Cardinals make several roster moves on Wednesday

On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced several roster moves made throughout their minor league system. The big one, Tyler Lyons to St. Louis and Fernando Salas to the disabled list was announced this afternoon. Here is what we have so far today: The Peoria Chiefs made several moves. Corey Baker was promoted to Palm [...]

McGregor McGregor

Wacha and Hald deliver solid starts – 5/21 Farm Report

With Springfield and Peoria off, Memphis and Palm Beach were left to hold the fort, and both teams lost combining for 4 runs. Michael Wacha and Kyle Hald were very solid in their starts. Here are the results from Tuesday’s action: Memphis (22-21) 3, Salt Lake 10 The Memphis Redbirds held a 3-2 lead going [...]

hald hald

Kolten Wong returns to lineup with a bang – 5/20 Farm Report

The Baby Bids split the games on Monday as Springfield and Peoria won, while Memphis and Palm Beach lost. Kolten Wong returned to the lineup for the first time since Thursday and provided an immediate boost to the Memphis lineup. Wong, the second batter of the game, hit a 2-run home run in the first [...]

Wong2 Wong2

Why Tyler Lyons was the chosen one, for now.

This past weekend, it was announced that Triple-A pitcher Tyler Lyons was going to be filling in for Jaime Garcia while he and Jake Westbrook are on the St. Louis Cardinals’ disabled list. “Wait…. who?” That’s what many Cardinals fans were saying after they had heard the news. The talk when Garcia went down revolved [...]

Lyons Lyons

Jonathan Cornelius dominates again – 5/19 Farm Report

It was a tough day for the Baby Birds as all four teams lost on Sunday. Jonathan Cornelius was the start of the day going 7 innings and only allowing 2 hits and getting a no decision as the Beach Birds lost late. Ryan Jackson has gone hitless in his last two games after having [...]

Cornelius Cornelius

Cardinals make several roster moves on Wednesday

May 22nd, 2013
McGregor

On Wednesday, the St. Louis Cardinals announced several roster moves made throughout their minor league system. The big one, Tyler Lyons to St. Louis and Fernando Salas to the disabled list was announced this afternoon. Here is what we have so far today:

The Peoria Chiefs made several moves. Corey Baker was promoted to Palm Beach. Baker, the Cardinals 49th round pick in 2011, had a record of 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA and an insane strikeout to walk ratio of 29 to 2. Baker was in his first year at Peoria after spending the last 2 at Batavia, the Cardinals short-season affiliate. To fill Baker’s spot, the Cardinals moved Chris Thomas from Extended Spring Training to Peoria. Thomas, an undrafted free-agent, spent 2012 with the Gulf Coast Cardinals and the Batavia Muckdogs. In 21 combined games, Thomas had a 3-0 record with a 1.69 ERA. He struck out 34 batters in 26.2 innings.

The Chiefs also sent Josh Lucas back to Extended Spring. Lucas made 4 starts for Peoria and was 0-4 with a 6.53 ERA in 20.2 innings. Lucas was a 21st round pick in 2010 for the Cardinals. To fill Lucas’ spot, the Cardinals promoted Thomas Lee from Extended Spring. Lee, an undrafted free agent, spent 2012 with the Johnson City Cardinals of the Rookie level Appalachian League. In 51 innings for Johnson City, Lee went 4-4 with a 4.03 ERA and had 57 strikeouts to only 9 walks.

Read more »

Wacha and Hald deliver solid starts – 5/21 Farm Report

May 22nd, 2013
hald

With Springfield and Peoria off, Memphis and Palm Beach were left to hold the fort, and both teams lost combining for 4 runs. Michael Wacha and Kyle Hald were very solid in their starts.

Here are the results from Tuesday’s action:

Memphis (22-21) 3, Salt Lake 10

The Memphis Redbirds held a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th, then the Salt Lake Bees exploded. They scored 8 runs in the seventh to take a 10-3 lead. That score would hold up and would be the final. All three Redbirds’ runs came in the fourth when Jamie Romak hit a bases clearing double that scored Jermaine Curtis, Ryan Jackson, and Chad Huffman. The Redbirds had 2-hit games from lead-off hitter Adron Chambers and Romak.

