Results for April 29th

[MrCrowesGarden]

Now that the Internet is actually working fast enough to do these, the Minor League report is back!

The Memphis Redbirds had the night off. That means they probably got one less hit than they would've.

The Springfield Cardinals blew an 8-0 lead and lost 9-8 in 12 innings.

• Batting Highlights:
  • Dan Descalso was 4 for 6 with a double, an RBI and a run scored.
  • Tyler Henley was 3 for 6 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored.
  • Brett Wallace was 2 for 5 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.
  • Daryl Jones was 2 for 6 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
  Pitching Highlights:
  • Brad Furnish gave up six runs in four and a third. He walked four and struck out four.
  • Kristhiam Linares pitched two scoreless innings.
  • Elvis Hernandez got the loss as his throwing error led to an unearned run in the 12th.

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The Palm Beach Cardinals lost to the Fort Myers Miracle 5-1.

• Batting Highlights:
  • Curt Smith was 2 for 4 with a solo shot.
  • Shane Peterson went 2 for 4.
  • Francisco Rivera was 1 for 3.
  Pitching Highlights:
  • David Kopp pitched well. He had five scoreless innings, with just three hits and four strikeouts. I'll give him the line of the night.
  • Nick Additon... not so much. He gave up five runs in two and a third innings.
  • Thomas Eager allowed one of Additon's runners to score, but was otherwise solid.

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The Quad Cities River Bandits defeated the South Bend Silver Hawks 3-1.

• Batting Highlights:
  • Osvaldo Morales was 1 for 3 with a walk and a solo homer.
  • Chris Swauger was 2 for 4 with two doubles and a run scored.
  • Niko Vasquez was 2 for 4 with a run scored.
  Pitching Highlights:
  • Chuckie Fick allowed a run in five innings. He gave up five hits and a walk, struck out three.
  • Andres Rosales pitched three scoreless innings in relief and got the win.
  • David Carpenter gave up a hit and a walk, but struck out two in the ninth for the save.

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[phins]

Seriously, Springfield's pitching really is as bad as you think it is. Last I checked, they had 42 more walks than the NEXT highest team!

There literally isn't a prospect among the starters IMO...no, I don't consider Tyler Herron a prospect.

[Swingingbunt]

Is that a problem that can be fixed within one draft? I don't know about you, but it seems like our hitters are coming along much better than the pitchers we draft. Are we in a position to go really heavy on pitching, especially starting pitching and left handed pitching, in this draft? Baseball's draft is so different from the other major sports that I'm not sure if it's better to draft to your organizational need or draft the best player on the board (if you can even figure that out) at that point.

Also, Descalso really seems to be raking, but I've never seen him high on anyone's prospect list. Is he someone who we should be watching for, or just another fringe middle infield prospect who happens to be playing well right now?

[TimeForGuinness]

I would love for them to start going after some highly touted pitchers in this next draft.

[MrCrowesGarden]

Is that a problem that can be fixed within one draft? I don't know about you, but it seems like our hitters are coming along much better than the pitchers we draft. Are we in a position to go really heavy on pitching, especially starting pitching and left handed pitching, in this draft? Baseball's draft is so different from the other major sports that I'm not sure if it's better to draft to your organizational need or draft the best player on the board (if you can even figure that out) at that point.

Also, Descalso really seems to be raking, but I've never seen him high on anyone's prospect list. Is he someone who we should be watching for, or just another fringe middle infield prospect who happens to be playing well right now?

It's generally a better strategy in baseball to take whoever you deem the best player available and take him.

That said, I'll be surprised if it's not a pitcher first off the board for the Cardinals because they've taken Wallace and Kozma first overall the past two seasons. Left-handers worth taking at 19th overall are slim pickings (I suspect the top three will be off the board by then, and I can't think of one worth picking for a while after that).

RE: Descalso... I haven't seen him play but have heard he's got an iron glove. A lot of people did see this as a boom or bust year for him at the plate, and so far he's holding up his end. At the very least, it'd be nice to see him at AAA replacing Rowlett and Hoffpauir at 2B.

