Erik chiming in here with a quick update: Friend of the blog Keith Law will be on with Jeff Gordon on 590 The Fan at 12:30pm today.

This is old, but I had not seen it before. The Hardball Times analyzes the top draft picks, including scouting video. The bit on Brett Wallace is interesting, comparing his swing to Prince Fielder’s.

The Cardinals finally gave in and put Colby on the DL with his groin injury. Groin injuries seem to linger - I strained mine a couple of years ago and it wouldn’t go away until I finally stopped doing anything for two weeks.

All the teams were in action today and finished 2-4 on the night.  All the details are after the jump.

Memphis 4, New Orleans 5

• Shane Robinson hit his first homerun at AAA. He was 2-4 and also had a double.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir was 2-3 with a double and a walk.
• Uncle Rico Washington was 3-4 with a double.
• Mike Parisi had a bit of a bad night, he gave up five runs (four earned) in four innings on six hits and five(!) walks. He also struck out five.
• Ron Flores Randy Flores threw two scoreless innings, Mark Worrell threw one and Jason Motte pitched a scoreless final inning with two strikeouts.

NW Arkansas 11, Springfield 10

• The normally untouchable Jess Todd gave up six runs on six hits and four walks over 4.2 innings. He struck out five.
• In spite of Todd’s off-night, the Cardinals had a shot to win this game going into the ninth, but Fernando Salas also struggled, giving up five runs on five hits in just two thirds of an inning.
• Justin Fiske pitched a perfect inning in relief, striking out all three men he faced.
• Allen Craig and Andrew Brown were each 2-4 with a homerun. Brown also doubled.
• Matt Pagnozzi was 3-3 with two doubles.
• James Rapoport was 1-4 with a triple and had an assist from the outfield.

Palm Beach 5, Clearwater 2

• Matthew Arburr was 2-4 with a homer and a double.
• Luke Gorsett and Daniel Descalso also went yard. Gorsett was 2-4 and Descalso was 1-4.
• Tyler Henley was also 2-4 with a double.
• My Dad’s favorite minor leaguer, Brandon Dickson had a solid outing, giving up one run over seven innings. He gave up six hits and three walks while striking out four.

Quad Cities 2, South Bend 10

• Brett Wallace was 1-3 with a homerun and a walk. I’m already looking forward to seeing him next year in Spring Training.
• Nicholas Peoples also homered, he was 1-4.
• Nick Additon had his first bad outing since, well, maybe all year. He gave up six runs on seven hits and two walks over four innings. He struck out five.
• Non-Cardinal Note: Sean Coughlin, South Bend’s catcher, went 2-4 with a walk, two homeruns and seven rbi. So if you’ve got him in your Low A Fantasy League, I hope you started him.

Lowell 3, Batavia 5

• Shane Peterson was 1-2 with a pair of walks.
• Jose Garcia was 1-3 with a walk.
• Jermaine Curtis and Jon Edwards were each 1-3 with a walk.
• Jameson Maj gave up two runs on four hits over five innings. He struck out six.
• Ramon Delgado went three innings, allowing a run on three hits and striking out a pair.
• Adam Reifer finished the game off with a scoreless inning, striking out one.

Pulaski 7, Johnson City 3

• Alex Castellanos was 2-3 with a homerun.
• Jairo Martinez was 1-4 with a homerun.
• Curt Smith was 1-4 with a double.
• The well-named Johnny Bravo took the loss, but didn’t pitch that poorly. He was betrayed a bit by his defense as only one of the three runs he gave up was earned. He pitched four innings and gave up seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
• Matthew North was also betrayed by his defense (two of his four runs were earned), but he pitched poorly, too. He only lasted 1.2 innings and gave up five hits and two walks.
• Matthew Frevert pitched 1.1 scoreless innings and Samuel Freeman pitched two scoreless innings.

Kevin Goldstein’s Future Shock [subscription only] series hit the NL Central today and he gave an update on what his Top 11 Cardinals prospects have been up to. I know that no matter what he does, someone will complain - and it is nice that he covered a lot of ground, talking about more prospects for the Cardinals than the other clubs, but the one sentence summary for each player really left me a bit unsatisfied.

Kary Booher has a profile of Justin Fiske. Interesting story - left handed relievers are a weak point in the Cardinals organization, so it is nice that they were able to pluck a successful one from the Independent League.

Springfield was off and Johnson City played a double header, so the system had five teams playing six games and they went 2-4. All the details are after the jump.

Memphis 6, New Orleans 10

• Clayton Mortensen did not have his best outing. He followed his M.O., getting a bunch of groundballs (7-1 gb to fb) and striking out another four, but he also gave up bunches of hits, nine to be exact. He was touched for eight runs over 4.1 innings, including two dingers. Mortensen apparently came out in the fifth inning due to injury - the last batter he faced reached on a “line drive to Mortensen” according to the game recap. Hopefully he’ll be ok.
• Matt Clement was brought in to relieve for Mortensen and he allowed an inherited runner to score and another run of his own in the two thirds of an inning that he pitched. It was really a neat trick, as he did it all without allowing a hit. He hit two batters and walked another.
• Nick Stavinoha was 1-5 with a home run, which makes three in the last two games or three since Az wrote that Nick has no power. My guess is that he read what Az wrote and has extra motivation now - good job, Az! Stavinoha also made an error in the outfield and had an outfield assist.
• Uncle Rico Washington was 2-4 with a bomb.
• Bryan Anderson was 2-5.

