Future Redbirds

The Cards once again have dipped into the Frontier League, signing Pete Parise of the Slippery Rock Sliders. Parise had 13 strikeouts to 1 walk to this season in 6 relief appearances. Primarily used as on outfielder in college for the University of Pitt, Parise struck out 10 to 4 walks in 16 innings while compiling 4 saves and a 1.12 ERA.

“The way Pete has been throwing for the past two weeks, we were expecting him to be signed right away,” commented Sliders’ field manager Greg Jelks. “With a fastball consistently in the low 90s plus his outstanding control, Pete has the opportunity for a tremendous career with the Cardinals.”

He’ll be reporting to Johnson City.

Per Derrick Goold, the team also signed Wayne Daman of Washington State and Clay Long of Auburn Montgomery. BA says of Daman:

Junior righthander Wayne Daman, the Cougars’ most dependable starter, was similar to dozens of other righties around the country, with decent control of three fringe-average pitches.

3 fringe average offerings? Sure, what the hey. Daman put up a 3.28 ERA with 55 K’s and 32 walks over 85 innings. Long pitched for NAIA Auburn-Montgomery and had 73 K’s to 25 opponents over 76 IP. His 2.61 ERA led the NAIA. The Montgomery Advisor also reports that the Cards signed his battery, Paul Vasquez. Vasquez hit 10 homers and a school record 25 doubles for a .416 batting average and a .667 slugging percentage and will probably catch for Johnson City to start the season. Behind the plate he’s not shabby defensively. He allowed 9 passed balls in 64 games, but threw out 23 out of 53 basestealers (43%) according to A-M’s official site.