The DFRs are expanding this week. Quad Cities was off but we’ve got a double header in Memphis and Batavia and JC games to recap as well. Let’s get right to it.
Memphis 3, Albuquerque 1(Game 1: 7 innings)
- PJ Walters was outstanding tonight. I think I’ll try and track his pitches for this outing over the weekend. He threw 6 innings allowing 5 hits only one of which went for extra bases. The lone run was an unearned run b/c of a David Freese error. Walters struck out 8 and walked just 2.
- Brian Barden was 1-for-3 with a double.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir was 2-for-2.
- Nick Stavinoha went yard.
- Bryan Anderson was 0-for-1 but drew a pair of walks. While he still has yet to show significant power, he’s back up to the best walk rates of his still young professional career. While I don’t expect him to stick around more than a couple years in the organization (b/c TLR loves his defensive catchers), I have to think he and Yadi would make a fantastic combo behind the plate. Great platoon partners, a defensive replacement if the Cards are ahead, a great pinch hitter if they’re behind — not to mention it saves wear and tear on both. There is an argument to be made to trade Anderson to fill another need for the club but I think there is another for making a pretty significant upgrade to the catching position.
Memphis 5, Albuquerque 4 (Game 2: 7 innings)
- Colby Rasmus was 1-for-3 with a double.
- Uncle Rico hit a grand slam.
- D’Angelo Jimenez was 2-for-3 with a HR.
- Clayton Mortensen saw far too many balls leave the field during this start. He went 5.1 innings allowing 3 hits, which were all solo shots (including one by former Cardinal farmhand Tagg Bozied). All said, he allowed 4 ER while walking 4 and striking 4 out. He also threw 4 wild pitches. That’s a very odd (and bad) outing for Mortensen, I hope everything is ok health-wise.
- Jason Motte picked up the save with a perfect 9th striking out 1.
- Jon Jay was 4-for-6 with a HR and his 8th stolen base. Jay’s exhibiting a pretty sizable increase in ISO so far this year. It could be the more hitter friendly ball park but it’s nice to see regardless.
- Allen Craig was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks.
- Andrew Brown was 4-for-6 with a double and 2 HRs. After tearing up Palm Beach, it looks like he’s ready to take on AA. He played LF in this game but is probably more at home at 1st. It’s possible he’s already passed Hamilton on the depth chart. (I was never a believer in Hamilton’s swing so it wasn’t hard for him to be passed on my depth chart.
- Mark Shorey was 3-for-5 with 3 doubles and a walk.
- Perhaps better than the offensive explosion was the Adam Ottavino outing where he walked 0 batters. Ott lasted 5 innings allowing 3 earned runs on 7 hits while striking out 4 batters. He only recorded 3 outs on the ground compared to 8 in the air but this is still a step in the right direction compared to recent outings.
- Jon Mikrut struck out 2 in a scoreless 8th and Marco Gonzalez allowed just 1 hit in a scoreless 9th.
- The Cardinals had 6 errors. 6. James Rapoport had 2, Donovan Solano recorded a whopping 3 and Daniel Descalso also had one.
- Daryl Jones was 1-for-4 with his 10th stolen base.
- Brian Cartie was 2-for-4.
- The pitching was bad. All of it. Richard Castillo got the start (not sure why) and was both hittable and exhibiting poor command (4 walks, 1 HBP). Cardoza Tucker was betrayed by the defense and Davis Bilardello was unimpressive as well. What a lousy game for the PB Cardinals — laps for everyone tomorrow!
- Beau Riportella, who was pretty good for Johnson City last year, was 0-for-4.
- Shane Peterson was 2-for-4.
- Jonathan Edwards was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Look away, Liam. Jameson Maj was knocked around for 6 runs (4 earned) on 6 hits and 1 walk. Batavia committed 4 errors on the night:2 by Nick Vera, 1 by Charles Cutler and 1 by Edwards.
- Ramon Delgado, who pitched for the GCL team last year, threw 4 scoreless innings allowing 4 hits, 2 walks and 5 Ks.
- Adam Reifer finished up the game striking out 2 and allowing a hit. I’ll be interested to see how the Cardinals handle his workload and what their long-term vision is for him.
- Edgar Lara was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- JC collected 8 hits (4 doubles) and 3 walks. They were simply outhit on the night though.
- Michael Blazek threw 4 effective innings allowing 4 hits, 1 unearned run, 2 walks and 3 Ks.
- The goat for the night was Reynier Gonzalez who allowed 6 runs while recording just 3 outs. He allowed 7 hits including 2 HRs and walked 1. He even had his only bequeathed runner stranded. That’s a rough night.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Any more word on Freese?
