Memphis was the only team to record a win on a night when Palm Beach was postponed and Quad Cities had the day off. That makes for a combined record of 1-3. Some of the top individual performers on the night were Matt Adams, John Gast, Breyvic Valera and Jeremy Schaffer. Let’s get to the good stuff…..
Hitting:
- Adron Chambers went 2-for-4 w/ 1 2B, 1 BB and 3 RBI
- Shane Robinson went 1-for-4 w/ 2 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI and 1 SB
- Matt Adams went 2-for-5 w/ 1 HR, 1 R and 3 RBI
- Eugenio Velez went 2-for-5 w/ 2 2B, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Cedric Hunter (1 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI), Zack Cox (1 R) and Pete Kozma (1 BB, 2 R, 1 RBI) all went 1-for-4
Pitching:
- John Gast was very good: 7.0 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB and 4 K (GO/AO = 9/5)
- Sam Freeman was the only reliever that didn’t allow a run, he pitched 0.2 scoreless innings that included 1 H and 1 K
Hitting:
- Jermaine Curtis went 2-for-3 w/ 1 BB
- Greg Garcia went 1-for-3
- Vance Albitz went 1-for-1
Pitching:
- Scott Gorgen got the start and was mediocre at best: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB and 1 K
- Justin Wright and Kevin Thomas were worse than mediocre, they combined to allow 4 R over the final 3.0 innings
Hitting:
- Breyvic Valera went 2-for-4 w/ 1 2B, 1 R and 1 RBI
- David Washington went 3-for-5 w/ 1 RBI
- Patrick Wisdom (1 BB, 1 R), Matthew Young (1 BB, 1 RBI) and Kolby Byrd (1 R) all singled
Pitching:
- Tim Cooney got the start and kept the team in the game: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 1 BB and 3 K
- Yunier Castillo gave up the deciding three runs in 2.0 innings pitched, he did have 3 K
- Lee Stoppelman (3 K) and Joseph Scanio (1 BB) both pitched 1.0 scoreless inning
Johnson City 4 @ Elizabethton 7
Hitting:
- C.J. McElroy went 2-for-3 w/ 2 BB, 1 R, 1 RBI and 2 SB
- Jeremy Schaffer went 4-for-4 w/ 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Carson Kelly went 2-for-5 w/ 1 HR, 1 R and 2 RBI
- Cesar Valera and Ronard Castillo each singled
Pitching:
- Juan Bautista got shelled: 3.2 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 1 BB and 1 K
- Thomas Lee was able to stop the bleeding, he pitched 2.1 scoreless innings that included 1 H, 1 BB and 1 K
- Michael Aldrete followed that up with 2.0 scoreless innings of his own, he recorded 2 H, 1 BB and 2 K
Entries (RSS)
C.J. McElroy is having a quietly good season: .292/.352/.375, w. 11 SB and 2 CS, 28 hits in 25 games, with 8 BB and 14 K.
Still a SSS, of course, but quite an improvement on his .582 OPS in 23 games in the GCL last summer.
It’s going to be interesting to see if he can handle QC next year, and especially interesting to see how he and Tilson progress over the next couple of years. Last year I thought Tilson would be be a level ahead of McElroy, but now Tilson has lost his first two pro seasons — one to contract negotiations, one to injury — while McElroy has played.
Kelly with another home run; impressive. Happy to see Gast with a nice performance, I think he’s going to be a good one
Four home runs already for a kid who just turned 18. . .very happy with the Kelly selection and look forward to following his progress the next few years.
Certainly is impressive. Kelly has a lot of raw power potential in his bat.
Gonna enjoy watching Kelly progress. I know we’ve probably gone over this a million times but whats the book on Kelly? Upside wise?
Adams is on another tear at AAA. As a prospect, he fell off the radar screen a little this year since he spent 27 games in the majors and did not appear to be quite ready for prime time but with his OPS nearing 1100, I think he deserves a little love again.
