Brown went 1-for-4.
- Pete Kozma was 2-for-5 with a 2B.
- Maikel Cleto threw 7 IP with 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB and 6 K.
- Cory Rauschenberger got 1 out but was responsible for 2 ER on 4 HI.
- Chuckie Fick recorded 2 outs for a hold.
- Victor Marte nailed down his 27th save by throwing an inning of 1 H, 1 K baseball.
- Jose Garcia (HR) and Ryan Jackson went 2-for-4.
- Matt Adams and Donovan Solano (2B) went 1-for-4.
- Daryl Jones went 1-for-3.
- Michael Blazek picked up his 11th win, striking out 10 over 7 IP. He gave up 6 H and 1 BB.
- Samuel Freeman worked for a 2 inning save, giving up a H and a BB with 2 K.
- Romulo Ruiz went 1-for-2 with a 2B.
- David Medina went 1-for-3.
- Reggie Williams banged out 2 H in 3 ABs with a 2B and RBI.
- Jose Almarante threw 6.2 IP with 3 H, 1 ER and 1 K for the win.
- Ethan Cole gave up 2 H and 1 K in 1.1 IP.
- Danny Miranda notched his 11th save in 1 IP. He gave up a H and had a K.
- Ronny Gil hit a HR and drove in 2 runs.
- Joey Bergman went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Oscar Taveras had a day, going 4-for-5 with a RBI.
- Jonathan Rodriguez hit a 2B and drove in a run.
- Geoffrey Klein had 2 RBI and a 2B.
- Edgar Lara hit a 2B.
- Mike O’Neill went 1-for-4.
- Boone Whiting threw up a win with 7 IP and 1 ER. He yielded 3 H and 3 BB to go along with 5 K.
- Angel De Jesus pitched 2 innings, striking out 4 and allowing 1 H.
- Greg Garcia went 3-for-4.
- Kyle Conley (HR), Domnit Bolivar and Xavier Scruggs went 1-for-4.
- Kevin Siegrist took the loss, threw 5 IP with 4 H, 2 ER and 4 K.
- Daniel Calhoun threw 2.0 IP with 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and a K.
- Keith Butler pitched the last inning with 2 K.
- Cesar Breyvic Valera went 3-for-4 with a 2B and RBI.
- Gary Apelian went 2-for-5 with a HR and 3 RBI.
- Roberto De La Cruz went 1-for-5 with a HR.
- Steven Ramos went 2-for-4 with a 2B.
- Nicholas Gillung went 5.0 IP with 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB and 5 K for the win.
- Chris Constantino threw 2.0 IP with 1 H and 3 K.
- Michael Santana pitched 2.0 IP with 1 H and 1 K.
Entries (RSS)
Jeebus, Taveras is having a hell of a year
Yeah, it might be the best MWL season by a teenager since the Baby Bull back in the mid-50′s.
Last night, though? No extra base hits, and no walks. Bor-ing. ;)
Apropos of nothing, I just noticed that, of the 100+ teenagers in the Gulf Coast League this year, StL catcher Luis Perez is the only one with more XBH’s than strikeouts. (Nice track record in the DSL, too.)
If he can stay behind the plate, the Cards might really have a diamond in the rough—I know he’s one of Carioca’s favorite sleepers.
What are you guys thoughts on Blazek? He has almost a K per inning and almost a 2:1 k/bb ratio. He has left way to many pitches up in the zone for huts and HR. Just wondering what his upside can be. I’ve seen him pitch a few this year and he usually gets hurt on one or two pitches that hurt him. If he doesn’t leave a hanger the. I’ve seen him dominate like he did last night. I think he is inteiging guy who could be a 4/5 starter or long man.
Maybe a long guy out of the pen — I wasn’t terrible impressed when I saw him.
I just looked at his stats and while BAA and hits allowed for the innings pitched and HR allowed is ugly, he has been a durable arm for Springfield and has some nice strike out numbers. And reading he only started one game for Palm beach before this year was suprising.
Found thiwitness twitter from Kary Booher, the Springfield Cards beatwritwr on his thoughts on Blazek.
“Mainly, he needs better FB command; leaves 4-seamer up too often; but he came to TL despite 1 start in ’10 in Palm beach”
Kinda sounds like Pappa Dunc speak. A 4 seamer can be thrown with purpose up in the zone if it has enough velo. Lynn has been using the 4 seamer up as his strikeout pitch this season (until he got hurt). It’s most effective when thrown at the very top of the strike zone or slight out of the zone. The more velo, the less command needed to be effective. Kary Booher is a very good bball reporter so I’m sure 140 characters didn’t leave him enough ink to expound on the distinction.
Good points.
I agree about Lynn’s 4 seamer.
My question is will he still be effective with it for 5 innings instead of 2.
