The Cardinals sent 6 down. Colby Rasmus, Joe Mather, Jason Motte, Mike Parisi, Clayton Mortensen and Mark Johnson were all reassigned to minor league camp. No great surprises here, but I can say I’m disappointed that Mather wasn’t given more of a shot. Miles, Izturis, Kennedy, Jimenez and Ryan are all pretty redundant. I thought Mather was auditioning for the Speezer role, and he certainly has the power and versatility. At 25 years old, I’m not sure how much better he will get in another year at AAA. Our homeslice AZ had his 2 cents about it at VEB, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind me just cutting and pasting his thoughts here, thoughts that I tend to agree with.
So after impressing and playing better than his competition, Mather is shipped off. Actions speak louder than words and Mather’s reassignment says to me that TLR still isn’t ready to take the best players regardless of age/experience.
If there’s an argument to be made against Mather, it’s his line from Memphis last season. In 288 ABs he hit .241/.329/.443. While his peripherals are in line, meaning he wasn’t particularly lucky or unlucky, he maintained a nice ISO of .202 by hitting 13 HRs during Memphis. Looking over the last 3 years of his statistics, only in Springfield was he truly above average as an offensive player. I’d contend that he’s an equally good offensive projection, however, as Ryan, Izturis and/or Miles while having a different offensive skill set — one that isn’t well represented on the team. Despite that, he’s cut before other players who are, at best, stop-gaps. So much for the spring “competition”.
Colby we knew was going to be sent down eventually, barring him hitting .500/.750/1.500. It just makes sense from a fiscal and a development standpoint. The fact that Mortensen, Motte and Parisi stayed up as long as they did, particularly for Mortensen who was pitching for Gonzaga just a year ago, tells us that the Cardinals see a lot in these guys. I’d say their stock is up. Dave Duncan for one is a believer in Parisi, saying:
“He’s going to pitch in the big leagues,” Duncan said of Parisi. “I don’t know when it’s going to be, but he’s got big league stuff. He’s got a big league arm. Big league pitches.”
And the fact that Chris Perez and Kyle McClellan says a whole lot. McClellan’s lurched forward with this camp; he’s now auditioning for an Adam Wainwright-ish bullpen apprenticeship role. I’d kinda like to see if he can handle the innings load in AAA first, we’ll see how it plays out.
Another bit of news, per Goold FR whipping boy Michael Cooper was released. As were RHP Jason Cairns, C Henry Guerrero, RHP Julio Sanchez, and 2B Jose Salazar.
On to today’s DPR after the jump.
- Brian Barton walked and scored a run.
- Joe Mather hit an RBI double.
- Kyle McClellan threw a perfect 9th, fanning 1 to get the save.
Memphis 8, New Orleans 6
- Mitchell Boggs allowed 3 runs on 4 hits over 4 innings.
- Trey Hearne! Former VEB cult favorite, the man who demolished the Midwest League in 2006, punished AAA hitting today. OK, I don’t wanna exaggerate, but he struck out 4 in 3 innings, allowing a couple of hits, which is darn good. The man suffered from a .372 BABIP last season in Palm Beach, and had an abysmal season by all standards. Could it be bad BABIP luck, or was he just that hittable? I don’t know, but I’m pulling for the guy. It’s nice to see him have a nice outing, facing AAA batters no less.
- David Freese had a big day, hitting two doubles, a HR and 4 RBIs.
- Nick Stavinoha and Jarrett Hoffpauir had 2 hits apiece.
Springfield 3, Birmingham 3 (tie)
- Brad Furnish had a great season for the Quad Cities, only to be undone at A+. As it turns out, he couldn’t fully extend his throwing arm and had a bone spur removed. He looked good today, going 2.1, surrendering 2 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, with 3 K’s
- Mark Hamilton doubled and had a 2 run homer.
- AJ Van Slyke is at it again, doubling and tripling.
- Allen Craig had a double, Shane Robinson a single.
- Kyle Sadlowski threw two scoreless innings, and former Mariner farmhand and 22 RHP Cardoza Tucker also added one scoreless IP.
Palm Beach 7, St. Lucie 11
- I hate seeing this, because I’m a big fan of this man- Jess Todd allowed 4 runs in 3 innings of work.
- I like seeing this, especially considering how poor he was last year- Gary Daley Jr. struck out 3 in 3 innings pitched. He allowed a couple of runs on 3 hits and 2 walks.
- Former indy baller Pete Parise was the loser, allowing 4 runs in his lone inning.
- Francisco Samuel worked a scoreless inning, with no hits, one walk and two K’s.
- Super speedster Jim Rapoport hit a couple of doubles. The amazing thing-they were both grounders hit to short. The man is the Flash. In all seriousness, I have no idea what type of hit they were, but the man is very fast.
- Brandon Buckman doubled and singled
- The ultra-toosly Daryl Jones had a great day. He tripled, walked, was HBP, scored two runs and had an RBI. I still believe.
QC 3, Savannah Sand Gnats (gotta love that moniker) 1
- Pete Kozma had a single
- International Man of Mystery Ryde Rodriguez tripled. I really do hope he starts his season at the QC, because I will make the 2 hour drive to see him in person.
- Super sleeper Andres Rosales threw 3 frames, allowed just 1 hit, 1 run, had 2 BB, and 4 whiffs.
- Not to be outdone, DFE Mark Diapoules threw 3 IP, surrender just 2 hits, no walks, put up a goose egg and topped it off with 4 K’s.
- FR fave Deryk Hooker threw 2 scoreless.
