Maybe it’s just me. Maybe my interest in the minor league system has arisen over the last year and so I figure everyone else’s has too even though they haven’t. But I’m guessing that’s not the case. . . There are several factors that can be attributed to the growing interest in minor leaguers from St. Louisans.

The approach of Colby Rasmus to the majors as the best position prospect the Cardinals have had since JD Drew plays a big part. In the past when prospects were mentioned it was as part of a trade or as a role player. Now the Cardinals are looking at a player that has been marketed as the centerfielder of the future.

The Front Office pushed the idea of building from within since the departure of Walt Jocketty; you could even trace it back to the emergence of Jeff Luhnow as being in charge of the draft. That idea has at the very least stuck with the fan base if not resonated. The success of other teams (Rockies, Red Sox) with homegrown players isn’t lost on the crowds. While the Cards have been remarkably successful during what was initially termed a “transition year”, the PR machine has, at the least, succeeded in transitioning fan’s perspectives towards the minors.

I think the addition of sites like FirstInning, Minorleaguesplits and Fangraphs with their statistical data for the minors has played a huge role with that. The one site that’s really behind the curve here is the site that has perhaps the most to gain — Baseball Prospectus. They have a well of resources far exceeding what any of the other sites do and yet the most they come up with is some poorly formated text stats and translations. The room for growth there is tremendous as well as the room for statistical studies in that area. Too much of prospect watching remains clouded in scouting vagueries.

At the end of the day, you can attribute the increased interest to whatever you want but the Cardinals would be wise to capitalize on it and use that to draw in fans. Increased attendance to minor league games, increased merchandise sales when a player first comes up, as well as other marketing opportunities are all areas that the Cardinals can shake the minor league money tree. Here’s a few suggestions I thought up.

1: Paul DePodesta has his own blog for the Dodgers Padresand I would never expect the Cardinals to do that. There’s something really simple (and similar) that they could do, however, that would make it a lot easier for people to follow the minors. Start a blog and post the transactions. Disable comments and don’t offer commentary but letting people know when player X has been moved from Palm Beach to Springfield goes a long way toward making fans feel connected to the minor leaguers. We want to revel in their promotions as much as anyone. The flip side of that is posting when (and why) a player is going to the DL. Elaborate explanations are not a requirement but I’m sure someone, somewhere in the Cardinals Front Office is tracking when players hit the DL in their system. CTRL+C and CTRL+V a brief note to the public. It takes an extra 60 seconds but dropping a note like “Rasmus - day to day - groin” would answer a lot of very common questions.

2: Bring your minor league clubs to St. Louis. I’ll leave the logistics of this to someone who knows the contracts with the minor league clubs and their schedules better but it couldn’t be that hard to bus in Memphis and Springfield and have them play each other in Busch. I’d like to think there’s enough interest that you’d draw a good sized crows — 20,000 maybe? — so that it’s profitable in terms of ticket sales. Have it during the All Star break or when the Cardinals have an offday in April or September.

You can spin this a hundred different ways too. Make it a charity game or lower ticket prices since it’s the minors but there is an opportunity to let some people who normally can’t afford to see the big league club come down to STL and experience baseball in Busch. The Cardinals are first and foremost a business so I want to be clear that I’m not advocating they give away money but I would think someone could come up with a way to make some profit from a game like that.

Beyond the potential monetary benefits, I’d like to think it would mean something to the minor leaguers too. A taste of what it could be like if the make the bigs. Get some exposure to the major league park and the St. Louis crowd. Maybe when they are actually called up, the bright lights won’t be quite so intimidating and the nerves won’t be quite so stressed.

3: Make Memphis a home to real prospects. This is as much about building up the farm system in general as it is anything specific about Memphis. As far as I know, Memphis and the Cardinals have not re-upped as affiliates for next year yet. Part of the reason behind that is Walt Jocketty used Memphis as a stashing ground for the tired, the sick and the poor during his tenure, which was a very common way to use AAA affiliates throughout baseball.

That said, the more time that you have players playing together before they reach the majors, the better, imo. I’ve heard interviews from several minor leaguers on the radio (especially bullpen guys) about how much easier it was since they knew someone like McClellan when they came up. Someone that could show them around a bit. Someone they already had a comraderie with. If you’re a team chemistry person, you can start that concoction right by having near-MLB ready prospects play together for extended periods of time in Memphis. There’s limits to that based on the major league clubs immediate needs but I think there are benefits to be had there.

4: This one is selfish. Well, more selfish than the first three. I don’t know how many viewers they have for the recorded Memphis game but I watch at least one of those games a week. The annoucers for those videos in Memphis are probably my favorite pair of announcers I’ve heard. They’re really great. Humble, not condescending, kidsters — they just seem like good people. So I have a real incentive to watch the games. What I’d love though, from the deepest depths of my robotic processor is to see radar gun readings on the broadcast. I have no idea what kind of technical requirements that would impose — I’m just an idea man. But it would make it a lot more interesting when I’m trying to watch someone like Walters with a good changeup.

