Memphis – Francisco Samuel, Jess Todd

It wasn’t that long ago that the troika of Samuel, Sanchez and Salas were mentioned in the same breath.  Samuel had the most consistent velocity on his fastball and the least consistent command. He’s been interrupted by some recurring injuries related to his arm. At 24, he’s still got some time but he seems like more of an afterthought at this point in his career.

Todd was claimed off waivers to help bolster an anemic Memphis bullpen.  Drafted in 2007 by the Cardinals, Todd needed just a single season to ascend to AAA Memphis. More surprisingly was that he did so as a starter. After being traded in 2009, Todd split time between the Cleveland Indians bullpen and AAA with respectable strikeout numbers.  There’s good statistical reasons to wonder why Todd was released at all and having just turned 25, it’s not to late for him to solidify a role in a bullpen.

Springfield – Blake King, Casey Mulligan

The demotion from Memphis to Springfield would seem to be the final bell tolling on King’s career. Mentioned as having, arguably, the best slider in the system, King has been undone by his awful control.  After a brief improvement last year, he’s walked more batters than he’s struck out in 2011. He’s the only ‘name’ pitcher in Springfield but it is highly unlikely that he reaches the majors with the Cardinals.

Mulligan has been sidelined by injuries but remains an interesting footnote to the conversion of Jason Motte. Mulligan’s plus changeup makes him an unusual right handed reliever that can retire left handed hitters. Drafted in 2007 out of high school, Mulligan is surprisingly young at 23.  His ascension through the system has been methodical and occasioned by demotions to give him further time to adjust to the opposition or bolster a faltering pen.

* * *

Below Springfield, there are some unheralded relievers and Keith Butler would be chief among them who struck out 50 in 30 IP at Batavia in 2010.  Hector Corpas is a hard throwing Panamanian in low-A who has seen improved fastball control as he transitioned from Venezuelan to American leagues.  Boone Whiting posted 68 strikeouts to 5 walks across 13 appearances (9 starts) in Johnson City during 2010.  He’s continued to strikeout better than a batter an inning at Quad Cities in 2011.

While the low-minors contain some potentially good relievers, they’re still far removed from being in any near term discussion of contributing to the big leagues. The prospects in the high minors, perhaps excepting Jess Todd, are thoroughly underwhelming.

It’s worth mentioning that the Cardinals now have four relievers on their major league squad still under team control after this year: Jason Motte (3 years service), Mitchell Boggs (2 years service), Fernando Salas (1+ year service), Eduardo Sanchez (1 year service).  The need is not necessarily immediate but neither can they particularly afford to trade from this pool given the lack of obvious replacements in the minors.

The Cardinals do have a group of players that may be better suited to relief in the long term than starting though they are getting a chance at the latter right now. Adam Ottavino, David Kopp, Joe Kelly and Jordan Swagerty all come to mind.  It’s too early to pigeonhole the latter two but scouts have often regarded Kelly as a reliever and Swagerty, despite a surprise 2011, was not generally considered a starting prospect prior to the 2010 draft.  The former two may be forced to the pen in an effort to keep them healthy.

One other thing to mention is that the 2011 MLB draft (starting June 6th) is ripe with pitching prospects. I would be completely unsurprised to see the Cardinals take a college reliever with the ability to “move quickly” in the sandwich or second round much as they did in 2006 with Chris Perez.  Tony Zych or Anthony Meo would be college arms that could start in the minors but project more as relievers in the majors. If the Cardinals were to draft them in the sandwich round, they could fast track them to the majors if they committed to relieving from day one.  While I’m not necessarily an advocate of this approach, it’s one that the Cardinals have used before (though not recently) and it did pay some dividends.

Diapoules was somewhat interesting given some strong groundball rates but a rosy projection for him is a fringe bullpen arm. Houston Summers also had limited projection for long term success. Ultimately, the Cardinals have a crunch of A+/AA level pitchers and these two were squeezed out as a result.

Best of luck to Mark and Houston.

Also, in the same story, comes news that Francisco Samuel was being shut down with a lat strain.  Could be a couple weeks, could be a lot longer.