Filed under: Daily Farm Reports
erik
azruavatar
fewgoodcards
roarke49
theredbaaron
I’m with DCGreg on this one… more important backup infielder right now is the guy you can put at short in place of Izturis. Mather can do first (Duncan), the outfield (stocked), and third (which Ryan can also do). Factor in that Ryan also covers second and shortstop ‘erratically,’ and he wins the battle.
If Mather plays short I think he stays. But we need more to cover our butts with Izturis.
Also, I’m shocked and excited to see VanSlyke tearing it up. Where did that come from!?
Someone had to have seen it happen. I just have to know, how do you double twice on grounders to short? There has to be some sort of sensible explanation, but I’m just not seeing it.
I’m not all that concerned with Todd’s poor outing, to be honest. I see his long term future in short relief, not a long relief or starting role. So as long as he’s starting games and throwing multiple innings, I expect his results to be decent but not great.
Disappointed, but not really surprised, to see Mather sent down. With Spiezio gone, I thought there might be an opening for him, but as weak as the middle infield is proving to be, the extra backup may very well prove indispensable there. Wherefore art thou, Alexei Ramirez?!?
While Mather made a great impression this spring, coming close to taking the Spez’s roll, I think AZ over-reacted about about his being reassigned to AAA.
The choice was not so much one of old vs. new, the choice was new vs. new (i.e. Ryan vs. Mather). If anything, this move indicates to me that the Cards have less faith in the Cesar Izturis experiment than they profess in the media. Carrying Ryan rather than Mather is a firewall against Izturis continuing to struggle with the bat and in the field. Better to have Mather hitting in AAA awaiting an opportunity to come up (like when the Cards finally admit failure and release Izturis) than having him up and no one else (other than Miles) to slot in at SS.
Someone had to have seen it happen. I just have to know, how do you double twice on grounders to short? There has to be some sort of sensible explanation, but I’m just not seeing it.
That’s because he is the flash. No, i was just messing around.
Jmedwick…
I agree other than it should have been Ryan v Iz2 v Mather…and Iz2 should be on the unemployment line. Like you said, I think this will be the case w/in two months.
erik,
I haven’t seen anything in these daily prospect reports about Tyler Greene… I had thought he was fully recovered from his knee injury last year, but it’s looking like he’s not even hitting at all so far? Could you enlighten us as to whether the Vuch Report has mentioned him at all?
Agreed on Mather. AZRU overreacted. I don’t think anyone ever said it was an “open competition” did they? In the end, the best players will play. Tony wants to win and the best players help him do that.
That’s the great thing about the minor leagues. If you are worthy of a MLB spot you go down and rip the crap out of the ball and get noticed. It’s pretty simple.
What Azy wrote: “Actions speak louder than words and Mather’s reassignment says to me that TLR still isn’t ready to take the best players regardless of age/experience.”
I agree in that actions speak louder than words, but I have a different interpretation, which others have already mentioned–that if LaRussa truly trusted Izturis and Miles in their roles (starting shortstop and back-up middle infielder), Joe Mather would still be on the major league roster and Ryan would be in minor league camp right now to get playing time.
The cuts tell me that management feels that the middle infield has nobody who has really impressed (with the possible exception of Kennedy, who improved after a rough start and should be an object lesson in not making snap judgments about players’ ST performances). Izturis has been woeful and after a sharp start, Ryan hasn’t exactly blown him out of the water–both players have the worst fielding percentage of position guys who have played more than 50 innings this ST. So, they both stay to play each other for the full-time starter’s job, which will need real game time to determine that, as well as a MLB schedule and season to see how Ryan holds up.
As for Mather being a better offensive player than Ryan–that’s a limited arguement that ignores what other players on the team contribute. They’re going to get power from Pujols, Ankiel, Gaus, Duncan, and Ludwick, while Ryan can play 3B better than Mather (who is still readjusting to that position and has not played it in a spring training game yet) and Duncan is a natural 1B. Cutting him does not hurt the team. Cutting Ryan would.
I agree. No matter how well Mather did in spring training it is still spring training and he only has about two thirds of a season raking offensively in his long minor league career. If he has turned a corner the worst thing we could do is put him in a position where he’s overmatched. If he’s the real deal he’ll rake at Memphis and will be a major leaguer. He needs at at bats and he won’t get them in St. Louis. This is a good year for guys like him. We will not be deterred from bringing up good prospects by worrying about a pennant race. Besides all that it’s not just him vs. Ryan, and I agree that Ryan offers us much more that we need, it’s also him vs. Barton. I think Barton’s the better prospect, is more ready and will be lost if we don’t keep him. This was more than a good decision, it was an obvious one.
Oh.
Well then.
I’ve never been so humiliated in my life. And on the internet, too, erik!!! You know that’s where are the cool kids hang out! I’ll get you for this…
What’s especially funny about this is that I sat around all day trying to figure out a way for that to work, and actually came up with one. A batter hits a hard grounder into the hole between short and third. The 3bman dives and can’t get to it. The SS ranges over, and the ball hits his glove and caroms over toward the left field line. The 3b, obviously, won’t get up and over to it, the left fielder is probably too deep. Thus, the SS chases it down over in foul territory, allowing a speedy runner the chance to take second. Because the shortstop was the only one to touch it, it would go into the box score as a double on a grounder to short.
Then of course, I mentally debated with myself, trying to determine whether or not that could have happened twice in one game…sigh.
Don’t think you won’t pay for this.
Wait, not especially funny. The other thing. Sad! There we go, that’s what I was looking for!