That’s just one robot’s ideas. I really can’t express how excited I would be if the Cardinals did something like #2. I’d drop a lot of $$$ to see that. Those may be totally unrealistic suggestions but I hope that the Cardinals realize that have a unique opportunity to foster interest in their minor leaguers right now. They’d be foolish to let it pass them by.

I don’t want to be John Mozeliak right now either [/lying] but if Rasmus is traded, I’ll be collecting donations for bail.

Meet the future catchers — Bryan Anderson is first up.

Slow news day — let’s get right to it. Palm Beach was postponed & Johnson City had the day off so it’s an abbreviated DFR today.

Memphis 11, New Orleans 4

• Brian Barden was 2-for-5 with a walk.
• Nick Stavinoha was 4-for-6 with a double. The issue I have with Stavinoha is that he’s essentially Aaron Miles in the outfield. Hits for average, no power, no secondary skills, average to bad defense. I can’t see any team being interested in him unless he shows something more than hitting for average.
• Josh Phelps goes 3-for-5.
• David Freese was 1-for-4 with a HR.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir had a great night at the plate going 3-for-3 with a pair of walks.
• Reyes got the start and they continue to baby him back into the rotation. He went 3.2 innings allowing 1 hit, 2 walks and striking out 2. He also hit a batter and threw a WP.
• After stranding Reyes’ two bequeathed runners, Matthew Scherer allowed 3 runs all his own on 5 hits and 1K.
• Matt Clement was bad. Anyone have a fork they’re not using . . . need to label this pitcher as done.
• Mark Worrell had a shaky 9th allowing 1 hit, walking 2 and striking out 2.

Springfield 5, Midland 4 (12 innings)

• Jose Martinez was 3-for-6 with a double.
• Allen Craig was 2-for-4 with a pair of walks.
• Andrew Brown continues to show the power going 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Mark Shorey also went yard.
• Isaias Garcia was 2-for-5 with a walk.
• The story of the night has to be Adam Ottavino. Ott threw 6 innings allowing 8 baserunners (5 hits, 3 walks) but most encouraging struck out 8 batters. He was getting groundouts to boot (something he’s not known for) with a 6:2 count.
• Luke Gregerson had a great June but he’s struggling again in July. He got tagged for 3 runs recording 5 outs while allowing 3 hits, 2 walks and striking out 3.
• Fernando Salas blew a rare save in th 10th allowing a run to score on 2 hits and a HBP. He did pitch a scoreless 11th, which was followed up by. . .
• . . . a scoreless 12th from Marco Gonzalez who struck out 1.

Quad Cities 8, Peoria 2

• Adron Chambers was 2-for-4 with a triple.
• Pete Kozma was 0-for-3 with a walk. That bat has looked pretty bad after April.
• Brett Wallace lived up to scouting reports going 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and committing his second error. He was also HBP.
• Paul Vasquez, owner of a .850+ OPS as a catcher, was 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Aaron Luna was 1-for-3 with a HR and a walk.
• Ryan Kulik went 5 strong innings striking out 3 and allowing just 3 hits.
• Jared Bradford threw 2 scoreless innings allowing 3 hits and 2 Ks.

Batavia 2, Vermont 3

• Xavier Scruggs was 2-for-4 with a double.
• Beau Riportella was 2-for-4.
• A nice outing for 1st round draftee Lance Lynn who went 4 strong. He allowed 3 hits and 1 ER while striking out 5.
• Rigoberto Lugo was the unfortunate goat allowing a walk off HR to the first batter he faced in the 9th.

Off topic: Went and saw the movie Hancock tonight starring Will Smith, Jason Bateman and the stunning Charlize Theron. The movie was ok — I’d suggest just waiting for it to come out on DVD — but I have to issue a warning. You may remember that when I went to “see” Cloverfield (I think I wrote about that on VEB) I was basically forced to sit with my head between my knees because of motion sickness. Well, Hancock has the same wobbly camera hijinks but more subtle. I had to leave the theater for a while because I was feeling ill, unsure of what was causing it. When I came back in, I immediately noticed the type of can’t-quite-hold-this-still camera technique that makes me have motion sickness. I was able to tough it out because it wasn’t as bad as Cloverfield but if you have the same problem I do, consider yourself warned.

Maybe I missed it but John Sickels offered some thoughts on Jaime Garcia earlier in the week. My thoughts lineup with his on balance.

Danup makes a (too) rare appearance and plays with translations.

Couldn’t agree more Pop. Also in the Kary Booher piece a check up on Francisco Samuel who still walks too many guys for me to begin supporting.

Kary Booher also takes a look at Daryl Jones. He makes a good point that we sometimes gloss over — the ballparks (with the exception of Hammons Field) are typically pitchers parks up and down the Cardinals system. Jones is excelling in a field that’s going to dramatically suppress his power numbers.

