Daily Farm Report - 4/30/2008
Posted on April 30, 2008 by roarke49
I had the opportunity to ask Will Carroll what he thought of the plan to stretch Springfield’s pitchers out to 120 pitches. He said that he thought it was an interesting concept and that he would be interested in seeing how it plays out. It was just a brief email exchange, but somehow I am more at ease with this idea than I was before. Brent Strom and Dyer Miller are smart guys with a progressive approach to pitching, so maybe we (I) should let them do their thing for a while before we (I) get too stressed about it.
All four teams had games today and the system went 2-2. All the details are after the jump.
- Mark Mulder gave up nine runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings. Only seven of the runs were earned, but that provides little comfort. He walked one, hit a batter, struck out one and gave up three homeruns. Reports were that he hit 89 with his fastball, so it wasn’t necessarily a matter of velocity. He did get more ground outs than fly outs (6-4), but again: small comfort.
- Colby went 0-4 with a walk and a run scored.
- Ron Flores also gave up a solo shot in his 1.2 innings of work (the box score says the wind was 10mph out to CF). He also struck out three and walked two.
- John Wasdin (who I just learned is actually older than I am) struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings. He also walked a pair and gave up a hit.
- Jason Motte threw a perfect inning, striking out one.
- D’Angelo Jimenez drove in three with a double and Nick Stavinoha went 2-2 with a solo homerun and a walk to provide the bulk of the Memphis offense.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir and Mark Johnson each went 2-4 with a double and Amaury Marti went 1-4 with a double.
- Shane Robinson hit a homerun to continue his hot start to the season. He only went 1-4, though, so his average dropped to .410.
- Utilityman Casey Rowlett got the start at 2B and made the most of it, hitting two homeruns and driving in four in going 3-4.
- Matt Pagnozzi also went deep and had a 2-4 afternoon.
- Cory Rauschenberger got the start and the loss, even though he only gave up one of the eleven runs against the team. He lasted four innings and yielded two hits and a walk while striking out four. The run he gave up came via a homerun.
- Nicholas Webber, on the other hand, got torched. He lasted two innings and gave up seven earned runs on six hits and three walks. He was touched for two homeruns and did not strike out a batter.
- Bob Zimmerman gave up three unearned runs (due to a Jose Martinez throwing error) in his 1.2 innings. He struck out a pair and gave up a homerun. After giving up the homerun, Zimmerman beaned the next batter and Zimmerman and Pop Warner were tossed from the game.
- Zach Zuercher finished up with a perfect 1.1 innings in which he walked three men.
- Daryl Jones played the role of the leadoff hitter to the hilt, getting on base five times with three walks and two singles. He also stole a base, but was picked off on another occasion.
- Man, Myth and Legend Steve Hill played 1B and went 2-5 with a homerun.
- Donovan Solano and David Carpenter each went 1-3 with a double, a walk, a run scored and an rbi.
- Tyler Herron got the start and gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out four and didn’t walk anyone, but he did throw a wild pitch.
- Brandon Dickson was the piggybacker and went three innings giving up only a hit and a walk and was credited with the win.
- Kenny Maiques closed out the game, walking one and striking out one in the ninth to pick up his third save.
- Pete Kozma had a nice night, going 1-2 with a homerun, a sacrifice fly, two rbi and a walk. It took one month for this guy to go (in my mind) from a disappointing first round pick to the second guy I look for every day in the box scores.
- Charles Kingrey went 2-3 with a homerun and a stolen base (he was also picked off). Charlie was a 22nd round pick last year and he is having a pretty outstanding start to his season as well, going .329/.393/.532 to this point.
- Andrew Brown went 2-4 with a double and Domnit Bolivar went 1-2 with a double a walk and an rbi.
- Mark Diapoules and Nick Additon each went four innings and each gave up an earned run. Diapoules struck out four and walked two while giving up three hits and Additon struck out six and gave up four hits while not walking anyone.
- Cardoza Tucker gave up a run on two hits in the ninth and struck out two to pick up his first save.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
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roarke49
Glad to see Additon have a nice bounceback outing following two rough starts.
I’m right there in the boat with you, Roarke. I still like Tim Alderson and Michael Main an awful lot, but Kozma has certainly changed my mind about him. He just doesn’t seem to be slowing down. His high BABIP numbers indicate he has to tail off eventually, but I keep waiting for it to happen, and he just refuses.
How weird is it that Jones got on base 5 times as the leadoff hitter, and didn’t score any of the team’s 5 runs?
[...] More minor league news and notes (about guys other than Mulder) from FutureRedbirds.com [FutureRedbirds.com] [...]
I watched the QC game last night. I wrote my thoughts on the forum at thestlcardinals.com. Here’s some of what I wrote on that site…
Mark Diapoules - I really liked this kid. He’s a RHP, well built, could maybe add a few pounds, but not much. His delivery is a bit funky, as he simply pulls the ball behind his right ear, cocks, and then throws. Basically, he short arms the ball. Sinking fastball sat at 88-89, with emphasis on the great sink. Got a lot of swings and misses with the sinker. Absolutely fooled Ahrens on a change-up in his first at-bat. Also got Ahrens to K swinging on his 2nd at-bat. Has an average curve. Lansing could not square up his sinker and he breezed through his innings. Only 2-3 balls hit hard in his 4 innings. Threw the changeup a few times with decent control.
