Future Redbirds

8, count them 8 of the 1st place Springfield Cardinals will be in the Texas League All Star Game. Joe Mather, Colby Rasmus, Bryan Anderson and Juan Richardson will start the game. Chris Perez, Jaime Garcia will pitch out of the bullpen. Jarret Hoffpauir and Sean Danielson will play off the bench. 8 All Stars is a franchise record for any Cardinal AA affiliate.

Dennis Dove, who’s experiencing issues with his shoulder is going to be moved to the DL to make room on the Memphis roster for Troy Percival. Click on the link for more on Percival’s comeback.

Josh Kinney is looking for his lost dog, Bruzer. <understatement>That dude is having a tough year</understatement>.

26 of the 52 players drafted were signed today.

[updated 11:17am] Nice little article found here regarding 9th round pick Mike Stutes. Sounds like he’ll be a Cardinal soon, can’t wait to see him pitch in the College World Series to see that curve with my own eyes.

Recent transactions: Matt Lemanczyk and Ryan Meaux were released this past month. Gary Daley was placed on the DL, which is why Fernando Salas started tonight. Robert Ransom was reinstated from the DL for Springfield. Ransom is an-ex Cub prospect who’s had labrum issues and is trying to restart his career.

Memphis 2, Nashville 1

• On a night where we witnessed Brad “I should be a reliever” Thompson get lit up by the lowly Royals, Anthony Reyes quietly out-dueled the PCL’s top pitching prospect Yiovani Gallardo. While he didn’t pitch with the flash that Gallardo did (Gallardo struck out 12), he only allowed 1 run on 4 hits and a walk over 8 strong innings. He struck out 6 and the only run he allowed was off a solo HR. In case Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa are wondering, he had 9 ground out to 8 flies. Bernie Miklasz makes his case for Reyes return. (Didn’t he say he made Jason Marquis look like a pitching genius not long ago?)
• Nick Stavinoha took Gallardo deep in the 4th for his only hit. The HR gave the Redbirds a 2-1 lead. He went 1 for 3.
• Brian Falkenborg struck out all 3 batters he faced in a perfect 9th.

Springfield 7, Arkansas 6

• Tyler Greene hit the go ahead home run in the 8th to help the S-Cards take their 4th straight. He went 2 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and a stolen base, his 9th of the season.
• Colby Rasmus has been striking out pretty often lately, in 30% of his at bats this month to be exact. He struck out twice tonight, but the good news is he got a couple of hits, including a ground rule double. Like to see him cut down on the K’s a bit, but I think he’ll be alright. He also stole his 10th base of the season and hit his 38th RBI.
• Mike Ferris went 2 for 3 with a walk and an RBI.
• Jaime Garcia had a bit of a rough go tonight. He surrendered 5 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out 6 and was taken deep.
• Matt Scherer pitched 2 perfect innings, striking out 4.
• Chris Perez plunked 2 batters and threw a wild pitch, but didn’t allow a hit or walk a man, or strike out a man, and was able to escape unscathed.

Palm Beach 1, Brevard County 2

• Fernando Salas, the ex-Mexican Leaguer and winter ball teammate of Troy Cate signed late this past winter gave up 2 runs on 4 hits without walking a batter, striking out 4 in 6 innings. However, his ground out to fly out ratio was 2-12. How dare he?
• Daniel Nelson drove in the only Cardinal run, he went 2 for 4.
• Sea Cows sweep. Manatee! (”You live in the ocean because you don’t have a job!” Oh, how I do love Jim Gaffigan. Er, not in a weird way or anything. Wait, that’s not the right way to say that. Oh, nevermind!)

QC 2, Wisconsin 4

• Starter Blake King gave up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in just 2.1 innings. After dominating the Appy last season, he’s been a roughed up in the Midwest League, as he’s now carrying a 5.32 ERA. While he’s striking out 10 batters per 9 innings, he’s walking 7.4 per nine as well. Blech.
• Brandon Dickson threw 4 innings of 1 hit ball, he walked 2 and struck out 1. He also got 8 ground ball outs.
• Luke Gorsett went 2 for 4 with 2 doubles.
• Brandon Buckman went 3 for 4 with a triple.
• Wilmer Alvarado hit a double and has the only RBI of the night for the Swing. Sorry to stat head readers here that I keep mentioning RBI, just thought some may be interested. Yes, it is an extremely overrated stat.