John Gast and Oscar Taveras deliver the goods for Springfield in a win and Memphis loses a thirteen inning marathon. Seth Maness hits a speed bump in the form of the Lakeland Flying Tigers and Quad Cities loses despite a Roberto De La Cruz homer. On to the good stuff….
Reno 9 @ Memphis 8 (13 innings)
Hitting:
- Adron Chambers went 3-for-7 w/ 1 R
- Ryan Jackson went 4-for-7 w/ 1 R
- Cedric Hunter went 3-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 3 R and 1 RBI
- Bryan Anderson is trying to get to the Mendoza line, he went 2-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 R and 3 RBI
- Pete Kozma went 2-for-5 w/ 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 R and 2 RBI
Pitching:
- Brian Broderick got the start and actually raised an ERA that was already over 6 with 4.0 IP, 8 H, 6 R (5 ER), 3 BB and 2 K
- Adam Reifer pitched 1.1 innings of perfect ball, he recorded 1 K
- Chuckie Fick (1 H, 2 K) and Eduardo Sanchez (1 K) pitched one scoreless inning apiece
- Barret Browning went 2.0 innings and gave up 2 H, he had 3 K’s
- R.J. Swindle allowed the winning run to score but it was unearned, he went 2.0 innings and gave up only 1 H, 1 R (0 ER) and 1 BB, he also recorded 1 K
Hitting:
- Greg Garcia went 2-for-3 w/ 1 BB and 2 R
- Oscar Taveras went 2-for-4 w/ a 3-R homerun
- Kyle Conley went 1-for-4 w/ 1 RBI
- Xavier Scruggs and Adam Melker (1 R) both went 1-for-3
Pitching:
- John Gast was outstanding: 7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 5 K (GO/AO=8/5)
- Sam Freeman struck out the side in his perfect inning
- Eric Fornataro also pitched a perfect inning, he only had 1 K
Hitting:
- Vance Albitz led off and went 2-for-3 w/ 1 BB
- Rainel Rosario went 1-for-4 w/ 1 RBI
- Alan Ahmady went 2-for-3 w/ 1 2B and 1 BB
Pitching:
- Seth Maness got the start was hit around a little: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 0 BB and 2 K
- Zach Russell (2 H, 1 BB) and Chris Corrigan (0 H, 0 BB) both pitched scoreless innings albeit with different levels of anxiety attached to them
- The Cardinals were absolutely dominated by Tigers top prospect Jacob Turner: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 8 K
Hitting:
- Matt Williams went 2-for-4 w/ 1 BB
- Nick Martini (1 BB, 1 R) and Colin Walsh (1 BB) both went 1-for-4
- Roberto De La Cruz went 2-for-5 w/ a solo shot
- Anthony Garcia went 3-for-5 w/ 1 RBI
- Casey Rasmus went 2-for-4 w/ 1 2B
Pitching:
- Jonathan Cornelius got the start for Quad Cities and was not very good: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R (3 ER), 3 BB and 5 K
- Kevin Jacob went 2.0 scoreless innings that included 1 H, 2 BB and 2 K
- Robert Stock also pitched two scoreless innings, he gave up 2 H and 1 BB while striking out 1
Entries (RSS)
I’ll ask the question on everyone’s mind. How long until Casey Rasmus get called up to Palm Beach?
Casey Rasmus is a Craig Biggio sized catcher. Is he a ML prospect at that position.
don’t know,,,
you should ask papa Rasmus
Also after a rough start, Robert Stock seems to be settling in as a pitcher with some promise.
Stock has good stuff. They say his velocity is going up as the season goes on. Maybe another Jason Motte type guy.
Why is Broderick still here?
You wonder how many starts a guy like Broderick gets. It looks like he had one good year in 2010. He has been very hittable in every year except 2010. You would think they would put him in the bullpen and see if he can do anything there. You do wonder what they are waiting for though. Is is too early in the season to promote somebody?
Who are you going to promote, Gast? It’s May 9. I think I’d give it a month and reevaluate.
Gast to AAA, Maness to AA Whiting to high A, although I have no idea what is going on with Whiting and his month and a half forearm strain–but by the numbers he deserved to get a promotion to high A this year.
Realistically, what more does Gast have to learn at AA? I honestly don’t know, the question is to be taken at face value. Is the off-speed stuff still a work in progress that will get so brutally exposed at AAA that he shouldn’t make the jump? Is there something else? If not, I would be in favor of moving a promising lefty or two up, to start to address the problem of a very un-promising lefty in the major-league pen.
I was surprised to see Gast at AA this season. He has pitched well improving his K percent and dropping his BB/9 down by 1 point. I also saw that his velocity is up couple MPH. He’s showing why he belongs in the Rotation. Rotation need’s another Lefty besides Garcia. Gast could be a good LOOGY in the future. But I could see Freeman with that title.
◦Roberto De La Cruz big latin signing few years ago. is now 20 never walks, hands of stones. but is showing power potenial ISO of .278 last year (reference Pujols lifetime .285 ISO.)
and still lives by the motto “you cant walk off an island”
Given all the pub that Taveras, Wong, Rosenthal and other big name prospects are getting, it is worth noting that several of the next tier (or possibly lower than that) of prospects are also playing really well/putting it together.
A few names worth watching (SSS disclaimer):
Anthony Garcia’s OPS has now risen to .826. Garcia, age 20, in his first experience with full season ball, has an ops of 1.148 over the last 10 games. Also been moved up from the bottom of the lineup to 5th. Absolutely destroys lefties.
Sam Freeman, in another go around at the Texas League (a hitter’s paradise as it is often described): 3/1 k/w ratio and has only allowed 11 hits in 16 1/3. He has also faced more righties than lefties on the season. The lefties in Memphis are also doing well, but he deserves consideration for moving up at some point. Age 24/25 season.
Fornataro and Butler in the Springfield pen have been lights out the last few weeks. This is a welcome change from the disaster that was the 2011 Springfield pen. Both sit mid 90s (on the Springfield gun). Fornataro has struck out 15 and walked one in 18 1/3 innings thus far. Butler looks like he has taken hold of the closer job with Fornataro a very capable set up guy. Both age-appropriate for the level.
Reifer’s line for his last 10 games: 12 IP, 6 hits, 9k, 2w.
Finally, and thankfully, Sanchez seems to have made great progress in the last few weeks. His overall line still looks bad largely due to a rough start, but in his last 9 2/3 innings he has struck out 9 and walked only 3. An overall whip of around 1. If the latter two guys can effectively bolster the bullpen in the second half it could be a big lift for the MLB club.
Thanks for the insight. I agree that the group of prospects below the Miller-Taveras-Jenkins’ of the world does not get some deserved publicity. Stl has built quality depth in its system as evidenced by the individual performances you note. I believe the time will come soon when there are no more Romeros and Linebrinks on the big league club.
I just hope we can go without the Romeros and T Millers…. We have a number of lefties working their way up the system. I’m not too convinced about Greenwood, but I like Gast, and am intrigued by Lyons and Freeman. A little further back I like what I’ve seen in Siegrest, Kiekhefer and Ferrara.