Kary Booher has a piece up about Jon Jay that revolves around the question of where Jay fits in the organization. Let me preface the rest of this by saying that I think Kary does a great job covering the Springfield team. He and Derrick Goold are two must reads for me. That said, there’s some lines in this piece that I about choked on:
Plays center field but arm isn’t likely to stick there in the majors. Bats left. Experimented at leadoff but doesn’t bunt enough for top of the order. May need to shift to corner outfield to accommodate, yet lacks the power and size of a true corner man. Still a work in progress. Question mark.
That’s the unofficial scouting report that leads off the piece . . . and I think everyone knows where I’m headed next. The reason Jay wouldn’t be a good leadoff man is because he doesn’t bunt enough? Really? That’s pretty silly if you ask me. I’m far more worried about whether he can get on base than lay down a bunt.
Think of him more as like Skip Schumaker of the St. Louis Cardinals, a good comparison, outfield-wise and hitting-wise, save for Schumaker being a much better bunter. But they do have similar body sizes — Jay is 5-foot-11, 200 pounds, while Schumaker is listed at 5-10, 185.
Prior to this year, I might have been a little upset at that comparison but Skip has been a pretty good offensive player currently hitting around .300/.360/.440 which is perfectly acceptable for an above average defender. So long as the comparison is to Schumaker as he is now rather than what he was in the minors, that seems pretty apt to me. Of course, this is all relatively moot if St. Louis outfielders aren’t traded and keep hitting the way they are.
Shane Robinson to Memphis confirmed.
The system goes 2-for-6 tonight as several teams get the snot beat out of them.
- Shane Robinson got the start in center and Rasmus got a break for the night. Robinson was 1-for-3 with a walk.
- Jarrett Hoffpauir was 2-for-5 but got caught stealing. He’s walking more and striking out less in the month of June. Maybe, just maybe he’s adjusting to the league. I’m hoping to see some more doubles from Hoffpauir.
- David Freese was 1-for-4 with a HR.
- PJ Walters had an abbreviated outing lasting only 4 innings. He struck out 6 and walked 2 allowing 5 hits and no ER. It took him 79 pitches to make it through those 4 innings before being pulled 3 batters in to the 5th.
- Mark Worrell faced 4 batters, walking 2 and striking out 2.
- Andrew Brown was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
- Allen Craig was 1-for-2 with 2 HBP.
- The offense mustered just 6 hits (Brown’s double was the only for extra bases) and 3 walks.
- Jess Todd had his first rough outing of the season(?) lasting 5 innings but allowing 5 ER. Two of those were solo jacks. There were 7 hits, 2 walks and 2 strikeouts in Todd’s line. Todd also managed to hit a batter (although the opposition hit 3 Redbirds).
- The top of the order went wild tonight with 8 out of 10 hits coming from the 1-4 spots in the lineup. James Rapoport, Donovan Solano, Arnoldi Cruz and Brandon Buckman each had 2 hits. Rapoport and Solano both laced doubles as well.
- Daryl Jones was 1-for-4 and stole his 12th base of the season.
- Brandon Dickson went 6 innings allowing 2 ER on 2 hits, 3 walks and 4 Ks.
- Elvis Hernandez followed up with 2 great innings striking out 4 and allowing just 1 hit.
- Francisco Samuel put it away striking out 2 in the 9th while collecting his 13th save.
Quad Cities 3, Cedar Rapids 10
- Pete Kozma was 2-for-3 with a pair of walks. What happened to the power we saw in April???
- Matthew Arburr, Paul Vazquez and Domnit Bolivar each collected two hits. Vazquez had a solo shot in the 4th.
- Not a good night on the pitching side. Mark Diapoules was pounded for 5 runs in 4 innings including a 3-run jack. Blake King walked more batters (5) than he retired (4). The defense pulled the rug out on Brandon Garner for 2 unearned runs at the end of the game as well.
- Beau Riportella was 2-for-4.
- LF Chris Swauger was 2-for-5 with a double.
- Jose Garcia was 3-for-4 with a double.
- 4 errors helped do in Batavia.
- Arquimedes Nieto, who would be mentioned for his awesome name if nothing else, was pretty good over his 5 inning start. He allowed 5 hits, 2 BBs and struck out 4. He did have 2 unearned runs on his watch one of which was part of his own throwing error in the first.
- Adam Reifer had a meltdown in the 9th. He faced 6 batters hitting one, walking 3 and allowing 2 hits for 4 ER. He failed to retire a batter.
- Tony La Russa may have stopped by to manage JC where 13 different position players played plus a PH during the game.
- Guillermo Toribio was 2-for-4.
- Joseph Hage was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBI. Keep an eye on him. He was drafted last year out of a Florida HS. The scouting video of him (see the Draft Tracker link on the right sidebar) left me prett impressed. Listed at 6′0, 180lbs he’s got some room to grow yet.
