Following are the highlights from the St. Louis Cardinals’ first minor league games of 2015 held against external competition. On Friday, two games were played on the George Kissell Quad in Jupiter, Florida, with two more at the New York Mets complex. Memphis and Springfield rode the bus to Port St. Lucie while and Palm Beach and Peoria remained home.
Thursday’s winners were Friday’s losers as Memphis and Palm Beach took defeats while Springfield won on the road and Peoria was victorious at home.
Once again this spring, Cardinals Baseball Operations Coordinator for Player Development Tony Ferreira is sharing highlights from minor league spring training contests. The raw data is his, but the comments and awards are mine. Actually, the data comes from players and managers charting, so some inconsistencies are possible. Only partial pitching results are being shared this season to go along with the selected hitting highlights. So to find those struggling, you will have to look for names missing or make some guesses.
Remember these working team assignments are fluid by the day. In addition, another 23 players have yet to be cut from Major League camp.
When players are members of The Cardinal Nation Top 40 for 2015, their rankings are noted in the tables below in the “TCN” columns.
Friday’s Pitcher of the Day: Springfield’s Rob Kaminsky (pictured), our third-ranked Cardinals prospect, allowed just three baserunners in three scoreless innings while striking out two.
Honorable mention to Austin Gomber. Though Palm Beach was shut out 5-0, the lefty allowed just one baserunner in two innings and fanned three.
Friday’s Hitter of the Day: Springfield outfielder Rowan Wick had his extra-base bat working with a double and home run in four at-bats, scoring twice and plating three.
Honorable mention goes to Steve Bean. Just down from major league camp, the catcher drove in a pair of runs for Springfield.
For more, The Cardinal Nation members can check out the complete list of minor league spring training invitees and full minor league spring training game schedules. Also exclusively for TCN members is my annual pre-camp series in which I predicted the opening rosters for all four full-season minor league affiliates and explain why: Memphis, Springfield, Palm Beach and Peoria. My St. Louis roster prediction article is free for all readers.
If you are not yet a member of The Cardinal Nation, 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, always free, right here at The Cardinal Nation Blog.
Memphis (1-1) 1 at Las Vegas 2
| Memphis pitching | TCN | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes | Memphis hitting | Pos | TCN | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | Notes | |
| Corey Baker | 1 | 2 | 25 y/o strong at PB, rough at Spr | Breyvic Valera | 2B | 15 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Maybe ready for Mem, but much competition | ||||||||||
| Chris Perry | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Fast riser pitched in Arizona Fall Lg. |
Springfield (1-1) 7 at Binghamton 0
| Springfield pitching | TCN | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes | Springfield hitting | Pos | TCN | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | Notes | |
| Rob Kaminsky | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Seems very ready for Palm Beach | Rowan Wick | RF | 28 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Only Grichuk and Scruggs had more HRs in ’14 | |||||
| Fernando Baez | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Hard thrower was SP for SC in 2014 | Bruce Caldwell | 3B | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Tied for 8th in system in HRs, 3rd in triples | |||||||||
| Josh Lucas | 1 | 2 | Dominated at SC, struggled at Peo | Luke Voit | 1B | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | In top 10 in system in both doubles and triples | |||||||||||
| Steve Bean | C | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Still just 21 years old in 4th year in organization |
Palm Beach (1-1) 0 vs. St. Lucie 5
| Palm Beach pitching | TCN | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes | Palm Beach hitting | Pos | TCN | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | Notes | |
| Austin Gomber | 2 | 1 | 3 | High 1.55 WHIP with 2.30 ERA at SC | Gerwuins Velazco | C | 2 | 2 | Moved around to 3 clubs last year, still hit .295 |
Peoria (1-1) 3 vs. Savannah 1
| Peoria pitching | TCN | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes | Peoria hitting | Pos | TCN | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | Notes | |
| Ramon Santos | 2 | 1 | 3 | No word on hits or walks. Sorry. | Jesus Ustariz | DH | 3 | 2 | 1 | Was minors Rule 5 pick in December 2013 | |||||||||||
| Jorge Rodriguez | 2 | 2 | Tiny 0.98 ERA in 5 GCL starts in 2014 | Rafael Medina | 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 23 y/o struggled to Mendoza Line in ’14 (.200) |
Saturday’s games: The Marlins are the Saturday opponent, with four games scheduled on the Cardinals side of the Jupiter complex.
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