It was a feel-good day as the system went 4-and-1, but Johnson City was rained out again. Quad Cities put the hurt on Lansing. Technically, Matt Williams didn’t hit for the cycle… because he was better than that. Springfield’s usual suspects provided ample offense while Trevor Rosenthal returned from the DL (back spasms) in successful fashion. Both Springfield and Memphis recorded shut-outs. Details after the jump…
Memphis 3, Round Rock 0
- Pete Kozma homered (7th) and walked.
- Ryan Jackson and Eugenio Velez singled and walked.
- Mark Hamilton walked twice.
- Adron Chambers and Steven Hill singled.
- John Gast struck out 6 in 5 scoreless innings that included 7 hits and 1 walk.
- A parade of five relievers (Nick Greenwood, Chuckie Fick, Sam Freeman, Adam Reifer, and Eduardo Sanchez) handled the final 4 innings to secure the shut-out.
- Kolten Wong was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Oscar Taveras was 4-for-5 with a HR (18th).
- Chris Swauger was 3-for-4 with a HR (10th).
- Jamie Romak was 3-for-5.
- Jermaine Curtis was 1-for-2 with a walk.
- Greg Garcia was 1-for-3 with a walk and SB (5th).
- Travis Tartamella singled.
- Xavier Scruggs walked.
- Trevor Rosenthal had a scoreless outing that included only 4 hits and 1 walk in 6 innings. He struck out 4.
- Jorge Rondon, Justin Wright, and Michael Blazek contributed a scoreless inning a piece.
- Mike O’Neill tripled and walked.
- Starlin Rodriguez doubled and stole his 14th base.
- James Ramsey and Ronny Gil doubled.
- Geoffrey Klein singled.
- Alan Ahmady walked 3 times while Jeremy Patton walked once.
- Kevin Siegrist lasted 7 respectable innings. He allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts.
- Aidan Lucas struck out 2 in an inning.
- Dean Kiekhefer worked a perfect 9th.
- Matt Williams was 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 HR (4th).
- Stephen Piscotty was 3-for-5.
- Anthony Garcia was 2-for-5 with a HR (13th).
- David Medina had a HR (7th) and walk.
- Roberto De La Cruz homered (5th).
- Nick Martini and Juan Castillo singled.
- Roberto Reyes singled and walked.
- Luis Mateo walked and stole his 16th base.
- Hector Hernandez pitched 6 strong innings. Only 2 runs scored on 5 hits and 4 strikeouts.
- Robert Stock allowed an unearned run in an inning. He walked 2 and struck out 1.
- Travis Miller allowed a hit.
- David Bergin was 2-for-4 with a double and HR (2nd).
- Anthony Melchionda was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Breyvic Valera, Jesus Montero, and Steven Ramos singled.
- Patrick Wisdom walked.
- Kyle Helisek allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings; he struck out 3.
- Tim Cooney only allowed 1 run on 2 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts in 3 innings.
- Kevin Jacob struck out 2 and walked 1 in his inning.
Johnson City: Double-header postponed
Looks like the games are rained out again tonight. Doubleheader pushed to tomorrow night.
— J.C. Cardinals(@JC_Cardinals) July 12, 2012
Entries (RSS)
Rosenthal was sitting 92-95 topped 96-97 on his sinking Fastball also mixed in his change-up and curve-ball well really kept the Naturals hitters off balance at the plate according to reports. Taveras HR was an opposite field shot shows how controlled violent his swing is.
Rosenthal at 88 pitches – average efficiency, go/ao of 8-4 which is better than some of his more recent performances. His walk rate is definitely trending the right direction.
loving the decrease in walk rate…now needs to induce more grounders
his strikeout rate actually isnt anything to write home about at around 7.5/9
FWIW, he isn’t trying to strike out a lot. If it happens, it happens. His goal is to get through 7 innings every start right around a 100 pitches – pretty hard to do striking out 9-10/9. Miller has a great strike-out rate, and his average outing is 4.2 innings per start.
I too would like to see more grounders. I can’t account for that change other than he seems to be working up in the zone more, but I think it is by design.
It’s been said a lot, but damn OT is on fire. Memphis by August? What’s left to do in Springfield?
Oscar Taveras is now Slugging .593, Anthony Garcia now Slugging .548 these two have really evolved in the power department this season.
Small correction DT: Taveras now Slugging .606.
I think we may have the next Vladimir Guerrero on our hands.
Trevor Rosenthal has maintained a pretty solid 22.1% K Rate from his 44% Groundball Rate he fits “polished” well would like to see him cut down on his walks as well 10.1% Walk Rate.
Looking at Kiekhefer’s numbers he’s only walked 3 batters in 42 2/3 innings this season that’s a 1.8% Walk Rate 0.65 BB/9.
In his last 10, his walk rate has dropped to aroun 2.5/9IP
his GB% is actually 41.2%
Taveras, Wong, Anthony Garcia and Carson Kelly are my top four favorite Cardinal prospects. I can’t wait for the day they make their MLB debuts. Any chance Anthony Garcia skips Palm Beach? Being pretty young (20) would they be aggressive like they were for Wong and Taveras?
