Couple of notes to start off:
- The Quad Cities game was cancelled. I think it’s weather related but I haven’t seen any official report on it.
- Bryan Brasher of the Memphis Commercial Appeal catches up with reliever Jason Motte. I think you’ll hear some of the local talking heads claim that Motte couldn’t handle the ninth inning, blah, blah, blah. The problem is and remains that he has no secondary pitch. I’ve watched him throw about 100 pitches (6 separate outings) and I’ve never seen this elusive slider that he’s always working on. Either it’s so flat it looks like a fastball or he never throws it in games — I’m going with the latter. While he intimates that you almost don’t need a second pitch in his quotes, he’s going to have to show batters some other look or they’ll continue to sit on his fastball — 98 mph or not.
- I wonder if the organization doesn’t make certain moves just to mess with me. After having an extended convo on VEB about McClellan never being a starter, it looks like there’s some actual consideration to converting him if Wainwright and Wellemeyer are going to miss significant time. I’m not sure how I feel about it. It doesn’t surprise me after hearing Duncan cluck about his repertoire during Spring Training but due to his previous arm injury I didn’t think they’d really consider it — certainly not mid season. He’s got the array of pitches to succeed, although I’m not sure when he developed a cutter. In any event, the mood within the front office may be shifting. Of the AAA starters, PJ Walters is probably the closest to being a finished product with Garcia being a few months off and Mortensen being more of a mid-2009 guy, imo. The club may be better off not poaching anymore AAA talent at the moment.
One club scores early to win; another scores late to win; another team. . . well, they lose. It’s all in tonight’s DFR.
- Jaime Garcia was a little on the hittable side but still had a nice outing. He went 6.2 innings allowing 8 hits, 2 walks, 1HBP and striking out 6. The 1 ER he allowed came on a solo HR from Astros once and future catcher JR Towles. Uncharacteristically, Garcia had only 5 groundouts against 9 flyouts.
- Jason Motte had a much needed good outing. He allowed just one hit and struck out 4 batters. If Motte can develop his slider into a 45 pitch — something he can throw 4-5 times a game — he’ll get back to where he was a dominant reliever.
- The Redbirds weren’t very good at the plate but they did most of their damage during an exciting first inning. After Hoffpauir popped out in foul territory, Rasmus drew a walk. Stavinoha singled him to second and then Rasmus stole 3rd for his 9th steal of the season. He scored on a throwing error by Towles. Then Josh Phelps strikes out . . .
- . . . and gets himself ejected by the homeplate umpire. At this point, the Round Rock pitcher loses the strike zone and walks Washington and Jimenez to load the bases. Cody Hearther hits a single to right field scoring Stavinoha and Washington. Bryan Anderson flies out to center to end the inning but the damage was done.
- Jon Jay was 3-for-4 with a HR and a walk.
- Brandon Yarbrough was 2-for-5 with a HR.
- Tyler Greene went 1-for-5 but his only hit was a walk-off 3 run shot in the 10th.
- Allen Craig and Jose Martinez both committed errors but the box score still makes Matt Clement out to be the real culprit. He threw 75 pitches over 5 innings allowing 7 hits, walking 3 and striking out just 2. He was getting groundouts (8 GOs: 4 FOs) but allowed 6 runs (3 earned). Let’s see. . .AA guys are getting more than a hit an inning, more walks than Ks and a general just adequate control (60% of pitches for strikes, 1 HBP). Color me unimpressed. Looks like the wind may have been a factor (5 HRs) but this can’t be what Clement or the front office was hoping to see.
- Justin Fiske threw 3 innings allowing 2 hits and striking out 5.
- Jon Mikrut picked up the late game win but coughed up a single run gopher ball in the process.
- Donovan Solano was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
- Andrew Brown was 3-for-5 with a HR.
- Luke Gorset went 1-for-2 with a double and a pair of walks.
- Eddie Degerman was wild again walking 2 and throwing 3 wild pitches over 3 innings. He struck out 4 but allowed 2 ER.
- Cardoza Tucker was the only pitcher not to allow runs for Palm Beach although he was greatly helped out by Josh Dew stranding two baserunners. Francisco Samuel didn’t help out Dew in the same way though allowing both his runners to score and one of his own to take both the blown save and the loss.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
I think Garcia would fair better than Walters in the bigs right now. Not sure if thats what you meant, but just my opinion.
If the weather in the QC is anything like it’s been in Cedar Rapids, it was because of rain.
Motte threw the slider a few times when I saw him in Albuquerque. It “slid,” with movement that was definitely different from his straight-as-a-string fast ball, but it still wasn’t a very good pitch. For one thing, he was throwing it up in the zone, and you know what happens to sliders up in the zone . For another, it looked to me as if his delivery was quite different when he was throwing the slider. His mechanics with the fast ball are, to put it bluntly, violent. With the slider they were less so, and good hitters will pick up on that.
I repeat: color me unimpressed by Motte. He’s a good story, and up to a point, he’ll get guys out with just plain heat. The majors are beyond that point.
The radio guys for Arkansas said Clement’s fastball was generally around 85. Mentioned one specific reading at 84 and another at 88.