Palm Beach 6, Clearwater 1

• Donovan Solano and Charles Kingrey each homered this afternoon, providing the power. Solano was 2-4 with a walk and Kingrey was 3-4 with a double and a walk.
• Daryl Jones was 1-4 with a walk and his seventeenth stolen base of the year.
• The Cardinals were a little sloppy in the field with errors from Solano, Eddie Degerman and Daniel Descalso.
• Shaun Garceau had a nice start, going six scoreless innings, scattering four hits and two walks while striking out two.
• Degerman struck out three in his two scoreless innings of relief.
• Kenny Maiques was the only Cardinals pitcher to struggle today. He walked a pair of batters and gave up a hit and an unearned run while only retiring one batter.
• Francisco Samuel was called in to clean up the mess and he retired the final two batters to earn the save.

Quad Cities 8, South Bend 2

• Richard Castillo pitched six solid innings, giving up a pair of runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four.
• Matt Spade followed Castillo with two perfect innings, striking out one.
• Brandon Garner pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up only a walk.
• The offensive player of the game was Roberto Espinoza, who went 2-4 with a double and three rbi.
• Nicholas Peoples and Oliver Marmol each also went 2-4. Peoples also doubled and Marmol also stole a base.
• Pete Kozma and Brett Wallace were each 1-4. Wallace also walked.
• Aaron Luna was 1-3 with a walk.
• Thommy Pham was 0-2 with a walk and an outfield assist from center field.

Lowell 5, Batavia 1

• Charles Cutler was 2-3, but he had a passed ball and a throwing error behind the plate.
• Shane Peterson was 1-4 with a double.
• Jon Edwards was 1-3 with a walk.
• Jose Garcia was 1-4 with a stolen base.
• Zachary Pitts took the loss, but he didn’t really pitch that bad. He gave up a pair of runs over five innings on six hits. He didn’t walk anyone and he struck out a pair.
• Hector Cardenas, on the other hand, was terrible. He gave up three runs on three hits and a walk and only managed to retire one batter.
• Rigoberto Lugo (no, I did not just make that name up) didn’t do Cardenas any favors, allowing one of two inherited runners to score on a couple of walks. He got a pair of outs without giving up any runs that are attributed to him in the boxscore.
• Arquimedes Nieto (who, if I’m not mistaken, is Tom Nieto’s fourth cousin, thrice removed through his maternal grandfather - but I could be wrong about that) came in after the Cardenas-Lugo disaster and struck out three over three scoreless innings.

Pulaski 5, Johnson City 2 (Game 1)

• The Cardinals only managed five hits in the first game and a double by Osvaldo Morales was the only extra base hit.
• Deryk Hooker had a nice start, giving up one run on five hits over five innings. He also struck out four.
• Samuel Freeman and Jorge Rondon let the game get away from the team in the sixth inning, allowing four runs and only retiring one batter between them.
• Santo Maertz came in and put out the fire, allowing a hit and two walks, but not allowing a run or letting either of his inherited runners to score. He pitched the final 1.2 innings and struck out a pair.

Pulaski 8, Johnson City 5 (Game 2)

• A bit more offense for Johnson city in Game 2, but not enough.
• Nico Vasquez was 2-4 and was thrown out trying to steal.
• Osvaldo Morales was 2-3 with a pair of doubles.
• Paul Cruz, Curt Smith and Jairo Martinez were all 1-3.
• Michael Blazek only lasted four hitters into the game. The first reached on an error, then Blazek threw away a pickoff attempt, then he walked a batter before giving up singles to the next two batters. Then he was removed. Ouch.
• Carlos Gonzales followed with an erratic performance. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks, but he struck out eight in only 3.2 innings.
• Joel Pichardo then gave up three runs on three hits in 2.1 innings, but he only struck out a pair.
• Jose Mateo finished off the game with a perfect inning, striking out one.

[erik update: Recently I was approached by the folks at the Batavian and was asked to provide a who's who on the Muckdogs roster. It's not for pay or anything, so here's the link.]

Here is a profile of Andrew Brown from Kary Booher. Brown has come on strong this season, hitting for power and average at three stops. It will be interesting to see how he progresses at the higher levels. There was also a short profile of Brett Wallace on the Quad Cities Times website.

Colby was in the pre-game lineup, but did not play tonight, and Joe Mather was out of the starting lineup, giving Cody Haerther a start. As with the big club, there is a glut of outfielders at Memphis with Rasmus, Mather, Stavinoha and Robinson all warranting playing time. The glut could be alleviated by taking away playing time from Josh Phelps and allowing Mather and/or Stavinoha to play some 1B or DH.

All the teams were in action today and the system went 2-3-1 (the Johnson City game was suspended while tied). All the details are after the jump.

