Future Redbirds

Even with new baby born, suprisingly I find myself unable to sleep tonight, so I may as well blog.  Dan Szymborski has his latest ZiPS projections out for the Cardinals, I found some of it interesting as far as some of the minor leaguers go.

• The Cardinals are looking for another outfielder, but they may already have one with Ryan Ludwick. He projects a .247/.316/.459 batting line, not great, but his presence doesn’t make resigning Preston Wilson seem like a wise move.
• Stavinoha projects to be every bit as ‘valuable’ as Preston Wilson. Can’t wait to see what he does this year when healthy.
• Andy Cavazos’s projected ERA is 4.28, a hair under Russ Springer’s projection. That bullpen is getting pretty crowded.
• Troy Cate projects to be a run better then Tyler Johnson and every bit as good as the recently re-upped Randy Flores. He’s doing a great job for Matzaltan in the Mexican Winter League right now as a starter, it’ll be interesting to see what role the Cardinals put him in this spring.
• Blake Hawksworth deserves a good look this spring, though I think he could benefit for some more seasoning in AAA. ZiPS has him at a 4.81 ERA over 29 starts, pretty close to Mulder’s projection, only of course more starts. It’s kinda funny, it took Hawksworth almost 2 seasons to recover from shoulder surgery and it’s about halfway safe to say he’s come fully back. He’s lost some of the zip on his fastball, but the rest of the goods remain. The Cardinals are gambling Mulder will make a quicker recovery then Hawksworth. That’s understandable, Mulder’s shoulder injury wasn’t as bad, but I wouldn’t be totally shocked if Hawksworth outpitches Mulder over the next 2 seasons.
• Somewhat to my suprise, Chris Narveson and Dennis Dove don’t really project all that well, both ERA’s well over 5.
• Not to my suprise, Stu Pomeranz, Eric Haberer and Chris Lambert project to be decroded pieces of crap. (Forgive the Nap Dynamite ref)