I hope the Cardinals don’t mess with McClellan. Heck bring up Reyes for a start if necessary.
Tonight on Sports Plus, KSDK, they were showing highlights of the draft and they showed Lynn pitching and two of the four video clips were of him giving up homeruns.
Wallace has an arm. He made a play on a grounder 10 feet behind third and 5 feet into foul territory. He dug it out planted his feet and threw on for the out. It was a close play at first but i dont know if anyone could have made it any closer.
I wish Degerman could put things together and make it to the bigleagues in a few years. I want to anoint him “The Deggman” to go alongside our new 3B The Walrus.
Motte did throw a couple of sliders today.
Phelps got ejected because the plate ump called him out on strike two. After he eventually realized it was only strike two, he called the next pitch a strike even though it looked low. Phelps said something, walked away, was baited to say more, walked further away, was baited to say more, and was then tossed.
Garcia’s command wasn’t very good at all today, but at the end of the day, he still had a pretty good line.
So…..when does the official Brett Wallace Watch begin? I can’t wait…Here’s hoping he fast tracks it ala Albert Pujols….and Clayton Mortenson?
Shhh — I was speaking more in terms of who could benefit from more AAA time. Garcia still has some growth left, imo, while Walters is all but done. Garcia probably would fair better but I’m not sure I’d call him up first.
I’d promote Garcia first–if the kid is *very* tough-minded. If he has self-confidence issues in the least, however, I’d give him at least another 4 or 5 AAA starts before the challenge of MLB hitters.
Speaking of promotions, when does Salas move up to Memphis? Not soon enough to suit me.
Call me a Pollyanna, but the (minor) injuries to Wellemeyer, Wainwright, and Pineiro may actually be blessings in disguise; they’ll be that much fresher during the dog days of August/September–and, dare I say…October. I agree 100%, though, with those who would keep McClellan in the pen for the rest of 2008. Safety first, especially for a guy with such a checkered health history.
I’d like to find out Clement’s velocity……
QC was on the road in Wisconsin. From what I have heard Mo say it sounds like Wallace will start off in the Quad Cities.
I would take Walters and the advanced change in the majors for the short term. If Garcia is put in the rotation, he has to be there for good.
Clement not handling AA is looking rather important right now, if he had dominated that start you have to think they would be considering throwing him to the fire. As it is I would still consider throwing Thompson to the fire. You also have to think that if KMac were to go to the rotation that Izzy might be the one to take his spot in the pen.
This was buried in a Notes section of stltoday.com….Any ideas?
About a dozen of the Cardinals’ second-day picks in last week’s first-year player draft will report to the team’s complex in Jupiter, Fla., today. The Cardinals did not have deals finalized with any of their first seven picks.
From BA’s prospect blog:
Converted catcher-turned-reliever Jason Motte (Cardinals) struck out four batters in 1 1/3 innings for Memphis. The righthander with a 96-97 mph has proven hittable this season (.281 batting average against), but he’s also struck out 50 batters in 31 innings . . . Jaime Garcia (Cardinals) allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings as he struck out six. It’s a small sample size, but the surprising stat for Garcia is that the lefty had held righthanders to a .218 average, but lefties are tearing him up to the tune of a .356 average with three home runs in 48 at-bats . . .
Anthony Reyes should definitely move to the rotation rather than McClellan or promoting PJ Walters. If nothing else Reyes needs to be showcased for a trade. I don’t think teams care if he continues to perform well in AAA this year. He has a documented history of performing there.
The key to remember about Clement is that he has never been a real hard thrower. I’m more concerned about his command than his velocity. If I remember right during his Cubs days his fastball was generally around 86-87.
On Clement’s velo, from the News-Leader:
Completely OT, but MGL just posted who has been the best and worst defensively at each position according to UZR and guess who has the third best UZR in LF? If you answered Chris Duncan you were correct. Only other Cardinals to make an appereance were Pujols of course being the best 1B and Glaus being the 5th best 3B (old friend Rolen was far and away the best). With St. Louis as a whole being a top 5 defensive team.
I was at Springfield’s game last night. When Clement did reach 88 it was always a ball. Usually high and outside. He just seemed to have a lot of problems with location. He was behind in the count a lot. The defense wasn’t very good behind him. Martinez has really struggled lately at the plate and his defense at times just seems like his mind is somewhere else. That was the first bad play that I have seen Craig make in probably over a month. His defense has been outstanding this year. He has been making all the plays. I hope they don’t rush Clement and give him time to get his location better.
Also who ever said Robinson has a below average arm has not seen him play. He is the best defensive outfielder on the team. He can play all three positions. He got his 10th assist last night. After that they did not run on him the rest of the night.
Any word on when Duncan might return to the lineup in Memphis?
I too would prefer to see the Cards stop messing around with having pitchers throw out of their slots - if you need a spot start, use someone who is used to starting (recently).
GForce9-
I saw that too and have been on a search for details but to no avail. DG’s usually better than that. Does “no deals with first 7 picks” mean they did reach a deal with their 8th ( Anthony Ferrara) or was that just shorthand for saying 12 people have signed but none from Day 1 of the draft.