Overall, it was a difficult week for the Cardinals’ A-Advanced affiliate as they posted a record of 2-4, which kept them in last place in the South Division of the Florida State League in the second half. Diego Cordero showed his merit with two strong starts, including seven shutout innings on July 2.

As 2-3 Palm Beach had a bumpy week on the mound, outfielders Scott Hurst (.571 OBP) and Lars Nootbaar (.333 BA) have led the offense during the current road trip.

Our weekly recap focuses on first-half standouts and disappointments for the Palm Beach club, which lost the division lead late and missed a first-half playoff spot by three games. Pitching led the way, including all-star Angel Rondon, now with Springfield.

Palm Beach rode an inconsistent week to a 3-3 record and was eliminated in the first half playoff race. Outfielder Chase Pinder hit .400, setting the table for the offense and reliever Ben Yokley was added to the FSL All-Star Game.

The first-place Beach Birds won four of their six games this week and relied heavily on strong pitching to do so. They also received major contributions from Lars Nootbaar, who hit everything that was thrown at him, batting .500, and Luken Baker, who powered up with a pair of home runs.

Despite pitching three shutouts and holding opponents to three runs or less in six of seven games, Palm Beach went just 4-3 for the week as the offense is cold, except for reigning Cardinals Player of the Month Justin Toerner, that is.

The Beach Birds flipped the script and returned to winning ways by following up a 1-5 record last week with a 5-1 record this week. The pitching staff held the opposing team to three or fewer runs in five of six games. On the offensive side, Julio Rodriguez has continued his breakout by mashing Florida State League pitching to the tune of a .429 batting average in the period.

The Beach Birds finished with only one win and five losses for their worst week of the young season by far. The shining light was Julio Rodriguez’s bat, as the catching prospect hit .471 with home runs in each of his last two games.

The Palm Beach Cardinals finished the week with three wins and three losses to bring their overall record to 17-8. However, two of those losses were by one run. The Beach Birds had a lot of fight with late comebacks that fell just short but showed the tough-minded nature of the team. Justin Toerner and Jose Martinez carried the offense while the bullpen did not give up an earned run all week.

The Cardinals concluded the week at 4-3 to improve their overall record to 14-5, remaining the leader in the FSL South Division all season to date. Julio Rodriguez has gone on a tear with four straight multi-hit games while also clubbing two home runs. While Rodriguez has been raking, the Cardinals pitching staff has remained dominant and continues to be the engine that drives this team.

The 2019 Palm Beach Cardinals are off to a hot 13-5 start behind a mix of returning and new coaches, led by manager Dann Bilardello and including Will Ohman, Tyger Pederson and Jason Broussard.

The Beach Birds went 5-2 this week to improve their overall record to 10-3. This keeps them at the top of the Florida State League standings. Justin Toerner has continued his torrid start as he was named the FSL Player of the Week, while Alex Fagalde pitched 11 scoreless innings this week to help the pitching staff remain the league leader in ERA.

The Cardinals’ Florida State League affiliate went 5-1 this week, putting them at the top of the South Division. Justin Toerner has been raking against FSL pitching as the outfielder is first in the league in hits, while the pitching staff leads the high-A circuit in ERA.