Michael Wacha started and threw 5 scoreless innings before running into trouble in the 6th. The Bees led off with 2 straight singles and Wacha was pulled in favor of Sam Freeman. Freeman would allow those runners to score to make Wacha’s final line 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K. Freeman went on to allow 3 runs of his own in one inning. Eric Fornataro also was rocked for 5 runs in an inning. Victor Marte threw a scoreless 8th inning.

Player of the Game: Jamie Romak

Read more »

Kolten Wong returns to lineup with a bang – 5/20 Farm Report

May 21st, 2013
Wong2

The Baby Bids split the games on Monday as Springfield and Peoria won, while Memphis and Palm Beach lost. Kolten Wong returned to the lineup for the first time since Thursday and provided an immediate boost to the Memphis lineup. Wong, the second batter of the game, hit a 2-run home run in the first inning. Another bright spot has been Xavier Scruggs, who had Springfield’s only 2 RBI’s in a 2-1 win. Scruggs has an RBI in four straight games for a total of 9 in that span. Ryan Jackson ended an 0-for-8 stretch with 2 hits Monday.

Here are the results of Monday’s action:

Memphis (22-20) 4, Salt Lake 5

The Memphis Redbirds have now lost three in a row, all by one run. The Redbirds got 2 runs in the first inning when Kolten Wong hit his third home run of the year that scored Adron Chambers. The Redbirds added 2 more in the fifth when Brock Peterson singled home Wong and Chad Huffman walked which forced home Ryan Jackson. The Redbirds got multi-hit games from Wong, Jackson, Peterson, Huffman, and Justin Christian. Huffman and Peterson also drew 2 walks each.

Boone Whiting started and allowed 3 run on 6 hits over 5 innings. Whiting also walked and struck out 4. Barret Browning pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of Whiting.Marc Rzepczynski took his first Triple-A loss allowing 2 runs (1 earned) in the 8th.

Player of the Game: Kolten Wong

Springfield (23-19) 2, Arkansas 1

The Springfield Cardinals scored twice in the first and those runs held up behind some very quality pitching. In the first, Xavier Scruggs drove home James Ramsey and Chris Swauger on a single. Scruggs has recorded a RBI in four straight games. Swauger led the way with 2 hits and a walk and Scruggs had the 2 RBI’s.

Richard Castillo allowed 1 run on 6 hits in 5 and 2/3 innings, he also walked 2 and struck out 3. Kevin Siegrist and Deryk Hooker combined for 2 and 1/3 scoreless innings. Keith Butler picked up his 7th save with a scoreless inning.

Player of the Game: Xavier Scruggs

Palm Beach (17-26) 1, Brevard County 4

For the fourth straight game, the Palm Beach offense failed to score more than 2 runs. Their lone run was scored in the third inning when Colin Walsh singled home Juan Castillo. The Cardinals collected 6 singles on the night and Danny Stienstra and Castillo led the way with 2 of them. Nick Longmire and Walsh had the others.

Travis Miller started and took the loss, falling to 0-7 on the season. In 4 and 1/3 innings, Miller allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and walked 4. Jose Almarante, Lee Stoppelman, and Ronnie Shaban combined to throw 3 and 2/3 scoreless innings.

Player of the Game: Juan Castillo

Clinton 8, Peoria (21-21) 11

The LumberKings and the Chiefs combined for 19 runs and 30 hits on Monday as the Chiefs out-dueled Clinton. The Chiefs got a first inning grand slam from Patrick Wisdom scoring  Breyvic Valera, Jacob Wilson, and Jordan Walton. In the second, Valera led off the inning with a double and later scored on a Wilson single. The Chiefs put up another 4 spot in the third when Charlie Tilson doubled home Wisdom, Nick Martini doubled home Casey Rasmus and Alex Mejia, and Ildemaro Vargas singled home Martini. The Chiefs recorded an insurance run in the 8th when Vargas scored on a Rasmus single. Ildemaro Vargas was the offensive leader going 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBI’s. Wilson, Walton, Rasmus, and Tilson each had 2 hits. To go with his grand slam, Wisdom walked 3 times.