I think anyone who’s down on Adams for his major league performance isn’t looking at he big picture. The kid was in AA last year and was rushed due to the Berkman injury. I remember Allen Craig looking pretty questionable during his first chance – I will be really upset if we trade Adams, all the guy does is hit.
I agree. Even if Craig’s long term position is 1B, I think it would be unwise to trade Adams now because I think he will continue to mash in AAA and show even better in his next taste of the MLB. He probably gets a Sept. callup. Let’s sell high on Adams (if we sell at all).
He is definitely still a top 7 prospect in our system. Hopefully we hang onto him
Going off this and my boredom…here is my July 18th top 25 Cards prospect list :)
1) Oscar Tavares, SP: Close to a 5 tooler
2) Shelby Miller, SP: Still a believer
3) Carlos Martinez, SP: Stuff can’t be taught
4) Kolten Wong, 2B: All around toolsy, but no great tools
5) Trevor Rosenthal, SP: He just seems to have that “Cards pitcher” feel to me
6) Matt Adams, 1B: Flat out hitter!
7) Tyrell Jenkins, SP: Gotta love the athleticism
8) Michael Wacha, SP: Advanced changes are enticing
9) Zack Cox, 3B/UTIL: He makes adjustments…I like that
10) Seth Maness, SP: The 11-1 K-BB ratio is hard to ignore
11) Eeduardo Sanchez, RP
12) Anthony Garcia, OF
13) Carson Kelly, 3B
14) Ryan Jackson, SS
15) John Gast, SP
16) Jordan Swagerty, SP
17) Stephen Piscotty, 3B/OF
18) Colin Walsh, IF
19) CJ McElroy, OF
20) Charlie Tilson, OF
21) Scott Gorgen, SP
22) Keith Butler, RP
23) James Ramsey, OF
24) Richard Castillo, SP
25) Greg Garcia, MI
I love the system right now
I like your list a lot. You’re a little higher on Maness than I am but other than that, it’s pretty spot-on.
…and I like Maness ahead of Cox. Other than that, I like the list too.
I have a much different list, but that’s what makes this fun. Everyone gets an opinion and we can all dream.
I’ll do a top-21 at the end of the season that is quite detailed, but I am more of a tools/upside type personally.
Maness wouldn’t be that high, but man the 11-1 K-BB is just too good to ignore. The interview that FR had a week ago was also inspiring. He seems to know his limitations making me believe that he could be a big leaguer sans top level stuff.
You are a bit higher on Wong that I would be. I like Wong. But I see wong as a second base only Polonco. Which is not bad. Polonco has had a really good career. But I would not rank that higher than Rosenthal or Adams right now.
I’ve had in my mind Fernando Vina as the comparable for Wong.
Which makes better sense because Vina hit lefthanded.
Numbers 2-8 are almost interchangeable at this point. I think that shows the depth of the organization. I am not giving up on Miller as our top pitching prospect yet though.
I think your comparison of Wong to Polanco (as well as the one to Vina) are good ones.
However, I would be quite happy if either Adams or Rosenthal bring as much value to the Birds as either Polanco or Vina did.
OOh, let me play!
1. Oscar Taveras OF
2. Shelby Miller SP
3. Carlos Martinez SP
4. Kolten Wong 2B
5. Trevor Rosenthal SP/RP
6. Michael Wacha SP (I think his upside is higher than many seemed to think at the draft, and his curve may be better than advertised)
7. Tyrell Jenkins SP
8. Matt Adams 1B
9. Carson Kelly 3B (gotta love the upside, also not a huge fan of Cox in the top 10 as a very low-upside player)
10. Zack Cox 3B (OK so he made the top 10!)
11. Stephen Piscotty (again, under-rated in the draft by many, I think; he looks as good a player as Cox coming out of college, to me, albeit a touch older)
12. Anthony Garcia OF (could easily have as gone as high as #9 here)
13. John Gast SP (he’s really moved up this season, for me, but I worry that he’s blocked in St Louis and likely isn’t worth much in a trade, so maybe a bit high here)
14. Greg Garcia 2B/SS (even though he’s finally getting a bit of love, I feel he’s massively under-rated and could even be a top-10 guy in our system; numbers 9-16 are, I guess, fairly close).