There is not currently a player in the pen that I can definitively and unquestionably point to and say, “What is he doing in the majors?!?!?”.  Generally, that statement is followed by an expletive but we’re a family friendly blog.  Part of what brought this post to fruition was a comment from the Cardinals broadcasting pair last night with regards to Kyle McClellan’s future. There seems to be some continued curiosity about his repretoire and converting to starting pitching.  It’s understandable considering that he has a full complement of pitches (FB, CH, CU, SL) but I’ve long had trepidation about Kyle McClellan.

In any event, the Cardinals continue to produce some interesting relief options in the minors. What follows is an admittedly incomplete list of players that may be ready in 2011 or 2012 for a shot at the bigs.

Sanchez remains the player with the best combination of upside and likelihood to reach it in my opinion. He’s undersized for a reliever but threw 70 innings in the minors last season and seems slated for 60+ again this year. His fastball sits mid-90s touching 97 and he has a plus slider that he’ll throw for strikes.  His command is above average as is his control.  He’s combining superb strikeouts with groundballs — the best recipe for dominance.

If you recall, Salas is someone we’ve had on the radar here for a couple seasons now. His 2009 efforts were derailed by a finger injury but he’s been tremendous in Memphis thus far this year. He’s more of a control pitcher than the others on this list featuring a low-90s fastball and a breaking ball that he’ll locate around the zone. His stuff is still above average but it’s not on par with Sanchez; Salas’s command and feel for pitching is more advanced though. He’s a solid middle reliever though I wouldn’t bill him as more than a setup man in part because of his predilection for flyballs.

Reifer seems to have taken a significant step forward.  The perplexing stat in years past has been H/9 for Reifer who got touched up far more often than his stuff suggested he should. This year he’s show the same stuff but hitters aren’t making as much contact. A mid-90s fastball and a plus slider, it’s too early to tell if he’s turned the corner for good but he’s not far removed from the majors if he has.

King has improved but the command and control still isn’t up to par for me.  He’s lingered at the tail end of prospect lists for years based on the promise in pure stuff. He started out 2010 fantastically but the control has deteriorated as the season went on. Tell me if you’ve heard this one before: He’s a fastball, slider guy. He’ll work up in the zone with his fastball, which can get him in trouble. Outside of Samuel, he’s the least polished pitcher on this list.

Mulligan is an ex-catcher with a sinking fastball, a plus changeup and a questionable breaking pitch. The changeup makes him particularly effective against lefthanders. His career split (in FIP) between lefties and righties in the minors is negligible.  Mulligan struggled briefly after his promotion to Springfield but he’s settled in nicely and continues to rack up big strikeouts.

Samuel makes this list out of name recognition more than anything else.  With a fastball in the high 90s, he’s been troubled by shoulder injuries this season, which has impacted his already poor control. The pure stuff is the best of anyone on the list but the command is easily the worst.

The Cardinals will have some mid-level relievers transition to arbitration in the next few years and some veterans leave.  Ryan Franklin likely departs after 2011. Kyle McClellan and Jason Motte will both become arbitration eligible in 2012.  If you’re looking for a trade trip for the Cardinals — and it’s HIGHLY unlikely they’ll do something like this — look in the major league pen.  While these are all major league caliber relievers, they aren’t irreplaceable. Fernando Salas is ready right now and Sanchez could be called up in a pinch though he’s more like a 2011 ETA.  Still if the Cardinals want to make a move and retain a cheap pen, they can do it.  They’ve done quite well at finding right handed relievers in their farm system.

Brian Walton has a lengthy post at the Globe-Democrat regarding Evan MacLane. MacLane is great for organizational depth but it’s unclear to me that he figures into any potential callups should the major league rotation suffer an injury.  For Memphis, he’s a welcome stalwart of the rotation though.

At the bottom of the article, Walton notes the sad news of PJ Walters’ daughter passing away. A very sad situation to which I can’t fathom the tragedy and can only offer condolences to the family.

