Not a good showing for the system today. Johnson City won thanks to a little bit of power and speed from its usual suspects. Quad Cities couldn’t finish off their comeback; they scored 4 in the 9th but then gave up the winning run in the bottom of the frame. Details after the jump…
Memphis 3, Nashville 7
- Adron Chambers was 2-for-4 with a double and walk.
- Steven Hill and Lou Montanez doubled.
- Ryan Jackson singled and walked.
- Pete Kozma and Bryan Anderson walked.
- Nick Additon struck out 9 in just 4 innings, but allowed 3 runs (1 earned) on 3 hits and 3 walks.
- Maikel Cleto allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in just 1.1 innings that included 3 strikeouts.
- Adam Reifer allowed another run on 2 hits, 2 walks, and 1 strikeout in 1.2 innings.
- Eduardo Sanchez struck out the side.
- Kolten Wong, Oscar Taveras, and Jose Garcia all had one walk.
- Greg Garcia was 2-for-4 with a double and walk.
- Jamie Romak had a single and walk.
- Chris Swauger and Audry Perez singled.
- Xavier Scruggs was 2-for-4.
- Adam Melker doubled and walked.
- Seth Maness lasted 6 innings but surrendered 5 runs on 8 hits (2 HR) and 4 strikeouts.
- Deryk Hooker then gave up 3 runs in 0.2 innings that included 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout.
- Keith Butler (3 H) and Jorge Rondon pitched the final 2.1 innings in scoreless fashion.
- Mike O-Neill, James Ramsey, Alan Ahmady, and Chris Edmonson singled.
- Starlin Rodriguez hit his 5th HR in a 2-for-5 night.
- Geoffrey Klein doubled. Rainel Rosario doubled and walked twice.
- Cody Stanley singled and walked.
- Kyle Hald coughed up 14 hits and 6 runs in 6 innings and only struck out 3.
- Aidan Lucas struck out 3 in 2 innings and only allowed 1 hit.
- David Bergin hit his 2nd HR and walked.
- David Medina doubled and walked.
- Luis Mateo doubled.
- Anthony Melchionda was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Roberto Reyes, Casey Rasmus, and Matt Williams singled.
- Hector Hernandez struck out 6 in 5 innings; he allowed 6 hits, 1 walk, and 2 runs.
- Jonathan Cornelius allowed 1 hit in 1 inning.
- Ricky Martinez was reached for a solo HR in 1 inning.
- Danny Miranda permitted 4 hits and 1 run in 1.1 innings.
- Alex Mejia, Breyvic Valera, and Steven Ramos singled.
- Garrett Wittels was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Patrick Wisdom doubled and stole his first base of the season.
- Danny Stienstra was 2-for-4.
- Tyler Melling pitched 4 innings. He only allowed 2 hits and struck out 3.
- Lee Stoppelman allowed a hit and 2 walks in 2.2 innings; he struck out 1.
- Brandon Creath was hammered for 5 runs (4 earned) on 4 hits and 2 walks; he only recorded 2 outs.
- Joseph Scanio allowed 2 unearned runs on 4 hits and 1 strikeout in 1.2 innings.
- C.J. McElroy had one single in 5 at-bats and stole his 17th base.
- Jeremy Schaffer was 3-for-5 with his 6th HR.
- Bruce Caldwell was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Carson Kelly was 2-for-4 with his 7th HR and a walk.
- Ronard Castillo was 3-for-5 with 2 doubles.
- Cesar Valera was 3-for-5.
- Lance Jeffries walked and stole his 9th base.
- Victor De Leon allowed 4 runs on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
- Thomas Lee fared much better; he threw 3.1 scoreless innings on 4 hits, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts.
- Michael Aldrete allowed 1 unearned run but 3 hits in 1 inning. He struck out 1.
- Surprise, surprise. Mariano Llorens struck out 3 in 2 innings and walked 1.
- Jeffrey Rauh (2 K, 1 BB) and Ronald Shaban (1 K, 1 H) combined to throw 2 scoreless innings.
Entries (RSS)
Jorge Rondon has intriguing stuff mid 90s straight fastball better command this season than last could be because of his success this season, solid slider that’s his out pitch, and his newly found cutter to his repertoire. He’s really put together a good season out of the pen for SPF owns a 2.64 ERA (1.38 ERA in his past 10 outings) K/BB ratio was 0.91 last season this season it’s up to 2.50 K/B ratio and his walks are down per 9 inning. Looks like he’s producing more groundballs as well 50% groundball rate this season.
