Thanks to azruavatar for covering my shift the past couple of nights while I was getting settled into a new apartment. And congrats to Anthony Ferrara Jr. (2.57/4.07 ERA/FIP), Starlin Rodriguez (.349 wOBA), and Mike O’Neill (.368 wOBA) for being selected to represent Palm Beach in the FSL’s 2012 All-Star Game. Seth Maness was also selected but will not participate since he has been promoted to Springfield, where he pitched very well tonight.
Memphis was shut out despite having more hits than their opponents. Springfield won in spite of quiet nights from Wong and Taveras. Jonathan Rodriguez hit his 2nd HR in 3 nights. Colin Walsh continued his impressive streak of hitting for Quad Cities. Details after the jump…
Memphis 0, Round Rock 3
- Lou Montanez had a nice night leading off, going 3-for-5.
- Cedric Hunter went 3-for-4 w/ a SB (3rd of season).
- The other three hits were from Ryan Jackson, Jamie Romak, and Eugenio Velez (double).
- Bryan Anderson had 3 walks, while Mark Hamilton and Mitch Canham each added a walk of their own.
- Nick Additon only allowed 1 hit but issued 5 walks in 7 innings pitched. He also had 4 strikeouts.
- Adam Reifer threw 2 innings in relief; he surrendered 1 run on 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 strike out.
- Kolten Wong and Oscar Taveras failed to reach base tonight. I guess we’ll still keep them.
- Chris Swauger was 2-for-3 w/ a HR, triple, and walk.
- Jermaine Curtis was 1-for-2 w/ a double , two walks, and a SB (3rd of the season).
- Xavier Scruggs and Jose Garcia each had 1 single and 1 walk. Greg Garcia added a single of his own.
- Travis Tartamella drew a walk.
- Seth Maness has yet to disappoint in double-A. Tonight, he pitched 7 scoreless innings that featured 6 hits, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts all the while keeping the ball on the ground (9:3 GO:AO).
- Deryk Hooker had 2 strikeouts in 1.1 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk.
- Keith Butler was awarded his 11th save of the season for getting the last two outs of the game, one via the strikeout.
- Jonathan Rodriguez was 3-for-4 w/ a HR.
- Mike O’Neill was 2-for-4.
- Chris Edmonson, Rainel Rosario, and Geoffrey Klein each contributed singles.
- Ryan Sheriff pitched very well tonight. In 7 innings, he only allowed 1 run on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts.
- Logan Billbrough was credited with a save (4th of season) for pitching 2 innings that included 3 hits and 2 strikeouts.
- Colin Walsh was 2-for-4 w/ a HR.
- Anthony Garcia was 2-for-4 w/ a double.
- Juan Castillo and Matt Williams were each 2-for-4.
- Virgil Hill had 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 SB (4th of the season).
- Neal Pritchard walked twice and Tyler Rahmatulla walked once.
- Hector Hernandez was hammered for 8 runs (7 earned) on 7 hits (1 HR) and 5 walks against 2 strikeouts. He only lasted 3 innings.
- Willy Paulino pitched 3 innings in relief; he surrendered 3 runs (1 earned) on 2 hits (1 HR) and 2 walks. He struck out 3 batters.
- Ethan Cole tallied 2 strikeouts in 2 innings and Bob Revesz struck out another in the 9th.
Entries (RSS)
I think Colin Walsh will finish the season in QC… for postseason purposes and start in AA next year. Heck, why not?
Geez, I sure hope not. Walsh should be packing his suntan lotion right now. We can’t possibly justify keeping Colin in QC. In fact, I feel he’s ascended to the top ranks of our position player prospects. Ahead of him of course we have; Adams, Taveras, Wong, maybe Cox, Tilson and Jackson.
Hitching a ride with him might include Tyler Rahmatulla, Luis Mateo and Juan Castillo for sure. Mike O’Neill and Starlin Rodriguez could be heading for Springfield. Kolten Wong and Jermaine Curtis should soon be walking in Memphis.
As for the pitching, a lot of them have been promoted already. It could be time to make room in Memphis as our cache is boiling to the top.
Walsh has put together a fine season… but he turns 23 in September and is still in single-A.
I think that’s wiley’s point. There is nothing more he can do in QC to establish prospect status, and his age works against him there. If he can keep this up in the FSL, people will have to start taking him more seriously; 22 isn’t old for that league.
Exactly Grunt! Walsh has nothing left to prove in QC and the org needs to find out if he’s a legitimate prospect or not. His age means they have to be more aggressive in promoting him up through the system. If I recall, he was quickly promoted up the chain last year and made 3 or 4 stops. No one is best served by keeping Colin in QC. Not him, not the Cardinals. Move him to PB or Springfield (since he displays advanced hitting ability). He could be the next Freese or Craig.