Only one way to find out! And I like to see him try.
Seen Blazek a lot, my opinion is that he doesn’t know WHEN to leave it up and trouble with the command, due to velocity that he doesn’t know what to do with. Hopefully Martinez will be in springfield next year and he will get good instruction.
I’d say there’s a difference between attacking with a FB up in the zone and leaving a FB up in the zone. You’re right that a 4-seamer up in the zone with purpose can be devastating. But if a pitcher is consistently throwing his FB higher than he intends he’s going to get lit up.
“A 4 seamer can be thrown with purpose up in the zone…”
From the tweet, it sounds like Blazek doesn’t intend to throw it up in the zone; it simply winds up there because of lack of command. High 4-seamer mistakes generally are considered bad, Dunc or no Dunc.
That’s actually Breyvic Valera at Johnson City. He’s hitting .400 in his first 15 games at JC, after hitting .255 w. a .328 OPB in the GCL.
Switch-hitter, just turned 19. Had a great first pro season last year in Venezuela (.873 OPS).
Cesar Valera, who’s a few months older, is the shortstop for Batavia. He’s at .213/.302/.266. This is his third year as a pro, and his third level following the GCL and Appy. Hasn’t hit anywhere yet. But he must be doing something good in the field to keep getting promoted.
Yeah, I knew the difference but sometimes with last names you don’t think twice on ones like that.
We need to diversify our name pool. We look like a video game auto-fill! Ha.
2012 Cardinals first round draft pick……..LeBron Nomo!
I’m saddened to not see Kolten Wong’s name in this report. Any news on when he’s due back from the DL? How’s the hamstring progressing?
nicely i’m sure
Where in the world is Kolten Wong?
Three walks for Boone. He must have been effectively wild. Two walks for Cleto, showing progress?
Just a question because I have not seen Ryan Jackson play, for those who have seen both Ryan Jackson and Brendon Ryan, strictly with regard to defense, how do the two compare? Thanks.
I’ve always thoguht similar Jackson has, I think Jackson can hit a little better and isn’t an eccentric guy like ryan was. Hes made some errors this year but looks like he has the ability to be a great defensive SS. He covers a lot of range to both sides of him, strong, accurate arm, soft hands and looks good on the DP. He will be in the majors due to his defense but has had a nice season for AA this year. Leading Springfield Cards in doubles this year.
Based on limited in-person viewing, I’d say that Jackson looks “smooth” in a way that Boog does not. He gets to things while maintaining good body balance and rarely has to make a spectacularly off-balance throw.
Ive seen them both and the reason he doesnt have to make the spectacularly off-balance throw is because Jackson doesnt have near the range that Ryan does.
I also have a question about Ryan Jackson. I saw him play last year at Quad City and was completely unimpressed with his offensive ability. He appeared to me to be trying to flip the ball over the infielders’ heads to get on base – no pop whatsoever. But this year he seems to be a different hitter. Checking the stats, he has 44 extra base hits out of 136 total. Any insight on what changes he or the Cards have made in his swing?
I’m not going to try to sound like I am an expert on talking about hitting mechanics, approach or anything like that. One thing that I wonder is if he is getting better pitches to hit since he has hit in the 2 hole in front of Adams all year. I figure that his HR total is inflated by Hammons field and 7 of the 10 were hit at Hammons. His home/road splits are similar in BA. 20 out of his 31 doubles have come at Hammons but from the 15 or so games I’ve watched and seen Jackson hit, the majority of them were legit. I wonder if hitting in front of Adams has helped him, but he has progressed as a hitter against some quality pitching this year. He has been one of the more intriging players to watch this year at Springfield who has been overshawoded by Miller, Adams and Cox.
He’s not getting better pitches than he did in low A.
I saw him with QC as well and kind of came to the same conclusion as CRay. That was well over a year ago though (at the beginning of the 2010 season). My hunch is that he’s just matured. Back then he was a rail. I’m just guessing he’s matured and filled out with a proper training schedule.
I have a question for some of you guys who get to see some of Springfield’s games. It has struck me that a good number of our top prospects are there (Cox, Jackson, Adams, Miller, Kelly, Freeman, Swagerty) but they are our only farm club with a losing record. They also seem to be getting worse as the season winds down. Do you guys have any ideas why? Is Hammons elevating some our hitters numbers that much that it has skewed our impressions or are the rest of the players that weak? Is it that our prospects are younger than other teams? I realize it’s a tough question but if you have an opinion I’d like to hear it.
There are some excellent individual players to be sure, particularly on the offensive side and more recently in the rotation. However, for the majority of the year it has not been a well constructed ‘team.’ It is my perception that the organization is much more focused, and appropriately so, on development than on winning the Texas league. Also, keep in mind that Jackson, Adams and Freeman are the only players on that list that have played more than a half-season at Spgfld.