Memphis 6, Omaha 8

• Brian Barden was 3-5 with a double.
• Bryan Anderson was 1-3 with a double and a walk.
• David Freese was 1-4 with a homerun.
• It was a rough night pitching, PJ Walters went six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks. He did strike out five.
• Ron Flores gave up a pair of runs and only recorded one out. John Wasdin gave up a pair of runs and only recorded two outs.
• Matthew Scherer had the only pitching success on the night, pitching a perfect inning.

Springfield 0, Frisco 3

• Jess Todd got the start and he was solid, as usual. He gave up two runs and took the loss, but the runs came on only three hits and one walk, while he struck out five over six innings.
• The offense really let Todd down, leaving 13 men stranded on the night.
• Allen Craig was 2-4.

Jupiter 4, Palm Beach 6

• Arnoldi Cruz and Daryl Jones were each 2-4. Jones also stole a base.
• Brian Cartie was 2-3 with a walk.
• Brad Furnish got the start and he gave up four runs over seven innings. It isn’t as bad as it sounds, though, as the four runs came on only three hits and one walk and he struck out seven.
• Dan Bilardello pitched a scoreless inning to pick up the win and Francisco Samuel grabbed a save by pitching a scoreless inning.

Peoria 2, Quad Cities 9

• Brett Wallace hit his first professional homerun, a three run job, in going 1-4 on the night.
• Adron Chambers and Pete Kozma were each 2-3 with a double.
• Carlos Pupo was 2-4 with a pair of doubles.
• Chuckie Fick gave up one run on three hits over four innings. He struck out a pair.
• Wayne Daman pitched the final five innings, giving up a run on two hits.

Batavia 5, Vermont 6

• Shane Peterson was 3-4 with two doubles.
• Jose Garcia was 3-4 with a double and a stolen base.
• Frederick Parejo was 2-5 with a stolen base.
• Scott Gorgen got the start and went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He struck out three.
• Miguel Tapia took the loss, he gave up four runs, three earned, over three innings on four hits and three walks. He struck out four.
• Jason Buursma pitched a scoreless inning, but that doesn’t tell the story. He allowed two inherited runners to score the deciding runs in the game.

Johnson City 4, Burlington 4 (suspended in fifth)

• Nico Vasquez and Alex Castellanos were each 1-2.
• Osvaldo Morales was 2-2 with a homer and a double.
• Reynier Gonzales went 4.2 innings before the rain game, allowing four runs on seven hits and striking out three.

In addition to the signing that Erik posted about earlier, Derrick Goold is reporting that the Cardinals are set to announce a total of six international signings. He has all the details about the players in this article.

Kyle Mura got the call up to Springfield to make the start tonight, all the details are below, but the News-Leader had a feature on him before his first appearance. The News-Leader also reports on Jon Jay’s shoulder injury. The team is hopeful (as am I) that the shoulder won’t keep him out long. Here is what Jay thinks:

Sounding an optimistic tone, Jay couched his shoulder situation on Wednesday as “just the bumps and bruises you go through (in) the season.”

I missed this yesterday, but the Memphis paper had a feature on Bryan Anderson on their website.

The organization was 4-1 on the day (Palm Beach was rained out).  All the details are after the jump.

Nashville 1, Memphis 5

• Josh Phelps had a big game, going 2-3 with a double and a triple.
• Bryan Anderson went 2-3 and is now batting .344 at AAA. He did have another passed ball, his seventh since getting promoted.
• Clayton Mortensen got the start tonight and was solid, giving up a run on six hits in seven innings. He walked two and struck out two. Going against his normal M.O., he got as many flyball outs as he did groundouts (9-9).
• Mark Worrell pitched the final two innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Springfield 7, Frisco 2

• Jose Martinez was 3-5 with a homerun.
• Mark Shorey was 3-4 with a homerun.
• Andrew Brown and Tyler Greene were both 1-3 with a walk. Don’t look now but Tyler Greene has started to resemble a quality baseball player as of late - he was .278/.327/.467 in the month of June, which isn’t superstar material, but is a nice step up from where he was in April and May.
• Kyle Mura got his first start at AA and continued his recent success. He went five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and striking out a pair.
• Justin Fiske went 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and Marco Gonzalez pitched a perfect inning, striking out a pair.
• Josh Dew struggled to finish the game off in the ninth, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and a walk.
• Fernando Salas came in and recorded the last out to get the save.

Cedar Rapids 1, Quad Cities 2

• Brett Wallace got his first professional hit, going 1-4.
• Pete Kozma was 0-4, but he stole a pair of bases.
• Francisco Rivera and Nick Peoples each went 2-4.
• The big story of the night, though, was Richard Castillo, who went seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out four.

Hudson Valley 2, Batavia 5

• Jermaine Curtis was 2-3 with a stolen base.
• Jon Edwards was 1-3 with a double and a walk.
• Frederick Parejo was 2-3 and Blake Murphy was 3-4.
• Arquimedes Nieto got the start and gave up one run on four hits over five innings while striking out five.
• Zachary Pitts followed and threw 3.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits and striking out a pair.
• Adam Reifer got the save by recording the final out.