Its possible, but I say unlikely. Garcia needs to cut down on his strikeout rate, which is around 22%. Whether this issue is pitch selection, a hole in his swing or something else, I do not know. However, it does not appear that he is ready for the jump that more advanced hitters have taken in the past.
Thanks for the detailed Rosenthal report, Flush. I can see why one scout recently told Fangraphs’ prospect maven Mike Newman that he now rated Rosie…wait for it…above Shelby Miller. If Rosie is really *that* good, do the Cards have seven top 50 prospects? (Taveras, Wong, Adams, Garcia, Miller, Rosie, and Martinez.)
Good question, Cade, re:Garcia skipping Palm Beach. I said earlier today that I thought he’d go straight to AA…but with his mild strikeout issues, I imagine the club will see how he looks against truly advanced pitching in Spring Training, then take it from there.
By the way, Lansing’s starter tonight, Sanchez, is a just-turned-20-yrs-old, first round pick from 2010, who entered the game having allowed FIVE earned runs in 63 innings. Quad Cities matched that total, and knocked him out in the second inning.
Oh, and Garcia’s homer in the first? It increased Sanchez’ HR’s allowed from zero to one this season.
Garcia goes to Palm Beach…he isnt the player OT is and he would still be young for the High A level next year. Also having some of the more Latin American instructors at PB would do him good. You have to remember that he doesnt have the nuts “hit the ball wherever they throw it” ability that OT has. OT has top 20 player in the show potential, Garcia is something less like top 100 player in the league potential. I was really impressed watching him play last week though. You have to remember that pitchers are not giving him a ton of balls to hit and he is still putting up these numbers.
Will people ever stop with the racial stereotypes when it comes to coaching? If non-Hispanic coaches can’t relate as well/ coach as well Hispanic players does that mean Hispanic coaches can’t relate/coach non-Hispanic players as well?
Is it necessarily a racial stereotype? I thinks more of a language issue.
1. BJM did not mention language, he only mentioned the heritage of the coaches/players.
2. Should we assume that non-Hispanic coaches don’t speak Spanish. i think Mr. LaRussa would disagree would that. i know some other that would also.
3. If #2 is applicable, do we assume all Hispanic coaches speak good English?
4. not only are we making assumptions about the coaches but also about the players and their language abilities.
5. While it may happen and may be true, i’ve never once heard a player say he didn’t develop as well as he might have due to language issues. Even US players that go to the winter leagues or Japan often talk about language issues in terms of social things and even “team” things but not once have I ever heard it brought up as a developmental issue.
6. Yes, I realize I am in the minority on this issue but as someone who lives day to day in a foreign country and speaking another language I would guess I am more sensitive to the stereotypes relating to ones heritage. Those stereotypes include both cultural and language.
6. Yes, I realize I am in the minority on this issue but as someone who lives day to day in a foreign country and speaking another language I would guess I am more sensitive to the stereotypes relating to ones heritage. Those stereotypes include both cultural and language.
Having worked in professional baseball, I know these stereotypes do exist. It is a comfort thing which is a racial thing. Why does baseball out most of the latin american signees all in the same league in Florida for their first exposure to pro ball stateside. In a league that has a higher percentage of latin american coaches. It is not a development thing perse but there definitely comfort issues. Beyond language you have to be careful with kids from Latin America as each nation/island definitely has prejudices culturally against each other. I definitely do not want to come off as lumping anything south of Florida into one group, as I sort of sounded like I did in the original post.
As to my point…Garcia is not the hitter that OT is. OT’s abilities defy having an approach at the plate. Garcia needs to work on his approach some before advancing. Some time in Palm Beach is called for. (Johnny Rodriguez is a solid coach who help OT last year at Quad Cities a lot, Garcia would benefit working with him).
Bob, really enjoy reading your informative comments here. Appreciate your contribution to helping me understand what the Cardinals have down on the farm.
If he increased it from zero to more than one, that would be really impressive. :-)
Will matt Williams stick at SS…his bat plays up nicely at that position
everything I’ve read syas he can stick at short. The bat being the question. Most people don’t realize the MWL is actually less of a hitters league than the FSL. .700+ OPS at the big league level gets you a MI bench position at minimum if you can play decent defense. I’d say Williams has a chance to be a major leaguer but it is not a great one.
Williams defense has been about mediocre at SS he’s committed 24 errors in 434 chances that’s a .942 Fld%. He’s having a decent season offensively .277 AVG .325 OBP for a SS is bad though he does have a pretty solid .329 BABIP just needs to get on base more.
.277, .325 is pretty good for a SS, if he’s a good defender
I live near Johnson City. Raining harder today than either of the last two days. Quadruple header tomorrow?
We’re finally getting some rain in West Tennessee as well. I think we need to send some over to the Midwest
I was at the QC game and was impressed with Piscotty and Garcia and obviously Williams. Stock was mostly mid 90s and hit 98 once but not very good control. de la cruz should be at Batavia despite his late home run. I would not be surprised if Piscotty ended up a corner outfielder with all the 3rd base talent now in the system.
