Future Redbirds

Per today’s P-D

Blake Hawksworth, one of the organization’s top pitching prospects, leads the group and is the one not from the 2004 draft. He was the organization’s pitcher of the year in 2006 and is the closest of the group to the majors. He’ll be joined in Jupiter by the top two closers from the system, right handers Mark Worrell, a former organizational pitcher of the year, and Mike Sillman. First-round pick Chris Lambert and his Class AA teammate from ‘06, Mike Parisi, complete the newcomers.

La Russa said camp will be geared to the “least-experienced player, the least-experienced pitcher” and that every player will “start the drills like Colby Rasmus — at zero.”

The plan is to get the younger players, like Rasmus and Hawksworth, time in the exhibition games. La Russa agreed that big-league spring training can be like a September call up in the similar bounce it gives a young player.

“The benefit for a young kid like Rasmus and the others is they get to be in that clubhouse and we get to see their willingness to compete,” La Russa said. “They can benefit from the example and from the opportunity that’s there. The first 10 days, two weeks will be the same for everybody. From there, what they can earn depends on how they perform. Some can get a longer look-see.”

Also in notably in camp is Bryan Anderson for the 2nd spring in a row, Brendan Ryan as well as Chris Narveson and Troy Cate who are considered long shots for a rotation spot. It’s really refreshing to see many more homegrown players in camp for a change. Hopefully Lambert and Carpenter can rub shoulders a bit, as they have something in common as they are both are New Hampshire-ites (Lambert was born in California, but grew up there). And when you look at each player’s stats when they were in AA, they are similar-

Carp-Age 20-21 235.2 IP 16 HR 122 BB 203 K 3.94 DIPS
Lambert-Age 22-23 205.2 IP 30 HR 111 BB 182 K 4.75 DIPS

Carpenter and Lambert were both first round picks and were considered to be raw talents. They both have had their struggles with command early in their careers. The big difference in the 2 pitching lines is Lambert’s ghastly home run rate. Not to say Lambert will turn into Carp, Carpenter was long regarded as having some pretty dominant stuff and Lambert has left some scouts underwhelmed. Word is Lambert has trouble staying consistent with his mechanics, thus ballooning his walk rate. Last spring Carpenter took Wainwright as his ‘padawan-learner’ and it payed dividends. If anyone could benefit from Carpenter, it would certainly be Lambert.