Memphis 8, Omaha 7

• Brian Barden goes 3-for-5 with a double and a HR. His Baseball Prospectus translation (prior to this game) was just .258/.322/.390 despite his actual line being .314/.384/.480. He takes a real hit due to his age but I’ve still got to wonder if he isn’t better than one of Kennedy, Izturis or Ryan.
• Nick Stavinoha was 3-for-5 with a triple. I’m guessing that ball got by the right fielder into the corner because Stavinoha is no speedster.
• Josh Phelps goes 2-for-3 with a double, a HR and two walks. I have to continue to question the reasoning behind giving Phelps at bats. He’s obviously not in the Cardinals long-term or short-term plans (the Chris Duncan at first while Albert was on the DL should tell us that) so why not spread 1B duties around with Stavinoha and Mather.
• Jaime Garcia had a rough night with bad command. It’s one start, so don’t read into this, but poor command and high walks was a trademark of Garcia’s injured elbow last season. Garcia lasted just 4.1 innings allowing 8 hits, 4 walks and 6 ER. He struck out just 1 but did record 7 groundouts against 3 flyouts.
• J ason Motte pitched a perfect frame striking out 1.

Springfield 6, Midland 4

• Jose Martinez was 2-for-4.
• Allen Craig was 2-for-5 with a double.
• Brandon Yarbrough was 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Tyler Herron got roughed up yet again in AA. Batters are teeing off to a .302 tune and the walks have gone through the roof. He did last 6 innings striking out 6 but he walked 2, allowed 8 hits and 4 ER.
• Josh Dew retired one batter while walking 3.
• Marco Gonzalez got 5 outs allowing one hit to pick up the win.
• Fernando Salas followed up with a perfect 1K 9th.

Palm Beach 6, Jupiter 3

• Tyler Henley was 1-for-4 with a double.
• Arnoldi “Tony” Cruz was 2-for-4 with a double.
• Daryl Jones was 1-for-4.
• Despite recording just 6 hits and 1 HBP, the Cardinals managed to score 6 runs. Clutch, baby, clutch.
• Thankfully Tyler Norrick brought his A game striking out 8 over 6 innings. He walked 2 allowing 5 hits and 2 ER.
• Eddie Degerman pitched a scoreless frame striking out 2.

Quad Cities 0, Peoria 1

• Pete Kozma was 0-for-4.
• Brett Wallace was 1-for-4 with a double.
• Josh Wilson turned in a hell of a game despite being the losing pitcher. Over 7 innings, he struck out 7 walking 0. He allowed 6 hits, one of which was his undoing — a solo jack.
• Pete Parise closed out the game with two scoreless frames striking out 1 allowing 1 hit.

Batavia 10, Vermont 9

• Christian Rosa was 2-for-3 with a double, HR and 2 walks.
• Xavier Scruggs was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
• Jose Garcia was 2-for-5.
• Edwin Gomez was 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
• An ugly night of pitching for Batavia. Thomas Eager started and went 5 innings allowing 4 hits and 4 walks — somehow only allowing 1 run.
• George Brown followed up with better peripherals and worse results. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 5 but was tagged for 3 ER.
• Then cam Daniel Richardson who retired just 1 batter while allowing 4 runs.
• Adam Reifer was asked to finish off the game getting the final two outs but allowing his own run as well.

Johnson City 8, Burlington 5

• This was a completion of the July 5th game.
• Nico Vasquez was 2-for-4 with a walk.
• Curt Smith was 2-for-5.
• Osvaldo Morales was the offensive powerhouse though. He was 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and a HR. Morales is confined to first base but he’s got the power to move up the system. He played 27 games in QC this year but was overmatched. He’s another bat to keep an eye on in the system.
• Reynier Gonzalez went 4.1 innings allowing 7 hits and 4 ER while striking out 3. He’s been up and down this year and doesn’t seem well suited to the starting rotation.

Johnson City 4, Burlington 1 (7 innings)

• Nico Vasquez was 2-for-3 with a double and a HR.
• Alex Castellanos was 1-for-3 with a double.
• Randy Santos opened with 4 scoreless innings allowing 1 hit, 1 walk and striking out 4.
• Adam Veres allowed 3 hits over 2 innings striking out 3. He also had an unearned run during his frames.
• Joel Pichardo finished up with a 1 walk, 2 K 7th.

He caught my eye over a year ago when I stopped by the Quad Cities. Jones has often been noted as having the tools to be a tremendous player but the questions of whether it would ever turn into results. A year after being drafted, Kevin Goldstein ranked him as the 5th best prospect in the Cardinals system saying:

The best athlete in the system and it’s not even close. More importantly Jones made incredible progress in translating his tools into skills in 2006, showing a much more mechanically sound swing that allowed him to make better contact and tap into his power potential. Plus-plus runner who should become a good center fielder and dangerous base stealer once he learns how to harness his speed.

