The system goes 5-1 yesterday with Memphis putting a smack down on Frisco. Quad Cities melts down in the 9th inning and Springfield homers its way to victory.
- Adron Chambers was 5-for-6 with a walk and a double.
- Ryan Jackson was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Jackson is hitting .291/.357/.414 on the season.
- Matt Adams was 0-for-2 and was lifted for a pinch hitter.
- Mark Hamilton was 3-for-4. He doubled, homered and walked twice.
- Zack Cox was 3-for-6 with a pair of doubles.
- Pete Kozma was 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks.
- John Gast allowed 5 runs (3 earned) in 5.2 innings. He was tagged for 8 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5. Oklahoma actually lead Memphis 5-0 before Memphis put up an 8 spot in the 5th inning and never looked back.
- Kolten Wong was 4-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Oscar Taveras was 2-for-3 with a double, a home run and a walk. Taveras, despite having just turned 20, is only 30 points off of the OPS lead for the Texas League in second place. He is the slugging leader.
- Jamie Romak, Chris Swauger and Xavier Scruggs all homered.
- Greg Garcia was 3-for-4 with a home run. I’m perplexed why Garcia winds up so far down in the lineup given his very impressive hitting this season.
- Scott McGregor allowed 4 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits and 1 walk. He struck out 2.
- Eric Fornataro allowed 3 hits and 1 run in the 9th while striking out 1.
- Mike O’Neill was 2-for-4.
- Starlin Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a home run. Don’t sleep on Rodriguez as a prospect. He’s an effective second baseman showing good power, hitting for average and drawing walks.
- Luis de la Cruz was 2-for-4.
- Kevin Siegrist struck out 5 in 6 innings. He allowed 2 hits and walked 2.
- QC lead 6-1 entering the 9th inning only to allow 6 runs. They would score twice to win the game in the bottom of the 9th.
- Matt Williams was 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
- Colin Walsh was 2-for-5.
- Anthony Garcia was 2-for-3 with a HBP.
- Kyle Hald was impressive striking out 8 in 6 innings of work. He allowed 4 hits and walked 1. Hald’s rate stats are off the pace from last year in Johnson City but he has a 5:1 K:BB ratio after 76 innings.
- Robert Stock struck out 2 and allowed 1 hit in a scoreless 7th.
- Danny Miranda, Ethan Cole and Heath Wyatt conspired to make the roller coaster of a 9th inning.
- Steven Ramos (RF) was 1-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks.
- Breyvic Valera (2B) was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
- Patrick Wisdom (3B) was 2-for-5.
- Anthony Melchionda (SS) was 2-for-3 with a walk.
- Jonathan Keener (C) homered for his only hit in 4 at bats.
- Ben Freeman allowed 3 hits and and 1 run while striking out 2.
- Yunier Castillo was saddled with a blown save due to 2 unearned runs. He allowed 2 hits and walked 1.
- Lance Jefferies (CF) was 2-for-4.
- Jeremy Shaffer (1B) was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
- Ronard Castillo (LF) was 2-for-4.
- Carson Kelly (3B) was 3-for-4.
- Dutch Deol (RF) was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Cory Jones was tagged for 4 runs (3 earned) in 3 innings of work. He allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2.
- Mariano Llorens struck out 3 in 2 frames walking 1.
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Just FYI, a small link error: the intended link for the Springfield game takes one to the Memphis game instead. Should be an easy fix.
Ironic that on a night when the entire Memphis team breaks out the whuppin’ sticks, Adams has an ohfer.
It was one of those nights in springfield where the wind factored into the homeruns.
Good to see Kyle Hald get a bounce back start. He having a good statistical season. 3.32 ERA 63 K only 12 walks in 76 IP 1.10 GO/AO Ratio opponents are hitting .260 against him. He’s another LOOGY candidate down the road he’s held LH Batters to a .167 AVG this season.
I’ve heard reports that the Cardinals will try to work in Starlin Rodriguez in CF, and LF in order not to be blocked at second.
To Cardinal prospect experts….what is the prospect “status” of Greg Garcia. He is having another nice year. Gets on base. Age appropriate for the level. I just never hear much about him. What is his upside? Can he stick at SS? Thanks.
Between the left handedness and the high walk rate, Greg Garcia would be a pretty interesting prospect if he projected to stick at SS. Unfortunately he doesn’t, so the lack of power kind of kills any potential value at a corner.
I think he’d be a good utility option. LH bat, can play both middle infield positions. Decent speed but not a SB threat. Maybe a better Daniel Descalso is his upside – better fielder at SS, but less arm. Better on-base skills but maybe not as much power. I want to see Garcia at AAA – I always worry some about LH hitters at SPR (see Descalso’s 22 y/o year at SPR for an example of why)
Great question, Bret; if Garcia is no worse than, say, a minus 6-8 runs shortstop over 150 games, then I’d say his offense puts him on a par with, and perhaps even a half-tick above Ryan Jackson as a prospect. (For whatever it’s worth, B-Prospectus’ defensive metrics have Greg’s glovework exactly average this year.)
