Sringfield had the day off and the rest of the system went 1-and-2. Memphis had a tough day in the field, particularly Zack Cox, who committed his 7th and 8th errors of the season. Palm Beach won behind a strong effort from Richard Castillo who was able to get a bunch of outs via grounders. Quad Cities pitchers had a tough day on the mound. Details after the jump…
- Eugenio Velez was 2-for-4 with a HR.
- Amaury Cazana was 1-for-3 with a HR and walk.
- Steven Hill was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Ryan Jackson and Zack Cox each had doubles of their own.
- Matt Adams did not reach base in his pinch-hit appearance.
- Joe Kelly‘s line was complicated by 3 errors (2 by Cox and 1 of his own): 5 IP, 4 H, 5 R (2 ER), 4 SO, and 2 BB.
- Maikel Cleto pitched 2 perfect innings that featured 4 strikeouts.
- Nick Greenwood was knocked around: 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 SO, and 0 BB.
Springfield: No game.
- Starlin Rodriguez had 3 singles and 2 stolen bases (3rd and 4th of the season). Nicholas Longmire also had 3 hits but one of his was a double.
- Niko Vasquez went 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Luis De La Cruz and Jonathan Rodriguez added singles.
- Alan Ahmady hit his 11th double of the season.
- Richard Castillo pitched 7 innings with a high percentage of outs coming on ground balls (GO/AO = 11/2); he gave up 3 runs (all earned) on 6 hits, 3 strikeouts, and 0 walks.
- Iden Nazario pitched 1 perfect inning that included 1 strikeout.
- Dean Kiekhefer finished up the game by allowing 2 hits and recording 2 strikeouts in the ninth inning.
- Roberto De La Cruz was 2-for-5 with a HR.
- Luis Mateo was 1-for-4 with a HR.
- Matt Williams was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Anthony Garcia and Garrett Wittels each had doubles. Wittels also walked once.
- Juan Castillo and Virgil Hill added singles.
- David Medina walked twice.
- Kyle Hald surrendered twice as many hits (10) as innings pitched (5) but managed to limit the damage to 3 runs (all earned). He struck out 4 batters against 0 walks.
- Brandon Creath also had a rough outing: 2 IP, 6 H, 4 R (4 ER), 1 SO, and 0 BB.
- Ethan Cole could not escape his inning unscathed either: 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 SO, and 0 BB.
Entries (RSS)
Castillo seems age appropriate for high A and has pitched well this year.
If a new right handed reliever is needed at the mlb level, does cleto now have the inside track? His terrible era is almost purely a function of a <40% lob rate. His peripherals look terrific.
I was just wondering the same thing. In Joe Strauss’ weekly chat, he said Mo is in Memphis this week, presumably to check up on Sanchez. Wonder who’s going to make the biggest impression?
Sanchez has pitched extremely well in his last 5 outings. If he has it back…..he would come up first I believe.
I have thought for some time that Steven Hill is a natural hitter who could hit major
league pitching for a suffient average and power. He also seems to have the ability
to hit without playing regularly, making him an ideal backup catcher, OF, 1Baseman.
I like Tony Cruz as a defensive catcher but he needs to be getting at-bats in the
minors to reach any kind of potential as a major league hitter. As much as Molina
plays, seems like Hill should be the backup for him if his defense is good enough.
I have never heard a knock on Hill,s defense. Anybody know. Hill just turned 27, and
it seems to me he should be on a major league roster as a good reserve player
The problem is that with a 5 man bench, unless the Cards are creative and use Molina both late in games and when they want to rest him at firstbase, like the Giants are doing with Posey, there are few opportunities to use Cruz, and similarly Hill, even though he would be a good pinch hitter, because of the fear of a late game injury and no third catcher. Matheny should consider double switching where Cruz (or Hill or whomever) could pinch hit against lefties, and Molina could go to 1b or Hill to 1b or OF or Cruz to 3b or whereever, thus keeping two catchers in the lineup for the rest of the game….thus getting Cruz or someone like Hill some AB’s.
Has anyone heard anything at all lately about Berkman or Chris Carpenter??
They were discussin making berkman available as early as tomorrow. Carpenter we will be lucky to see on return from the Allstar break.
Stl Post Dispatch is reporting that Berkman could play as early as Friday. Carpenter is a ways away. He is making strength gains in his shoulder, but has not begun a throwing program. A return by the All Star Break is highly unlikely. It seems the club is projecting an August return, if at all.
OK I will make cracks on Roberto De La Cruz’s walk rate forever, but he has heated up a bit.
Good to see Starlin Rodriguez back and getting a two hit night. He is one of the most underrated players in the system. He has some tools is a good athlete but is blocked by Kolten Wong.