Nick Additon - Lanky lefthander with easy pitching motion. Fastball sat at 86-88, but did not have much sink. The fastball had a little bit of motion, but straightened out quite a bit, and he got roped hard on several line drives. Shows a nice 12-6 curve at 74. Threw a changeup a couple of times. Ahrens roped a single off Additon in his first at bat, but Additon caught him looking on a beautiful 12-6 curve on the outside corner in his 2nd at bat. When Additon threw only his fastball, he was getting roped, but when he started off with a curve and mixed in the breaking pitch, he fared much better. It looked like he was having trouble finding the plate with his curve at first, but improved as the game went on. Changed the eye level of the batters by throwing up and down in the zone. Got a lot of strikeouts this way. Will be interesting to see him develop. I think I like Garceau and Diapoules better.
(edit…I like Garceau’s fastball and breaking ball better than either Additon and Diapoules. I like Diapoules’ sinking fastball better than Additon’s fastball, but I like Additon’s curve better then Diapoules’ breaking pitch).
Kozma - DH in the game. I absolutely love watching this kid play. He’s smart, patient, has a good eye, and does everything right. He roped a fastball over the left field fence off Magnuson in the first inning. There was no doubt about it. Walked his second time up (they gave him nothing to hit…nothing close to the strike zone). In his 3rd at bat, he faced a LHP who threw 91-92 with a nice sharp slider. Kozma fell behind 0-2, fought off a couple pitches, and then struck out on a foul tip on a sharp slider. Then, in the bottom of the 8th with a runner on 3rd, hit the first pitch into right center for a sac fly…the kid just does things right every time I watch him play.
Oswaldo Morales - Big kid! Did not look comfortable in the field at first, botching the first play of the game on a slow tapper to him. Is impatient at the plate with a fairly long swing. Swung at several bad pitches, but does have a big body with power potential. Will be a high strikeout batter.
De La Cruz - Fun to watch. Has a lot of energy behind the plate with a strong arm and quick release. Reminds me a bit of Yadi as he was always threatening to throw to first after the pitch to pickoff the runners. Communicated well with the pitchers, always getting up to settle them after bouts of wildness. Just has tons of energy. Has an easy swing, will get line drives. Could improve his blocking skills…he blocked everything in the dirt, but needs to keep the ball in front of him rather than letting it bounce off to the side - a couple of runners advanced on pitches he blocked, but didn’t keep in front of him. I like this kid and look forward to seeing him develop. I think his bat will be his biggest question mark, but should be OK.
On the blue jays’ team, they had Ahrens, Magnuson, Jackson, and Tolisano - all 1st and 2nd round picks from last year.
Magnuson - Nice easy delivery. Fastball sat at 90-91. I really did not pay much attention to his breaking stuff.
Ahrens -Nice sized kid, good size for third base. Has a nice arm and fielded the ball cleanly. Went 1-4 at the plate with 3 K’s. Has a nice stroke at the plate, but looked absolutely fooled on some breaking pitches, as noted above. You could argue that the called strike curveball was a bit outside, but it was 0-2 count. I know I’m biased, but I thought Kozma looked much better and much more comortable at the plate.
Justin Jackson - Didn’t start. Pinch ran in the 9th, and didn’t do anything then. I was disappointed I didn’t see him.
Tolisano - DH. Didn’t get a good feel to report on anything.
Also…I sat a couple of rows behind a couple guys with radar guns, and was reading off their guns during the game. Also was able to look over their shoulder to read a few of their scouting notes and they commented on Diapoules’ nice sinker.
Kozma so far in his age-19 (almost age-20, his birthday is 4/11) season at QC: .341/.421/.538. 16.8K%, 12.1BB%, .197 ISO.
Rasmus in his age-20 season at QC: .310/.368/.512. 16.2K%, 8.6BB%, .202 ISO
I’d be happy with a Rasmus clone playing SS in a couple of years
Walt: Thanks for the first hand account - good stuff.
Mike: That would be a nice outcome, indeed.
waltdub-fantastic info, as always. thnx.
Is Quad Cities considered a good place to hit? What kind of park is it? Scouts seem to always say that power is usually the last thing to come, so it’s nice to see Kozma hitting some homers with wooden bats before his 20th.
Check the “Koz Watch” –
I believe he has only 91 AB
and has a SLG of .538
The Kozma wasn’t updated for a little while, sorry about that. Oh, and we’re counting his plate appearances, not at bats.
QC is a pitchers park.
I would like to officially apologize to Luhnow and Moz for all mybad thoughts after the Kozma pick. . .and the Mortenson pick.
Guess everyone should be glad I make my living in a cubicle and not picking players for your favorite team.
It’s still early. It was too early to say it was a bad pick at the time of the draft and it’s too early for anyone on board with the pick to say ‘I told you so’ to anyone else.