Kary Booher is back at the Springfield News-Leader after spending some time with Baseball America.  He’s a top notch reporter and I’m thrilled to see him chronicling the S-Cards again. (Matt Baker, who was a good guy that I had the opportunity to meet, departed after covering the team last season.) Booher notes that Francisco Samuel is out for three weeks with shoulder pain. No reason to panic yet but if three weeks become four. . . well we’ve seen this injury progress in unfortunate ways before.

Booher: Can Daryl Jones breakout this year? Goodness, I hope so.

Booher: Kozma at AA and working with Pop Warner. We’ve seen several players in the past have real success at AA (Joe Mather, Jarrett Hoffpauir) and while some of that is park effects, the coaching staff at Springfield is the best in the system, imo.

Kary Booher left some big shoes to fill, leaving the News-Leader to a full-time gig at Baseball America. Is it exciting, nerve-wracking, stepping in his role covering the Springfield Cardinals?

It’s definitely exciting, regardless of whose shoes I’m filling. I’m a youngun a year out of college, so I’ve been excited to show what I can do. I’ve been a lot more places than you’d expect for someone my age, and I’ve enjoyed my time on the beat so far, breaking news, finding stories and watching prospects develop.

Kary’s a good guy and a great reporter. He set the bar high for our readers in Springfield — and all over Cardinal Nation, for that matter. His work speaks for itself. As for following in his footsteps, I’m going to sum that up with my all-time least favorite sports cliche: It is what it is. I’ve just got to go out there and do what I do, and the rest will take care of itself.

But seriously, it’s been awesome.

You had a strong opinion on why Wallace not only doesn’t belong in the majors this year, nor AAA. Care to elaborate on that a little?

For the record, I only said that Wallace doesn’t belong in St. Louis this year – not Memphis. I received a little flak about it from people afraid I was bashing Wallace. That’s not the case at all. I saw him start the season with two massive home runs…and hit walk-off home runs on back-to-back nights. He’s got a tremendous amount of talent. With Rasmus in St. Louis, I think Wallace is the top prospect in the system.

That said, he had holes in his game during the time I watched him. I thought the promotion to Memphis was too soon, but Freese’s injury forced it. That’s a moot point.

His defense remains an issue. And his swing had flaws when Texas League pitchers threw around him. If he couldn’t pull the ball, he wasn’t as effective. Pitchers threw him outside or wayyyy inside, and, based on what I saw, he hadn’t figured out how to get around that.

A few days before the promotion, Wallace apparently found problems with his swing. And he’s fixed them. The numbers in Memphis show that. But he’s not ready for St. Louis. He needs to struggle. He needs to go through slumps. And he needs to learn from them. Slumps happen to everyone, even Pujols. It’s better for him to go through them in the minors where the pressure (and money) aren’t as big. If he found the flaw in his swing and corrected it, then I’ll give him props for that. It’s a sign of maturity and shows that he’s closer to St. Louis than I thought.

There’s also the money aspect. I think the club would like to keep him off of the 40-man roster this year and give him the chance to compete for the starting 3B job in spring training.

Wallace is an extremely hard worker. He spent a lot of time with Derrick May and others working on his swing. And he’s put in time working on his glove and range, too. Because of his body type, he might not ever become an average MLB defender. If that’s the case, it won’t be because of a lack of effort. I just think he needs a full season in the minors before he’s in the discussion to replace Troy Glaus.

There are some pretty impressive offensive numbers we’re seeing from some of the S-Cards. Since you get to see the team play more than any of us probably do, how much of this would you say is Hammons Field/Texas League-inflated and how much of this would you say is the real deal?

It’s a little of both. When Curt Smith hit his first home run here the other day, he only got one arm on it. But, with the wind blowing out of Hammons Field, it carried over the left-field wall. “Welcome to Springfield,” Steven Hill told Smith after the game.

But this lineup definitely has some pop. Hill, Smith, Henley, Jones and Descalso have powerful bats, as does a healthy Mark Hamilton. Tyler Herron told me this spring that he knows the team’s offense will be there. If its pitching is solid, there’s no reason to think they can’t compete for the Texas League title. I agree.

What have you seen from the Cards’ supplemental first rounder Lance Lynn so far? What do you feel his upside is?