He’s not in Low A because of his performance; he can’t promote himself.
His performance in QC the last two years wasn’t bad anyway. He had good BB/K ratios and and unlucky BABIPs. I was surprised to see him back in QC at the start of ths year.
Walsh will probably be promoted at the end of the first half of the Midwest season. Longmire or Swinson could be demoted, since not achieving much for Palm Beach.
Holy Cow! If Duncan were still the pitching coach, he would be licking his chops over Seth Maness! The guy is a “pitch to contact” hog! 3 walks in 67 innings! We may have something here.
Are we remembering the same Dave Duncan?
The one I seem to recall is the guy who filled reporters’ notebooks with disparaging, anonymous remarks about the entire farm system, until his buddy the bullpen coach was fired, and he suddenly became much more enthusiastic and much less anonymous about the young arms coming up, several of whom helped put a World Championship ring in his trophy case.
Or maybe I’m misremembering. But the guy I recall would still rather have 1 Miguel Batista than all the Seth Manesses in the world.
Yes, Dunc was a bad pitching coach…all the way to the HOF.
Nobody said he was a bad pitching coach.
Absolutely not my point. He’s a man who deserved all the accolades he’s received, and I’d love to see him in the HOF. But I also think it’s clear he resented the emphasis the owners chose to put on the farm system, and preferred working with veteran pitchers long past their sell-by date.
Given the way the young bullpen is pitching in St. Louis these days, he may have had a point! But seriously, I’d like to hear a scouting report on Maness and get a sense of the extent of his potential. And what about his successor at Palm Beach, Sheriff, a lefthander, just 22, whose only previous experience was last year in Johnson City, but who makes three straight impressive starts in high A ball? It beats thinking about the way the Cardinals are playing these days.
I was wondering if they were keeping Walsh in QC for post season purposes too but QC does not look like they are really in contention. Because of his age you would also think that the Cardinals would also want to get this kid moving. They seem to have quite a few under performing bats at Palm Beach.
What about this possibility….
The Cardinals are trying to keep his trade value high? Maybe they want him to continue smashing the ball at QC so he seems even more enticing to potnential trade partners as opposed to promoting him and seeing him struggle. Just a thought.
I don’t buy it. Major league GM’s can read birth certificated too.
lol well obviously Colin Walsh wouldn’t be the main piece going back in ANY deal. But he could be interesting as one of those “throw-in” type players. Guess I wasn’t clear enough. Sorry.
All I was trying to say was that if we can figure out Walsh is a little on the old side for low A, GMs can figure it out too–so it doesn’t seem likely that leaving him in low A enhances his trade value.
True, but to some degree it’s what we know vs what we don’t know. We can surmise that he might be hitting so well in QC because of his age, and therefore may hit a wall in Palm Beach, but we don’t know for sure, this could be a real breakout. If we do promote him and he does fail to perform, then it becomes very likely. On the other hand, if we promote him to PB and he still hits well, does that really add a lot of value? Then we just wonder the same thing about Springfield. So I think right now that uncertainly plays in Walsh’s favor, in terms of value to other GMs, especially since, as the saying goes, you only need to convince 1.
There is a little article in the Bandits monthly program on Walsh. Said his new found power came towards the end of Spring Training. He was having a bad day and was mad and just though I’m going to swing as hard as I can. That AB he doubled. The next day he went 2-3 with a double and he figured he was onto something. He has always had good plate discpline and sees the ball well. He just decided to swing as hard as he can and only swing at good hitters pitches. You ahve to remember that he’s from Stanford and thus learnead a great deal of bad hitting habits there. This is also the first year he’s focused on baseball the whole year. He went back to college during the last 2 off seasons to complete his degree at Stanford. I wouldn’t write him off so fast just because he’s older.
How many low A hitters do you ever see included in trades? Low A pitchers are sometimes throw ins but I can not remember any older low A hitters?
I don’t think players like this have any value until somebody can project them into a major league role. A player like Walsh, who doesn’t have a star resume, is going to have to prove himself at at least high A and AA before anybody is going to really notice him.
So getting him to high A would be a good start.
Good point. Still, as to whether or not Walsh’s trade value(however minimal) would be affected positively or negatively(however minimally), I would say letting him continue to rake at QC would make him ever so slightly more attractive to opposing GMs.
And Andrew, I believe in the guy, but we’re talking trade value. I appreciate the info, though, I hadn’t heard that. Makes me wonder if I’d just been more angry in college… ;)
Jorge Soler has been declared a free agent, for those interested.
Any chance Cards make a substantial offer? Impact bat potential.
Very doubtful, the Cubs have already been reported as being willing to go 25 mil on him.
That’s a shame. Would absolutely LOVE to add an impact bat like that to our system.
Just a note for Springfield. Jose Garcia to the DL. Garrett Wittels to Springfield.