Stoppelman continues to be effective with his deceptive type delivery he owns a 0.47 ERA in 11 appearances.
Hard for me to believe QC can’t use what looks like a solid Lefty reliever (at this level)
C.J. McElroy has tremendous speed he’s only been caught once 17-for-18 that’s a .987 SB%.
Good to see Carson Kelly keep hitting for intriguing power at age 18 he also drew a walk. He’s only K’d 19 times in 108 AB only walked 6 times he’s got a good batting eye that projects good.
Starlin Rodriguez is flying under the radar this season he’s got some tools and some serious bat speed that should produce more power down the road also has lightning quick speed just very raw. He’s also a switch hitter.
As unpalatable as the question is, I wonder whether Peter Kozma would be any worse in the majors this year than Tyler Greene.
This is a very scary but true point.
Regardless, don’t see either in the Cardinals organization come 2013.
I think Pete Kozma has at least one year left in the system. He was drafted 2 years later, at a younger age than Greene. I don’t see a reason to give him that much less if an opportunity than a fellow 1st rounder like Greene
It will be an interesting call on Kozma in 2013. He might be able to hold on another year as he has one more option year. T. Greene is done with the Cards but I’m sure Walt or Luhnow will give him another shot. Walt has wood in his shorts for ex-Cards. Luhnow drafted Greene.
Carson has to be flying up the prospect lists with the power he has shown in 108 AB. He looks like he is going to be fun to watch.
And after having such a dearth of prospects at 2nd base in recent years is it now our strongest position?
I doubt he finds himself on top 100 lists after this season. However, if he shows this kind of pop for a full year next year he will be all over the place. I assume that he starts in QC next year rather than a SS stop.
I have to repeat….it is the Appy league, a glorified JUCO conference. Niko Vasquez…paging Niko Vasquez…
Mentioning Niko make everyone here’s stomachs turn.
To be fair, though, Nike was 19 1/2 when he played in the Appy. Kelly just turned 18, and he’s one of the youngest in the league.
Kelly already has more HR (7) in 29 games than Niko did (4) in 55 games. (FWIW, he’s tied for 3rd in the league in HR.)
Yeah, to be completely fair, not much of a comparison at all.
Re: the keystone, excellent question, ICF.
I guess it kinda depends whether Greg Garcia & Breyvic Valera are “limited” to 2nd… and whether Colin Walsh could stick there full-time.
Can I say right-handed starter is the strongest position? When either Maness, Wacha, or Richard Castillo is your 7th-best RHP prospect, you’re looking as strong as any organization in my memory.
Position players, though? The org. is solid across-the-board, save for backstops. I love the balance on the farm. :)
We’ll know so much more a year from now, as recent hot-corner draftees Piscotty, Kelly, and Wisdom show us a track record of meaningful duration. (Not to mention oddball schizophrenic prospect Cox.) But I do lean toward 3rd as the position of most potential right now.
Is “speedy OF” a position? We seem to have a plethora. Also, 3rd base is deep.
I agree catcher is worst. Short stop second from the bottom?
I guess I would rank 2nd base over third at the top because we have players performing at every level that look interesting. Third base does have a lot of potential because of this years draft but as you say there is really not enough of a track record to tell who is going to stick at 3rd, and if you put a couple of those third base prospects in the outfield than it changes the whole equation.
Greg Garcia has a higher OPS than top SS prospect Jurickson Profar. Garcia is 4 years older, however.
Kelly is showing massive power for such a young guy. He also drew a walk last night, which was good to see. I’ll admit, I’m trying to temper my expectations, but pre-draft comparisons to a young David Wright out of high school make that hard to do.
Carson Kelly now has walked in his last 3 games.
In his last 10 games, he’s hitting .306 with 5 HR and 9 RBI.
He has 4 BB and 8 SO in 36 AB in those 10 games. Once he starts controlling his ABs – and it appears he’s moving in that direction – Kelly could be a fantastic big league prospect.
I think it’s starting to click for him at JC.
Good to see Cody Stanley back in action and things starting to go well for him, too.
Is there any meaning to what Carson Kelly is doing? I certainly remember Niko. I agree that it is a really low level league. However, CK was highly regarded in the draft and signed a large bonus. He started at age 17 and just turned 18. He is from Portland, so I think that would count as a northern prospect who might not be able to play as much as the southern prospects (although I could be wrong on this–I have been to pdx many times and know it is not at all Michigan!). He is showing good power for the league. His strikeout rate could be a lot better. Charlie’s post indicates that maybe he is improving, too. Of course there is plenty more time left in Batavia’s season.
I think that CK is so far from the majors that it is too early to get excited about him. However, he is showing well, and his potential is enough that I could see him in the back end of the Cards’ top 20 prospects. he will at least be fun to follow.
The big difference between Carson and Niko is that Carson has considerably more power potential than Niko ever had, and I think the early results combined with that potential will have him higher on most lists than the back end of the top 20.
Some good comments, Ted.
Here’s what I think may be going on with Carson:
In high school in his senior season he wasn’t given anything to hit and expanded his strike zone a bit. His team relied on him to swing the bat, and that’s what he did, no matter what.
Those habits carried over into his debut at JC. And, he’s now in the process of defining a professional strike zone for himself that will follow him throughout his career. He’s just turned 18, playing with guys a few years older, and he’s learning.
I’ve been super impressed listening to him interviewed. He’s smart. If he has the physical tools – and the Cardinals must feel he does; that’s why they gave him 1.6 mill to sign – then he’s going to figure this out and be a successful professional baseball player.
Put me in the “excited” column when it comes to Carson Kelly. As a fan of the Cardinals it’s going to bring me a lot of joy to chart his minor league progress to St. Louis.
I dont want to be a downer…I have seen peeps talk about him as a top 10 prospect in the system, that is getting way ahead fo the game. I just do not get too excited about kids performing in the Appy League, if I had a chance to see him play and saw a top 20 system prospect I would be pumped. But Appy League performance with out seeing a kid just doesnt get me going.
That said it is better to be doing something in the Appy League than not doing something, but non-performance for a kid at this level and his age isnt necessarily a red flag.
I completely agree that it is early. But, the last guy who did really well in the Appy League at a tender age was Taveras. Now that worked out.
Garcia is out preforming Wong OPS .867 to .750 1 yr age diff. in june and july garcia ahead .938 vs .604
also keep an eye on Jhohan Andres Acevedo BA .338 (19) in GCL
Wong has really hit a wall lately batting .136 in his past 10 games 6-for his last-44. .195 AVG .273 OBP in July 87 AB sample. I saw him played on Tuesday he looked over matched at the plate looked like his leg kick in his stance was causing his timing to erupt making him get under a lot of pitches popping out.
This was bound to happen. I think alot of us (myself included) got a little too excited too fast. He has been a pro for a season.
I have seen both Garcia and Wong play. They are both Major League talents. Wong will be a slightly above average 2nd baseman. He will anchor the position for the team for a few cost controlled years. Garcia will be a high production out fielder…the bar for all star outfielders is pretty high so I wont go so far as to say he is an all-star level outfielder, but he is really damn good. We need one more homegrown young outfielder to go with Tavares and Garcia and we can have a chance at recreating the Jordan/Lankford/Gilkey outfield of the 90s.
Wait sorry Anthony Garcia….
Here’s some nice scouting reports on Tyrell Jenkins and Oscar Taveras very detailed.
Mr.Inconsistency freak athlete Tyrell Jenkins
http://baseballprospectnation.com/2012/07/27/scouting-report-tyrell-jenkins-rhp/
Mr.Violent Controlled OT
http://baseballprospectnation.com/2012/07/06/scouting-report-oscar-taveras-of/
That is the most optimistic profile of Taveras that I have seen. If they are right, then we should be even more excited.
You obviously haven’t seen Jason Parks comment on Oscar Taveras then. He has a huge man-crush. I believe he said on Twitter that he’d have Taveras in his Top 3 prospects. Scouts absolutely drooled over his batting practice session before the Futures Game.
It is crazy that this farm system used to not have hardly any quality (potential quality) lefties. Now, we seem to have a decent crop (Gast, Ferrara, Cooney, Stopplemann, Sheriff, Foody…even a couple of promising ones in DSL)