Of course he followed it up with:

Jones remains remarkably raw in nearly every aspect of the game. Pitch recognition remains a big weakness and breaking balls still tie him up in knots. Has spent time in all three outfield positions because his defensive instincts are lagging.

Which pretty much jives with what I’ve seen of Jones and all the reports on him. Defensively, he has the speed and arm to be a tremendous centerfielder. Offensively, the strides he’s made this season (in a pitcher’s park nonetheless) dwarf anything he’s done previously with the bat. Did I mention he’s only 21? I’m not going to make this into a full fledged profile of Jones but let’s look at his stats this season.

In 278 PAs (at the end of June), Jones had a line of .322/.404/.477 but of course the question I’m going to ask is if it’s for real or if he’s just lucky. Before we address that though, he’s hitting in a park that suppresses power and he’s hitting awfully well. If nothing else, he deserves credit for doing something right — luck be damned. Has he made real changes to his game though?

He’s walking more, which you would hope is related to him getting better at pitch recognition. He’s crossed that magical 10% threshold that I like for batters so patience at the plate isn’t really a problem. The walk rate has gone up for two consecutive years (6.5 to 8.8 to 10.1) so it looks like the improvements he’s making are real and sustainable. He’s still striking out around 20% of the time but that bothers me less than it does others. When you are getting on base 40% of the time feel free to make your outs by standing on your head as far as I’m concerned.

He has a BABIP of .397 that speaks to a good helping of luck. A few qualifiers though. First, he’s hitting significantly more line drives this year — nearly double compared to last year. Combine that with more flyballs as well and he’s got more loft when he makes contact. With a 21% line drive rate, you could peg him for a BABIP around .320 if he was in the majors. Add in lesser defense at High-A and the fact that Jones is a fast runner and you could conceivable put his expected BABIP around .350. I’m playing loose and fast with the numbers but they’re close. Still we’re talking about 10-15 hits that should probably be outs based on the batted ball info. Think .280/.370/.450 for his line. (As a 20 year old at Palm Beach Rasmus hit .254/.345/.404 for whatever that’s worth.)

Jones isn’t as good as his rate line shows right now but he has the potential to put up those kinds of numbers and play some stellar defense. The organization seems to be taking it slow with him, which is the right move given the number of outfielders we have in the upper minors and Jones’ age. The long term outlook is still bright for Jones who has the athleticism to be an All Star outfielder. There’s still a significant gap between what he can be and what he is but he’s done a lot to bridge that in 2008. From an organizational standpoint, I’d be sorely tempted to label him the 3rd best position prospect behind Rasmus and Anderson. There are others who are closer (Jon Jay, Allen Craig) but no one represents the upside of Jones as a complete player both offensively, defensively and on the bases.

Kary Booher has the rundown on the Springfield game. It’s a bullpen start as Mark McCormick goes back to get a medical opinion on his shoulder. Booher also name drops Justin Fiske (I believe Liam is the one who has been trumpeting the lefty recently) as a guy to watch. As much as I like Booher’s writing, I’m not a fan of his music selections.

Indtroducing (?) Allen Vaughn of the Springfield News-Leader as he starts what appears to be a weekly column called “Shuffling the Cards“. The column is solid although I cringed at what he implies is a causation rather than a correlation (and probably a very tenuous one at that) between Shane Robinson’s promotion and the Memphis winning streak.

Is it too coincidental that the winning streak was jump-started when Shane Robinson was promoted?

Absolutely not.

Actually, it probably is. But A for effort. Also, Nick Additon is 6′3″ and just 170lbs — does he look like a stringbean on the mound? One thing I love reading is “Daryl Jones is 21 years old.” Say it aloud. It just rolls off the tongue.

Congrats to Matthew Arburr who earned co-Offensive Player of the Week award for the Midwest League.

A tip of the hat to Jess Todd and Matthew North who won Pitcher of the Week awards for the Texas League and Appalachian League respectively.

Memphis 4, Nashville 5

• Joe Mather goes 1-for-3 with a pair of walks.
• Josh Phelps was 2-for-3.
• Bryan Anderson cannot be contained. He went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a triple and a walk. He’s hitting .331 with an OBP over .400 and an OPS over .800. Who could ask for anything more?
• PJ Walters was awfully hittable over 5 innings. He allowed 6 singles, a double and a triple for 2 ER. He did strike out 5 while walking just 1. He also had 6 groundouts against 2 flyouts. A nice outing but far from dominant.
• Matt Clement threw a scoreless inning striking out 2 and walking 1. Baby steps.
• Mark Worrell was the extra inning goat. He allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 2 walks, 1 hit and a pair of strikeouts. To be frank, he needs to get it together if he wants to claim a bullpen spot in the bigs he’s got probably less than a year before guys like Salas and Gregerson are gonna creep up behind him — not to mention Jason Motte.