Kingsport 11, Johnson City 3

• Alex Castellanos was 2-4 with a double and a homerun.
• Brett Lilley was 1-2 with a double and three walks.
• Travis Mitchell was 1-3 with a double.
• Nico Vasquez (First Inning is spelling it that way, so I guess I will, too) was 0-4 with an error in the field.
• Carlos Gonzales had a rough start, giving up five runs on five hits, a walk and two hit batsmen over three innings.
• Samuel Freeman pitched two scoreless innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four.
• Michael Blazek was roughed up in his 3.1 innings. He allowed six runs on three hits, four walks and a hit batsmen. He struck out three.

This chat roundup discusses the Cardinals interest in Brian Fuentes and Matt Holliday. This quote, in particular, caught my attention:

“Certainly the Rockies are fishing for prospects and names such as (OF Colby) Rasmus, (C Bryan) Anderson and (LHP Jaime) Garcia will be thrown around. John Mozeliak insists he is not going to trade Rasmus. I believe it, but no GM would publicly make available his top prospect since it would only erode leverage.

The last sentence sort leaves the possibility open that Rasmus could get traded (although it is only a Joe Strauss chat, so he certainly doesn’t speak for the organization). I personally don’t want that to happen and I really don’t think there is much chance that it will happen.

This article discusses some roster moves the organization made today, including Mr. Wallace being assigned to Quad Cities, Matt Arburr and Charles Kingrey being promoted to Palm Beach and Carlos Pupo moving up to Quad Cities. That QC team suddenly has an intriguing infield.

The exciting news for the night is, of course, Brett Wallace’s debut at Quad Cities. He DH’d and batted third - the details of his night, along with the details from four squads (Springfield was off, but Palm Beach played two) are after the jump.

Nashville 2, Memphis 3

• Colby got the night off tonight and somehow the Redbirds managed to win with only one extra base hit (a double by Hoffpauir).
• Nick Stavinoha, David Freese and Bryan Anderson were each 2-4 on the night. Anderson allowed a passed ball behind the plate.
• Joe Mather was 1-3 with a walk.
• Anthony Reyes got the start, but he only pitched 2.1 innings. It wasn’t a horrible start, he gave up a run on a hit and a walk while striking out one, and I’ve been unable to find any explanation for his early departure.
• Matt Clement also pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.
• The game was held down by the back end of the bullpen: John Wasdin pitched two scoreless innings and then Ron Flores, Mark Worrell and Kelvin Jimenez each pitched a scoreless inning. Worrell struck out a pair.

Palm Beach 3, Vero Beach 4 - Game 1

• Tyler Henley and Daniel Descalso were each 1-3 with a double.
• Shaun Garceu was… how to say this gently? …not good. He lasted 4.1 innings and walked five, gave up five hits and allowed four runs.

Palm Beach 11, Vero Beach 2 - Game 2

• Game two was much better. Daryl Jones, Arnoldi Cruz and Antonio DeJesus each went 2-4. Cruz had a double and Jones had a walk.
• Tyler Henley was 1-3 with a double and a pair of walks.
• Eddie Degerman gave up two runs on three hits and two walks over five innings. He struck out four.
• Blake King stuck out the side in his perfect inning of work and Kenny Maiques also pitched a perfect inning, which is hopefully a sign of good things to come.

Cedar Rapids 9, Quad Cities 3

• Well, Brett Wallace’s first professional game didn’t have any fireworks, but I approve. He was 0-2 with two walks. I think you have to be impressed with his poise and plate discipline; I am sure that he was anxious to impress in his first outing, so for him to show patience in that situation is great.
• The Quad City offense, which should get a boost from Wallace’s presence, was pretty inept tonight. Pete Kozma got the only hit of the night for the team (he was 1-3 with a walk).
• Ryan Kulik got the start, which I believe was also his first for Quad Cities. Unfortunately, he did not impress. He lasted two innings and gave up four runs on six hits.
• Chuckie Fick followed by giving up two runs on three hits in 3.1 innings.
• Then Wayne Daman gave up one run on two hits in 2.2 innings and, well, it got worse from there. Let’s just leave it at that.

Hudson Valley 0, Batavia 12

• Lance Lynn had another successful outing: one hit over three scoreless innings and three strikeouts.
• The pitching was solid all around, obviously: Joshua Hester pitched the first four innings and scattered five hits while striking out three and walking one while Hector Cardenas and Adam Reifer each pitched a scoreless inning, with Reifer striking out a pair.
• Jon Edwards was 2-4 with a homerun, a walk and an outfield assist.
• Chris Swauger was 3-4 and hit his first professional homerun.
• Blake Murphy was 1-5 with a homerun.
• Jermaine Curtis was 2-5 with a triple.
• Frederick Parejo had a nice night, going 3-6 with a pair of doubles.

Johnson City 7, Kingsport 8

• Niko Vasquez was 1-4 with a walk.
• Joseph Hage was 1-3 with a homerun and a walk.
• Jairo Martinez was 2-4 with a double.
• Travis Mitchell was 1-4 with a homerun.
• Brett Zawacki got the start and was hit hard. He gave up ten hits in three innings and was credited for six earned runs. He also walked one and struck out a pair.
• The relief corps was somewhat more reliable: Joel Pichardo went two scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out three and Deryk Hooker only gave up an unearned run in three innings on one hit and a pair of walks. He struck out four.

