Future Redbirds

The man. The mystery. The Legend. ARRRRRRRRNOLDI CRUUUUUUUZ. Quick quote from the article:

[Quad Cities manager Keith] Mitchell said Cruz’s quick cruise through the Cardinals’ system likely will stop in the Quad-Cities for the remainder of this season.

I was kind of wondering if he might fill in at Palm Beach for Allen Craig but it looks like Quad Cities is going to have to try and contain him.

Slow news day other than that. I don’t even have any fluff pieces to feed you. Tragic. Quad Cities was off tonight. Rick Ankiel goes boom (has he done that before — I can’t remember. . .). Trey Hearne gets lit up. Batavia pitchers remind us that the whole team isn’t terrible (just a large portion of it).

Memphis 4, Sacramento 2

• Jarrett Hoffpauir went hitless with a walk. He’s slowing down a little. . . breaking a 5 game hit streak he’s hit less than .300 for the last10 games.
• Rick Ankiel goes 2-for-4 with a HR. He also stole a base.
• Joe Mather went 2-for-4.
• Mike Smith hurled 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, 4 BBs and 5 Ks.
• Andy Cavazos struck out 1 in the 8th.
• Brian Falkenborg struck out the side allowing a hit in the 9th.

Springfield 8, Arkansas 12

• Sean Danielson went 3-for-6 with a HR.
• Colby Rasmus and Mark Shorey both went 1-for-4 with a pair of walks.
• Juan Richardson went 2-for-4 with a HR and a walk.
• Bryan Anderson went 2-for-3 with a pair of BBs and a double.
• Juan Lucena went 3-for-5.
• Everybody was getting hit tonight but the main culprit. . .Cory Rauschenberger. 7 runs (5 earned) in 4.1 innings. He had a couple of good starts but this one was ugly including 2 doubles, a triple and a solo HR in his 8 hits allowed.
• Kyle McClellan’s scoreless inning streak ends. He allowed 3 runs tonight. His ERA stands at 1.80.

Palm Beach 2, Daytona 5 (Game 1: 7 innings)

• Dan Nelson, filling in at 3B for Allen Craig, goes 2-for-3.
• Jon Jay went 1-for-3 with a double.
• AJ Van Slyke went 2-for-3.
• Palm Beach drew 0 walks and Jay’s double was the only XBH.
• Not a good outing for Brad Furnish as he allowed 5 ER in 5 innings. Striking out just 1 while walking 4 and allowing 7 hits is a pretty bad game.
• Michael Cooper pitched a scoreless inning.

Palm Beach 3, Daytona 6 (Game 2: 7 innings)

• Jon Jay goes 2-for-3.
• AJ Van Slyke goes 2-for-3 with a double.
• Chris Grossman goes 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
• Trey Hearne, what happened? His days as an alleged sleeper are over (in that he’s getting hammered continually). Going 4 innings allowing 4 ER on 7 hits, he just can’t seem to retire batters in High-A.

Batavia 5, Brooklyn 3

• SS Oliver Marmol goes 2-for-4.
• LF Justin Roberson had the only XBH for Batavia: a double.
• I’m wondering if Blake King will ever be able to command his pitches. He hasn’t shown any sign of it this season. He walked 4 in 2.2 IP with 2 wild pitches, 4 hits and 3Ks. He currently has a 4.76 ERA in Batavia.
• One of the few pitchers I liked in the 2007 draft, Jesse Todd struck out 7 in 3 innings. He walked 2 and allowed 3 hits while picking up the win.
• Moutain Dew struck out 5 in 2 innings. He allowed just 1 hit while getting the save. Keep an eye on Dew and Todd next year when they reach QC or PB.

Johnson City 5, Greeneville 6 (14 innings) 

• 2B Mike Folli went 3-for-6.
• LF Beau Riportella went 2-for-7 with a pair of doubles.
• SS Dognnt Bolivar went 3-for-6.
• The only pitching performance that jumps out is Eduardo Sanchez who struck out 4 in 2.1 innings.
• Raymond Silva started out the 14th by getting Ks for the first two batters before allowing a walk, single, walk, single sequence to end it.

GCL Cardinals 4, GCL Nationals 3

• Cody Haerther makes an appearance going 1-for-3 with a triple.
• D’Marcus Ingram went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. He also stole his 8th base.
• Mike Sillman sighting. He started the game throwing 1 inning allowing a hit and striking out 2. I was curious what batter in the GCL league was able to hit him given his unusual delivery. It was a switch hitter, Esmailyn Gonzalez, who I suspect was batting left-handed. Gonzalez got CS shortly thereafter.
• James Hooker pitched 4 innings striking out 5 against 1 walk and a hit.