Springfield 5, Midland 4

• Jose Martinez was 2-for-5. He’s hitting .227 on the season. If any single player has had his stock fall farther, I’m not sure I can name them. . .
• Allen Craig goes 2-for-4 with a double.
• Congrats Brandon Yarbrough, you get a golden sombrero.
• Tyler Greene was 3-for-4.
• Andrew Brown was 2-for-3 with a walk. He kinda snuck up to Springfield when I wasn’t looking but he had excellent power numbers (ISO > .200) at both Palm Beach and Quad Cities.
• Kyle Sadlowski gave the Cardinals 5 solid if unspectacular innings. Not bad for a bullpen start.
• Marco Gonzalez struck out 2 and picked up the win with 2 perfect innings.
• Fernando Salas had a rough go of it collecting his 13th save as he allowed 2 runs over 2 innings.M

Palm Beach 4, Tampa 3

• Tyler Henley goes 1-for-4 with a double. Has he been the most impressive position player thus far from the ‘07 draft or am I forgetting someone.
• Daryl Jones goes 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Luke Gorsett goes 1-for-3 with a HR.
• Brian Cartie goes 2-for-4 with a double.
• A nice outing for Tyler Norrick who goes 5 innings allowing 2 ER. The lefty allowed 3 hits, 2 walks and struck out 7.
• Elvis Hernandez struck out 4 over 2 scoreless innings allowing 1 hit and 2 walks.
• Casey Mulligan (aka Jason Motte v. 2.0) had a blip tonight retiring just 1 batter. He allowed 2 hits and an ER. We don’t seem to have many readers from the PB area but does anyone know what his velocity is?
• Francisco Samuel allowed just a hit while striking out 2 for his 16th save.

Quad Cities 5, Clinton 17

• Yes, that 17 is correct.
• Nicholas Peoples went 1-for-4 with a HR.
• Domnit Bolivar went 2-for-4 with a HR. That’s longballs in back to back games for Bolivar.
• Roberto Espinoza went 2-for-3 with a walk.
• Most of the blame goes to Brian Broderick who allowed 9 ER on 12 hits while recording 4 outs.
• After some duds in the middle relief, Matt Spade sat down 5 batters allowing just a hit.
• Pete Parise allowed 3 hits but also struck out 3 in his inning of work.

Batavia 5, Jamestown 0

• CF Frederick Parejo went 2-for-5 with a double.
• C Blake Murphy went 2-for-4 with a HR.
• 1B Xavier Scruggs went 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Beau Riportella was 3-for-4 with a double.
• Great pitching from start to finish. Miguel Tapia started out with 5 innings allowing 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 7. 2008 Draftee Scott Gorgen followed him up with 3 innings of no hit ball walking 2 and striking out 5. Hector Cardenas finished off the game with a perfect 9th striking out 1.

Johnson City 3, Danville 4

• SS Guillermo Toribio went 2-for-4 with a walk.
• C Ivan Castro was 2-for-3 with a HR and a walk.
• CF Travis Mitchell was 0-for-1 but walked twice.
• Reynier Gonzalez started out with 5 innings with only 1 unearned run. He allowed 4 hits, 2 walks and struck out 5.

[UPDATE] Still not “imminent” but John Mozeliak is hopeful that first round draft pick Brett Wallace will be signed soon.  He could be signed within the week (during the Cardinals homestand) and will probably take slot money (surprise, surprise).  [/end update]

Blake Hawksworth will DJ your baseball game.

Bad news for Mark McCormick as he continues to experience shoulder discomfort.

“I was just going by what (medical experts) said I would feel like. I believed that at first,” McCormick said. “But I came to realize that I didn’t think it should feel like this. That’s when I said something.”

McCormick said that, should the 10-day period not produce desired results, he would likely undergo another surgery. It would effectively end his season because the recovery time is three weeks, followed by a six-week program.

That can’t be any fun for McCormick who says he hasn’t been healthy since being drafted. I’m not sure we’ve ever seen his best stuff but I’m increasingly skeptical that we ever will after all these shoulder surgeries.

Michael Inoa to sign with the Athletics.

The system goes 3-for-5 tonight as Batavia’s game is postponed.

Memphis 3, New Orleans 2

• Brian Barden goes 2-for-4 with a HR. I’d love to hear from a scout about Barden’s game because he’s done nothing but destroy pitchers and I’m starting to wonder if he’s a viable bench option next year rather than our 3 middle infielders who really can’t do much but slap singles.
• Colby Rasmus was 0-for-4.
• Joe Mather was 0-for-3.
• David Freese was 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Shane Robinson was 2-for-4.
• Mike Parisi had a solid outing going 7.2 innings allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks for 2 ER. He struck out 5 and had more groundouts than airouts (10-8). Here’s another player that John Mozeliak should probably see if any NL team is interested in exchange for a live arm or as part of a package. Parisi looks like he’ll be servicable in a rotation or in a pen (despite his struggles) but the Cardinals have better options.