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen very much. He’s only pitched one game at home, so I’ve only seen that plus a few bullpen sessions. His fastball is solid (up to 93), and his curve is better than I heard. Didn’t see enough of the change or slider to give a scouting report.

One thing I did see: composure. The defense collapsed around him when Hamilton didn’t charge a grounder and Pete Kozma made an error. Lynn kept his cool and pitched 6.2 solid (but unspectacular) innings. Plus he’s a fellow Indiana boy. Nice to have another native Hoosier around.

Best-case scenario: No. 3 starter. Worse-case scenario: A bulldog in the bullpen, capable of spot starts.

Daryl Jones has been viewed with some skepticism because of his previous struggles, but it seems to me he’s now doing it two years running. Give me some of your impressions of Jones.

Last year definitely wasn’t a fluke. His bat is definitely there, although the power is down from last season. He said that’s because he’s shortened his swing, which means fewer strikeouts but also fewer home runs. That’ll help him as he continues to move through the system. His glove is fine, and I do think he has a below-average LF arm.

He’s a little flashy with a great personality. One of the best guys in the clubhouse to talk to and a pretty hard worker who puts in the swings he needs to. The front office is very high on him, and I expect him to be in Memphis after the All-Star break, if not before.

The biggest question from scouts is about his speed. Most scouts I’ve talked to have him at average or below-average speed from home to first. That’s a major problem for a guy with a game built around his wheels. He can turn his speed off and on. I saw him sneak into home Monday with a great heads-up play, so I know he has wheels. It’s just a matter of using them — and the rest of his tools — all the time. But consistency is the biggest thing most guys need to work on in the minors, so let’s put that in proper context.

Trey Hearne was the Viva El Birdos approved sleeper prospect a few years back, and is back putting up some strong numbers in AA. What’s been the key to his success?

Throwing strikes, plain and simple, as he’s told me repeatedly. He locates his fastball well, and he’s got a plus curveball. One scout told me that’s been the biggest reason for his success — not a lot of hitters at this level can hit really good curveballs. And he has a really good curveball.

A better sign — he’s put his team in a position to win even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. See, Sunday: 6 IP, 4 H, 4 BB 2 ER and only 2 K. He didn’t look great, but he left with the team was in a position to win. It helps that Hearne doesn’t get flustered and doesn’t sweat the small stuff. He’s a very laid back guy, which helps him on the mound.

I didn’t see Hearne’s breakout coming. I thought that when Mura came back from the DL, Hearne would go from the rotation back to the pen. But the way Hearne is pitching, I think it’s more likely for him to earn a promotion to Memphis than a trip back to the bullpen.

Mark Hamilton looked poised for a break out and before hitting the DL. What’s his status?

He’s on the DL, obviously, after pulling a muscle running out a grounder Friday. Which means I regularly get to ask the most awkward question in all of sports journalism: So, how’s the groin?

Hamilton said he’s felt better each of the last few days and will be back in about a week. The rest also gives him time to heal a foot injury that’s been nagging since spring training.

I think he’s figured out Double-A pitching. He was great in his first game here after extended spring training (2 for 5 with two doubles) and hasn’t slowed down (7 home runs and a .333 average in May). When he comes back, he’ll be fine and continue to hit well until he gets a chance to move up.

I’m going to go all James Lipton on you (hopefully sans the freakiness) and just say a name, and you give me what pops into your head.

Daniel Descalso. Scrappy. Hard worker, blue-collar ball player with a plus glove and a much-improved bat. Some scouts wonder if he can be an everyday second baseman in the majors…and I think he can.

Steven Hill. Chicken-fried. Hill is one of the many Texans in the clubhouse, and he looks and acts just like you’d picture someone from Stephen F. Austin State. His walk-up song is “Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown — a stark contrast to the rap that guys like Rapoport and Descalso prefer. As far as his game? Good bat (although he’s been struggling over the last week or so, hitting .178) with plenty of pop. He’s got work to do behind the plate, but he’s making progress.

Tony Cruz. Steven Hill’s alter ego. Lame, I know. They entered the year with similar enough scouting reports: good bats trying to find a position. Now they’re opposites. Hill’s bat is definitely there (overlooking this mini-slump), but the glove needs work. One scout told me Cruz has the defense to become a backup catcher, but his bat hasn’t been great this season.

