Kary Booher has an interesting article on the deciding factors that led to the club drafting Chris Lambert back in 2004, and what measures they’ve taken to make sure they don’t repeat the same kind of mistake.
The Cardinals traditionally draft college pitchers No. 1 overall. Hughes was a high school pick, and high schoolers are considered the riskiest picks in the draft.
It should be noted that the Cardinals had only 13 scouts — and not even a national cross-checker.
“I think our due diligence was thinner than where we are today,” Mozeliak said. “I don’t think there was anything in Lambert’s make-up or something like that that might have shown itself a little differently. Quite frankly, I saw Lambert pitch 10 days before that draft and he was throwing 95 against Notre Dame.”
But …
“I don’t think … we … ever … saw that (in the pros),” Mozeliak said, shaking his head.
“That’s the part now where we get 10 looks at a player where then we had maybe four or five,” he added.
Jaime Garcia is # 6 on Baseball America’s latest Hot Sheet. Colby comes in at #11 after making the “not hot” list in the previous edition. Not including tonight, Colby has hit .320/.414/.600 in his last 25 AB’s, with 2 HR, 4 walks and 4 strikeouts.
On to tonight’s DFR–The Hawk becomes the prey, Allen Craig comes alive, and a couple of injured prospects make their return. Details after the jump.
- That crackling, sizzling sound you heard was what’s left of Blake Hawksworth’s prospect status disappearing in a blaze of ignominy. Maybe that’s harsh, but here’s the ugly line-2.1 IP, 10 hits, 11 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. 6 of the hits allowed were doubles. He threw 2 wild pitches and plunked a batter.
- Hugo Castellanos wasn’t much better. Over 2.2, he allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks with 2 K’s.
- Mark Worrell is too good for the minors. I’m not anointing him as the closer of the future, but he’s been darn good in AAA as a middle reliever. In his one inning, he allowed a hit and had a strikeout. He’s holding batters to a .125 average with 16 K’s in 9.2 innings so far this season. He’s ready to be an asset for a major league team, and has been for some time.
- Chris Perez had an inning that epitomizes him as a pitcher, other than maybe the hit he gave up. He had a walk, threw a wild pitch and struck out two. After listening to tonight’s big league game, it could be Perez’s time sooner then later.
- Joe Mather was back from the DL. He singled and walked.
- Nick Stavinoha went 2 for 2 with a double. In 74 at bats, Nick is hitting .365. I like to see him hitting for average, but secondary skills like walking and hitting for power still aren’t there. Now 25 years old, chances are those skills aren’t coming.
- Colby went 0 for 4 with a K.
- Mark Mulder missed some bats w/ 5 K’s in 5 IP, that’s the good news. The bad news is he allowed a lot of runners; walking 4 and giving up 6 hits, including a HR. 4 total ER. I don’t know how much weight to put on these rehab outings, but obviously, that’s not a great line for Mulder.
- Allen Craig reached in every plate appearance, going 4 for 4 with a double, HR, 4 RBI and 2 HBP. Good to see him get it going.
- Shane Robinson went 4 for 6 with 4 runs scored. He’s now hitting .390. He stole a base in 2 tries.
- Bryan Anderson, Jose Martinez and Mark Hamilton both went 2 for 5. Anderson/Salas allowed 2 steals.
- Luke Gorsett doubled and walked.
- After being the Texas League’s piñata in his first few games, Josh Dew allowed no hits and struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced.
- Zach Zuercher threw a perfect inning, striking out 1.
- Fernando Salas went 1.2, walking 2 and fanning 3.
- Daryl Jones was back in the lineup, going 2 for 4 with a double and 2 K’s.
- Tyler Henley went 1 for 4 with a steal.
- Donovan Solano went 2 for 4.
- Brandon Dickson threw 5 innings, allowing just a run on 4 hits, a walk and had 2 K’s He induced 8 outs.
- Tyler Herron followed up, throwing 4 innings of one hit ball, striking out 3.
Quad Cities was rained out.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Mulder was a stupid net removed from a homerun. Great game for the offense. Will give an update plus I got video of Mulder.
How well can Hawksworth play CF?
I think a move to the bullpen may be in order for Hawksworth.
I believe in Allen Craig… but it’s been tough. C’mon, buddy.
Sorry to be nitpicky, but I can’t take it anymore.
“Chris Perez had an inning that epitomizes him as a pitcher, other thEn maybe the hit he gave up.”
“Then ” is a sequence word. He threw the ball away, THEN the batter advanced.
“Than” is a comparator. …”other THAN maybe the hit he gave up.”
Sorry,but I read too way too many badly written student papers. I getting surly in my old age.
Lambert isn’t pitching horribly for AAA Toledo:
2-1, 2.05 ERA, 22 INN, 19 H, 13 BB, 9 K
Walks are high and the strike outs are very low but he’s not getting shelled so far.
It’s the than/then police. wee-ooo wee-ooo
It’s funny, after Lambert’s second stint with Springfield he had a start where the report said he was sitting about 89-90mph w/ his fastball and I thought what happened to the upper 90’s pitcher they drafted? I kept waiting for it to come out that he was hurt, I guess it was the scouting dept. in ‘04 that was hurt.
BTW Neil, let it go man, let it go.
“Sorry,but I read too way too many badly written student papers. I getting surly in my old age.”
maybe you should proof your own message a little better.
perez scares the heck out of me. We have grown accustomed to Izzy’s nail-biters…. I have a feeling that perez is going to be the death of many a cards fan when he is called up. The control issues are disturbing to me. I will say I have never seen him pitch, either in person or on TV, so I am just going on these reports and the numbers, but man, is a patient lineup going to walk into a blown save every other game? I realize he is highly regarded by many, and he throws the hell out of the ball…. but the walks…..
I like the correction, and will try and remember that going forward. I was just teasing you Neil. No need to jump on his case, guys. I have a cousin who is an English major that gives me a hard time, too. I obviously don’t want to sound like an idiot if at all possible.
I admit it, I never went to college and wasn’t the best at English in HS. My strong suite was History, and believe it or not, I went to a bible school in the south. While they encouraged you to be polished and sound professional, I heard a lot of broken English. I’ll try and do gooder with my grammar. Heh.
Erik,
Bless you. I truly do enjoy your insights.
perez has actually had pretty good control this year. that was only his 3rd walk of the year.
I don’t know…I really appreciate the successes Izzy has had for us…but last night just killed me. Somehow, watching someone younger, making a LOT less money might make the blown saves more palatable, if that’s possible.
It’s early yet, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in the veteran back end of our pen.
I saw Perez pitch last year here in Portland…the ball sizzles out of his hand.
don’t get me wrong - izzy has been extremely successful. Its just that it seems that he frequently pitches himself into trouble, then pitches out of it. Perez seems to have that same trait - without the experiece that Izzy has. I see a situation developing with Perez and Motte similar to that which the Rockies have - Corpas struggles as closer, so you can move him to setup and bring Fuentes in to close.
Good article. Mo and Jeff speak on the record.