Joe Cuda got the start and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in 2 and 1/3 innings. Joe Scanio was roughed up for 5 runs in the same amount of innings. Zach Petrick continued to shine pitching 2 scoreless innings to record his 6th save and lowering his ERA to 0.99.

Player of the Game: Ildemaro Vargas

 

 

Why Tyler Lyons was the chosen one, for now.

May 20th, 2013
Lyons

This past weekend, it was announced that Triple-A pitcher Tyler Lyons was going to be filling in for Jaime Garcia while he and Jake Westbrook are on the St. Louis Cardinals’ disabled list.

“Wait…. who?”

That’s what many Cardinals fans were saying after they had heard the news. The talk when Garcia went down revolved around names like Seth Maness, Carlos Martinez, Joe Kelly, and Michael Wacha. Lyons name came from nowhere, well not really nowhere. Al Hrabosky mentioned his name on Friday night’s broadcast. What was my response?

Ok, so I was blindsided as well by the news, but now that I think about it I shouldn’t have. I wrote this post the other night giving my support to Michael Wacha. With more information that has come out, I can see why Lyons was the chosen one. Lets look at a couple of reasons why.

First, this appears – or the Cardinals hope –  it will only be a one start stay for Lyons. The Cardinals are hoping that Jake Westbrook will return from the disabled list very soon and would take the Garcia-then Lyons’ spot in the rotation. If it is short-term, I can see why the Cardinals again passed up Michael Wacha. Also, it appears the Cardinals are worried about “starting the clock” on Wacha, especially if it is only for a couple of starts. So, what does “starting the clock” mean? A player is first eligible for arbitration after 3 years of major league service. There is something called Super 2, which allows a certain number of players to be eligible for arbitration after 2 plus years. The Cardinals want to make use of Wacha’s time if he is on the major league roster. This is a huge compliment to Wacha.

Another factor I believe is an innings limit. Yes, the Cardinals could limit Wacha’s innings in St. Louis just as much as they could in Memphis, but they will be also on an innings watch with Shelby Miller. Do the Cards really want to have two big time pitching prospects on innings limits in September?

So, why add Lyons to the rotation and not Joe Kelly or Carlos Martinez or Seth Maness? The answer has a couple of parts. First, Kelly and Martinez would need to be stretched out to a starter’s pitch count and you don’t want that to happen on-the-job. Maness seemed to be the only other option to start as he has made a handful of starts for Memphis. Also, I believe they went away from Maness because of how effective he has been in the Cardinals bullpen getting quick outs and double plays.

With all of this being said, I see why the Lyons move was made. The thought of John Gast and Tyler Lyons compromising 40% of the Cardinals rotation is very scary, hopefully this is a very short-term solution.

Jonathan Cornelius dominates again – 5/19 Farm Report

May 20th, 2013
Cornelius

It was a tough day for the Baby Birds as all four teams lost on Sunday. Jonathan Cornelius was the start of the day going 7 innings and only allowing 2 hits and getting a no decision as the Beach Birds lost late. Ryan Jackson has gone hitless in his last two games after having a 10 game hitting streak. Oscar Taveras and Kolten Wong are still AWOL from the Memphis Redbirds lineup dealing with ankle issues. Seth Blair seems to be turning things around at Springfield. The key to Blair’s resurgence has to be his walks. None issued on Sunday.

Here are the results from Sunday’s action:

Memphis (22-19) 5, Tacoma 6

Another heart breaker for the Redbirds as the Rainers scored in the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off win. The Redbirds scored twice in the third when Jermaine Curtis singled home J.R. Towles and Vance Albitz. In the fourth, the Redbirds got back-to-back doubles from Rob Johnson and Towles to score Jamie Romak and Johnson. The final Redbirds’ run came in the fifth when Brock Peterson hit his sixth home run. Peterson and Romak each had two hits and Curtis had the two RBI’s. Ryan Jackson was held hitless for the second straight game.

Maikel Cleto started and allowed 5 runs on 5 hits in 5 innings. Cleto also walked 3 and struck out 5. Eduardo Sanchez and Eric Fornataro combined for 3 scoreless innings. Jorge Rondon picked up his 5th loss whole allowing the winning run to score in the 9th.