Springfield 1, Midland 0 (10 innings)

• Jon Jay was 2-for-3 with a HBP.
• Allen Craig was 1-for-5. It’s not that Craig’s having terrible year but at best he’s taken a slight step backwards after moving up to a hitter friendly park. I’m not sure where the power stroke from May has gone but he needs to find it again. If there’s a single hitting coach in the system that I trust to help him with that it’s Derrick May.
• Eat your heart out Clayton Mortensen, Jess Todd is kicking some serious butt. He goes 8 innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk (+ 1 HBP) while striking out 10. O ya, and he also had 10 groundouts to 4 flyouts. I’d label this as the best pitching performance by a Cardinal prospect so far this season.
• Springfield couldn’t scratch out a run till the 10th denying Todd a win but Luke Gregerson pitched 2 perfect frames striking out 1. While everyone has fallen in love with Salas, Gregerson’s stats are flat out ridiculous and the FIP of 3-something doesn’t do the 58% groundball rate justice.

Palm Beach 1, Tampa 7

• Palm Beach collected 9 hits but they were all singles with the exception of Donvan Solano’s triple. Only one batter, Dan Nelson, drew a walk.
• Brad Furnish went 7 innings allowing 7 hits and 1 walk for 3 ER while striking out 4.
• Then Kenny Maiques showed up. He walked 2 batters, threw a wild pitch and hit a third batter. He wasn’t done any favors as both of his runners were allowed to score but wow he’s been bad this year. I’d love to see video of him because the player I saw at Quad Cities was dynamite.

Quad Cities 4, Clinton 3

• Pete Kozma was 0-for-5.
• Francisco Rivera was 2-for-5.
• Matthew Arburr was 2-for-4 with a HR. He’s got some big time power numbers with 13 HRs in 200 ABs and a 225 ISO. The problem is he’s hitting just .250 and has drawn a measly 17 walks versus 78 Ks. That’s not going to work as he moves up the latter. Heck, his .312 OBP would imply it isn’t working well right now. He’s got to make contact more often.
• Domnit Bolivar goes 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Nick Additon went 7 innings allowing 4 hits and 3 runs (2 earned). Both the earned runs came on solo shots. He struck out 4 and walked 1.

Johnson City 2, Danville 12

• Osvaldo Morales goes 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Matt Rigoli goes 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
• 4 errors accounted for 6 unearned runs in the game.
• Jon Bravo threw 3.1 innings but was knocked around for 7 runs (6 earned) including a 2-run jack. He allowed 6 hits, walked none but hit two batters and struck out 5.
• Matthew North was dominant out of the pen tonight for 4 innings. He allowed just one hit, walked 2 and struck out 7.

It doesn’t take long for Robinson to get his name in the Memphis paper headlines.

Keith Law name drops both Jess Todd and Jaime Garcia as players to watch at the Futures Game. I’m more excited about the Futures Game than I am the All Star game being in STL next year. I will definitely be there.

The top half of the system excels while the bottom half struggles. Memphis has won 6 in a row to pull within 2.5 games of the Iowa Cubs.

Memphis 11, New Orleans 1

• Brian Barden goes 3-for-5 with a triple and a HR. He really is the John Gall of the middle infield. We just need danup to sing his praises now.
• Colby Rasmus goes 2-for-4 with a double.
• Josh Phelps goes 1-for-3 with a HR and a walk. I’d have to think that this is the last time the Cardinals sign a middle of their career first baseman to play in AAA. I’m kinda surprised that Phelps has gotten as much time at first as he has given the number of young outfielders that need playing time (specifically Mather).
• Bryan Anderson went 2-for-3 with a double.
• Uncle Rico had a pinch-hit HR in the 8th.
• Clayton Mortensen went 6 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 ER while striking out 3. He continues to rack up the groundouts (10-4) but all of his peripherals have taken a real hit since moving up to Memphis. Personally, I’d let him spend the rest of the year there regardless of how well he starts to pitch. He needs some sustained success and to get back to those A-ball numbers if at all possible.
• Jason Motte pitched a scoreless 8th striking out 2 and walking 1.

Springfield 10, Frisco 5

• Jon Jay was 0-for-2 with a pair of walks.
• Mark Hamilton, Mark Shorey, Tyler Greene and Matt Pagnozzi all collected a pair of hits. Pags had a double.
• Tyler Herron’s had a rough go of it in Springfield. He’s walking considerably more batters than he had in either A-ball stop. He only made it 5 innings allowing 9 hits, 3 walks and 5 strikeouts. He was responsible for all 5 ER.
• Josh Dew and Justin Fiske each pitched a pair of perfect innings striking out 4 and 2 respectively.

