Cardinals Minor League Spring Training Notebook: 03/28

Highlights from Sunday’s St. Louis Cardinals minor league spring training games in Florida.

On Sunday, the St. Louis Cardinals’ enter their final week of camp by once again facing the Mets. This time, Memphis and Springfield boarded the bus for Port St. Lucie while the A-level clubs stayed home.

As always, Cardinals director of minor league operations John Vuch shares game highlights. The raw data is his, with the comments mine.

Team summary: It was a tie day all around as each pair of clubs split in both game locations. Behind an offensive explosion, Springfield won on Mets soil while Palm Beach took a home victory. Both clubs pulled their organization spring-best records to .500 with the wins.

Chris Swauger (Names Around Town Photography)Combined records: The Cardinals records on the day were 2-2. Spring totals are now 18-26-7 overall and 13-21-3 versus external competition.

My Pitcher of the Day: Quad Cites 1’s Aaron Terry spun two perfect innings.

My Hitter of the Day: Springfield’s Chris Swauger (pictured) apparently liked twos on the day as he had two singles, two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored in five at-bats.

Monday’s schedule: The Cardinals five squads are “visitors” to their Florida Marlins counterparts as they take the short walk over from their side of the Jupiter complex.

Memphis (2-7-2) lost to Buffalo, 7-2

Memphis Pitching

Evan MacLane – 4 IP, 4 H, four unearned runs, 1 BB, 2 K’s – Our 2009 Memphis Starting Pitcher of the Year came back for the PCL title defense.
Oneli Perez – 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K’s – That makes 7 runs, six earned, yielded in his last 4 2/3 innings. He fared better in big league camp (in very limited action – two ER in 3 1/3 innings pitched).
Rich Rundles – 1.2 IP, 1 H, no runs, 2 K’s
Matt Scherer – one perfect inning

Memphis Hitting

Mark Shorey – 2-for-4 with a double and run scored – Has to continue to hit like this to keep in the crowded outfield hunt. The 25-year-old left-handed hitter was named the MVP of the Colombian winter league playoffs.
Shane Robinson – 2-for-4 with a triple, run scored and RBI – Three triples in two days is the same total as he had all last season. Robinson has ten three-baggers in his four-year professional career.
Tony Cruz – 2-for-4 with an RBI – On fire. Four for his last seven on Saturday and Sunday.
Jon Jay – doubled and walked – Good to see. Obviously not sulking over being sent down.
Tyler Henley – singled and scored

Springfield (4-4-3) defeated Binghamton, 11-6

Springfield Pitching

Shaun Garceau – 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K – Yielded 2 ER in 3 IP last time out.
Chuckie Fick – 3.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K’s
Blake King – 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K – No walks is a good thing. Only had one in his last outing of two innings.
Jason Buursma – 1 IP, 1 BB – Had an 11-1 strikeout to walk ratio with Quad Cities to start last season, but it dropped to 20-15 after he joined Palm Beach.

Springfield Hitting

Adron Chambers – 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored – Was Shorey’s Colombian teammate, finishing third in the winter league in average, .365, first in triples with 6, second in hits, and fourth in slugging at .529.
Chris Swauger – 4-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored – The Player of the Day and another Colombian league player this past winter.
Pete Kozma – 2-for-5 with a run scored and RBI
Antonio DeJesus – 2-for-4 with a double, walk, two runs scored and an RBI
Matt Carpenter – 2-for-4 with three runs scored – Four for his last seven and hit a home run the day before that!
Colt Sedbrook – 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored – Second consecutive day he was on base twice.
Daryl Jones – 2-for-5
Steven Hill – doubled and had two RBIs
Curt Smith – singled and walked

Palm Beach (5-5-1) defeated St. Lucie, 7-5

Palm Beach Pitching

Kevin Thomas – 3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K’s – Kept those baserunners from crossing the plate.
Houston Summers – 2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB – Last knuckleballer remaining after Charlie Zink was released.
Jose Rada – 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 K
Joel Pichardo – 1 IP, 1 K
Matt Frevert – 1 IP, 2 H, one unearned run, 1 BB

Palm Beach Hitting

Tommy Pham – 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, three runs scored and RBI – On base in four of five plate appearances. His career OBP is just .294, so here is hoping there is more where that came from.
Francisco Rivera – 2-for-2
Rich Racobaldo – 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs – On base six times over the last three days and collected four RBI in the process. Drove in 42 in 249 at-bats in 2009 between Johnson City and Quad Cities.
Ryde Rodriguez – doubled and scored a run
Jason Stidham – doubled, walked, and scored a run – On base six times the last three days also and scored each day.
Osvaldo Morales – doubled
Jesus Montero – game-winning RBI triple in his only AB
Jose Garcia – double and RBI

Quad Cities 1 (5-6) lost to Savannah, 11-4

Quad Cities 1 Pitching

Anthony Ferrara – 2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 3 K’s – Rough day at the office.
Jesse Simpson – 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K’s
Jorge Rondon – 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K’s
Aaron Terry – two perfect innings – Maybe he should have started… Struck out 37 and walked nine in 28 innings of relief between Johnson City and Batavia in his 2009 professional debut.

Quad Cities #1 Hitting

Frederick Parejo – 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and run scored – RBIs in each of the last three days. Home run on Friday and on base twice each of the next two days.
Niko Vasquez – 2-for-4 with a run scored and 2 RBIs
D’Marcus Ingram – doubled and scored a run
Jon Edwards – double and RBI
Devin Shepherd – singled in his only AB

Follow me on Twitter.
Follow The Cardinal Nation Blog on Facebook.