Player of the Game: Brock Peterson

Read more »

Scruggs and Cooney lead Springfield to a win – 5/18 Farm Report

May 18th, 2013
Scruggs2

The Baby Birds went 1-3 on Saturday as Springfield was the only winner. Memphis and Peoria allowed runs late in their games to lose. The story of the night was Xavier Scruggs‘ hitting and Tim Cooney‘s pitching for Springfield. Scruggs blasted his 12 home run and added 5 RBI’s. Scruggs’ HR rate, AVG, and OBP are at unprecedented rates for his career. I would really like to see him get a shot at Triple-A soon. Breyvic Valera and Mike O’Neill did awesome jobs as lead-off hitters on Saturday night. O’Neill was 4-for-5 with 2 runs, a double, and triple. Valera was 4-for-4 for Peoria in the lead-off spot. Tim Cooney threw 6 shutout innings in his second Double-A start and Tyler Melling was very solid in his first start since returning from the DL.

Here are the results from Saturday’s action:

Memphis (22-18) 3, Tacoma 4

The Memphis Redbirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead after 4 but allowed Tacoma to score 3 in the 5th and one in the 8th to win it. In the second, Vance Albitz doubled home Jamie Romak and Justin Christian. Brock Peterson scored in the fourth on a sacrifice fly off of the bat of Christian. Albitz led the way with 2 hits and those 2 RBI’s. Ryan Jackson‘s 10-game hitting streak was snapped with an 0-for-4 night.

Nick Additon started and was cruising until the 5th. In 6 innings, Additon allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and struck out 9. Marc Rzepczynski pitched a scoreless inning but did walk 3 batters. Sam Freeman took his first loss of the season allowing the run in the 8th.

Player of the Game: Vance Albitz

Read more »

Michael Wacha: Why not Now?

May 18th, 2013
Wacha2

The St. Louis Cardinals starting rotation has taken some hits in the last 2 days as it was announced that Jake Westbrook had a setback and would likely miss more that two starts. In the early evening on Saturday, it was announced that Jaime Garcia was placed on the disabled list with shoulder pain. This appears to be a very serious development that could sideline Garcia for a while.

Garcia’s roster spot was filled when the Cardinals recalled Mitchell Boggs from Triple-A Memphis. It has yet to be announced who would take Garcia’s spot in the rotation. I have my choice, and he is also at Memphis. Michael Wacha.

When Wacha was drafted in 2012, many believed he was the most MLB ready pitcher to come out of the draft. Some questioned whether he would make his MLB debut last year. That did not happen and Wacha has worked his way up to Triple-A and is in a holding pattern.

Read more »

Ryan Jackson is on another planet – 5/17 Farm Report

May 18th, 2013
Jackson3

The Baby Birds went 2-2 on Friday as Memphis and Peoria won while Springfield and Palm Beach lost. The story of the night continues to be Memphis’ Ryan Jackson. Jackson has had 7 straight multi-hit games and has a 10-game hitting streak overall. In his last 7 games, Jackson is 16-for-29 with 6 runs, 5 doubles, 2 home runs, and 7 RBI’s. I wrote a little on Jackson yesterday and made the case that he is ready for a promotion. I know, Captain Obvious. Xavier Scruggs extended his organizational home run lead to 11 while top-10 prospect Carson Kelly hit his first homer of the season for Peoria. Another top-10 prospect, Tyrell Jenkins, was very solid in his start on Friday night.

Memphis (22-17) 7, Tacoma 4

The Redbirds scored a run in the second when J.R. Towles hit his 4th home run, a solo shot. They added 2 more in the third when Ryan Jackson continued his hot hitting and hit his 2nd home run scoring Adron Chambers. The score was tied going into the ninth and the Redbirds broke open the game with four runs all with 2 outs. Adron Chambers, Jermaine Curtis (2),  and Chad Huffman had RBI’s  in the ninth. Jackson led the way with 3 hits including the HR and 2 RBI’s. Chambers, Justin Christian, and Vance Albitz each had 2 hits.

Tyler Lyons started and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He did strike out 7 and walked only 1. Jorge Rondon and Barret Browning combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings and Eric Fornataro allowed 1 run in the ninth. Browning picked up his first win of the season.