Swagerty has appeared in less than 10 innings and Miller (73.2 innings) and Kelly (48.1 innings) haven’t been up long enough to make the difference. Kelly has shown flashes of greatness. One of his early starts he sat 99-100 on the Stadium gun, but has been very inconsistent. Miller has mostly been great-although I suppose the manner by which he has achieved those results has been called into question by the coaching staff.
The biggest single albatross, however, has been the bullpen. There was about a one month period when Freeman couldn’t get anyone out, but apart from that several week stretch he has been excellent-particularly so lately. However, other than Freeman the bullpen has been DREADFUL! So bad that I typically only stay for a couple innings after the starter is removed. It has just become too painful to watch the pen give away game after game. This is quite a reversal, as the last few years it has been a whole lot of fun to watch Sanchez/Salas/Reifer/Perez etc. . ..
The starters in the first half, apart from Cleto, were no great shakes either. But the bullpen, is most definately the short answer to your question.
They can’t close games out. They have gotten decent starting pitching but they have blown something liek 24 games this year. The offense has been good and have given them the lead many times and i’ve watched many come from behind just to blow it in the 8th or 9th. I think the lead on the team for saves this year is like 7 (Rondon but with a ERA around 9) Guys like Rondon and Samuel haven’t progressed and have been disappointing. Mulligan getting hurt for the year hurt the pen. While guys like Freeman have been solid. Swagerty has come too late this year. I’ve been hoping he would be called up earlier and been thrown in the closers role to see how he does.
But guys like Cox, Miller, Adams, Jackson have all done what was expected and probably exceeded expecations. Guys like Joe Kelly hasn’t dominated but is having his ups and downs and looking great at times. His stuff is nasty and still wondering if he will stick as a starter or turn into a closer but great arm none the less. John Gast has impressed as a lefty starter as well.
Hammons field has elevated im sure some of the power numbers of hitters but guys like Adams, Cox, Jackson have consistently hit well on the road as well. From the games that I watched, the majority of HR that Adams hit was to center or right field. Which the dimensions of that part of the park are more normal and Adams ccrushes some home runs.
I think another problem besides the pitching was the defense. They really don’t have a plus defender except for Jackson. Adams is average at first. Curtis/ Garcia/ Cox all have been below average in the infield. In fact Curtis was playing right and Garcia left last night.
The outfield doesn’t have a strong arm since Castellanos was traded.
The catching has been a work in progress.
I also think they miss Martinez and May on the coaching staff. I have not been impressed with the pitching coach any of the times he has been here. Last year talking to the pitchers they really praised the job Martinez did. I have not heard that praise about the current coach.
May did a great job with the hitters and working with in game adjustment with the defense. I don’t see that this year.
I’ve wondered the same thing, but they must like Eversgard because they brought him back this year after being replaced by Martinez. I think Wellman has done a good job, gotten Adams, Cox and Jackson all to have great years and continue their progress. Duncan is having a solid year as well.
Thank you all for your replies to my questions. Sounds like the bullpen’s the big issue and I suspect that the age of the better prospects is also.
Az, can you tell us if Wong is on the DL :)
I’m not AZ, but yes, Wong is on the DL, with a tweaked hammy. He’s been on it for about two weeks, and can come off any time (minor-league DL is a 7-day minimum). Hence my earlier question about what progress he’s making (which I have not seen answered).
I don’t think anyone knows.
Honestly, they may simply be holding him out until closer to the playoffs making sure he’s healthy.
Mine comment was a joke because everyone has been asking for the last week and Az keeps answering. People were asking again today so I piled on (with a smiley face to designate it was a joke)
Impossible to say at this time that Jackson is a better hitter than Ryan because Ryan was actually better in the minors than Jackson. He led the midwest league in hitting in 2004 with Peoria.
If you look at the OPS of each, they look similar at the plate to me if one throws out Jackson’s season at Batvia. Here is B. Ryan.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanbr01.shtml
Here is R. Jackson
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=jackso002rya
The 10 HRs @ Springfield may be an aberration but I think it leads one to suspect that Ryan Jackson will have more power than B. Ryan as he ages. 6’3″ 180# still leaves room to fill out some.
Yeah it looks like Jackson takes more walks and has more power but Ryan had him on BA.
Gil hit a triple, not a home run.
I respect Kevin Goldstein’s work…but he offered this nugget of inadvertent humor on Oscar Taveras yesterday:
Q: What is the range of scouting reports you’re getting on Oscar Taveras’ power ceiling? Is it possible he just winds up a ‘tweener: unable to play CF, but not enough power for RF?
K.G.: It’s certainly possible. I don’t think he’ll ever be a masher, but he can really hit, and the higher of an average he can do that at, the less the power matters. Some have projected average power (15-20 HR’s) down the road for him.