If you read the comments to yesterday’s DFR, the Futures Game selections are no surprise to you, but here is Kary Booher’s article about the Cardinal prospects selected. Congrats to the guys selected. I think it says a lot about the progression of the system that we had three players selected and Colby Rasmus isn’t one of them. Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus claimed that the Cardinals don’t have any high upside prospects besides Colby, but the Futures Game selections seem to indicate otherwise. Here is an article from Baseball America that discusses the relationship between the US Futures Game team and the US Olympic team. And finally, here are the full rosters for the US team and the World team.

Palm Beach was off today, but the other five teams all had games and collectively went 3-2. All the details are after the jump.

New Orleans 6, Memphis 8

• I am really liking Memphis’ lineup right now. Shane Robinson is up to his old tricks at the top of the lineup (4-5 with a double tonight), then you have Colby, who seems to have left his early season slump behind him (1-4 with a walk), then Mather, Phelps and Freese in the 3-4-5 slot. Then they’ve got solid hitters like Hoffpauir and Bryan Anderson (who hit his first AAA homer tonight in going 2-3 with a walk) at the bottom of the lineup. Solid all the way around.
• Jaime Garcia got the start tonight and struck out ten in 6.2 innings. He allowed five runs, but only three were earned. He gave up six hits and (importantly) did not allow a walk. He also helped himself out with the bat, going 1-3 with a two-run double.
• Mark Worrell gave up a solo homerun in his inning of work; he struck out two.
• Kelvin Jimenez pitched a perfect ninth for the save.

Frisco 5, Springfield 3

• Adam Ottavino had a much-needed strong outing. He went six innings and struck out five while allowing only one hit. Let’s hope that he’s gotten himself on track and will go on to have a strong second half of the season.
• Unfortunately, Jon Mikrut blew the game for Ottavino late in the game by giving up four earned runs in 1.2 innings on three hits and three walks.
• Allen Craig was 2-3 with a double and a walk.
• Mark Shorey and Brandon Yarbrough were each 2-4.

Kane County 4, Quad Cities 6

• Pete Kozma was 2-5 on the night. We may have been a little too quick to jump on the Kozma bandwagon after he excelled in a small sample size earlier in the year, but even though he has come back to Earth, he is still having a very solid season for a twenty year old in A ball. His power has faded a bit, but .272/.362/.374 is nothing to scoff at.
• Charles Kingrey was 3-3 with a homerun and three stolen bases. Matthrew Arburr also went deep for the eleventh time this season.
• Oliver Marmol and Francisco Rivera were each 2-4 and Tommy Pham was 1-3 with a walk. Marmol and Pham each also stole a base.
• Pete Parise pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out four.

Johnson City 6, Elizabethton 7

• Well, Niko Vasquez didn’t get two hits tonight, but he did hit his first professional homerun. He was 1-5 on the night, striking out three times.
• Guillermo Toribio continued his hot start to the season, going 4-5 with two stolen bases on the night.
• Ivan Castro and Alex Castellanos each had two doubles. Castro was 3-4 and Castellanos was 2-4. Castellanos also made three throwing errors.
• Jairo Martinez was 1-4 with a homerun.
• Adam Veres pitched three scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk and striking out four.

Batavia 7, Mahoning Valley 5

• There was no power outage for Batavia tonight: Jermaine Curtis, Jon Edwards and C. Rosa (who?) all hit homers. Curtis and Rosa also doubled and Edwards also tripled. Curtis and Edwards were 3-5 and Rosa was 2-3.
• Shane Peterson was 2-4.
• Lance Lynn got the start and pitched 1.2 innings allowing three unearned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out one. 

What’s been going on? I leave town for a week to see the Cardinals in Boston and to catch a game at Yankee Stadium [sorry, I couldn't help the self-promotion, I'll keep it to a minimum] and all of a sudden the number of prospects to follow seems to have doubled and The Red Baron is posting on Future Redbirds. I can’t leave you guys alone for five minutes…

But seriously, I am excited to see guys like Gorgen and Niko get their start in the system and, even though I wasn’t a huge fan of the pick, I am really looking forward to seeing Brett Wallace at Quad Cities. The Texas League All Star game was Wednesday night in Springfield and the Cardinals had several representatives that I’ll cover in the DFR below, but Kary Booher and the Springfield News-Leader Live Blogged the game, which makes for a pretty decent read.

In addition to the All Star game, four teams were in action today and went 3-1. All the details are after the jump.

Memphis had the night off.

South All Stars 7, North All Stars 3 - Texas League All Star Game

• Jess Todd got the start in the All Star game and was dominant in his two innings, allowing only one hit and striking out five.
• Jon Jay was 2-3 with a double and a walk, Allen Craig was 0-2 with a walk and Tyler Greene was 0-1 with a walk.
• Fernando Salas was brought in to close out the game in the ninth, but he gave up a run on two hits, allowing the South to tie the game. He did strike out two in his inning of work.
• Luke Gregerson was then used in the tenth to keep the game tied, but he had a meltdown and gave up four runs (three earned) on four hits and a walk and took the loss.

