Daily Prospect Report 7/27/07

I want to touch on something before we get started tonight. In the comments of erik’s look at the 2007 draft class thus far, we’ve got a note that says Tyler Henley is expected to sign in the near future. Now, I have no reason to believe that this comment isn’t legitimate and true but I don’t want to start any wild and crazy internet rumors. I will say that, if at any point, people start making comments that turn out to be patently false (i.e. “OMG we just traded Brian Esposito for Grady Sizemore. No seriously, Grady just called me.”), those comments will be deleted and all further comments from that individual will be moderated. It’s not something erik or I want to do, but this isn’t going to become a forum for crazy rumors. That said, I’m really hopeful that we get confirmation of this news in the near future so that we can brag about how the story broke on Future Redbirds. (Here is Henley’s scouting report from MILB.)

[edit 7/28-3:28pm] Story confirmed per Moisekapenda Bower of the Houston Chron.

Tyler Henley agreed to terms with the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday. Once Henley signs, he will report to the Batavia Muckdogs of the New York-Penn League.”It’s a dream come true,” Henley said this afternoon. “I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. I can’t say enough good things. It’s very exciting.”

 

According to someone familiar with the situation, Henley will sign for $190K, adding to what has been a lucrative summer for the Owls’ spectacular junior class.

Hat tip Hammond for sharing the link. And special hat tip to coach P.J. Giamanco for sharing with us the situation. A big thank you, sir.</end edit>

Roster move: Chuckie Fick gets promoted to Quad Cities from Johnson City.

Chris Kline does a chat a Baseball America. There’s only one snipet about a Cardinal prospect where someone asks if he preferred Adam Ottavino or Kyle McCulloch. The questioner obviously has not met firstinning.com where we can learn that Ottavino strikes out more batters, walks fewer batters and is a year younger. Unless you are obsessed with groundballs [insert TLR and Duncan snark], Ottavino is the better pitcher by a healthy margin.

Colby Rasmus is clutch. Steve Hill makes some noise. Nick Vera succeeds where everyone else failed — you’ll find this and more in today’s Daily Prospect Report.

Memphis 3, Sacramento 4

• Edgar Gonzalez went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a walk. One of the things I regret the most about the minor leagues is the complete lack of any defensive statistic. Firstinning.com has done a great job of giving us what we need for pitching and offense but I really would like a UZR or RZR for guys like Gonzalez. His defense must be wretched because all he does is hit, and never gets a look at the bigs.
• Jarrett Hoffpauir goes 1-for-4 with a walk.
• Tagg Bozied goes 2-for-4 with a HR.
• Blake Hawksworth went 5 innings allowing 3 ER. 5 hits, 1 BB and 4 K wouldn’t be so bad if not for the 2 HRs. I can’t recall a single outing this year where Hawksworth really shut down the opposition.

Springfield 9, Wichita 8(11 innings)

• Colby Rasmus goes 3-for6 with a double and a triple. Fortunately, Colby’s first hit was a slump-busting bunt single — eat your heart out Stavinoha. He also stole base number 15.
• Jose Martinez went deep for HR number 4.
• Casey Rowlett went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
• Adam Daniels couldn’t get out of the third inning allowing 6 runs. He’s now given up 18 runs in his last 20.1 innings. I think the scouting report on Daniels is out — time for him to adjust his game plan.
• Nick Webber allowed 2 of 3 inherited runners to score but was good for 4 innings after that allowing just one hit. (The runners scored on a wild pitch and then a throwing error by Anderson.)
• Kyle McClellan blew a save allowing the tying and go ahead run in the seventh (1 earned).
• Zach Zuercher then came in and threw zeros for 3 innings allowing just 1 hit while striking out 2.
• After scoring the tying run in the ninth off a triple, Colby’s ground rule double in the 11th plated the go ahead run and Chris Perez shut the door with a perfect frame.

Palm Beach 3, St. Lucie 6

• C Chris Grossman goes 2-for-4.
• Eddie Degerman got touched up for 4 ER in 5 innings. He allowed 6 hits, 3 BBs and 6 Ks.
• Michael Cooper needs to get the Kevin Ool boot. He allowed 5 hits and a BB in 2 innings for 2 ER. Is it really so important for Kenny Maiques to be pitching the 9th in low-A rather than pitching in Palm Beach. Give Cooper the boot and promote Maiques. This shouldn’t be a difficult decision.

Quad Cities 6, Burlington 5

• CF Antonio DeJesus went 1-for-3 with a BB.
• Steve Hill went 2-for-4 with a pair of HR. I hope Hill isn’t really confined to LF and that it’s more a function of roster management than permanent defensive position.
• Arnoldi Cruz went 1-for-3 with a BB.
• Brandon Dickson just didn’t know where his pitches were going tonight. He threw 4 inning allowing 4 runs (3 earned). He allowed 3 hits while throwing a wild pitch, walking three batters and hitting two more.
• Chuckie Fick threw 2 innings allowing just one hit.
• Kenny Maiques picked up save number 23. He struck out 1 and walked 1. He’s struck out roughly a batter an inning and has a 2:1 K:BB ratio.

Batavia 12, Jamestown 4

• 2B William Groff goes 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
• 3B Daniel Descalso goes 2-for-5 with a SB.
• Tommy Pham goes 2-for-4 with a SB, double and a walk.
• Charlie Pelt goes 3-for-4 with a HR and a walk.
• LF Justin Roberson goes 2-for-5.
• Pete Parise goes 5 innings striking out 4, walking 1, hitting 1 batter and allowing 2 hits without giving up a run.
• Brian Broderick allowed 4 runs in 2.1 innings on 6 hits while striking out 2.
• Justin Fiske recorded 5 outs via the K allowing just one hit.

Johnson City 2, Bristol 4 (Game 1: 7 innings)

• Beau Riportella and Mike Folli both went 1-for-3 with a walk. Folli had a double.
• Andres Rosales threw 5 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs and striking out 4. He also hit a batter.

Johnson City 0, Bristol 7 (Game 2: 7 innings)

• Nick Vera went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles.
• This game must of sucked for JC because there isn’t a single standout pitcher and the rest of the lineup went down meekly. Nothing much to see here in the boxscore.

The GCL Cardinals game is suspended in the 2nd inning with the Cardinals down 5-0.