Future Redbirds

As you may have seen in today’s DFR, Batavia and Johnson City started their seasons yesterday night.  We’ll be covering the GCL team with a weekly update or so versus last year when it was an every night thing,  but don’t worry; you’ll be clued in, along with the VSL and DSL teams. And you can always not be lazy and check their box scores yourself. I like following the short season teams as much as I can, but they are loaded with back of the draft guys who are more than less roster fillers, as well as Latin players who unfortunately we know little to nothing about. There are some hidden gems, don’t get me wrong. The cream always rises to the top, and when it does we’ll be all over it.

Anyway, here are some names I will be watching for each team:

Batavia

RHP Lance Lynn
OF Shane Peterson
RHP Scott Gorgen
3B/2B Jermaine Curtis
RHP Adam Reifer
1B Xavier Scruggs
LHP Ryan Kulik
RHP Jason Buursma
OF Edwin Gomez
OF Chris Swauger
OF Frederick Parjeo
C/1B Blake Murphy
RF Jonathan Edwards

Lynn’s probably not long due for Batavia, with Peterson, Gorgen and perhaps Reifer right behind him. You may recall Reifer was lauded as the potential steal of the 2007 draft; he was the closer for UC-Riverside and hit 95-96 MPH before he was diagnosed with a bone spur in his right elbow. Edwin Gomez led the DSL Cardinals last year in OPS (.885). Another Latin import is Parejo, who wasn’t very good for the GCL team last year but had a great winter and has been the talk of EST. He’s only going to be 18 in a month and has some very real but raw tools. Jonathan Edwards has pretty much fell of the prospect map after a good 2006 debut. Scruggs, Murphy and Swauger are all big time college performers with good power. Buursma is interesting to me because he’s a submariner, I just can’t help but to root for him in hopes he turns into the next Dan Quisenberry or Chad Bradford.

Johnson City

SS Niko Vasquez
RHP Brett Zawacki
RHP Deryk Hooker
RHP Mike Blazek
OF Edgar Lara
LHP Jonny Bravo
LHP Sam Freeman
RHP Matt Frevert

Niko Vasquez headlines the roster. The 3rd round pick out of a Durango High in Vegas will learn to adjust to minor league life far and foreign from home, but he may find the cozy confines of HoJo to his liking. Bonus baby Brett Zawacki will be piggybacking with Deryk Hooker, both were the top two high school pitchers the Cards took in the 2007 draft. Hooker obliterated the GCL last year, striking out over 30% of the batters he faced. Blazek was impressive himself. Edgar Lara has as much raw power as anyone in the system, but he’s so all or nothing to make his power really matter. Jonny Bravo merits watching because his name is Jonny Bravo. Best. Name. In. The. System. He’s only 5-7, but has some giddy up on his fastball. Freeman and Frevert should handle the late innings; both also are high velo-hurlers. Frevert was the closer for the Missouri State Bears for his past two college seasons. 

GCL

RHP Eric Fornataro
LHP Anthony Ferrara
OF Ryde Rodriguez
C Kevin Moscatel
SS Romulo Ruiz
OF Devin Shepherd
RHP David Carpenter
RHP Casey Mulligan

6th and 7th round picks Fornataro and Ferrara highlight the team and should make for an interesting tandem to follow. Ryde Rodriguez and Kevin Moscatel are the two higher profile July 2nd signees from last year, Rodriguez being the most famous for his friendship with Albert Pujols, not to mention his buff physique. He’s becoming a bit of the Amaury Marti of the lower minors- a legendary Cuban whom few have ever seen with their own eyes, but the tales of their strength are the stuff of folklore. Devin Shepherd will hope to harness his raw abilities at the lowest of rungs. He came with some questions about his signability due a commitment to Oregon State, but the Cards signed him. He and Rodriguez probably have the most upside of anyone on the team. Rom Ruiz was one of the Cards more expensive international signings a few years ago, he hit for a .921 OPS in the winter instructional league in Venezuela this past winter. Note the two former catchers. Mulligan will try a mulligan on his baseball career and try a Jason Motte attempt. The Cardinals will do the same with David Carpenter. Could this be a new way of exploiting the draft market- taking college catchers with strong arms and weak bats in hopes of converting them to dominant relievers? I’m kidding…sort of. There certainly isn’t much to lose other than a future no-hit backup catcher, and we’ve seen our fair share of those in St. Louis, so why not give it a shot?