Tyler Herron. Improved. He struggled here last year and, from what I’ve heard, wasn’t impressive in spring training (I didn’t get to see him pitch much when I was in Jupiter, Fla.). Now he’s looking like a first-round pick with four ER in his last four starts. Average to slightly above average fastball and a plus curveball.

Kenny Maiques. Oy. One scout used the dread four-letter word — wild — when he saw Kenny up here. He struggled, to say the least. I saw him face two batters one game, throw eight consecutive balls — including a pitch-out that sailed into the backstop. Obviously he’s going through a tough time right now with his drug suspension, and I wish him the best.

Curt Smith. Hitter. Dude can hit, plain and simple. Lightning-quick bat with some power. Fielding needs to improve, but his bat can play. Plus, the major leagues need more Curacao natives who became 39th-round draft picks out of Maine and speak four languages. Right?

Tyler Henley. Football player. He looks, acts and talks like a running back from a big high school in Dallas, and that’s the mentality he brings to the ballpark. I’ll add another thought: Underrated. He’s hitting a very quiet .333. But after his grand slam and a 3-for-4 game this homestand, he’s not under the radar anymore.

Francisco Samuel. Good Sammy/Bad Sammy. One game, he’s lights-out. 100-mph fastball. SICK 90-mph slider. Unhittable.

The next? He’s all over the place with no command whatsoever. And, dare I say, that four-letter word. Wild.

I will say this about Sammy: I think he’s the best prospect in Springfield. One scout said he could be a major-league All-Star closer. Others willingly and easily project him as an MLB closer. I’ve heard that one scout said he’d take Sammy on his major-league club by the end of the year. If he gets his fastball command down, he’s got the stuff to be a star. And I think between guys like Dyar Miller and (eventually) Duncan, he’ll iron those problems out.

Eddie Degerman. Catapult. Or someone throwing a grenade. Or someone giving someone a pie in the face. Take your pick. But he’s looked better in his last few appearances, regardless of what you think about his motion.

Jeff Luhnow. Northwestern Wildcats. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Luhnow got his MBA at Northwestern — my alma mater. Regardless of how you feel about his number crunching, draft picks and willingness to take players like Degerman and Joe Williams whom others wouldn’t touch, the guy’s brilliant. I don’t think anyone will argue that.

Ron Warner. Competitor. Winning is something that gets overlooked a lot in the minors, where developing prospects is (understandably) the goal. Pop is a good teacher and can help young guys along the way…but deep down he’s a competitor who hates to lose.

Can you tell me why Pete Kozma is in AA?

I can try. This organization believes in promoting top prospects aggressively, and the front office thinks Kozma is a top prospect. The Cardinals have already invested a lot in him ($1.395 million signing bonus), and they want to see what kind of return they’re going to get on their investment. That means moving him up and letting him struggle, if that’s what happens.

Kozma’s numbers haven’t been great, but he’s not a lost cause, like some fans seem to think. He’s made some sensational plays in the field, and he’s got a good arm — once he settles down, takes a breath, sets his feet and fires. When he rushes his throws and tries to force things, he has problems. He said that was his biggest problem in the field in Palm Beach, and it’s been an issue here in Springfield, too. His bat is OK, but he hasn’t always been able to find holes in the field so far. It’s a long season, so that’ll balance out. There’s also the age factor: Koz just turned 21 and is in Double-A.

Kozma is certainly taking his lumps (.214 average, 7 errors). But he’s struggled in the past, too. He hit .130 in Palm Beach last year, worked in the off-season and boosted his average to .315 there to start this season. Who’s to say he can’t do the same in Springfield this year?

Players will struggle, either in the course of a long season or in a long career. That goes for first-round picks and for undrafted guys, for All-Stars and for players who won’t make it out of A-ball. The key is to see how they react when that happens. Do they try to force things (as Kozma said he’s done in the past)? Do they try to fix things that aren’t broken? Do they learn from their mistakes?