15. James Ramsey OF (this might be a bit conservative, I think)
16. Ryan Jackson SS (my worry here is that he’s probably not going to hit enough to play 2B, so a utility role seems less likely, and I don’t know if he’s a starter for a team that traded Brendan Ryan)
17. Maikel Cleto RP (K/BB rate is astonishing this year, I think he’s a better relief prospect than Sanchez now becuase I think his HR-rate will be easier to get under control than Eduardo’s lack of command).
18. Patrick Wisdom 3B (not my favourite draft choice but the glove sounds like it’ll be good at third)
19. Seth Maness SP
20. Jordan Swagerty SP/RP (absolutely love Swagerty but my worry is the year of lost development really hurts his chances of being a starter, and I don’t know if he’s closer-material in the pen)
21. Tyler Lyons SP
22. CJ McElroy OF (think he could absolutely vault up this list by the end of the year, mind you)
23. Charlie Tilson (as with Swagerty, and Pham (who would’ve been on the fringes of my top 10 this time last year), injuries and lost development time are a concern)
24. Steve Bean C (despite the cruddy start, hard to leave off a guy who was a top-100 prospect coming into the draft according to most observers)
25 Eduardo Sanchez RP
I’d have liked to have got a couple of the Latin kids from short-season teams into this, but I don’t really know enough about them. I’m sure one or two (and possibly Valera) are worth a spot around #20ish.
I think it’s also an interesting exercise to see where the guys on the ML team who still qualify as prospects (or who did at the start of the year) would fit in. For me, Lynn would be straight-up #1, Carpenter would be around #6 or 7, Joe Kelly about #10. I’m guessing none of those guys are “prospects” soon, though.
I think it’s also important to note how, on any of these lists, any prospect (except maybe in the top 10) is going to be fairly interchangeable with guys 4 or 5 places above and below. By Sickels-type rankings, for instance, I’m guessing everyone on my list from about #8 to about #18 would rank somewhere around the B to B- level. 1-7 (or maybe 1-8) are all in the A- to B+ range, with probably only Oscar as a straight-A right now.
I kind of forgot Cleto I guess. He would fall in right around Sanchez…10-15 probably
Carson Kelly. The good news: He’s struck out 14 times in 87 at bats.
The bad news: He’s walked just once.
He’s going to have learn how to work the count and have a better feel for the strike zone as he advances in the Cardinal system.
Steve Bean is hitting just .127 with 22 strike outs in 55 at bats for JC.
He’s 18 years old he will learn to develop more plate discipline down the road.
DT, I hope your right. But, I do remember the ol’ Darrel Royal saying: “If a dog’s mean, he’ll bite you when he’s a pup.” ;)
There is no such thing as a mean dog, just dogs that have been mistreated by people and defend themselves. I know it’s just a saying, but it’s a dumb one.
Matt Adams is 23. I am not sure his value is going to increase that much.
Matt Adams seems like he has to be considered as a trade chip to me, assuming other teams value him. I think he’s going to be good, but there’s not a whole lot of room for him with Holliday/Beltran/Taveras in the corners and Craig therefore at first in the coming years. I’m not saying we should give him away, but if we can fill a need by dealing him, we should.
If Tavares can stick in CF even at a slightly below average level of defense, I think he will take over for Jon Jay with Craig and Holliday playing the corners. Looking further ahead, Piscotty could be a potential RF.
Lee Stoppelman is an interesting prospect and is having a good season with Batavia. 9 games 14 IP hasn’t even allowed a run yet this season 2BB/18 K may due to a very deceptive delivery has held opponents to a .137 AVG. He only sits in the low-to-mid 80s on his fastball but that deceptive delivery makes it have extra life. Very interesting he could be a future LOOGY.
as is Schaffer many young players looking good right away, maybe they can hit a sac fly in the majors lol
So is there a unanimous consensus that Rizzo is going to be better than Adams? With Craig’s propensity for injuries, there’s no way I’d trade Adams. Carpenter is the guy I’d be using as trade bait.
