Future Redbirds

Rough night for the farm system. Of 7 games they pick up just one win. I spent tonight at a Frontier league game watching some really bad baseball. I also found it quite humorous that they marked the CF wall as 385ft when it was clearly more like 360. The ballpark dimensions were obviously not what they were labeled. Still, the ticket was free and the beer was provided — hard to beat that. On to the prospects!

Memphis 0, New Orleans 4

• Playing for the New Orleans Zephyrs. . .we miss you.
• Nick Stavinoha, Joe Mather and Brian Esposito all collected 2 hits. Esposito also had a walk.
• Mike Smith had a quality outing. I was listening to the game on the radio — I managed to hear Tatis get picked off first in what sounded like a really atrocious play on his part — and all the announcers were talking about was how much Smith reads. They went on and on and on. But whatever . . . segue to mildly interesting piece about Memphis travel. Smith struck out 8 in 7 IP allowing just 3 ER and 9 baserunners.
• Kelvin Jimenez and Hugo Castellanos both allowed 2 baserunners in their innings of work.

Springfield 2, Tulsa 9

• RASMUS WENT DEEP! RASMUS WENT DEEP! HE LIVES! He also drew a walk in 4 plate appearances.
• Jose Martinez drew 2 BBs while going a hitless 0-for-2.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir and Bryan Anderson both had 2 hits in 4 ABs. Hoffpauir is batting .327/.405/.491/.896 — what in the name of the baseball gods does it take to get a promotion for this middle infielder?
• The Redbird pitching was pretty ugly all 9 innings. Eric Haberer allowed 4 runs on 8 hits in 5.1 innings. Matthew Scherer struck out 2 but allowed 2 runs (1 earned). Scherer has 43 Ks in 39 IP. Kevin “I never should have left the pen” Ool pitched 2.1 innings allowing 7 hits and 3ER. Why is Ool still pitching in Springfield? How about a promotion for Gregerson? Huh?

Palm Beach 6, Fort Meyers 4

• Allen Craig went 2-for-4 with a double and an (intentional) walk. He also committed his 12th error of the seaso. Hint: He’s not going to stick at 3rd base.
• Ian Church went yard for a 3-run homerun. His second homerun in the last 3 games.
• Brandon Yarbrough went 2-for-4 while AJ Van Slyke went 3-for-4.
• Fernando “I’m not a starter either” Salas allowed 4 runs (3 earned) in 4.2 innings. His box score was just ugly. The only thing that qualifies him for the rotation is that he’s less bad than Trey Hearne at the moment. Hey Luhnow, promote Garceau or Degerman. You’ve got all these college arms yet not one of them can help the A-ball rotation in a pitchers park in Florida? Really? I’m sure Luhnow has a rationale here (he’s too smart not to) but it’s beyond my understanding.
• Trey Hearne threw 2.1 IP scoreless innings striking out 1. It’s a start.
• Luke Gregerson struck out 1 and walked 1 to pick up the save and lower his ERA to 1.72.

Quad Cities 2, Wisconsin 5

• Jaime Landin went 0-for-4 with 3 Ks.
• Chris Grossman went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
• Jared Schweitzer went 2-for-4.
• Blake King allowed 4 ER in 4 IP. He only walked 1 batter, which is an improvement, with 6 hits and struck out 3.
• Brandon Dickson pitched the back 4 innings allowing 1 ER.

Batavia 5, Mahoning Valley 6

• C Nick Derba went 2-for-5 and is hitting .357 so far. He had his first passed ball though.
• 3B Brian Cartie went 3-for-4.
• RF Antonio DeJesus got on base the hard way getting HBP twice in 5 PAs.
• Some nice relief appearances by Clayton Long who struck out 3 in 2 innings and Josh “Mountain” Dew who struck out the side in the 9th. Josh is only 6′4″ but I’m gonna see if the Mountain thing doesn’t stick anyway.

Johnson City 8, Bluefield 10

• LF Beau Riportella went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.
• 2B Ateo Folli went 3-for-5 with a HR.
• DH Matthew Arburr went 2-for-5.
• RF Jonathan Edwards went 1-for-4 with a HR.
• LaCurtis Mayes pitched 2 scoreless innings allowing a hit and striking out 1.

GCL Cardinals 4, GCL Cardinals 6

• LF Joseph Hage went 2-for-5 with a solo jack.
• 3B Arnoldi Cruz went 2-for-4 with a double.
• RF Edgar Lara got a Golden Sombrero.
• Andrews Rosales struck out 4 batters in 4 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits.