All four teams played today — with all the cancellations due to rain and such it seems like it’s been a while since that happened, or maybe it’s just me. Anyway, on with the report!
Memphis 4, Iowa 7 (Cubs’ Affiliate)
The Good
- Ryan Ludwick was 2-for-4 and is batting .351 on the year. Question: Why hasn’t he been called up yet? No he’s not a major league regular, but he’s got a hot bat and is there any real doubt he’s worse than Gooch/Schumaker. He plays CF to boot.
- Rick Ankiel goes 3-for-4 without a homerun. That’s right, he hit something that didn’t leave the park — shocking.
- Dennis Dove pitched two scoreless with 2Ks.
The Bad
- Brendan Ryan goes 0-for-4 and is batting .139 in his last 10 games.
- John Rodriguez goes 0-for-4. He’s been slumping lately and it’s not helping him capitalize on a weak bench for the major league club.
- Blake Hawksworth was OK for 5 innings but he didn’t strikeout a single batter and seemed eminently hittable allowing 8 hits.
- Mark Worrell goes 2IP with 5Ks but allows 2 ER on the longball. Keep it in the park Marky-mark.
Springfield 6, Wichita 2 (Royals’ Affiliate)
The Good
- Despite the offense being largely centered around two people, the Springfield Cardinals score 6 with 2 HR from Joe Mather (3-for-4) and another from Bryan Anderson(2-for-2).
- Mitchell Boggs goes 6 innings with 4Ks and 3 BBs.
The Bad
- Despite pulling out a solid victory, this game had more bad than good including Juan Encarnacion going 0-for-5 on rehab.
- Colby Rasmus goes 0-for-4.
- Tyler Greene goes 0-for-3. I suspect he’s never gonna make it past AA. He hasn’t hit anything outside of low-A ball pitching.
Palm Beach 9, Vero Beach 5 (Rays’ Affiliate)
The Good
- Allen Craig goes 3-for-5 with 2HR.
- Brandon Yarbrough goes 3-for-4 with a triple and a walk as the catcher.
- Middle infielders Casey Rowlett goes 3-for-5 and Jose Martinez goes 2-for-5.
- Shane Robinson draws 3 BB.
- Gary Daley strikes out 9 in 6 innings against 2 BBs. 3 ER including a longball. Still a good outing from the 21-year-old.
- Luke Gregerson fans 4 in 2 IP. He has a 18:5 K:BB ratio with a 2.80 GO/AO ratio in 12.1 innings — very good peripherals.
The Bad
- A couple of batters have ok nights but no one really dogs it in the offense.
- Scott Vander Weg allows 2 runs in an inning of work.
Quad Cities 3, Burlington 7 (Royals’ Affiliate)
The Good
- Brandon Buckman continues to hit for average with a 3-for-4 showing on the night.
The Bad
- The pitching (Tyler Herron, Armando Carrasco, Brad Furnish and Brian Schroeder) strike out 8 against 7 walks and 2 HBP.
- Outside of Buckman, no one records more than one hit and Mark Shorey has the only walk for the whole team.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
I think it’s too soon to give up on Tyler Greene, I think he still has a chance to make good, and this season. I know he’s struggled, but there is a lot more to playing SS than hitting. How is his defense? You can hit .260 at that position. It’s a long season, and this is a tough level. You don’t send Pujols to AAA after 15 games.
-There is no reason for ludwick to be in memphis right now. He’s not a fluke; except for a couple of freak injuries he’s a guy who would have been a perennial all-star, even in the AL. If he is finally healthy he should be starting in RF in STL. Play Duncan every day and let Enc be a platoon mate for Edmonds when he comes back.
-It’s great to see mather doing so well, but I think he’s going to be a free agent after this year (we signed him out of high school in 2001!) so I’m not sure it matters much to the MLB cardinal club. Or am I confused about the way minor league contracts work? Also, before this season he was a lifetime .249/.320/.423 hitter, in A ball as a 24yo, so I guess we have to take his performance so far with a grain of salt.
One thing that is exciting is that Mather’s Springfield MiLB.com player page says he is a SS, though from looking at box scores it seems he’s only played OF and 1B so far this year. Baseballcube says “3B”. I can’t find anything to verify or deny his middle-infield-playing abilities- do y’all know anything about that? He’d be much more valuable as a power hitting SS than as a 3B/1B/OF, if the front office decides to give him the Terry Evans treatment.
- Todd, re: Greene
They skipped him past High A (a pitcher’s park) after he scuffled there twice at age 22 and 23. The only time he ever really hit was in QC. It’s possible he’ll put it together, but his tenure in Springfield hasn’t been great thus far and he’s going to be 24 in August. This is in large part my own speculation, as a lot of scouts still like him, but I don’t think he’s going to put it together.
- Sleepy, re: Ludwick
He’s had his shot at the majors several times. In 300 ABs he’s posted a sub .300 OBP and a .715 OPS. There’s a reason he’s in AAA — he’s not a major league regular. But he’s swinging a hot bat right now and I don’t know any reason to have Gooch on the STL bench at all so I’d move him up. He’s 28 and has been good and bad in the upper minors for the last few years - a fringe player. nothing more, nothing less.
Look deeper into Ludwick’s numbers. I initially dismissed him myself, until I started reading scouting reports (his current tear helped a bit too). Most of the time in the big leagues he was either 23 years old, or playing injured (hip, knee, wrist ‘05) or both. i really think the way to look at him is “guy who was able to play through pain and still put up a .715 OPS while injured but who is healthy now and raking”
I guess we’ll see, if he ever gets called up. His next time up, if he gets one, will probably be his last shot and I’m really pulling for him…