As over said before, de la Cruz is a bust
I’ve, not over
Good to hear the velocity is up for the converted catcher Stock may take him a while to get that consistent control and command of that mid 90s fastball.
Gast’s pickoff move claimed another victim last night … and yet, somehow he gave up three SBs.
I was at the Memphis/Round Rock game and the three steals against Gast were all on first movement. Anderson didn’t have a prayer of throwing the runner out on the first one and the other two were on a double steal on a curve in the dirt.
Well I hate to be a buzzkill on Rosenthal, but I attended the game in Springfield last night and walked away a little unimpressed. The couple games i’ve seen him pitch previously this year I really liked what I saw, but his offspeed pitches were very inconsistent last night. I can only remember 2 offspeed pitches that he threw for strikes, with one of them resulting in a strike out. Otherwise, they were mostly very high in the zone around the batter’s shoulders. He was hanging them often, and luckily, they were so high that they didnt get hit out. I’ve seen good off speed pitches from him before, so I know he has the ability, he just needs to sharpen his command and consistency. He’s one of my favorite prospects but he is not close to big league ready IMHO. With that being said, it speaks volume to the quality of his fastball. To be able to throw 6 shutout innings relying almost exclusively on his fastball is pretty impressive. He was hitting 95-99mph on the stadium gun the first 4 innings, with the latter innings being mostly 93-95. The ball that Taveras hit out was a well stung line drive that barely cleared the left fielder’s glove over the fence. His bat speed and control is very exciting to watch. Perhaps the best pitching performance of the night came from Rondon, who started a double play himself to end his inning after both Garcia and Wong botched consecutive double play balls.
He still managed to throw a 4 hit shutout in 6 inning good to see he still manged to go deep in the game even without his best stuff.
Also another note Rondon may have a mid 90s Fastball but he has no movement at all just straight.
Rosenthal does seem to be relying on his, very good, fastball more than he did earlier in the season. His last start before the weight lifting injury he threw it 75-85% of his pitches. Hot day, huge zone, and a lot of chasing later resulted in a pretty good final line. However, he will need to mix things up more–as he did earlier in the year (when his periphials suffered)–to be successful at higher levels.
That comes close to coinciding with the report I got. He said his curveball was high, however, it had a ton of movement on it, so the hitters were bailing on it. As you note, MLB hitters may not be so kind. For the last two games, he has charted a high of 99. The differing part of the report was that his change was pretty effective with hitters being out front on it.
Roberto De La Cruz: 65 strikeouts and only 5 walks. How horrible of a ratio is that? He must really be a free swinger.
While this is off topic, there doesn’t currently seem to be a place to make this comment.
Today is the draft signing deadline at 4pm central time I believe. I believe the Cards have done a very good job in getting all 14 of their picks in the first 10 rounds signed. I also commend them for being willing to go over their allocated budget and pay the financial penalty for doing so. Obviously the proof will come down the road as we see how their picks develop.
They currently have just under $244000 that they can spend on any one of their remaining unsigned draft picks without losing a draft pick for next year. Since they have financially extended themselves this far, I am hoping they would still sign Trey Williams {not likely} or one of the other picks with the money they can still spend. Has anyone heard any rumblings of any final signings?
Finally be alert to next Wednesday, July 18th, being the first MLB Competitive Balance Lottery. The Cards are one of 13 teams in the lottery that stand to receive an additional pick at the 1st or 2nd compensation round in the 2013 draft. Since the lottery is in part weighted on the inverse of winning percentage, the Cards chances of getting one of those picks is small, but possible. Since starting in the 2013 draft the idea of compensation for losing free agents has been greatly reduced, getting lucky and receiving a Competive Balance Lottery draft choice would be a windfall. Lastly, those picks can be traded or traded for prior to the end of this season, and again next season, prior to the draft, BUT NOT during the off season. This thus becomes another way in which additional picks can be acquired (by clever GMs).
When I said they could spend $244000, I meant to indicate that they can go up to $100000 for each of their remaining unsigned picks, and then a total of another $144000 for one or more of the picks above that $100000 limit for picks in rounds 11-40.
The Cards have some nice unsigned high school picks. Hopefully they could buy off one of them.
Shoot, you’re welcome Charlie. This is a great site for the minors, and a fine readership; it’s a pleasure kickin’ in my twocentsworth once in a while.
Thanks for the Stock Report, rj! Great to hear the velocity is reaching the mid-90′s, even upper occasionally. Didn’t realize that was happening; maybe by this time next year, he’ll have smoothed over most of the rough edges. With that kind of raw heat, and plenty of organizational patience, maybe we could have an above-average setup man in 3-4 years?
Kind of off topic, but i’ve heard that the Rangers are interested in trading for Justin Upton. If you are rangers, would you trade Profar and Olt for Upton? It could be a win win for both teams. A change of scenery for Upton and they already have a really good left side with Andrus and Beltre locked up for the next 4 years. I doubt it happens and i’m not sure it’s in the Rangers best interests long term, but they seem like they are going all in this year.