- Brett Zawacki (someone I thought would move through the organization a lot faster than he has) got the start allowing 3 ER in 4 innings. He punched out 6 and walked 2 allowing 4 hits.
- Deryk Hooker (he of the 47Ks in 31 GCL innings last year) got shelled for 7 runs in 2 innings. He walked 2 and struck out 2 allowing 7 hits including 2 doubles and a triple.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
Yeah, well, some may see the comparison as apt, but I don’t recall Skip Schumaker serving as the President of the Continental Congress before starting his pro career.
I saw Todd pitch for the 2nd time today. He definitely did not look like his normal self. He didn’t have control of his pitches, and the ones that were in the strike zone were pounded pretty hard. You can’t expect him to be Superman all the time.
I just hope Jess Todd is healthy.
Isn’t Shane Robinson actually the Schumaker clone, rather than Jay? More Schumaker’s size & skillset–hits for average, few longballs, plus arm.
Jay on the other hand doesn’t throw out many runners (hasn’t committed a single error as a pro, though), but already has more HR power than Schu will ever have. Despite what the opposing manager said, I think Jay *could* pop 20+ HR’s once or twice in his prime. Maybe a .310/.370/.490 guy at his best?
Who cares about bunting, except for pitchers? It ain’t 1968 anymore.
The double-mention of bunting is certainly weird. Treating leadoff hitter like a position is another one, but less offensive.
It would be nice if this near-.200 ISO that Jay is displaying is for real. It’s out of line with the rest of his professional (and NCAA for that matter) numbers, but it would turn him into a real prospect if it’s sustainable. He’s only 23; these things happen I guess.
I see that Steve Hill has caught a few times over the past few weeks, which has seemed to be the m.o. the for however long I’ve sporadically checked his firstinning page. Anyone want to weigh in on how he looks back there?
It seems like if he was acceptable back there you’d want to ride that out, and if not then what’s the point of this once-a-week stuff. I’m all for him being able to play multiple positions. It would certainly help his chances, but even Marrero played 95% of his MiLB games at catcher. I’m just not sure what end this random catching is satisfying.
I’m guessing Hill is injured or something and I missed it. Those game logs end at June 10, so the last few weeks that he was playing anyway.
Hill got hit by a pitch and had a broken bone.
Zawacki is beginning his pro career at Johnson City, a league for juco and college guys. He is being challenged, one step higher on the ladder than might be expected.
hm… is it just me or does steve hill seem like a craig wilson type player?
———
Tony La Russa may have stopped by to manage JC where 13 different position players played plus a PH during the game.
———
If Tony was managing JC he would never allow 14 position players on the roster
Any thoughts on what to do with all the outfielders? We have too many in the Majors and we have a lot knocking at the door in the minors. Some of the minor league guys are going to need to get traded not just the Duncan, Mather, and Stavonia types.
Well I sure wish we would have known that Ludwick and Skip were going to have the years they are having before the season and we could have traded Duncan and gotten something of value, but now I would have to believe that Duncan’s trade value is nill. So unfortunately there is going to continue to be some cluster of guys in the OF.
Also I’m wondering if maybe the Cards should think about sending Barton back to the Indians or work out some sort of trade. I don’t think Barton is ever going to be able to be a regular in the Cards OF.
I am beginning to become a believer in Jay. While I don’t think he’ll ever be a consistent 20 hr guy, I am beginning to believe he can develop into a consistent 15-18 hr guy. Hell if he could just be a 300 avg and 40 double guy without any homers he would be a great asset, especially in the leadoff spot. P.S. If I recall the greatest leadoff guy in the history of baseball, Rickey Henderson, didn’t bunt much.
What happened to Walters?
Did he throw too many pitches and if so why not let him finish the 5th before pulling him?
I just answered my own question…
“P.J. Walters got the start for the Redbirds and held Nashville scoreless through four innings. He was lifted in the fifth inning with two runners on base. Walters was pitching on short rest and was pulled due to a 75-pitch limit.”
Walters was on a 75 pitch limit. Great line about LaRussa managing in JC.
Walters started on 3 days rest, so they limited his pitches.
As for Jay, he is hitting for more power than Schumaker ever did in the minors. Schumaker never slugged above .419 in the minor leagues prior to last season. While Jay has not hit for power against LHP, he is still hitting .290 vs. southpaws with a .373 OBP. So it would appear he may not have the outrageous platoon split of Schumaker either.
I think Jay may be able to put up numbers similar to the numbers Schu is putting up this season, year in and year out, while playing everyday. That would make him quite a bit more valuable than Schumaker, and a very solid everyday player.
Mark me down with those who do not think his lack of bunting prowess will be his downfall.
Is anyone besides me surprised that Robinson got the call to Triple A ahead of Jay?
^^Speculation is that Robinson got called up ahead of Jay because the promotion is only temporary. I don’t know this for a fact, but thats what has been said.
[...] Daily Farm Report 6/22/08 Kary Booher has a piece up about Jon Jay that revolves around the question of where Jay fits in the organization. Let [...] [...]