Cardinals minor league spring training notebook: 03/30/13

On Saturday, the St. Louis Cardinals’ minor leaguers faced the Miami Marlins clubs for the sixth and final time this spring. It is also the last day for competition in Florida. The games were held on the Miami side of the Jupiter complex. In addition, Extended Spring Training Red faced the White squad.

It was another clean sweep day, as all four Cardinals clubs won. Memphis and Peoria logged shutouts. Also, Red defeated White. After the 4-0 day, the Cardinals’ spring record against external minor league competition finishes at 27-19-7.

Whereas in recent days, minor leaguers played in the major league game, the reverse occurred on Saturday. Shelby Miller, the newly-crowned fifth starter for St. Louis, did not accompany his new teammates to Phoenix. First, the right-hander pitched four innings for Memphis as noted below.

As he has been doing the last few seasons, Cardinals farm director John Vuch is sharing game stats. As always, the raw numbers are his, but the comments and players of the day are mine. Special thanks go out to the organization, as without their cooperation, these reports would not be possible.

Saturday’s Pitcher of the Day: It isn’t Miller, as he is a major leaguer now. Over five innings, Palm Beach’s Sam Gaviglio (pictured) yielded just one hit and one walk. The right-hander fanned four. One unearned run scored during his stint.

Saturday’s Player of the Day: Springfield’s Chris Swauger had a walk, single and two doubles in five plate appearances. The outfielder drove in two and scored twice.

The Cardinal Nation subscribers can check out the newest spring training working rosters, the full minor league spring schedule and more.

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 (11-5-1) 1, New Orleans 0

Memphis stats

Memphis pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Memphis hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
Shelby Miller 4.2 4 0 1 7 Tuning up for his new role in StL rotation Jermaine Curtis 3 2 1 Should be the regular 3B starter
Jorge Rondon 0.1 1 0 1 Began spring in big-league camp Greg Garcia 3 1 1 1 Just down from Major League camp in final cuts
Eric Fornataro 1 0 2 Allowed just 1 HR in 271 batters faced last season Chad Huffman 1 Played in final StL spring game
Barret Browning 1 2 0 1.73 ERA with Memphis last year Brock Peterson 1

Springfield (7-7-3) 10, Jacksonville 6

Springfield stats

Springfield pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Springfield hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
John Gast 5 8 2 4 Should be returning to Memphis rotation Chris Swauger 4 2 3 2 2 1 Had brief Memphis intro but likely back to Springfield
Kevin Siegrist 0.2 3 4 1 1 Rough day for starter-turned-reliever Tommy Pham 5 2 2 2 2 Always had the talent – all he needs is health
Deryk Hooker 1 1 1 Audry Perez 5 2 Closest catching prospect to the majors
Michael Blazek 1 3 How much better could he do? Starlin Rodriguez 5 2 1 All-star talent in Florida State League last season
Keith Butler 1 Successful Springfield closer back again Travis Tartamella 1 1 Should be Perez’ back up this season
Adam Melker 4 2 2 2 1 1 .755 OPS in 126 Springfield games in 2012
Xavier Scruggs 3 2 1 1 2 Like many of the others, looks to repeat Double-A
Mike O’Neill 3 1 1 Strong Sprf intro in last month after FSL batting title win
Luis Mateo 1

Palm Beach (9-4-3) 9, Jupiter 4

Palm Beach stats

Palm Beach pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Palm Beach hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
Sam Gaviglio 5 1 0 1 4 Plus one unearned run David Popkins 2 3 2 1 2 .725 OPS after moving up to Batavia mid-short season
Kevin Thomas 2 2 2 2 Stephen Piscotty 3 1 2 2 Drove in 27 in first 55 pro games with Quad Cities
Brandon Creath 1 2 1 1 12.95 K / 9 IP led Florida State League in 2012 Matt Williams 1 1 1
Dixon Llorens 1 0 1 Fanned 44.3% of all batters faced last season Cody Stanley 2 1 1 2 1 1 Among handful of C prospect at high end of system
Ronnie Shaban 1 0 Led Appy League with 16 saves last season Geoff Klein 4 1 1 1 Can play 1B as well as catch
Tyler Rahmatulla 4 1 1 2 1 Great hitting at QC, but dropped off at PG
Ronny Gil 2 1 1
Danny Stienstra 1 2 20 RBI in 40 games mostly in NYPL in 2012

Peoria (5-9-1) 5, Greensboro 0

Peoria stats

Peoria pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Peoria hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
Joe Cuda 5 5 0 3 1.24 WHIP last season ranked in system top 10 Patrick Wisdom 5 3 2 2 Player of the Day on Thursday and Friday
Josh Renfro 1 1 0 Breyvic Valera 2 1 1 2nd in 2012 NYPL with 118 total bases
Zach Petrick 2 0 1 2 2.17 ERA last season as swingman for JC in 2012 David Washington 1 1
Joey Donofrio 1 0 1 Fanned at least one hitter in all 14 relief outings in 2012 Ildemaro Vargas 1 1 1
Gerwuins Velazco 3 1 1 1 .500 OBP day!

Extended Spring Training Red 4, EST White 1

EST Red stats

Extended Red pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Extended Red hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
Anthony Ferrara 6 4 0 3 7 Springfield P ust have dropped down this low to get work Jesus Montero 2 1 1 1 1 Catcher and third baseman each had solo homers
Stalyn Lopez 1 0 2 1 Carson Kelly 3 1 1 1 1 Ditto
Thomas Lee 1 0 Walked just 9 batters in 51 1/3 IP with JC last season Ronald Castillo 2 1 1 1
Steven Sabatino 1 2 1 2 Brett Wiley 2 1 1 1
Jem Argenal 3 1
C.J.McElroy 1
Cesar Valera 1 1

EST White stats

Extended White pitching IP H ER BB K Notes Extended White hitting AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB Notes
Hector Hernandez 5 5 3 1 8 Started 24 games for Quad Cities last season Yoenny Gonzalez 4 1 2 Switch-hitter was 14 for 17 in stolen bases at GCL
Willy Paulino 2 0 2 85 K / 47 BB in 83.2 IP between JC and QC Trevor Martin 3 2 1 2 1 IF had an .802 OPS at Johnson City last season
Max Foody 1 2 1 1 Walked 16 in 16 1/3 GCL innings in 2012 pro debut Amaury Capellan 3 1 1
Lenadro Mateo 1

On Sunday, the Cardinals minor leaguers complete their spring training with an abbreviated day consisting of a light workout in Jupiter, before heading to their new destinations. The ones not making one of the four full-season clubs will remain behind in extended spring training.

Subscribers to the main site, TheCardinalNation.com, should continue to check out our extensive spring training content.

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