Fort Myers 6, Palm Beach 10

• Daryl Jones went 2-3 with two walks.
• Luke Gorsett went 3-3 with a walk.
• Arnoldi Cruz got a start at firstbase and went 1-3 with a double and two walks.
• Daniel Descalso and Nick Derba each went 2-3 with a pair of walks, Descalso doubled.
• Brandon Buckman went 2-5 with a double.
• Shaun Garceau got the start and gave up two runs in five innings on four hits and four walks, he struck out three.
• Blake King gave up three runs on two walks and a hit in two thirds of an inning, striking out a pair. He was followed by Dan Bilardello who gave up one run on three hits in 1.1 innings.
• Elvis Hernandez and Francisco Samuel each pitched a scoreless inning.

Kane County 1, Quad Cities 6

• Matthew Arburr and Paul Vazquez each had three hits including a double.
• Brian Broderick scattered nine hits over seven innings (where’s the piggyback?) allowing only one run and striking out a pair.
• Chuckie Fick and Brandon Garner each pitched a scoreless inning in relief.

Johnson City 10, Greenville 7

• First Baseman Curt Smith went 4-5 with a homer.
• Alex Castellanos, playing third today, went 2-4 with two triples.
• Brett Lilley, Niko Vazquez and Jack Cawley each had two hits. Cawley doubled.
• Santo Maertz pitched a perfect inning with two strikeouts.
• Jose Mateo pitched three scoreless innings, giving up one hit and walking two while striking out three.
• Rynier Gonzalez got the start and was just a bit wild, walking six batters in four innings. He gave up four runs on five hits and he struck out three.
• Missouri State product Matthew Frevert struggled in the ninth, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk, while striking out two in two thirds of an inning.

Jamestown 3, Batavia 1

• The Muckdawgs had seven hits by seven different players. Jermaine Curtis, Shane Peterson and Jon Edwards were each 1-3 with a walk.
• Blake Murphy was 1-4 with a double and Charles Cutler was 1-3 with a triple.
• Thomas Eager only went four innings and he struck out seven. He gave up a run on three hits and two walks.
• Daniel Richardson pitched a scoreless inning, allowing 2 walks.
• Ryan Kulik went three innings, striking out three and allowing an unearned run on three hits.
• George Brown pitched the final inning giving up only a solo homerun and striking out a pair. 

Last time we took a look at the catchers, which is a top-heavy group led by Bryan Anderson. The first basemen, on the other hand, don’t have a lot at the top, with non-prospect Josh Phelps holding down the Memphis job and Mark Hamilton struggling at Springfield. The best talent we have at the position are guys that probably are only first basemen because they aren’t really capable of playing their ‘natural’ position well enough at the big league level.

We’ll run through the whole lot of ‘em after the jump.

First base is often the position of last resort for prospects that field poorly and carry a big stick (see: Barton, Daric). The Cardinals have a couple of those guys in the system and a few ‘natural’ first basemen, as well. It is a good thing that the big club has Albert Pujols (and reasonable temporary replacements in Mather and Duncan) because there is no one on the horizon that might be ready for a major league job in the near future.

Here are the first basemen currently in the system:

Josh Phelps - Josh was a pretty decent prospect for Toronto in the early part of this decade, although he was never much of a catcher, which is how he made his first appearances in the big leagues. As a 1B/DH, though, he had some promise, putting up OPS+ of 138 and 113 his first two full seasons in the league. He has bounced around a bit since then, but has hit everywhere he’s gone. His career numbers are .273/.344/.476, which is pretty respectable. The Cardinals are really a pretty bad fit for him since we have a glut of corner outfielders (Duncan and Mather) that can pull playing time at first while Albert is out. It seems to me that a trade to a team like the Royals would be perfect for all interested parties.

Mark Hamilton - Mark was the Cardinals second round pick out of Tulane in the 2006 draft. The big lefty is supposed to be a power hitter in the mold of someone like Justin Morneau, but he has gone through stretches where his power has been non-existent. He struggled mightily at Quad Cities in 2006, but looked great (.290/.348/.520) at Palm Beach for the first 60 games of 2007. Then he was promoted to Springfield and he hasn’t been able to crack the .400 mark for a slugging percentage since. He’s still only 23 years old, but the clock is ticking. He needs to turn it around quickly.

Steve Hill - Steve got a mention in the Catchers post, too and he’ll probably get mentioned in the leftfield post in the future. Steve was a thirteenth round pick out of Steven F. Austin University in 2007 and he has hit well and for power at every stop. It seems that the organization really doesn’t know what to do with him since they have moved him from catcher to leftfield to first and back for the last two years. The problem is that he’s been pretty bad at all of those positions. If he continues to progress I can see him as a poor man’s Jack Cust - he’s not nearly in Cust’s league in OBP, but he has the same power potential and the same lack of defensive ability.

Brandon Buckman - Buckman was the Cardinals nineteenth round pick out of Nebraska in 2006. He’s another big lefty that showed power potential early on (he slugged .590 in 67 games at Quad Cities in 2007), but has failed to hit for power as he has moved up. Age probably has a lot to do with that, as he was already 23 when he was playing at Quad Cities.