I think Mortensen is OK health-wise.
He started the game with a solo HR, a walk, a hit batter and 2 WPs, then followed that up in the 2nd with 3 walks and 2 more WPs.
After that, he gave up the two solo shots (1 to Dallas McPherson, who has 22 on the year) and that was it.
I was following on GameDay at work and, after the first two innings, I remember thinking, “I wonder if he can hit and play CF.” Seems like he just needs more experience and to work on keeping his control more consistently… oh, and not giving up the gopher ball.
You may want to keep an eye on Santo Maertz on Johnson City. I played on the same team with him in the NECBL two summers ago and our coach was Tim Leveque, now the pitching coach of Johnson City. Leveque saw him as a good project that summer and has taken to drafting him and working with him now as a professional as well.
He dominated in a relief role that summer as our closer, relying primarily on a boring fastball about 88-92 with pretty good control. The last I had seen of his slider was fringe to below average, but if he can make it serviceable, he gets great deception and breaks alot of bats.
I agree with you on a Yadi/Anderson time share. catchers do have a heavy workload and tend to fade considerably late in the season. Having two good C’s who can share the workload is like an NFL team with 2 good RB’s that help each other stay fresh.
I’d love to see Anderson start next season with the big club as backup to Molina. Why keep running guys like LaRue and Bennett through there (short of the defensive hard-on TLR has, which you mention).
Seriously now, why is everyone ignoring the Freese situation? Was he benched because of the error? Did he not run out the ground out? Was he injured? Did he just become a father? Was he eaten by a pack of wild dogs? Does David Freese no longer exist because of an altering of Timeline A, and only those of us that have passed from Timeline A to Timeline B and recognize the split in the time space continuum remember David Freese.
Is it a jackal? Is it a jackal? A jackal? A jackal? Is it a jackal?
Who is this David Freese you’re talking about? I don’t remember the Cards system ever having someone by that name.
Oh, and, yes, it IS a jackal.
Woot. I just figured out that i’ll get to see Todd and Herron pitch this weekend. So fellas be prepared for more pics & videos.
No worries here!
Glad to see his elbow’s fine, but Maj’s future is not as a starter. He was nails for the first two innings and the fourth, and wasn’t as bad in the third as his line attests. He struck a couple batters out and got a ton of groundballs on the day.
Once Batavia gets its roster stocked with starters from the 2008 draft, I’m completely confident he’ll be a fast moving reliever in the system.
And I’ll bet he doesn’t walk another batter in the next week.
Can someone try and give me a reason not to love Walters put aside his rough outings and he has a 2.80ERA and has struck out 80 this season!!!
I Went out to the DH today, and Walters had his change going great, he had the hitters looking lost out there today.
when he don’t have it he gets crunched, but when he is on like the way it looked today he can get anyone out, very impressive,
Freese was said to leave with a “illness”, But to me it looked like his back was hurting, the error he made was easy play he just dropped it, and was very slow to run the GB out before getting taken out.
I took around 100 pictures, I will upload them this weekend and post a link here so you can check them out if anyone’s interested.
Cause, unfortunately, you don’t get do overs just because you pitched badly?
Don’t get me wrong. Walters is a really neat pitcher. He gets it done in a way you very rarely see. He just has too many of those games where he can’t keep the ball in the park, though. I will say, though, I think he could very well end up a shutdown reliever in the latter year Trevor Hoffman mold. His profile and deception are so unusual, and he has the one dominant pitch, that I think he could excel in that role. Almost like having to face a knuckleballer in relief, with the slow and slower moving pitches he throws.
Sure would be nice if he could prove me wrong, though.
***Cause, unfortunately, you don’t get do overs just because you pitched badly?***
Hmm, I wish Tony would apply this philosophy to sending the starting pitchers back out for the 7th after giving up runs in the 6th.
Also, to Messrs. Riportella and Maj: I had both of you guys pegged as big risers this season. I’m going to need you two to step up and play well, especially you, Ripper. You’ve been less than impressive so far, getting kicked off the QC and all. Please don’t make me look any dumber than I usually do.
Thank you in advance for your breakout seasons.
Or Ron Villone/Randy Flores, as well.
Agreed on all counts, HL.
HL — not ignoring the Freese situation, just don’t have any details to share.
Anyone think the Cards are hiding Jones in A ball to possibly try to sneak him through the rule 5 without putting him on the 40 man? PLEASE NO!
Freese left the game due to illness, per the Commercial-Appeal. I think he came down with a rare case of Count Choculitis.
I thought Richard Castillo got demoted?
