It was just 2006 the Palm Beach Cardinals won the Florida State League championship. There’s been some reshuffling with the coaching staff since then, one of the most significant being this year El Presidente himself, Dennis Martinez, will be Palm Beach’s pitching coach. Gaylen Pitts will manage while the fiery Keith Mitchell will be the hitting coach after managing the Swing the season prior.
Guesstimated lineup:
CF-Tyler Henley
RF-Daryl Jones
1B-Brandon Buckman
DH-Steven Hill
2B-Daniel Descalso
LF-Thomas Pham
3B-Arnoldi Cruz
SS-Oliver Marmol
C-Nicholas Derba
Tyler Henley was solid as Rice’s lead off man. There is however the opinion he could hit for more power if he desired to, so possibly moving him down in the lineup could be in order. We all wait in anticipation for Jones to turn his tools into game and this could be his year. He’s been tearing the cover off the ball in spring training so far; I’m hoping it’s due to him retooling his swing, because by all accounts it has been ugly. Brandon Buckman smashed the MWL, only to find airy Roger Dean a graveyard. Slugging Steven Hill hopes to not to find the same. For Daniel Descalso I’m deducing a move to the keystone, where he would appear to be a better fit. What I said for Jones also goes for Pham. LF may not be the best position for him, he has a strong throwing arm; touching 93 MPH in high school. Arnoldi Cruz has been playing catcher in practice, and he gunned out a couple of would be base stealers the other day. Oliver Marmol was terrible last year, both in the field and at the plate. Donovan Solano may seize the job if he doesn’t hit. Nick Derba is one of our favorite sleepers here. I love the glove, and I love the OBP. His skillset seems similar to Petey Paramore of AZ State, who could go in the first 5 rounds of the draft. Derba was a 30th rounder.
Guesstimated rotation:
SP-Jesse Todd
SP-David Kopp
SP-Brad Furnish
SP-Eddie Degerman Tyler Herron, who should be their # 1 starter
SP-Mark McCormick
I’m a little apprehensive about Todd’s delivery and all the innings he may find himself throwing this year. I halfway wonder if just putting in a relief role now in AA would be better for all parties involved. We’ll have to see. I’m not 100% of Kopp making the jump here, but he’s been throwing 93 with regularity in camp, and most importantly getting outs. Furnish will try and pitch his way to AA this year. Now that his elbow is good, he could possibly take a lurch forward. Mark McCormick seems to be a few walks shy of being sent to the bullpen. The same could apply to Degerman. Both are polar opposites, and I think both would be better served in a switch in roles. If that happens, it opens the door for someone like Gary Daley, Brandon Dickson, Elvis Hernandez or someone else.
[edit]: FGC pointed out a very big oversight on my part-Um…whither Tyler Herron? Herron figures to be the ace of the staff and further solidify his position among the cream of the Cardinal prospect crop. I look for him to do well in Palm Beach, particularly in that ballpark. His numbers in the Midwest League really aren’t that different then Jaime Garcia’s MWL #’s. I don’t expect the Cardinals to be quite as aggressive with Herron, but I wouldn’t totally put it past them.
Guesstimated bullpen:
CL-Kenny Maiques
SU-Joshua Dew
MR-Elvis Hernandez
MR-Fernando Salas
MR-J.D. Stambaugh
MR- Kyle Mura
There was once talk of making Maiques a starter, but his former injury concerns will leave him in the ‘pen. I anticipate him to work his way up to AA within a few months. Josh Dew will likely take his place, he’s pretty similar to Luke Gregerson in that they both hale from smaller schools, both were also position players in college, and both have nasty sliders. Mura has a decent curve and not much else, but he got quite a bit of whiffs in A ball last year. Salas is a 22-year-old righty from Mexico, who gave up homers by the truckload in a brief audition in the starter’s role. He could end up on the chopping block. I figure Stambaugh makes the jump because of his age and he’s left-handed. Elvis Hernandez was good in the starter’s role last year, but with he could take off in relief with that slider of his. Maiques-Dew-Hernandez could form a terrifying troika akin to Worrell-Dove-Scherer that the PB Cards enjoyed in 2006.
All in all, I like the front end of the rotation and the bullpens. The lineup has its questions marks, however. Will the “head scratcher” pick Descalso hit like a 3rd rounder? Will Tommy Pham and Daryl Jones realize their talent? Will Cruz, Derba and Hill prove to be more then just sleepers, but bonified prospects? Will Jennifer Anniston ever find a man to father her a child? Where was I? I forget. Enjoy your 2008 Peanut Butter Cardinals.
Filed under: team previews
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
In a radio interview this week, Luhnow said they are going to play Descalso at shortstop.
erik, don’t you think tyler herron is going to be in the rotation?
I think David Kopp will wind up in the Quad Cities 8 man staff while Tyler Herron will be in the Palm Beach rotation.
Brad Furnish started last year at QC despite being a college pitcher and a 2nd round pick.
McCormick’s future may be in the pen, but he needs to be in the rotation for now even if he does start off walking 15-20 guys in his first 20 innings. McCormick needs innings after missing most of last year.
As for Jess Todd, he does profile as a setup guy, but there is still a chance he could start. There may be some comparisons to Nick Webber with Todd, but the big difference is that Todd has two good pitches. I think in the end Todd will be in the pen, but I’d like to see what he can do starting in the upper levels.
It will be interesting to see how well Elvis Hernandez does in the pen. I remember someone from BA said he was 92-94 with a wipeout slider in his inning in the Midwest League all star game last year. That should be a nice 1-2 combo coming out of the pen.
before the spring i too thought that kopp would be heading to quad cities, but he has been pitching very well for palm beach this spring. furnish did start at quad cities last year, but he was also hurt all spring and had bascially zero innings heading into the season.
if it was up to me i would go with herron, todd, kopp, mccormick, and furnish in the rotation and move degerman to the bench. he has just had too many control problems.
It may mean nothing, but a couple of days ago when I posted the pictures of Greene and Kozma taking infield at short, Descalso was one of the guys playing double play partner at 2B.
wow, tyler herron. HUGE oversight on my part. HUGE
Goold reports that the Cards cut Haberer, which I find surprising. Guy won 13 games last year at Springfield. Guess there just wasn’t room. Dennis Dove gone, too.
Others, per Goold: 1B Mike Ferris, OF Will Groff, C Chris Grossman, C Gerard Haran, RHP Steven A. Hill, 2B Brandon Johnson, LHP Marcus Markray, OF Jose Ramirez, C/1B Christian Reyes, C Robert Sanzillo, INF Jared Schweitzer, RHP Ray Silva and C Scott Thomas.
Apologies for threadjack. I see there’s already some talk on this attached to another post.
Why would they send kopp, an ACC and experienced college pitcher and a pitcher who does well in warmer weather (as seen in st) to a cooler climate?
Anyway, I enjoy the guessing.