The team’s top prospect again has an excellent start for Memphis. Springfield’s game is cancelled due to rain and Johnson City’s season comes to an ignominious close.
- In an effort not to bury the lede, Shelby Miller pitched 6 impressive innings. He struck out 9 and walked zero. Miller allowed 1 run on 5 hits. In his last 10 games dating back to July 14th, Miller has struck out 70 and walked just 7 in 59.1 innings.
- Adron Chambers went 3-for-5.
- Steve Hill and Ryan Jackson went 3-for-4 with a walk.
- Adam Reifer struck out 1 and allowed 2 hits in 1 inning. Reifer’s return after losing 2011 was probably not as strong as he hoped. He struck out 44 in 64.1 innings and walked 20.
- Starlin Rodriguez was 2-for-5.
- Luis de la Cruz was 4-for-4.
- Kyle Hald was roughed up for 9 hits in 4.2 innings. He allowed 3 runs and walked 1 while striking out 3.
- Zach Russell struck out 2 and allowed 2 hits. He pitched 2 innings and picked up the win.
- Gary Apelian was 1-for-4 with a grand slam.
- Jordan Walton was 2-for-4.
- Every Quad Cities player had at least one hit. With 10 hits and just 4 walks, Quad Cities bunched their singles together effectively enough to score.
- Sam Gaviglio struck out 8 in 7 innings and walked just 1. He allowed 3 hits and 2 runs. Gaviglio looks like the ideal sleeper prospect for those who play close attention. He had a strong strikeout rate (20% of batters faced) combined with good control (5% of batters faced walked) and a well above average groundball rate. In 23 starts, Gaviglio walked more than 2 batters just 1 time. It’s a package that’s all around solid but lacks the exceptionally flashy strikeouts.
- Dixon Llorens allowed 3 hits and struck out 4 in 2 innings of work.
- Danny Stienstra (2B) was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Jacob Wilson (DH) was 3-for-4.
- David Washington (1B) was 1-for-4 with a home run.
- Kyle Helisek struck out 4 in 5.2 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 2 walks and 6 hits.
- Jose Pasen struck out 3 in 2 innings.
- Lee Stoppelman struck out 2 in 1.1 innings of work. It will be interesting to see if Stoppelman’s low 3/4 arm action leads to the same level of success at higher levels. The Cardinals certainly could use a real left handed prospect.
- This ends Johnson City’s playoffs and season as they exit the first round falling to Burlington 2-1 in the series.
- Ildemaro Vargas (2B) was 2-for-4.
- Ronard Castillo (LF) was 2-for-4.
- Leandro Mateo (RF) was 2-for-4.
- Victor de Leon struck out 5 in 7 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits.
- Willy Paulino allowed 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in his inning of work.
Entries (RSS)
Love that Shelby is finishing the year strong.
Shelby Miller in his past 10 starts 7-2 W-L record 3.11 ERA 59.1 IP 7 BB/70 K 7.59 K/9 and a gaudy 0.93 BB/9 much improved control in his past 10 starts.
I think you need to recalculate the k/9.
Recalculated to 10.75 K/9
I’m not sure I’d go with “ignominious” for JC’s playoff run. They were outscored by a total of 2 runs in the 3-game series, and I think they outhit Burlington, which had a slightly better record and got home-field advantage.
Given the roster (I don’t know if any of them will be among the Cards’ top 10 prospects, much less top 100), I thought they did pretty well this year.
‘Ignominious’ has a harsher denotative meaning than I really wanted to convey, yes.
It will be interesting to see which level the groundball specialist in Sam Gaviglio starts out at next season he posted very strong peripherals in the pitcher/hitter friendly Midwest League this season. I’d like to see how his mid-to-high 80s sinker/non overpowering and above average change, and solid slider fare out in the advanced hitting Texas League.
This guy at Fangraphs tried to quantify how a pitcher’s velocity affects HRs and Ks:
http://www.fangraphs.com/community/index.php/what-is-more-important-for-a-fastball-velocity-location-or-movement-2/
Short answer: Someone throwing 95+ has a much bigger margin for error, since batters are far more likely to swing and miss.
He also has some interesting thoughts on fastball location. (Can’t remember what he concluded about movement.)
probably that it needs to be towards home plate
How is Shelby’s K/9 7.59 when he has been striking out more than a batter per inning. Shouldn’t it be 10.67/9?
Dixon “Mariano” Llorens is another sleeper relief prospect to watch next season labeled to having a low 90s fastball and plus slider he struck out 62 batters 36 IP that’s an impressive 15.49 K/9.
Good to see Miller back to his old self. As bad as this season once appeared, I think it was the best thing he could have had happen to him. Pitchers with his stuff have to be promoted to a point to which they must adjust. He should know how to handle the off-season, as well as the importance of his secondary pitches now. I am more encouraged than ever to have seen him face adversity, and end up pitching like everyone thought he should. Hopefully he shows up to Jupiter ready to go and looking to make the major league squad.
I’m certainly happy that Miller has turned it around this season, although I still can’t help but wonder what the heck was wrong with him to start the season.
When you try to fix something that isn’t broke that’s what happens. Shelby has a gift in his fastball and that is what he should rely on. He also got some tough love.
Lou, he concluded that movement was not as important as velocity and location. I thought that it was interesting also that fastballs under 86 were less likely to be hit for HRs.
Right, I forgot that last part. Weird to think below-average velocity could be a weapon!
But it goes to show how difficult it is for an MLB pitcher w. average velocity. His command has to be near perfect to hit the spots where hitters are least likely to take it deep.
Seth Maness like command.