Future Redbirds

I almost feel like it’s the final week of school. The minor league schedule is hurtling to an end. The GCL and Appy league team are done this week. Batavia is done 9/7. The other teams are done by 9/3. Don’t fret, die hard prospect freaks. There is the playoffs, and Springfield and The Quad Cities are right in the thick of it. Then there will be the Arizona Fall League in October. We’ll be giving you all the low-down on all the latest happenings. With the end of the season, there will be plenty of post season analysis, prospect profiles, rankings, and a lot more. Be sure to hang with us.

Travis Mitchell and Jon Edwards were both promoted to Batavia. Mitchell is from Parkway Central in St. Louis, so he’s got the hometown mojo going for him. On the surface he’s been hitting pretty well, with a .289 batting average at JC. But under the surface, there are some issues. He’s struck out in nearly a quarter of his plate appearances while walking in just 3.9%. He has little to no power and has a propensity to hit the ball on the ground a lot. That said, he’s 19 and is pretty athletic and has good speed so I’m not jumping on his case. I just don’t see a ton to get excited about, at least from a statistical standpoint. Edwards on the other hand is worth getting a little excited about. Like Mitchell, he’s just 19. Like Mitchell, he started his season in rookie ball for the 2nd straight season. But Edwards, in 2nd straight season at JC, has put up nearly a .200 isolated power. He draws walks, and he is starting to get the ball in the air more. On the negative, he’s striking out a lot more, in over 30% of his PA’s compared to 18.5% last season.

Matt Eddy of BA has his latest transaction report. It looks like Zawacki wasn’t the only player signed before the deadline, the Cardinals signed their 45th round pick Jameson Maj. Maj was Abilene Christian’s closer this past season and tied the Division II saves record last season with 20. He struck out 72 in 54 innings, with an ERA of 1.00. Maj made his debut yesterday, allowing a couple hits and struck out 1.

Colby goes yard yet again in a merciless beat down handed out by the S-Cards. Tyler Herron dominates the Dojo and the Swing nose out an important W. It’s all in tonight’s DPR.

Memphis 7, Albuquerque 10

• Skip Schumaker doubled twice, walked twice, and drove in 2.
• Matt Pagnozzi went 3 for 4 with a double.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir, who rarely strikes out, struck out 3 times.
• Miguel Cairo went 2 for 5.
• Randy Keisler allowed 9 runs; 8 earned on 10 hits and 3 walks over 6 IP. 4 of the hits were HR. (!)
• Mark Worrell allowed a run on 3 hits, striking out 1.

Springfield 16, Arkansas 0

• Colby Rasmus is a man on fire. He went 3 for 6 with a homer, his 10th, yes 10th of the month. For the month of August, he’s hitting .405/.495/.845.
• Mark Hamilton went 2 for 5 with a HR and 5 RBI.
• Jose Martinez, the other Mr. August went 2 for 6 with a double and 2 RBI. In August, Martinez is hitting .357/.390/.561.
• Bryan Anderson went 2 for 5.
• Rico Washington went 4 for 5.
• P.J. Walters went pitched 7 shutout innings and walked 2, allowed 6 hits and struck out 4. He got 11 outs via the ground, lowing his ERA to 2.36. No matter what the level, Walters has succeeded to this point.

Palm Beach 0, St. Lucie 3

• Mark Mulder had his 3rd rehab start and gave up a run on deuces wild. In other words, he gave up a couple of hits, a couple of walks, and had a couple of K’s.
• On the Met side of things, top pitching prospect Deolis Guerra gave up just a couple of hits over 5 innings. The Met pitchers allowed just 5 hits all game, all singles.
• A.J. Van Slyke had 2 of those hits, going 2 for 4.

Quad Cities 1, Cedar Rapids 0

• The 1st place Swing snapped the 2nd place Kernels 10 game win streak, holding Cedar Rapids to just three hits. QC has a 3.5 game lead.
• Tyler Herron was on his game, tossing 7 innings of 2 hit ball, striking out 7 and didn’t issue a walk.
• Kyle Mura struck out two and walked one in two hitless innings.
• Kenny Maiques threw a perfect inning. (Sneak preview of coming attractions. I will have an interview with Maiques up no later then Tuesday morn.)
• Kyle Sadlowski finished it off, working around a hit and a walk, fanning 1.
• Daryl Jones led off the 11th with a walk. He attempted to make 3rd on a ground ball to 3rd. The Kernel’s 1st baseman Mark Trumbo’s throw went into the stands, allowing Jones to score the winning run in the 11th.
• Christian Reyes went 2 for 2 with a walk.

Batavia 3, Auburn 6

• Brandon Garner surrendered 3 runs; 1 earned on 5 hits while striking out two without issuing a walk over 4 innings.
• J.D. Stambaugh struck out 5 in 3 innings, but also allowed 3 runs on 5 hits.
• Jonathan Edwards hit a 2 RBI double, and walked.
• Daniel Descalso went 2 for 4 with a walk. He’s now hitting .337/.387/.488 in the month of August.
• Justin Roberson and Travis Mitchell both went 2 for 4 with doubles.

Johnson City 1, Danville 6

• Not a ton to say here. Beau Riportella went 2 for 3 with a stolen base and was also picked off.
• Omar Javier lasted 4 innings and gave up 3 runs, all earned on 4 hits and 4 walks, including a homer. He struck out just 1 and threw 2 wild pitches to raise his ERA to a beastly 6.66.
• Andres Rosales struck out 4 in 3 innings, but also allowed 3 runs on 6 hits. He also threw 4, count ‘em, 4 wild pitches.

The GCL Cardinals had their game suspended after 4 innings.