I expect him to spend the full year in Springfield with the expectation that he’ll be in Memphis at the start of next year (or shortly thereafter). It’s fine for him to make mistakes now. As Pop Warner said recently, you’ve got to make mistakes in order to get better. If he’s making these same mistakes in two months, then it’s time for Cardinals fans to worry. But not yet.

Any passing thoughts on the Joe Williams experiment?

I respect anyone who bar tends to pay the bills and refuses to give up on his/her dream. Extra props for anyone who gets a baseball contract just before they were supposed to ship out with the hopes of becoming a Navy Seal. Too bad he couldn’t cut it on the field. So it ends with this epitaph: It was fun while it lasted.

Shameless plug — make sure to check our Cardinals blog at the News-Leader and you can follow me on Twitter (MattBaker31). I’m always happy to hear from readers, and I answer questions as quickly (and honestly) as I can.

Interesting blurb on each pitcher:

Salas had a season in Class AA last season that had results “parallel to Kyle McClellan,” Mozeliak said. And while the Cardinals don’t see a McClellan like leap to the majors this spring for Salas, Mozeliak added: “We wouldn’t be afraid to bring him up to the big leagues.”

Salas throws strikes.

Samuel throws hard.

The lithe Dominican Republic native has an easy delivery and instant velocity. His speed appears to pop from an effortless arm swing. “Electric,” said one official.

Pitchers and catchers have reported. The world just feels right. No more hiatus. I’ll be back in the saddle tomorrow.

Control is the only thing keeping Samuel from rocketing through the Cardinals system. His stuff was generally unhittable—Vero Beach pitching coach R.C. Lichtenstein likened it to Jose Valverde‘s—but patient hitters found they could work him for walks.

The Jose Valverde comparison is pretty interesting, and obviously it would have to be based only on stuff, as Papa Grande has a hundred pounds or so on El Mosquito. You also have to wonder if he will add even more to his 94-98 MPH fastball as he fills out. There’s a lot to dream on with Samuel, you just hope that he gets his control to at least a passable level.

In a chat, Jones was said to have just missed the list.

He was the toughest guy to leave off the list…Jones doesn’t really have an overwhelming tool, although his arm is his only really below average one. There are a lot of 50s and 55s there on the 20-to-80 scouting scale, as he’s an average hitter and has average power. He’s a very solid player and the fact that he didn’t sneak on to the back of this top 20 doesn’t mean he’s not a prospect. He was No. 21 on this list.

No overwhelming tool? Wha? I don’t get this. BA has been trumpeting Jones’ tools year after year, and when he finally puts them together into game usable skills, they downplay them. Even if what he says about his hit tools is true, he has well above average speed, so to say he has no overwhelming tool is just not true.

This is absurd.

Watching Chris Perez and Jeff Samardzija work the latter innings in yesterday’s game was fun stuff. If I had my choice between the two coming into the season, I would’ve taken Perez over the Shark any day of the week. Jeff’s mind bogglingly low 3.77 K/9 rate honestly made me wonder if he missed his true sport, but apparently something’s clicked, because at least the two times I’ve seen him on TV, he’s toyed with big league hitters. Now I’d say give me Samardzija. His velocity + freakish movement on his sinker is a sight to behold in and of itself, and then you throw a nasty splitter and a nice slider on top of that and wow. I like Perez quite a bit, and he’s been very good since being recalled, but Samardzija made my jaw drop.

No Cardinal made BA’s Hot Sheet this week, but Francisco Samuel was mentioned in their “Helium Watch”.

…if you’re looking for the reliever with the league’s scariest stuff, it’s Samuel. The righthander features a 95-96 mph fastball and an 87 mph slider, a combo that leaves him unhittable at times. He’s struck out 13.8 batters per nine innings, and he’s been especially deadly on righthanders, holding them to .170/.278/.240 averages. Samuel could still sharpen his control, but opposing managers say his two-pitch mix will continue to dominate as he climbs the ladder.

Palm Beach wins one in a doubleheader and Johnson City wins. L’s everywhere else.

Memphis 3, New Orleans 5

• I think the Cards are rushing things with Adam Wainwright. It took him 27 pitches to retire just two batters in his first rehab assignment and he got knocked around-0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR. Goold has more details.
• Blake Hawksworth followed up and was decent his third start back since returning from the DL. 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 1 HR. Hawkworth’s had no troubles striking batters out this season but has struggled with control and keeping the ball in the yard. His K/9 is 8.8, HR/9: 1.5, BB/9: 4.1.
• Weird stuff happening in the Memphis lineup thanks to the Felipe Lopez signing. Brendan Ryan played some SS/2B and went 0-for-5 in the leadoff spot. D’Angelo Jimenez had 2 AB, Tyler Greene had 3 AB and Jarrett Hoffpauir sat and watched.
• Nick Stavinoha went 3-for-4 with a double.
• David Freese went 2-for-4.
• Mark Worrell had a walk and a K in 1.1 innings.

Springfield 3, San Antonio 4

• Jess Todd still will destroy us all. He threw 7 innings of 1-hit ball. He had 3 K, 2 BB and 10 ground outs.
• Luis Perdomo allowed no baserunners in his 1 inning of work and struck out two. Meanwhile, Anthony Reyes threw 6.1 innings on one run ball with 4 K’s and a walk. After the game, Reyes said, “I felt I didn’t fit in. It was hard trying to make people happy there. It made for some long years.” and “There’s more communication here.” But take comfort, we still have Joel Pineiro and they are moving our best starter into the bullpen.
• Luke Gregerson went splat. He allowed 4 ER and recorded only 2 outs in the 9th.
• Josh Dew allowed his inherited runner to score, which happened to be the winning run.
• Brandon Buckman was the offense. He went 2-for-4 with a HR. Mark Shorey had the club’s only other hit.

Palm Beach 1, Jupiter 0 (7 innings, Game 1)

• The enigmatic Brad Furnish threw a complete game 2-hit shutout. He struck out four and walked two.
• Pete Kozma went 2-for-3 with a double.

Palm Beach 0, Jupiter 4 (7 innings, Game 2)

• Eddie Degerman, AKA Captain Quirk, threw 3.2 innings, allowed 1 ER on 5 hits and 3 walks with 2 K’s.
• Pete Parise struck out the side but not before he allowed 2 solo HR.
• Jupiter’s P’s returned the favor; Aaron Luna and Antonio DeJesus had Palm Beach’s only two hits.

Quad Cities 1, Cedar Rapids 3

• I guess I didn’t miss much. Brett Wallace went 0-for-3 with 3 K and 1 BB.
• Carlos Pupo went yard.
• Ross Oeder doubled.
• Soft-tossing Nick Additon allowed 3 ER on 4 H and 1 BB over 7 innings, w/5 K’s. He had 12 fly outs and allowed a HR. His low velocity coupled with his extreme flyball tendencies makes it hard for me to see him replicating his current success at the higher levels.
• Kenny Maiques allowed a run on a hit and struck out 2 in his one inning of work.

Batavia 1, Auburn 5

• Chris Swauger doubled and homered.
• Shane Peterson went 0-for-2 but drew 2 walks.
• Brett Lilley went 2-for-4.
• Scott Gorgen allowed 4 ER on 4 hits and 1 BB over 5 IP. He recorded 6 K’s. I wouldn’t put too much stock in Gorgen’s recent struggles, he’s thrown 152.2 innings combined between college and pro-ball this year. He’s probably just gassed.
• Miguel Tapia allowed 1 ER on 2 H and 3 BB with 1 K.

Johnson City 6, Greeneville 0

• Deryk Hooker was good tonight. Really, really good. No seriously. He was really stinkin’ good. Hooker allowed just 1 hit over 5 innings and struck out 11. Hooker has a sterling 12.46 K/9 rate over his two seasons between the GCL and the Appy. He’s just 19.
• Catcher turned reliever alert: David Carpenter struck out 1 in his perfect inning of relief.
• Nico Vasquez went 2-for-4 with 2 doubles and I’m sure Hardcore Legend will fill us in on anything else interesting Nico experienced today.
• Curt Smith went 3-for-4 with a HR. For what it’s worth, Smith is 3rd overall in the Appy in OPS.
• Alex Castellanos went 1-for-3 with a double and was HBP.