2024 Minor League game thread Week 19 – 8/19-25

3 walk off wins tonight for our minor league teams. That’s been a trend lately.

I’d love to see 34 year old Wilking Rodriguez be good enough to make it to an active roster and last long enough to become a millionaire. It seems very unlikely, but anything is possible until it isn’t. He’s going to have to impress for the next couple of weeks in order to keep from being released during the offseason.

I think they should quit pretending with Hence, and try to get him up to ML before he just falls apart. He’s not going to be the next Tim Lincecum type lightly built rock star starter. They seem afraid to try again to build him up toward 100 pitches and 6 innings, and for good reason. Instead letting him hang around at 50 or so pitches and about 4 innings, beyond which he has shown no ability to go even after several years.

For goodness sake get him up to AAA and see if he can get more advanced hitters out. Then go from there. Obviously, you don’t want to turn a hot arm into a long relief mop up type. Obviously, since he can’t go 6, or even 5 reliably, he needs to be a reliever, however broad his repertoire and however good his stuff. Figuring that out a couple years ago would have been good and he would probably be here by now. We would be reaping the benefit of a high draft choice and a hot arm. Instead, we are spinning our wheels with developmental futility and wasting a good talent. We cant develop pitchers because we don’t know what we are doing.

I see old Corny had a nice outing, but more importantly is still trudging out to the mound, past the rusting hulks of hot arm types broke down beside the road, and tossing 90-100 pitches. The Cardinals have no clue how to develop guys like him and like a Rajcic, or even a McGreevy for that matter. Guys who can physically do the job. They do know what to do with the guys who pop out of the womb with a 14 K/9 arm. Hope and pray they can get somewhere before that arm falls off, which never happens. Not wasting a guy like Hence would be nice, but it won’t happen. It might already be too late if his arm is too torn up.

What are they doing with Svanson and maybe even a guy like Jack Ralston? On the one hand, their BB/9 is a little high, and that is vs over eager Texas League hitters. So there is the chance more advanced hitters will just wait them out. On the other hand, a guy like Helsley also walked too many coming through the Texas League. Ralston just turned 27. His ERA is pretty good. Yeah he’s old for level but what in the world is he doing in AA anyway? See if he can get more advanced hitters out or let him embark on a new career. Svanson will be 26 in January and he’s sitting in AA. Do something. AA is a place to audition and prep for AAA, its not a place to live. Its a sink or swim place, not a tread water place. It’s not like Memphis is so stoked with future all stars there’s a waiting list to get in.

The fascination is he doesn’t live on the IL. They are not wasting years on somebody who does not have the physical durability to even do the job. It is the same point I have been making for a few years.

If you have someone who has the durability to be a starter, then you have at least some chance of teaching them how to be effective.

If you have someone who does not have the durability to be a starter, you have zero chance of teaching them how to be durable, and you end up with nothing.

The Cardinals will not be successful getting pitchers to pop out the end of the pipe if they are not able to take a Cornwell, or a Rajcic or a McGreevey and develop them into an effective starter. They are wasting their time with sore arm guys that don’t have to be taught as much if they can just stay healthy.

Quinn with an absolute gem again tonight. 7.2 innings of 1 run ball with 2 hits and 1 walk against 12 Ks. Put the man in Memphis and let him be in his way to being in STL early next year.

Trying too hard to meet the high expectations put on him and probably a bit of batted ball luck going against him are my 2 best guesses. Most of Low A games are not televised so it’s hard to guess without having watched him lately.