Cardinals minor league spring training notebook: 03/15/14

Following are the highlights from the St. Louis Cardinals minor league games on Saturday, March 15 against the Miami Marlins in Jupiter. All Cardinals squads won, though there were only four games instead of the usual five. The reason is that the Marlins sent some of their minor leaguers to Panama for the “Legends Series” against the New York Yankees.

This spring, Cardinals baseball operations assistant Tony Ferreira is sharing highlights from minor league spring training contests. As always, the raw data is his, but the comments and awards are mine.

When players are members of The Cardinal Nation Top 40 for 2014, their rankings are noted.

Saturday’s hitter of the day: Carson Kelly (pictured) went 3-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI. His bat should be ready for the Midwest League. The open question is his catching.

Saturday’s pitcher of the day: Nick Greenwood did not score an invitation to major league camp, but was a valuable swingman for Memphis in 2013. On Saturday, the left-hander fanned three in two perfect innings.

The Cardinal Nation subscribers can check out the minor league spring training invitees, full minor league spring training game schedules and more. Seven-day free trials are always available.

The entire system view by level and position as last season ended is available via the Roster Matrix, free, right here at The Cardinal Nation Blog.

Memphis (2-0) 4 vs. New Orleans 1

Memphis pitching TCN IP H ER BB K Notes Memphis hitting TCN AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB K Notes
Anthony Ferrara 2 1 1 1 Lefty pitched in 2013 AFL Aledmys Diaz 4 1 2 1 1 Shoulder soreness
Seth Blair #37 2 1 1 Results lagging potential Oscar Taveras #1 2 1 Down from MLB camp
Nick Greenwood 2 3 My Pitcher of the Day Tommy Pham #23 2 2 1 2 games, 2 standout results
Logan Billbrough 1 1 6.2 K/BB ratio last season Chris Swauger 2 1 1 1 1 3-run HR to deep right
Heath Wyatt 1 1 Submariner
Eric Fornataro #39 1 1 Righty opened in MLB camp

Springfield (2-0) 5 vs. Jacksonville 4

Springfield pitching TCN IP H ER BB K Notes Springfield hitting TCN AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB K Notes
Ryan Sherriff 2 1 Our top PB starter in 2012-13 Breyvic Valera #31 5 2 3 1 Good average but low power
Joe Cuda 2 2 1 1 4.4 K/BB ratio last season Starlin Rodriguez 3 1 3 Prospect stock slipped in 2013
Corey Baker 2 4 1 1 Alex Mejia 4 2 1 Underrated shortstop
Tyler Melling 1 1
Iden Nazario 1 2 Name is pronounced “Eden”
Joe Donofrio 1 2 5.0 K/BB ratio at Peoria in ’13

Palm Beach (1-1) 7 vs. Jupiter 6

Palm Beach pitching TCN IP H ER BB K Notes Palm Beach hitting TCN AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB K Notes
Alex Reyes #7 2 4 3 High potental but rough day Carson Kelly #9 4 2 3 3 1 1 1 Solo HR to deep left
Blake McKnight 2 5 2 1 1.10 WHIP 2nd best in system Jordan Walton 3 2 1 Can play in OF and 1B
Jeff Rauh 1 1 Nick Martini 1 1 1 2 1 HR to right-center
Brady Adamek 1 1 1 Non-drafted FA signed last Jan Jake Stone 2 1 1 1 1 HR to right field
Nick Lomascolo 1 2 2 Appy Lg Pitcher of Wk 9/3/13
Joe Scanio 1 2 1
Arturo Reyes 1 1 2.08 ERA at State College

Peoria (1-1) 6 vs. Greensboro 2

Peoria pitching TCN IP H ER BB K Notes Peoria hitting TCN AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB K Notes
Silfredo Garcia 2 4 18 starts for Peoria in ’13 Jimmy Bosco 5 1 2 1 Should be ready for Peoria
Steven Gallardo 1 1 1 Matt Young 4 2 1 1
Michael Holback 1 25th rounder in 2013 Rafael Medina 3 1 1 1 HR to deep left field
Brandon Lee 1 1 Non drafted FA sign June ’13 Jonathan Keener 2 1 1 2 1 HR to left-center
Josh Lucas 1 1 Missed all of 2012
Jonathan Escudero 1 1 1 11.5 K per 9 IP last season
Norge Paredes 1 1
Anderson Gerdel 1 2 Just 1.9 BB/9 IP in 2013

Sunday’s games: The Cardinals will face the Mets, with Memphis and Springfield at home and Palm Beach and Peoria taking the bus to Port St. Lucie.

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