Palm Beach 1, Tampa 0

• Palm Beach scratched out a run in the 8th when Daniel Descalso reached on a groundball. Brian Cartie bunted him over and Descalso scored on Antonio DeJesus’s single.
• Brandon Dickson was superb throwing 8 innings allowing just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 3.
• Francisco Samuel picked up the save with a scoreless 9th that included a hit, a walk and a strikeout.

Quad Cities 0, Clinton 9

• The offense was shut down managing only 4 hits (2 singles, 2 doubles) and 2 walks.
• Richard Castillo had a so-so outing allowing 4 runs in 5 innings. He only had 6 hits against him (1 double, 2-run HR) walking no one and striking out 5.
• Brandon Garner pitched a perfect 8th striking out 1.

Batavia 6, Mahoning Valley 8

• Colt Sedbrook was 3-for-5 with a double and 2 stolen bases.
• Speaking of the running game, the Muckdogs had 5 stolen bases on the night with contributions from Jermaine Curtis, Beau Riportella and . . .
• Jose Garcia who went 2-for-4 with a double.
• Jon Edwards was 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Jameson Maj went 5 innings allowing 6 hits and 4 runs (3 earned). He walked 1 and struck out 3.

Johnson City 1, Elizabethton 6

• JC manages to one up the QC offense collecting only 5 hits (1 double) and no walks.
• Michael Blazek allowed 5 hits in 4 innings striking out 4 and hitting 2 batters. He was tagged for 3 ER including a solo jack.
• Carlos Gonzalez struck out 4 in 2 innings but he also walked 2 allowing 3 hits and 2 ER.

I sat down to take a look at a couple of Motte’s outings. I’ve probably watched Motte throw about 10 innings on video so far this year so I’m pretty familiar with him. I charted the pitches from 6/8 & 6/10 to see whether he’s made any adjustments over the course of the season. The 6/8 outing was excellent where Motte strikes out 4 hitters allowing just a double to JR Towles. The 6/10 game left a little more to be desired. I’ll talk about that more at the end but let’s get the pitch sequence and notes out of the way.

Notation: FB - fastball, SL - slider, F - foul, B - ball, CS - called strike, SS - swinging strike, ##s indicate mph

6/8/08 -
7th Inning:

• Saccomanno: 1-FB(F) 93, 2-FB(SS) 95, 3-FB(SS) strikeout
• Notes: Motte replaced Jaime Garcia with 2 outs in the 7th. The announcers repeatedly mentioned that the MEM gun was 2-3mph slow. I’m writing what was on the gun so mentally add to that number throughout this entire post.

8th Inning:

• Sadler: 1-FB(CS), 2-FB(B), 3-FB(B) 97, 4-FB(F), 5-FB(SS) 97 strikeout
• Gorneault: 1-SL(CS), 2-SL(CS), 3-FB(SS) strikeout
• Towles: 1-FB(CS) 98, 1-SL(double)
• Ramirez: 1-FB(CS), 2-SL(B), 3-FB(SS), 4-FB(F), 5-FB(F), 6-FB(SS) strikeout
• Notes: The ump gave Motte about 3 inches on both sides of the plate, which helped tremendously. Towles was fooled on the slider and was ahead of the pitch just barely keeping it in the third baseline. Yes the slider does exist, more on that later.

6/10/08 -
8th Inning:

• Blanco: 1-FB(single)
• Patterson: 1-FB(B), 2-FB(single)
• Pie: 1-FB(F), 2-FB(bunt)
• Murton: 1-FB(B), 2-SL(CS) 82, 3-video cuts out (strike), 4-FB(B), 5-FB(B), 6-FB(F), 7-FB(SS) 96 strikeout
• Micah Hoffpauir: 1-FB(SS), 2-FB(B), 3-FB(F), 4-FB(B), 5-SL(F), 6-FB(SS) strikeout
• Kroeger: 1-FB(B), 2-SL(SS), 3-FB(B) 97, 4-FB(F), 5-FB(B) 6-FB(F) 94, 7-FB(F), 8-SL(B) 76 walk
• McGehee: 1-SL(flyout)
• Notes: The single by patterson was a good pitch — middle of the shins inside the plate — that was golfed for a hit. The Pie bunt was bungled by C Mark Johnson. The second pitch to Murton was originally called a fastball by the announcers until they saw the gun. How they thought it was a fastball is beyond me — I picked up slider from the moment it left his hand. The 2nd pitch to Hoffpauir was a wild pitch that tailed back in on the left hander. Johnson couldn’t handle the pitch but it wasn’t particuarly wild per se. The flyout to CF looks easy by Rasmus who gets a great first step and just glides under the ball effortlessly.