Andrew Brown - Brown is an intersting contrast to Buckman. They were teammates at Nebraska for a year, but otherwise Brown is the anti-Buckman. He is righthanded, not all that big (6′0″, 185lbs) and he has continued to hit for power as he has moved up the ladder. Brown was the Cardinals 18th round pick in 2007 and was recently promoted (ahead of Buckman) to Springfield when Steve Hill broke his hand. He earned the promotion after putting up a .330/.410/.557 line in his stint at Palm Beach. Like Hill, Brown has been moved around in the field a little, but unlike Hill he is not a complete disaster in the field.

Francisco Rivera - Rivera is a nineteen year old that has twenty games under his belt at Quad Cities. It’s tough to make much of a determination after twenty games, but so far his power seems a little low for a first baseman. He doesn’t have a real big frame at 5′11″ and 170lbs, so I’m not sure there’s much power to grow into, either. But again, this is only twenty games for a nineteen year old. His line is .286/.373/.397, so I’m going to cut him a little slack.

Osvaldo Morales - Morales is a 20 year old product of the Dominican Republic that showed good power potential in two short season stops in 2007. He was up at Quad Cities for a few weeks this year and really struggled before being sent back down to extended Spring Training. Morales has also seen a bit of time at third base, but none this year at QC.

Matthew Arburr - Arburr is another guy drafted as a third baseman (17th round in 2007) and who has some power potential, but he isn’t getting on base enough or hitting for a high enough average to be considered a real prospect at this point. He has actually played more in the outfield for Quad Cities this year, but his size (6′4″ 260lbs) will probably limit him to 1B/DH at some point.

Charlie Pelt - Charlie was taken in the 29th round of the 2007 draft out of Georgia State. He was pretty good for nine games at Johnson City last year, but then struggled at Batavia for 40 games and has struggled in limited action at Quad Cities this season. He was drafted as a senior in college, so he’s already 23 and struggling in low A. The math isn’t too difficult to figure out.

Carlos Pupo - The mystery man was a NDFA pickup by the Cardinals prior to Spring Training this year. He seems to have decent power, but we will certainly know more when the short season leagues begin.

Former First Base Prospects of Note

Albert Pujols - Of course he wasn’t a first base prospect, he was a third base prospect, but Pujols’ evolution into the best first baseman in baseball means that the guys listed above will probably never have a shot at the regular first base job in the big leagues with Cardinals organization.

Mike Ferris - Mike was the Cardinals second round pick out of Miami-Ohio in 2004 and he was cut by the team during Spring Training this season. Somehow he saw time at Memphis last season even though his best season line was .230/.344/.399 and that was at Quad Cities in 2005 as a 22 year old. Ferris was never able to hit for average or power at the higher levels and I fear that Mark Hamilton is following closely in Mike Ferris’ footsteps.

Chris Duncan - Chris is the current first baseman for the big club while Albert is hurt, but his (semi-) regular role for the team is chasing around flyballs in leftfield. He seems a bit lost at the plate this year, but when he is right he has the power and plate discipline to be an effective 1B/DH. It would be better for the Cardinals and for Duncan if he played for a team that had a 1B/DH position available.

Andrew Brown continues his ascent through the system as he gets the call to Springfield to replace Steve Hill. Most of you have already seen this article by Goold on Jess Todd, but he posted it after last night’s DFR was posted, so we haven’t linked to it yet (and it is worth a read if you haven’t read it yet).

The system went 1-2 today, with Quad Cities getting rained out (again). All the details are after the jump.

Iowa 2, Memphis 3

• Colby Rasmus and Nick Stavinoha were each 2-4, Stavinoha doubled.
• Bryan Anderson was 1-3 and Cody Haerther was 1-1 with three walks.
• PJ Walters had a nice bounceback outing after his horrid start last time out. Tonight he lasted six innings and gave up a pair of runs on six hits and three walks. He struck out seven.
• The relief corps was excellent tonight as Matthew Scherer pitched a scoreless inning and Jason Motte and Ron Flores each pitched a perfect inning.

NW Arkansas 9, Springfield 6

• Adam Ottavino got the start and it was rocky and abbreviated, again. He threw 89 pitches in 4.2 innings and gave up three runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out three.
• Jon Jay had a nice evening, as he was 3-5 with a homerun and two stolen bases.
• Allen Craig, Mark Shorey and Tyler Green were each 2-4 on the evening. Shorey and Greene each hit a homer.
• Mark Hamilton went deep for the second consecutive game, just to try and prove my Mike Ferris comparison wrong. It would be nice to see him go on a hot streak for a few weeks and get that slugging percentage up to reasonable levels.
• The pen wasn’t very good tonight, including everyone’s favorite, Fernando Salas. He got a blown save and a loss for allowing two inherited runners to score and giving up a run of his own on two hits (one of which was a three run homer).

Clearwater 6, Palm Beach 2

• No extra base hits for the Palm Beach squad, but James Rapoport was 2-5 and Daryl Jones was 2-4. Daniel Descalso was 1-3 with a walk.
• Elvis Hernandez started the game and gave up six runs on four hits and five walks. He struck out five.
• Kenny Maiques was effectively wild, walking three without allowing a run in 1.2 innings.
• Brandon Garner pitched a scoreless inning, giving up only a walk and Francisco Samuel pitched a perfect inning, striking out two.