Tweener? No, it’s actually not possible, not in any meaningful sense. Never a “masher”…and only “some” have projected as many as 15-20 homers? This is frankly silly. We’re talking about a hitter with extra-base power to ALL fields (including over-the-wall pop), despite being one of the youngest regulars in his league. We’re talking about a lanky, 6′ 2″, 180 lb. kid who makes consistent hard contact—an almost perfect candidate to add strength & turn the doubles into homers down the line, while maintaining an extremely high average.
An OPS more than 300 points above the MWL at Oscar’s age, with solid plate discipline, is insane. It’s what future superstars do. It is NOT what “tweeners” do. Ever.
If Taveras is only hitting 15-20 homers per year in his prime, it’ll be because he’s winning the batting title every other year.
Any prospect evaluator who doesn’t have O.T. in their top 25 right now, is either a fool or not paying attention (apologies to Harry Mark Petrakis). Personally, I think Taveras belongs in the 3-7 range. :)
I tend to agree with you.
Personally, I think he either becomes something really special or he completely flames out somewhere down the road. Not a tweener, like you point out.
I know comparables are pretty much crap and all but when I look at him and see him play, he just screams Vlad Guerrero without the freakish ability to hit ball a foot over his head or that bounce a foot in front of the plate.
I was just thinking the same thing!! How weird is that!!!
You’re completely misreading what what Goldstein’s saying when he calls Taveras a “tweener.” He’s simply saying that he doesn’t project as a typical power hitting RF but doesn’t have defensive ability to play CF, where his offensive strengths fit better.
You said: “If Taveras is only hitting 15-20 homers per year in his prime, it’ll be because he’s winning the batting title every other year.”
KG said: “I don’t think he’ll ever be a masher, *but he can really hit, and the higher of an average he can do that at, the less the power matters.*”
So, you guys pretty much agree.
Bryce Harper, due to his arrogance/emotional instability is almost certainly a better candidate to flame out than Taveras, in my opinion.
Goldstein’s irrational skepticism is all the more disappointing since Taveras was so outstanding *last* year, as the Appy League’s youngest regular—and also because Oscar has addressed two of his 2010 weaknesses while making the jump to full-season ball.
I’m speaking of (1)Oscar’s walk rate, which has doubled this year. And (2)Taveras’ ability to hit southpaws. Or should I say murder southpaws.
Here’s what O.T. has done against same-handers this year:
.385/.462/.628 with a sturdy 10/14 BB/K ratio in 78 at-bats. Minor leaguers who strike out in just 15% of their plate appearances while posting an isolated slugging of .243 are doing something truly special. Doing it in full-season ball at age 18/19 is almost un-heardof. Happens maybe once or twice a decade. Maybe.
And that’s Oscar, against *lefties*.
Good lord, OT is off the charts against lefties, had no idea that his splits were that wild..Just hoping he can get better as he goes forward in high A ball, and he can keep playing CF and at a high level..
Oscar hits for power, hits for high average (is learning to walk while maintain low K rate) and plays a skill position in full season ball at 19. If he’s sneaking up on the scouts, who’s fault is that?
I too think he’s deserving of a top ten prospect. High BABIP notwithstanding. ;o)
Pretty cool to see him resume his hitting rampage these last few games to get back to pushing .380 again. I love the guy too but you should know that he did not appear on BA’s Best Tools list for the Midwest League. They named Jake Marisnick the best hitting prospect and his numbers do look good. OT was hurt by all the games he missed.
Not much to not like about Marisnick, but Taveras numbers are better.
Marisnick is a fine, fine prospect. Probably a top 30-40 type guy. But he’s no Taveras—Oscar is younger *this* year than Jake was *last* year, when Marisnick posted an .832 OPS in the Gulf Coast League.
Taveras could well be Tony Gwynn…only with more power. I’m sure you’re right, Easy, that some scouts either didn’t see enough of Taveras this year, or saw him when he was flailing away in June, while recovering from the hammy troubles.
Is that the consensus on taveras’s OF defense? That he’s not a real CF defensively? I thought he could hold his own out there.
The kid is too young for a consensus. He needs to learn to take better routes and get better reads on fly balls. I do think that he can be a CF though.
As far as defense goes, according to B-Ref, Oscar has played 82 games in Center, and has 10 assists, versus 4 errors. In 43 RF games, he has thrown out 6 runners and committed just one faux pas.
In Left Field, however, he’s committed *seven* errors in just 61 games…while erasing only one runner.
So we have some evidence of excellence in Center & Right, but in Left…yuck. Which is fine, assuming Holliday will man LF for the next several years.
For the time being, I’m considering Taveras a future average defender in Right, or a bit below avg. in Center—but as Andrew notes, he’s still very young, with plenty of room to improve route-taking, and positioning in general.