Scouting Report

Fastball - 70/70

Slider - 40/45

Command - 45/50

AOFP: 58

ETA: mid-2009

Motte’s fastball is blazing fast but relatively straight. When he locates it down in the zone, it’s a plus-plus pitch. He has enough pure velocity to blow it by most minor leaguers but that will be harder to do at the next level. When he does miss it’s typically shoulder high and gets fouled out of play. He may have left 2-3 of the 30 above fastballs over the plate. There’s not really any growth in the fastball itself unless he suddenly develops movement on the pitch, which is the only thing holding it back from being an 80.

The slider isn’t a myth but it is very much a work in progress. My biggest complaint is that it doesn’t break away from right-handers enough. It’s got some decent vertical movement (which almost made me think it was a curve the first time I saw it) but the lateral break leaves a lot to be desired. I’d almost question if he’s even putting the right/enough torque on the ball when it leaves his hand. The other problem is that it’s pretty easy to recognize when he’s throwing the slider. The arm action slows a little and the arm slot just isn’t quite the same.

The command issues extend to both pitches. He needs to locate his fastball down in the zone more often. He likes to move up around the shoulders to eyes and get batters to swing under it but I don’t think that’s going to be an effective strategy against major leaguers who would probably lay off the pitch. It’s not that he’s leaving too many over the fat part of the plate, it’s that he’s not throwing enough in the bottom half of the strike zone to get selective hitters out. The slider needs considerable work. He can’t command it yet and it was far more prone to turning into a meatball pitch.

I’ve gone both extremes on Motte — liking him considerably and being very disappointed with what I’ve seen. I’m somewhere in the middle now. I have his AOFP at 58 mainly because he’s so new to pitching. If he improves his slider more than I expect or finds some movement on his fastball, he’ll become a closer caliber reliever. Currently he’s a fringe setup man (AOFP 52) despite the awesome velocity. Hitters who come in and swing early in the count are likely to be successful as he tries to pump fastballs down the plate. The comparison player that keeps coming to mind (although I’m not sure I like it) is Kyle Farnsworth who also featured a great fastball and not a whole lot else. They’re similar in terms of stuff but not necessarily demeanor or build. Motte has some serious potential still but I’d expect him to settle in as a middle reliever mid next year and a good setup man by mid-2010.

Quiet news day. Springfield gets “rained out” because of the grounds crew. Palm Beach was also postponed leaving us with just 4 teams today.

It’s crazy eights with a lucky 13 as the farm system dominates from top to bottom.

Memphis 8, Nashville 1

• Colby Rasmus be still my heart. 2-for-3 with a double, HR and a walk. He also stole his 10th base of the season. He’s the same player he was last year folks and may be the best prospect still in the minor leagues.
• Josh Phelps goes 2-for-5 with a double.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir was 1-for-4 with a double.
• Clayton Mortensen did what he does best — generate groundballs. He allowed 7 hits and 1 unearned run in 7.2 innings walking 4 and striking out just 2. He had 14 outs on the ground (two of which became double plays) and 7 in the air. His command was a tad shaky as he hit a batter and threw 2 wild pitches but all in all a good night.
• Ron Flores closed out the game walking 2 in 1.1 scoreless innings.

Quad Cities 8, Kane County 5

• Adron Chambers was 1-for-5 with a triple.
• Nicholas Peoples went 2-for-3 with a HR.
• Paul Vazquez was 2-for-3.
• Domnit Bolivar was 3-for-4 with a triple. What he really needs to focus on is his bloody fielding as he had 2 more errors bringing his total to 18 for the season.
• Mystery man Richard Castillo pitched 5 hitless innings walking 1 and striking out 6. Just guessing but it’s possible they moved him down to QC to convert him to a starter.

Batavia 8, Jamestown 1

• Colt Sedbrook was 3-for-5.
• Shane Peterson was 2-for-4.
• Jermaine Curtis was 3-for-4 with a double.
• Jonathan Edwards decided to go off tonight. He was 4-for-4 with three doubles and a HR. We heard about his power potential for the last couple years and while I’m not proclaiming he’s going to fulfill those projections based on this one game, it is worth remembering that he’s still only 20 years old.
• Ramon Delgado threw 4 innings allowing 4 hits and 1 walk for 1 ER.
• Jameson Maj came in firing tonight. He pitched the remaining 5 innings allowing just 3 hits and striking out 5.

Johnson City 13, Greeneville 1

• Brett Lilley was 3-for-4 with a pair of walks.
• Guillermo Toribio was 4-for-6.
• Ivan Castro was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.
• Travis Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a walk and a solo HR.
• Carlos Gonzalez threw 4 innings allowing just 1 run. He had 4 hits, 1 walk and 4 Ks to his name.
• Michael Blazek was the pitching story as he fired off another 4 scoreless innings. He allowed just 1 hit and struck out 5.

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.

Memphis 4, Nashville 1

• 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.

Springfield 1, Tulsa 7

• 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).

Palm Beach 4, Fort Myers 2

• 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.

Batavia 6, Mahoning Valley 8

• 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.

Johnson City 4, Kingsport 13

• 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.