I would love to see an Anderson/Yadi combo platter next year too. However, I don’t know if you will get many defensive sub/pinch hitter benefits, like a lot of managers Tony seems scared to death of his catcher getting hurt and so very rarely takes one out of the game voluntarily. To get the full benefits you might have to find a bench guy that can plausibly catch in an emergency.
It may be a quibble, but I think maybe you’re being a little rough on Castillo, azru; the kid allowed just 5 singles, and did fan 6 guys in just 4 1/3 innings. I’d call the outing “mixed” rather than bad.
I’d love to know if there is a definite reason behind Jon Jay’s sudden dominance in AA–a minor alteration in his stance, for instance. His first 2 months, he had 5 HR’s and 30 K’s…in June, 5 HR’s and just 5 whiffs, and of course the .400+ average. I’d like to believe it’s something more substantive than a random hot streak.
No joy in Mudville, mighty Mannbel went hitless yesterday. He did turn 3 double plays, however, while playing 2nd base.
With Yadi having suffered a serious concussion, best to hold on to Anderson for the near future. Concussions have a way of reoccurring–see Mike Matheny in SF.
TLR also has a big thing about having his catchers know his pitchers and the league, or if they don’t (i.e., journeyman backups), have the “ability” — [sic] — to learn those things quickly. It is not clear to me whether this is really a skill, but if it is, does Anderson have it?
That said, it looked like there were some heated exchanges among Duncan, Looper and LaRue in the dugout during last night’s unfortunate game. I also think LaRue set McClellan up for failure in the fateful 8th inning by setting up too high in the Gordon at-bat (Gordon homered). If LaRue is wearing out his welcome from the know-your-pitchers perspective, TLR’s resistance to bringing up an “unschooled” catcher may soften.
If Tony is so scared of losing a catcher to injury, why he is seemingly content to play the Kansas City series with just one viable catcher? it seems foolish and reckless to me. I agree with the idea, by the way, of breaking in Anderson as backup to Molina.
Another advantage to bringing up Anderson as Yadis backup is that if he contiues to perform as he has at every level he will gain more value proving he can hit and field at the major league level with success.
TRB–I’ve seen the Ripper, he is more of a slapper at best. Blazing speed, little league swing. I made a mental note in my head–Riportella: NP.
Jones doesn’t need to be hid in A ball because he isn’t eligible for the rule 5 draft after this year. He won’t have to be exposed until after next year.
Has anybody else thought about a position change for Anderson? He is a pretty good catcher but TLR will keep Yadi for his defence alone for as long as he can no matter what he’s hitting. I think Anderson would make a very good 2nd baseman or 3rd baseman. He’s got the foot work for 2nd and has a plus plus arm for that position. It would be an upgrade over what we have now and nice to actually have an everyday 2nd baseman.
I think he could hold his own at 3rd too but maybe not quite as well as 2nd. While he does have a good enough arm for 3rd, I think TLR would rather have a more potent bat in that spot.
Either way, he would be an upgrade over any prospect we have at those positions currently (not including Brett Wallace - the man is a beast but may not stay at 3rd).
Does everyone really see that much of a potential difference in production from the C position? Yadi is hitting .295 at the MLB level. Anderson is hitting .318 with a higher OBP at the AAA level. We’re not gaining anything power wise, or rbi wise. I think we’re discounting what yadi provides in opposing runs prevented.
If Anderson were putting up 15-20 HR’s a season I could get behind this. But without the power I have to stick with Yadi.
Just of note: Adam Daniels will be making the start tomorrow for Springfield as McCormick is headed to the DL.
Mookie — Yadi’s hitting .295 this year. To assume that’s his true talent level is a mistake.
nuhusky: thanks for the info on Maertz. He did not have good stats this spring at St Peters, so its good to know more about his abilities.
azruvatar - how do you figure? He showed great improvement last year, and his discipline has been increasing each year of his career. He’s got twice as many walks as K’s. I just don’t seem to have a problem with Yadi’s production. I think Anderson is worth far more as a trade chip than in a STL uni.
Beau
Maertz was more of a victim of poor defense and team than performance wise. Also I believe he was coming of a non-baseball related injury (nothing to worry about) and just struggled in getting into a rhythm.
Maertz played for a small college, non-Division 1 in north Jersey. He pitched and DH’d in 2008. His stats as pitcher and hitter are not typically draft-worthy, for the level of collegiate competition. So there had to be an explanation. I figured he had arm strength by a radar gun and the Cards hoped he would benefit by facing batters who have to use wood.
As a signee, he is low profile. I was surprised to see a comment about him. Good luck to him.