Player of the Game: Ryan Jackson

Read more »

St. Louis Cardinals: Five Prospects Ready for Promotion – Part 2

May 17th, 2013
Stephen Piscotty is hitting .391 on the year

About a month ago we detailed five prospects that were ready for a promotion then. Our predictions weren’t too bad as two of the five were promoted since then. We picked James Ramsey and Keith Butler who received promotions (Butler has since been sent back to Springfield), and Michael Wacha, Oscar Taveras, and Colin Walsh. Wacha and Taveras are special cases in that their promotion would be to the major leagues, Walsh has had a rough go at it since the last post, but I believe he is still ready. That being said, lets look at 5 more prospects who are ready for a bump. Remember we pick these players with more than stats in mind.

1. Stephen Piscotty 

Piscotty has slowed from his torrid April pace but is still well above .300 at .319 and has hit 3 more home runs this year while playing in 25 fewer games than last year. When he was drafted out of Stanford, Piscotty was known to have an advanced bat and the hope was that the power would come with it. His walks and strikeouts also indicate that he has good plate control as he has only struck out 12 times in 30 games. The Springfied outfield is crowded with recent-promotee James Ramsey and also Mike O’Neill, Tommy Pham, Chris Swauger, and Adam Melker. Although, a couple of those guys will appear on this list, so the path to Double-A really isn’t that tough.

2. Mike O’Neill

It will be tough for O’Neill to crack top prospect lists due to his age and size but he is performing better than most of those top prospects. O’Neill is in his first full season at Springfield after only playing 13 games there in 2012. So far, in 37 games at Springfield, O’Neill is hitting .339 with an amazing on base percentage of .481. He is getting on base 48% of the time. Also in those 37 games, he has only struck out 7 times. The real question is what does the future look like for O’Neill? This is hard to say as he has a lot of traffic in front of him on the outfield depth chart, but any team could use a table setter at the top of the line up.

Read more »

Wacha, Wong, and Jackson lead Memphis – 5/16 Farm Report

May 17th, 2013
Wong2

The Baby Birds went 3-2 on Thursday as pitching and prospects dominated the action. Kolten Wong, Ryan Jackson, and Michael Wacha played huge roles in the Memphis win and Carson Kelly and Silfredo Garcia starred in the Peoria game 2 win. Ryan Jackson had 2 more hits to raise his average to .376 while Michael Wacha pitched 7 strong innings to lower his ERA to 1.89. A name to remember, if you don’t know it yet, is Sam Tuivailala. Last year, Tuivailala converted from shortstop to pitcher and has quickly and forcefully came on the scene for Peoria. In 2 innings, he has struck out 5 while hitting 98 MPH on the gun. Mitchell Boggs had a rough outing for Memphis allowing 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. The Cardinals are in no hurry to get Boggs back to the major leagues.

Memphis (21-17) 6, Tacoma 5

The big time prospects were at it again for Memphis on Thursday night. The Redbirds scored first in the third inning when Chad Huffman hit his 5th home run to lead off the inning. In the fourth, Kolten Wong scored on a Jermaine Curtis sacrifice. Wong reached on a walk and then a steal of second. J.R. Towles tripled in the fifth and later scored on an Adron Chambers sacrifice. Wong led off the sixth with his second home run and Ryan Jackson followed with a double. Jackson would later score on another Curtis sacrifice. The eventual winning run would come in the top of the 10th when Brock Peterson doubled home Vance Albitz.

Michael Wacha started and may have pitched his best game of the year. In 7 innings, Wacha allowed only 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walks, and struck out 8. Mitchell Boggs got roughed up in the 8th, allowing 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Also Victor Marte blew the save in the 9th and Eduardo Sanchez threw a scoreless 10th to secure his first save.

Player of the Game: Michael Wacha

Read more »

« Older Entries
Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More
RSS FeedSubscribe to our RSS feed!
Follow me on Twitter!Follow me on Twitter!
Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium Free WordPress Themes | Thanks to Download Premium WordPress Themes, wordpress 4 themes and Free Premium WordPress Themes
%d bloggers like this: