There was a little bit of everything down on the farm last night. There were good pitching performances by Scott Gorgen, Ryan Sherriff and Ben O’Shea. Palm Beach and Batavia were both able to sweep their respective double headers. A major leaguer made a rehab appearance and a top prospect returned to the lineup. Overall the farm went 6-2 on the night. Let’s get to the good stuff…..
Hitting:
- Lance Berkman went 1-for-4 on his rehab assignment
- Brock Peterson went 1-for-2 w/ 2 BB and 2 R
- Pete Kozma went 2-for-3 w/ 1 R and 3 RBI
- Bryan Anderson singled and scored a run
- Vance Albitz went 1-for-3 w/ 1 2B and 1 RBI
Pitching:
- Scott Gorgen got the start and put up his best game of the season: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB and 3 K
- Sam Freeman (2 H, 1 K) and Barret Browning (1 H) closed the game out with one scoreless inning apiece
Hitting:
- Jermaine Curtis went 1-for-4 w/ 1 2B
- Oscar Taveras went 0-for-3 w/ 1 R in his return
- Adam Melker went 2-for-4 w/ 2 2B, 2 R and 2 RBI
- Mike O’Neill went 3-for-4
- Travis Tartamella (1 R, 1 RBI) and Chris Swauger (1 R) both went 1-for-4
- Neal Pritchard went 2-for-4 w/ a 3-run homer in his AA debut
Pitching:
- Scott McGregor was terrible: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 0 BB and 4 K
- Justin Wright turned in the only performance worth mentioning: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB and 1 K
Palm Beach 5 @ Charlotte 2 (Game 1)
Hitting:
- Starlin Rodriguez went 3-for-4 w/ 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R and 1 RBI
- Chris Edmondson went 2-for-3 w/ 1 R and 1 RBI
- Alan Ahmady went 2-for-3 w/ 1 2B and 2 RBI
- Luis De La Cruz singled and scored a run
- Jeremy Patton went 1-for-3 w/ 1 2B
Pitching:
- Anthony Ferrara got the start but was pulled after 2.2 innings, those innings included 2 H, 2 R, 4 BB and 4 K
- Drew Benes went 2.1 solid inning in relief, he gave up 2 H and posted 2 K
- Iden Nazario (1.2 IP, 2 BB, 1 K) and Aidan Lucas (0.1 IP) combined to pitch the final two innings in scoreless fashion
Palm Beach 3 @ Charlotte 0 (Game 2)
Hitting:
- James Ramsey went 1-for-4 w/ 1 R
- Starlin Rodriguez went 1-for-3 w/ 1 R
- Chris Edmondson went 2-for-3 w/ a 3-run home run
- Alan Ahmady and Ronny Gil were both 1-for-3
- Geoffrey Klein went 1-for-2 w/ 1 BB
Pitching:
- Ryan Sherriff dealt the complete game shutout: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 3 K
Quad Cities 5 @ Clinton 6 (13 innings)
Hitting:
- Nick Martini singled in 6 PA
- Colin Walsh went 4-for-6 w/ 2 2B
- Anthony Melchionda went 2-for-6 w/ 1 R
- Juan Castillo went 3-for-5 w/ 1 2B and 1 R
- Luis Mateo recorded 1 H in 5 PA, the one hit was a double, he recorded 1 R and 1 RBI
- David Medina went 2-for-5 w/ 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 R and 3 RBI
- Gary Apelian went 1-for-5 w/ 1 RBI
Pitching:
- Dail Villanueva got the start was not good: 4.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 BB and 4 K
- Dixon Llorens went 2.2 scoreless that included 3 BB and 4 K
- Heath Wyatt (3.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K) and Ethan Cole (2.1 IP, 2 BB) extended the game to extras
- Robert Stock didn’t allow a hit but somehow gave up the game winning (losing) run in the bottom of the 13th inning: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 BB and 1 K
Batavia 6 @ Mahoning Valley 2 (Game 1)
Hitting:
- Steven Ramos went 1-for-4 w/ 1 2B and 1 R
- Breyvic Valera went 1-for-3 w/ 1 BB and 2 R
- Danny Stienstra went 1-for-3 w/ 1 R and 2 RBI
- Patrick Wisdom singled and walked in 4 PA
- Garrett Wittels went 2-for-3 w/ 1 R and 1 RBI
- Reggie Williams went 1-for-3 w/ a 2-run shot in the top of the 4th
Pitching:
- Joe Cuda got the start and was serviceable: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 0 BB and 5 K
- Jose Pasen finished the game with 2.0 perfect innings, they included 1 K
Batavia 1 @ Mahoning Valley 0 (Game 2)
Hitting:
- Danny Stienstra went 2-for-2 w/ 1 2B, 1 solo HR, and 1 BB
- David Popkins and Jacob Wilson both went 1-for-3 for the only other hits the Muckdog offense could muster
Pitching:
- Ben O’Shea didn’t mind the lackluster offensive performance: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB and 5 K
- Lee Stoppelman (2 H, 3 K) and Brandon Creath (1 BB, 3 K) both pitched 1.0 scoreless inning apiece to close out the game
Hitting:
- C.J. McElroy went 2-for-5 w/ 1 R and 3 RBI
- Ildemaro Vargas recorded one hit in 5 PA, that one hit was a 3-run homer
- Jeremy Schaffer went 1-for-3 w/ 1 R
- Gerwuins Velazco went 2-for-4 w/ 1 R
- Carson Kelly went 1-for-3 w/ 1 R
- Cesar Valera went 2-for-3 w/ 1 2B, 2 R and 1 RBI
- Dutch Deol went 1-for-2 w/ 1 BB, 1 R and 1 RBI
- Lance Jeffries singled and walked in 4 PA
Pitching:
- Victor De Leon was pulled after only 1.0 inning, his line included 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB and 2 K
- Willy Paulino pitched a scoreless inning that included 1 BB
- Cole Brand (4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K), Jacob Booden (3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K) and Cesar Aguilar (2.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 K) combined to finish the game
Entries (RSS)
Considering how hard it seems to be to put up good power stats at PB, I’m really impressed with Starlin Rodriguez’s 831 OPS. Will be very interesting to see how he does at Springfield next year.
Do you think maybe it’s time to shut McGregor down for the year after five horrible outings in a row?
Without wanting to sound cruel, my guess is that Mcgregor’s Cardinal career will soon be shut down.
It certainly will be interesting to see how Starlin Rodriguez fares out in Springfield. Rodriguez with that plus bat speed should hit for more power potential in the launching pad TL next season. Like you stated he’s OPSing .831 in the FSL impressive.
Another interesting stat Rodriguez owns a .362 BABIP in the FSL this season we can put the term “raw toolsy” on him now.
You have been using that term all year. He’s not the youngest guy and he’s not that raw. He’s a smalll guy with good bat speed and a lot of speed he hasn’t started using yet. We would have a lot more people excited about him if he wasn’t blocked by Wong.
Mike O’Neill is one of the guys I routinely follow on these reports, and he is a fascinating case study. He’s been old for his levels, and he’s not young (24) even for Springfield, yet at the same time, how can he have moved any faster? Being left handed and a generous 5’9″ with very little power, he can’t play anywhere but the outfield, and he doesn’t have, and will not develop, the power necessary to play in the corners. Yet at the same time, you’d think there’d be some major-league role for a guy whose career minor-league on-base percentage is over .440, with improvement as he rises through the levels. Those don’t grow on trees. So what do you do with the guy?
Wondered the same thing. Seems like a lead off man of the past. Richie Ashburn type. Teams have won big with men on base. But now teams seem to want lead off men with power. Guess I am old school.
I think in the post-steroid era teams realize that they won’t find many shortstops, center fielders, or catchers who give them above-average major-league offense and defense. So more often than not they sacrifice offense to get the gloves up the middle.
That puts much more offensive burden on the positions where they can play bigger, slower guys. The Cards are probably baseball’s model franchise for winning with a few beasts and a bunch of scrappers. By necessity, the scrappers have to play on the left side of the defensive spectrum so guys like Holliday, Berkman, Craig, and Beltran (the circa 2012 bad-knees version) can produce on offense without hurting us too much with their defensive range.
This year’s team is lucky to have above-average offense and defense at catcher, center, and third, when all those guys are healthy. But I don’t see any scenario, other than a catastrophic string of injuries, where a high-OBP, no-power corner outfielder gets playing time at the corners over guys like Holliday, Craig, or Taveras.
Unless O’Neil is the next Schumaker.
You have to remember that O’Neil played CF for PB right up until the Cards assigned James Ramsey there. At that point he was moved to LF. For someone like say the Padres a .300 (light) hitting CF would be acceptable. For O’Neil the situation has to be just right for him to be given a starting role. It won’t be in St.Louis.
If the glovework is good — and he has the range for all 3 outfield spots — O’Neill could be an acceptable 4th or excellent 5th outfielder somewhere down the line.
It’s just such a rare, even bizarre, profile. Seventy walks v. twenty-four whiffs at Palm Beach… and continuing that ratio so far in Springfield. Richie Ashburn notwithstanding, guys as punchless as O’Neill very rarely can maintain high walk rates at the MLB level. It’d be nice if O’Neill were a basestealer — but he doesn’t do that, either.
I will say this: If, somehow, someway, O’Neill could ever hit .300/.400/.380 in the majors, I believe that’s basically equivalent to .280/.350/.465 or so (10 points of OBP being worth roughly 17 of slugging). And that would indeed be enough offense for a starting corner outfielder on a 90-win team, if the defense/baserunning is average or better.
Here’s an interesting comparison:
Jermaine Curtis has been at AA almost all season. They’re the same age. Like O’Neill, he has more walks than strikeouts, with very little power or speed.
Also like O’Neil, he has what looks like an unsustainable BABIP (.363 for Curtis, .567 for O’Neill).
For the season, he’s hitting .319/.424/.385, good for an excellent .379 wOBA.
Let’s say those numbers would be the best-case scenario for O’Neill over a full season at AA. Would we consider those good numbers for a 24-year-old corner outfielder in AA? Probably not. Curtis is an infielder who plays 3rd, probably by default. I’m pretty sure he played 2nd in college, and has mostly played there in the minors. But he’s not going to play there ahead of Wong or Garcia.
Nobody looks at Curtis and sees a prospect. Maybe a future utility guy. (IIRC, he had a reputation at UCLA as a hard-nosed player and team leader.) And yet, on paper, he should be more valuable than O’Neill. Take away the freakish BABIP, and he’s near the end of a long line of lefty-hitting corner outfielders.
Curtis has predominantly played 3B (badly) in the minors. He’s not the same age as O’Neill, but most of a year older. He’s also repeating the level, so one would expect him to hit there. Not a good O’Neill comp, IMO.
Colin “the beast” Walsh is back.
Ben O’Shea has been impressive on the mound this season 3-2 record 2.91 ERA 12 games 55.2 IP 5 BB/39K and a 1.08 WHIP.
O’Shea another 6-foot-5 southpaw has excellent command uses an average change-up with a high 80s fastball. Could we have another Kevin Siegrist type prospect on our hands.