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We do have a real surpluss of outfielders. The Cardinals have not been real good at selling high so I don’t know how they get out of it. Of course, Bader, J A Garcia, Mercado, Arozarena, Carlson and to a lesser extent Sierra have yet to prove that they can do the job at the major league level but as it stands now they won’t get a chance unless the Cardinals move some of the guys in front of them.
I don’t see Leake as a really bad pick up. Certainly he was not that good last year but has been pretty good most of this year. He is one those guys who has to be right and when he isn’t he is pretty bad, but on balance I think he will be good more than bad.
I didn’t want Fowler when they started shopping for center fielders. He was a good leadoff man for the Cubs last year and a real catalyst for their offense. But based on the defensive stats from last year he was not a good center fielder. Actually Grichek had better defensive stats all around. My problem was that if we were looking to improve the defense I didn’t see him as an answer to that issue.
Many are probably familiar with my rants about Baseball America under estimating our minor league system. Possibly they have done it again.
Fairly small sample but the trio of Pham, DeJong and Voit up from Memphis have 23 home runs in just over 300 official at bats. Their cumulaive slash line is .361/.562/923. Then you have the impressive debut by Sierra.
The two pitchers up from Memphis with the most appearances Brebbia and Tuivailala are a combined 2.54 ERA and 1.03 WHIP. Total of 39 innings pitched with 29 hits and 40 K’s. Also small appearances by Mayers, Gonzales, Weaver and Gant.
Memphis behind prospects Bader, Kelly, and Wisdom have a 14 1/2 game lead at the all-star break. This while their pitching is somewhat in disarray with 11 different pitchers with quality starts and only three of them with more than four. Springfield in the hunt for a first half division win and one game out of 1st the second half. Palm Beach finsihed strong to win the first half. Short season teams still sorting it out but of note is the DSL Cardinals scuffling a bit but with a roster of 27 players who will be 18 or younger at the end of this season.
Then you have Gallen at AAA, Hudson, Knizer, Edman at AA, Conor Jones, Jeremy Martinez, Shane Billings and Andy Young at Palm Beach from last years draft picks. Also a large Latin signing class with Adolis Garcia moving from Springfield to Memphis and doing well and Randy Arozarena moving from Palm Beach to Springfield and doing well after being the player of the month for June.
12th not bad but maybe BA sold the organization a little short again.
We need to take a hard look at players who are inconsistent.
Carpenter – defense, baserunning, strikeouts
Grichek – plate discipline
Diaz – defemse, strike zone
Wong – defense, strike zone, Good defender but blows too many routine plays
Rosenthal – some games just awful
Lyons – great curveball but gets hit hard too often.
Bowman – Usually good but when he is bad, just awful. Much like Maness.Got to move Fowler to left field or trade him and cover a lot of his salary. Lot of good outfielders in the pipeline.
This could be Gyorko’s peak performance year.
No way we offer Oh a qualifying offer. We need to offer Lynn or trade him to someone who can sign him. You don’t get much for a rental unless it is someone like Chapman.
If we could get another starter move Wacha to the pen. He is usually good the first time through the order. However, he would probably go free agency later for sure if he is set on being a starter.
Carp in his declining years is an ideal fit for the American league where he can DH and back up infield positions.
I saw Billings with Johnson City last year. Line drive hitter with lots of speed and good range in center field.
Does anyone know any detail about O’Reilly. What kind of stuff does he have. Will it play up to higher levels?
I’m not sure that Carpenter is that much better at third than he is at second. I guess the range is not as critical at third. He fumbles a lot of balls at third as well.
I would have no problem trading Carpenter. He really doesn’t play defense well at any position but can play a lot of positions. He is a better fit for the American League where he could DH and be an infield backup. Also he is a late bloomer and those guys usually fade in their early 30’s. Like Allen Craig.
Donaldson was also a late bloomer, becoming a major league regular at age 27. So I am a little concerned with his dropoff this year. I would not give up the farm for him and I do agree we have to clear out the roster duplications to add him.
I would not play Fowler another game in center field. Pham doea a much better job and we have at least 4 guys (Sierra, Bader, Adolis Garcia and Mercado) not too far off. Bader may be ready now.
I would also get Kelly some time at 3rd or 1st base and then bring him up maybe in August. They are giving him quite a bit of time off at Memphis and playing Rosario. he could spend some of that time working on other positions. We are having to play Fryer too much and I would rather have Kelly getting experience. I don’t think Kelly was that bad at third base but that the organization thought he would be a better catcher.
Voit is intriguing but I think he goes back down when Wong returns. Ultimately, he will probably leave the organization in a trade or as a free agent. I don’t understand why he has been rated so poorly. His at bats are better than most of the Cardinal regulars. Doesn’t swing out of the zone so much and seems to have a pretty quick bat. But it would be a huge risk to rely on him for a full season at this point.
Having him platoon with Adams would not have been a bad idea. If the Cardinals become sellers then it would make sense to give Voit some serious time.Memphis got 7 hits in a row in their win over Round Rock. Adolis Garcia was on base 5 times with 4 hits. Bader a home run.
2 earned runs in 5 or 6 innings 3 earned runs in 6.1 or 6.2 innings
3 earned runs in 7 or 8 innings
4 earned runs in 9 inningsWeaver seems to lack a major league out pitch. Seems he is not using his offspeed stuff much. Interesting that he is so dominant at AAA but suddenly lacks command and an out pitch at the major league level.
Mayers seems to be coming around. Thought he was better this time up.
Voit has been fun to watch. Good at bats. I think he will be the one to go down when Wong returns. Hopefully he will have a good feel where he needs to improve.
Wonder whether DeJong or Diaz ends up at shortstop. Diaz is getting hits at Memphis but still making bad decisions on swings out of the strike zone. Seems to be better balanced so someone must be making some headway with him. I suppose Garcia is a candidate to go or be traded.
Big question on who goes when Fowler comes back. Martinez or Grichuk. Lot to like about Grichuk but if he doesn’t develop some plate discipline he may be the one to go. Or sell high to someone who is sold on his upside. Certainly will not be Pham.
