On Monday, the Cardinals’ two lower-level clubs, Palm Beach and Quad Cities, traveled to the New York Mets’ home at Port St. Lucie while Memphis and Springfield remained home at the Roger Dean Stadium complex to face the Mets’ Triple-A and Double-A clubs (along with their MLB counterparts).
Memphis, Springfield and Palm Beach were victorious but Quad Cities fell. The Cardinals spring record against external minor league competition is now evened up again at 12-12-3.
Monday’s Pitcher of the Day: In a day with a number of very solid pitching performances – there were eight different scoreless outings of two innings or more – this decision was my toughest all spring. The winner is Palm Beach’s Jonathan Cornelius, who spun three perfect innings while fanning two.
Monday’s Player of the Day: Memphis’ Amaury Cazana, who since being drafted in 2006 has played in the Mexican League every season from 2007-11, reminded us that he can still hit. The 33/37-year-old walked, singled and homered in five plate appearances, driving in two.
As he has been doing the last few seasons, Cardinals farm director John Vuch is sharing game stats with this site and several others with interest in Cardinals prospects. As always, the raw numbers are his, but the comments mine.
Don’t read too much into which rosters on which players are appearing as spring assignments are especially fluid.
On Tuesday, the Cardinals’ five clubs entertain the Miami Marlins on the Cardinals side of the Roger Dean Stadium complex.
The Cardinal Nation subscribers can check out the full minor league schedule and spring training working rosters. The entire system view by level and position is available via the Roster Matrix, right here at The Cardinal Nation Blog.
Memphis 7, Buffalo 5
| Memphis pitching | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes |
| Brandon Dickson | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Had a quiet spring until now but will be ready |
| Sam Freeman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Has a chance to become the 1st lefty called up |
| Adam Ottavino | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Control seems to be an issue lately |
| R.J. Swindle | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Veteran-ness is good; results better |
| Maikel Cleto | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Hasn’t thrown a lot of zeroes this spring |
| Memphis hitting | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | Notes |
| Amaury Cazana | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Our Player of the Day | ||
| Zack Cox | 5 | 2 | 1 | Pulling for Matt Carpenter to stick in St. Louis | |||||
| Ryan Jackson | 1 | 2 | Ready to start at SS every day | ||||||
| Steven Ramos | 1 | 1 | 1 | Nice opportunity to play up for 2011 JC OF | |||||
| Jonathan Rodriguez | 1 | 1 | Proven hitter | ||||||
| Pete Kozma | 1 | 1 | Will he start at second or be utility man? | ||||||
| Chris Swauger | 1 | 1 | Outfielder quietly keeps on hitting |
Springfield 3, Binghamton 0
| Springfield pitching | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes |
| Scott Gorgen | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Fantastic spring so far for the TJS returnee |
| Deryk Hooker | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Often overlooked SP was TL Pitcher of Week 2x in 11 |
| Scott Schneider | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Had a 5.98 ERA for Springfield last year |
| Adam Reifer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Maybe he’s getting the kinks worked out |
| Springfield hitting | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | Notes |
| Kolten Wong | 4 | 2 | 1 | Has hit all spring long and seems ready for AA | |||||
| Niko Vasquez | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3B looking for career resurgence | |||||
| Jermaine Curtis | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Career bests in BA (.315) and HR (5) in 2011 | |||
| Adam Melker | 2 | 1 | |||||||
| Xavier Scruggs | 1 | 1 | 1 | Blog entry delayed this week at TCN.com | |||||
| Oscar Taveras | 1 | “Minor League Guy” poised to make AA leap | |||||||
| Audry Perez | 1 |
Palm Beach 2, St. Lucie 1
| Palm Beach pitching | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes |
| Carlos Martinez | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | Delivery a concern, so may start back in Palm Beach |
| Boone Whiting | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.89 WHIP last season was best in all of MiLB |
| Jonathan Cornelius | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24th rounder in 2011 fanned 9.6/9 IP for Batavia |
| Palm Beach hitting | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | Notes |
| Alan Ahmady | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Perfect day at plate for guy who plays all over | |||
| Ronny Gil | 1 | 1 | Can the SS keep hitting enough? | ||||||
| Rainel Rosario | 1 | ||||||||
| Starlin Rodriguez | 1 |
Savannah 5, Quad Cities 2
| Quad Cities pitching | IP | H | ER | BB | K | Notes |
| Drew Benes | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | St. Louisan had 5.40 ERA at Quad Cities last season |
| Brandon Creath | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 11.84 K/9 IP was 2nd-best for RPs in the 2011 GCL |
| Stalyn Lopez | 1.2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | K:BB ratio in 11 GCL was 31:24 in 47 2/3 IP |
| Willy Paulino | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | Led GCL with 12 saves and was all-star in 11 |
| Quad Cities hitting | AB | R | H | RBI | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | Notes |
| Luis Mateo | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Struggled in PB trial in 11, but may be ready now | ||||
| Geoff Klein | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Big catcher had one very productive AB | ||||
| Anthony Garcia | 1 | 1 | 1 | .407 OBP in 11 was 2nd-best in Cards system | |||||
| Matt Williams | 2 | 1 | 1 | Coaches seem impressed wth 15th-rdr in 2011 | |||||
| Nick Martini | 3 | 1 | Needs to show 7th-round pedigree | ||||||
| Roberto Reyes | 1 | ||||||||
| Virgil Hill | 1 |
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