Future Redbirds

Memphis 1, Round Rock 7

• Well, the opposition gorged on stolen bases again. 5 SB against Cate and Castellanos.
• Speaking of Troy Cate, he was lucky to get away with just 3 ER in 4 IP. He allowed two homeruns and walked . He did strike out 5 but the homeruns are concerning. I think he’s destined for relief. I’d like to see the Cardinals move him back into the pen and attempt to trade Flores if Cate does well. Bullpen arms should be cheap and homegrown as often as possible.
• The offense came from three players tonight: Edgar Gonzalez was 2-for-3 with 2 doubles and a walk, Eli Marrero was 2-for-4, and Travis Hanson was 3-for-4. Despite the fact that they batted 5-7 in the lineup they only produced 1 run with all those hits.
• Notable ugly batting lines: Brendan Ryan 1-for-5, Nick Stavinoha 0-for-4

Springfield 5, Tulsa 1

• Cody Haerther continues to hit coming back from the DL he was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI.
• Colby Rasmus had an off night 0-for-3 with 3 Ks and a BB.
• Pitcher Mitchell Boggs did it all tonight. He hit a 2-run homerun and added another RBI later in his 2-for-3 showing. Boggs pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball. He did [azru gnashes his teeth] walk 5 and hit two batters[/end gnashing] against 4 Ks.
• Nick Webber closed out the last two innings with one hit and 2 Ks.

Palm Beach 9, Vero Beach 5

• Adam Daniels picks up just his second win of the season (despite a 28:7 K:BB ratio and 2.33 GO/AO ratio) going 5 innings allowing 3 runs (1 earned). 2Ks and 2 BBs with 5 hits and a hit batter. He did have a nifty 9-4 GO-AO ratio.
• Fernando Salas coughed up 2 HRs in 2 innings of relief.
• Jon Mikrut and Luke Gregerson finished off the game with two scoreless innings. Gregerson picked up his 7th save.
• Dan Nelson, playing 3B, had 2 hits and scored 3 runs.
• Allen Craig continues to rake with a double and his 10th HR of the season. He’s got a .250 ISO after tonights game and a .384 OBP though it’s largely batting average driven. He’s 22 years old and if he wants to make it to the bigs it’s gonna be via his bat. He’s another player that I’d like to see moved up to face some better pitching (maybe move Mather up to AAA and Craig or Hamilton up to AA). While he is a little old for that level he’s also playing a majority of his games in a run suppressing environment. The Palm Beach ballpark held HRs to 71% of their level compared to the rest of the league from 2004-2006.

Quad Cities 3, West Michigan 4

• Brandon Buckman was 2-for-4.
• Mark Shorey was 3-for-4 with a double.
• Tragically, Buckman and Shorey were each caught stealing AND picked off first base.
• Elvis Hernandez had a rocky outing going 3 innings striking out 4. He allowed 4 runs and walked one.
• The real pitching story was P J Walters who came on in relief. Be sure to check out Goold’s article about the tandem starter arrangement they’ve got going on in QC. Walters went 5 innings allowing 1 hit and striking out a magnificient 6. He didn’t walk a batter (but did hit 2). Very nice outing.