Comments on: Daily Farm Report - 5/7/2008

By: danup

danup — Fri, 09 May 2008 05:03:42 +0000

I’ve always had an irrational love for Brandon Yarbrough, probably because he’s the Slick Hitting Catcher from the first draft I followed that we actually kept.

I would, of course, be willing to trade them.

By: azruavatar

azruavatar — Thu, 08 May 2008 19:21:24 +0000

Eckstreem —

The comments keep getting caught in the spam filter (someone else replied to yesterdays — Lou, I think) so there’s a delay between when we find them and when you post them.

Not sure why they are ending up in our filter.

By: Eckstreem

Eckstreem — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:32:07 +0000

I posted this yesterday, but it never showed up. I have noticed an odd occurence over the last couple of years regarding our minor league players.

Has anyone else noticed that our Memphis players that get promoted see very little, if any dropoff in their hitting post-promotion?

I know it really is a small sample size and all that jazz, but look at Duncan, Schumaker, Ankiel, Ludwick, Hart, JRod, etc…. All these guys saw almost 0 dropoff upon their promotion to the big show.

What is the explanation for this? Should the MLE’s be adjusted for Memphis players? How are these guys continuing to hit this well off of “better” pitchers?

By: Merry Crasmus

Merry Crasmus — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:29:58 +0000

I’m still not very concerned. I agree with most of what Lassie said. He’s 21 and in AAA. Until Anderson came up the next youngest person in the lineup was 24.

He isn’t forcing his way up to the bigs like we may have hoped, but based off the magnitude of his season last year (after a slow start, nonetheless), I think eventually the adjustment will be made. Probably fairly soon.

By: SleepyCA

SleepyCA — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:24:27 +0000

Totally agree, Bob.

On a higher note, though, it’s great to see Craig start to heat up. For a while there I was pretty worried about him.

By: redbirdavenger

redbirdavenger — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:12:20 +0000

I’m concerned for exactly the reasons Bob mentioned… that the organization may have pushed him away from his approach, then his Dad pushed him back towards his younger days, and now he’s caught and confused in some no man’s land in-between.

A demotion isn’t going to happen with his pattern of heating up as the season goes on. That said, if he’s still sitting at .200 when June hits, there’s gonna be some major re-evaluation going on and a lot of trying to figure out what changed between Spring Training and AAA.

By: VolsnCards5

VolsnCards5 — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:39:43 +0000

i totally agree with you bob….let the kid play

i say by this time next month, his avg will be up to around .265 and his ops will be up a lot

if not, then i will start worrying

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:13:45 +0000

If Colby is preoccupied by trying to drive the ball the other way this year (apparently the dictum from Cardinal management), and preoccupied as well by his father’s instruction to never take a strike (”Gotta SWING your way to the majors, kiddo!”), then I’m not sure that he’ll ever get back to what he was–at least not in this organization.

What Colby is, is a great hitter who happens to be a patient, *pull* hitter. A pull hitter who mashes for plus, plus power while maintaining a very good batting average, that’s what he is. We saw it in AA, again with Team USA, and yet again in Spring Training. And the Cardinals have done him a grave disservice by trying to change him into a *perfect* hitter–one who hits with plus power to *all* fields.

If and when the organization (admits its error and) tells Colby to simply return to the approach that dominated AA, international pitching, and major leaguers down in ST, then we’ll see the real Rasmus again.

Oh, and it wouldn’t hurt if his dad kept his mouth shut, too–anyone who tells a kid hitting .300/.500/.600 (roughly what Colby hit in Spring Training) that he needs to change his approach ’cause he’s taking too many strikes…well, let’s just say that person is offering radically bad advice.

By: lassie01

lassie01 — Thu, 08 May 2008 14:01:43 +0000

If Colby was 25, had 2 months in AAA last year where he struggled, and was struggling like he is now I’d be worried, but he’s 21, in his first stint in AAA, and from what I’ve heard he was desperate to make the team out of ST and crushed when he didn’t. I’d even be worried if he was 20 and struggling this much in AA from A+ but the jump to AAA isn’t even that significant, some teams don’t even think it’s a necessary step for their prospects. Colby didn’t just do okay in AA either, he lead the league in HR and had a 900+ OPS as a 20 year old. You don’t just go from that to being over matched at AAA. I know it stinks but I just can’t believe it’s a skills problem, it’s between his ears.

By: KCardinal

KCardinal — Thu, 08 May 2008 13:18:08 +0000

erik,

I wouldn’t be. We forget how much the mental aspect of the game plays into things.

I’m sure no one remembers anymore when Wainwright was on the cusp of the majors in ‘05 coming out of ST, only to be blocked by a healthy & solid staff. He mentioned in some of his interviews that he was really bummed about not making the team. He went on to post a 4.40 ERA (or somewhere close to that) for the year. Everyone said “how can he pitch in the majors when he has a 4+ ERA in AAA?”

… He was just bored and frustrated. I kept telling everyone that was his problem, but few listened. Look at him now.

Colby’s doing the same thing. He has stated he had goals of making the majors (?before) by the time he was 21. He crushed AA last year and had a great ST this year, only to be kept in AAA. He is going through a mental slump, but he will be fine.

Hopefully a trade will open up a spot for him on the big club. Because, I would assure you, that if he does, he won’t slump for very long up there.