Izzy got the start tonight for Springfield and here is Kary Booher’s review of the outing. Booher also had a piece on everyone’s favorite overachiever, Shane Robinson, and his heroics last night.

Baseball Prospectus has an audio interview with Matt Slater, who is the Special Assistant to the GM and the lead scout in Asia for the Cardinals. I must admit that I haven’t listened to this yet, but it sounds like it would be interesting.

Now that the draft is over, the international signing period is on the front burner. Baseball America has an article that discusses that signing bonuses will almost certainly break the all time record for international free agents (Wily Mo Pena, Yankees - $2.44M). There is also a mention of the Cardinals being one the teams that is expected to be more active this year than in the past.

BA also did a Prospect Hot Sheet Q & A where they received this Bryan Anderson question:

Jake from Missouri asks:
Q: Did Bryan Anderson receive any consideration for the list? He’s mashed all year.

A: Matt Eddy: It’s astonishing that Anderson has reached Triple-A at age 21 and has served as Memphis‘ everyday catcher. But to say he’s mashed is an overstatement. He’s a terrific hitter for average (.351 this season; 314 career), but the power has been lacking thus far. Of course, that’s to be expected from a 21-year-old backstop in Triple-A.

I don’t think this answer give Anderson enough credit (although the caveat at the end seems to acknowledge this). On the year (combined between Springfield and Memphis), he’s slugging .467, which would be good enough for fourth-best catcher in the majors. It is true that Anderson hasn’t hit many homers (only two on the year) and that his slugging percentage has slipped since his promotion to Memphis, but I think any expectation of ‘more power’ would be asking a lot.

On to the games: the system went 3-2 on the night. All the details are after the jump.

Iowa 2, Memphis 5

• After getting knocked around in the big leagues and sent down, Mike Parisi comes out and throws a complete game gem in his first start back at Memphis. He gave up two runs on four hits and a walk and he struck out four.
• Colby Rasmus continued his hot streak, going 2-4 with a walk.
• Brian Barden provided the power, going 3-4 with a double and a homerun.
• Bryan Anderson was 1-3 with a walk and Nick Stavinoha was 2-5.

Arkansas 1, Springfield 6

• As stated in the intro, Jason Isringhausen got the start and went 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up only a leadoff hit and strikout out two.
• The real pitching star, however, was Jess Todd. He relieved Izzy and was lights out for the final 7.1 innings. He allowed an unearned run on five hits and two walks while striking out six. Since getting called up to Springfield he has only allowed four earned runs in 43.1 innings and combined on the year he has only allowed nine earned runs in 70.2 innings. His BABIP is a little low since moving up to AA (.204) but his other peripherals are all solid. We better start clearing out some space at the top of our prospect lists for this guy.
• Shane Robinson, Jon Jay and Matt Pagnozzi were all 1-3.
• Allen Craig (who had a throwing error) and Casey Rowlett were each 2-4; Rowlett homered.
• Mark Hamilton was 1-4 with a three run homerun. I hate to say it, but Hamilton’s disappinting start this year (a .376 slugging percentage? really?) screams “Mike Ferris” to me.

Clearwater 9, Palm Beach 3

• Arnoldi Cruz played catcher and threw out the only runner that dared try to steal against him. He was also 2-4 at the plate.
• Donovan Solano was 3-5.
• James Rapoport was 2-4 with a walk.
• Daryl Jones was 1-3 with a triple and a walk.
• Richard Castillo and Eddie Degerman formed the piggyback and each pitched three scoreless innings. Castillo allowed two hits and two walks, while striking out two and Degerman did not allow a hit, but walked three.
• The game fell apart when the bullpen took over in the seventh. Brandon Garner gave up six runs (two earned) on two hits and three walks in only two thirds of an inning. Cardoza Tucker threw gasoline on the fire by allowing three runs on four hits and three walks in 1.1 innings.
• The ironically named Casey Mulligan, who is listed as a catcher, threw a scoreless inning with a strikeout.

Peoria 3, Quad Cities 7 (Game One)

• Tommy Pham hit another homerun, this one a walk-off grand slam in the eighth inning. He was 1-4 in the game.
• Matthew Aburr was 2-3 with a walk.
• Francisco Rivera was 1-2 with a double and a walk.
• Joshua Wilson was the front half of the piggyback and got touched up for three runs on five hits and a walk in his 4.2 innings.
• Pat Parise came in, though, and was steady. He pitched a scoreless 3.1 innings, allowing only one hit and striking out two.

Peoria 2, Quad Cities 1 (Game Two)

• Blake King struck out seven batter in only four innings of work. Unfortunately he also allowed six hits and two runs (one earned), which was all Peoria needed in this yawner.
• Marco Gonzalez Dylan Gonzalez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and one walk.
• Wayne Daman pitched two scoreless innings, allowing three hits and a walk.
• Not a lot of offense for QC. Charles Kingery and Mike Folli were each 2-3. Folli doubled. And… that’s it. No other hits for the team and no walks.