[Swingingbunt]

Is that a problem that can be fixed within one draft? I don't know about you, but it seems like our hitters are coming along much better than the pitchers we draft. Are we in a position to go really heavy on pitching, especially starting pitching and left handed pitching, in this draft? Baseball's draft is so different from the other major sports that I'm not sure if it's better to draft to your organizational need or draft the best player on the board (if you can even figure that out) at that point.

Also, Descalso really seems to be raking, but I've never seen him high on anyone's prospect list. Is he someone who we should be watching for, or just another fringe middle infield prospect who happens to be playing well right now?

It's generally a better strategy in baseball to take whoever you deem the best player available and take him.

That said, I'll be surprised if it's not a pitcher first off the board for the Cardinals because they've taken Wallace and Kozma first overall the past two seasons. Left-handers worth taking at 19th overall are slim pickings (I suspect the top three will be off the board by then, and I can't think of one worth picking for a while after that).

RE: Descalso... I haven't seen him play but have heard he's got an iron glove. A lot of people did see this as a boom or bust year for him at the plate, and so far he's holding up his end. At the very least, it'd be nice to see him at AAA replacing Rowlett and Hoffpauir at 2B.

Got it. Thanks for the draft info. With how many rounds are involved and the sheer lack of probability that any player drafted makes it to the major leagues, that strategy makes sense. It sure would be nice if some high end starting pitchers fell to us this year though.

I'm with you on Descalso. I believe this is Hoffpauir's third year at AAA. We've moved an outfielder to 2nd base rather than giving him an opportunity to win a job. I'm pretty sure he's not going anywhere in the organization.

[phins]

Is that a problem that can be fixed within one draft? I don't know about you, but it seems like our hitters are coming along much better than the pitchers we draft. Are we in a position to go really heavy on pitching, especially starting pitching and left handed pitching, in this draft? Baseball's draft is so different from the other major sports that I'm not sure if it's better to draft to your organizational need or draft the best player on the board (if you can even figure that out) at that point.

Also, Descalso really seems to be raking, but I've never seen him high on anyone's prospect list. Is he someone who we should be watching for, or just another fringe middle infield prospect who happens to be playing well right now?

Well, in all honesty, the Cards alread go heavy after pitching, but they missed on the guys they took a few years back. They took Josh Wilson, Tyler Herron, Mark McCormick, Brad Furnish, Tyler Norrick, Eddie Degerman et all pretty highly four or so years back and a not a one of them has turned out at all. That is a combination that didn't help Walt in Luhnow's power struggle a few years back. We have had to start dipping into the Indy leagues, and minor league free agents to fill out our pitching staff in AA. Following their MO, they have started to draft some high school arms, and take the safer college guys earlier on. Lance Lynn is a guy they expect to be a good innings eater sooner rather than later (I'm not that high on him personally). Anthony Ferrerra, and a couple of other young lefty's I'm forgetting are starting to give them hope in A ball, but they are a long way away. In short, the Cards are already taking pitching early and often, but they are just taking so many safe, low ceiling, high floor types that they aren't reloading the talent fast enough. When those low ceiling players reach a ceiling at high-A or AA, we start to get a backlog where we are keeping players at AA that don't have any business being there. If the Cards want to turn this around, they need to stop being afraid to take higher ceiling guys who are going to cost more money. Odorizzi, Mehlville, Porcello and on down the list we go would be the best pitching prospects we have right now...we passed on all of them for safer choices because we didn't want to pay. I'll never forgive the passing of Brett Anderson for Brad Furnish because we were afraid of his price tag (he signed for 300k more than Furnish did I believe). Anderson is a future star, and Furnish is org. depth.

Descalso is a Hoffpauir clone with an iron glove, a lack of bat speed, and a low ceiling. Has a real high floor though. Sensing a trend? If you played in summer All-Star leagues, played well with a wood bat, and played college baseball, the Cards will love you due to the mathematical system they use. It's just the way it is...they have rebuilt the hitting with this method, but just need to tweak they evaluate and draft pitching IMO.

[GatewaySnayke]

That was a brilliant bit of posting, Phin. Luhnow's been living off the 2005 draft and I'm tired of his system. They need to do whatever the Red Sox are doing.