But it’s the *other* Garcia who national-level prospect mavens should *finally* be trumpeting. Anthony pushed his season OPS over .900 yesterday, and .950 on the road, and .970+ in each of the last two months. (Since the first week of the season, A.G. is hitting .315/.385/.565).
Moreover, Garcia seems fully acclimated to the outfield, with 6 runners gunned down in just 55 games, and just one lonesome miscue afield.
My favorite number, though, is this one: Two.
That’s how many times Garcia has whiffed in the last ten games, covering 40 plate appearances, during which he’s hit .371/.450/.657.
For me, Anthony G. has cemented his status as a top-100 prospect. And if he can maintain the .900+ OPS while keeping the K rate at a manageable level, he’s a borderline top-50 by season’s end.
A 20-year old low A OF in the top-50? That’s in the Cardinal system, as opposed to all of baseball, right? He’s also only walked 3 times over those 40 plate appearances. Going to have to improve that OBP. Watching it drop 33 points from his time in JC doesn’t bode well for his stops up the ladder.
Taveras can’t be stopped and you can’t contain him either..if the vote took place today for minor league player of the year i think it would come down to him and Will Meyers..tough pick between the two.
Yeah, that’s exactly my take on Garcia – he’s why we won’t have to pay Daniel descalso skip schumaker’s salary in arbitration.
Another Greg Garcia defensive metric report: according to Hardballtimes, Greg’s glove was +5.5 runs in 2010, +1.5 runs last year, and +2.7 so far this season.
Considering his time has been split almost evenly between SS and the keystone, those numbers are very encouraging to me — looks like he’ll at *least* be a plus-plus utility infielder. :)
The issue isn’t really his defense today. It’s his defense 3-4 years from now. Scouts don’t think he’ll have good range when his body fills out a little.
I hear you, Matt.
But *IF* we work off the premise — as suggested by multiple defensive evaluation systems — that right now Garcia is average-to-verygood at short, I think it’s fair to say he won’t be flat out *bad* in 3, 5, or 8 years from now. As long as he stays in shape and works on his craft, of course.
And that last caveat is the reason I’m admittedly kind of a glass half full guy, when it comes to projecting MLB defensive contributions; more so than hitting, I think defense can be “maxed out” through conditioning and practice, practice, Carnegie Hall-quality practice.
What I’d like, is to read some quotes about G.G.’s glovework — whether from inside or outside the organization. (Preferably both, of course.)
Cox is now batting .253 for the season, which is pretty impressive considering how bad he played in April and May. I know STL needs bullpen help very badly, but i’d hate to see us trade him away this summer. I’ve heard his name thrown around a lot because he is blocked by Freese and we have 3B depth behind him. He is a 1st rounder who got a nice chunk of change and he’s showing now that he deifnately can hit in AAA. Plus he just turned 23 in May. Maybe we can move him to corner OF? Or does anyone know what kind of pitcher we could maybe get in a trade with Cox as the centerpiece?
Is Adams hurt ? Considering we are shopping for pitching help just wondering if he could be a trade chip. We should be able to get something decent for him.
I dunno, Evan. I still imagine that Cox’s stock is down from 6 months ago. At his best, there are still questions about the power, the glove, and the patience to draw more than 40 walks a year. (In other words, he’s gotta hit .310+ to have any real chance at aboveaverageness.)
But I’ll bet that Joe Kelly’s more valuable just now, than he was several weeks back. Maybe package Joe and some Mr. X for a pair of solid, cost-controlled relievers.
Bob, I definately agree with you about many questions regarding his glove and power. But I still think he has a good chance to be a .300 avg guy who hits 10-15 home runs with 60-80 rbi. He has been compared a lot to Brett Wallace bc of his similar skill set and being blocked by an established big leaguer. We got Matt holliday with Wallace as the centerpiece and I don’t see us getting anywhere near that for cox this summer. It seems like we would be selling, which is a bad thing to do with top prospects
Yeah, we’d likely be selling low on Cox right now. I say send him back to AAA next year (he’ll still be just 23 on Opening Day), and see if he can tear it up from the start.
Then twelve months from now you’ve got a real commodity in the fold.
And TB23? Yes, I do mean borderline top 50 overall prospect for Anthony G., provided he gets that K% down around 18-20% while maintaining the 900+ OPS and apparently solid outfield play.
This is Garcia’s third year in a row of being age-appropriate for his level, while posting an OPS at least 190 points above his league. To put that into a big league context, right now Matt Holliday, with his slash line of .307/.391/.502, is 175 points above the N.L. average.
Of course, in no way do I mean to call Garcia “another Matt Holliday,” but I am saying that Anthony (if he keeps this up) is emerging as one of the best 20 or so prospects in the minors, IF you’re looking at bat *only.* Right now he looks like a guy who could hit .280+ in his prime, with decent walk/HBP totals, and lots of power. Even as an average defender at an outfield corner, that’s a fine, fine player. ;)