I’d trade Adams before I trade MCarp.
1. I believe other organizations would value Adams more highly (they know the ages of these players as well as we do).
2. I much prefer a guy who has a good batting eye to one who chases outside the zone. Maybe Adams will lay off pitches in the future, but there’s a risk that he’ll always have holes in his swing.
3. For the next 3-4 years, MCarp will be as good or better.
The only player not on the list that I would definitely include is Brevic Valera.
I like Craig, but he is 28 and has yet to have more than 200 major league at bats in a season. So I wouldn’t be too quick to say that Adams, who I think has more power potential than Craig, does not have a position on our major league team. They could just as easily trade Craig and keep Adams.
I think Adam’s upside is a LH, less-mobile version of Craig. That’s if he can take more walks.
Also, if Craig (who can be more than a 1B/DH) “does not have a position on our major league team”, how does Adams have one?
Finally, more power potential? What, you think Adams will slug > .600 in the Bigs?
In my opinion, most Cardinal fans overvalue the players on the major league roster. The Cardinals have too many players on the downside of their careers (Furcal, Berkman, Beltan, Carpenter) or with
histories of frequent injuries (Carpenter, Furcal, Berkman, Freese, Craig). Two of their starters may very well sign with another team. A third may need surgery. The Cardinals were very
lucky last year. Does anyone expect any of the above players to have better years in 2013 than they are having in 2012. The Cardinals need high quality replacements and should not discard players with high potential.
I definitely think many of the players will have stronger years in 2013. Whether or not Berkman remains a Cardinal is actually a better debate in fact.
Freese and Craig have left over injury concerns from 2011, but those will be all but forgotten when the club hits Jupiter in February. Granted the big question mark is Carp without a doubt, but I have been shocked with our production to this point by Lynn and Kelly.
Getting Beltran and Furcal on two-year deals makes even more sense now as they can help usher in the new wave of Birds on the Bat starting with OT and Wong!
Ok, let me get this straight; you would rather have Ryan Jackson or Pete Kozma for the next two season instead of Furcal. Or how could MO resign a guy for one season who is coming of a .300 28 HR season. And clearly Carlos Beltran was reach for 2 seasons, we need more Matt Carpenter in right field. I think its time to bring up Zack Cox, cuz Freese is only having an All-Star season. Allen Craig? I means he only avg.’s one HR in 10.9 ABs the past two season’s, but the Cardinals can’t carry the bloated 495k salary. Carp really needed to prove himself in the playoffs before handing out that contract.
Exactly. Most fans overvalue major leaguers more than prospects to too great a degree (like those Mariners fans who wouldn’t trade Felix Hernandez and his $50M contract on an awful team for Jurickson and Olt), but on this board, it’s too far in the other direction.
Furcal has done a nice job for us. But, he’s no panacea. He’s had 3 errors the past 2 games and they were instrumental in both losses. He tires and can get really sloppy. We’re gonna have to bring Jackson and Garcia along unless we can come up with a better solution sooner or later.
I think we have a nice blend of veterans and youth but it certainly is and continues to be a changing dynamic. The Phils went from world beaters to has beens pretty much in record time. Anybody who didn’t see it coming wasn’t paying attention.
I think predicting injuries is a tough business. So is trading your untouchables for some hot commodity pitcher/position player. I’m really glad we didn’t let Pujols go for any of the forgotten offfers we got back in 2000. I wouldn’t give up Taveras for any rental today.
Maybe it’s just me, but I could live with Taveras not reaching his full potential as a Cardinal easier than watching him become a perennial all star for someone else. But, what I want is for the chance that he becomes everything we think he’ll become wearing birds on the bats…throughout his career.