Potential September Callups

by ckeiner on Aug 26, 2011 10:39 AM EDT

As the team seems to have fallen out of contention in the past week or two, I thought it might be interesting to look at the potential September callups and how they have been doing in the minors. Right now, Memphis is still in the hunt for the post-season, while Springfield seems to have fallen out of contention as of late. Just a refresher on the rules, to be called up in September, you must be on the 40 man roster.

Pitchers:

Maikel Cleto (currently at Memphis) 5-2, 3.74 ERA, 39BB:61K's

With it looking increasingly likely that Jaime Garcia's arm is just plain tired, it probably makes sense to bring up Cleto again and see if he can start at the big league level, if nothing else, to allow Jaime to skip a start and see if that helps his performance.

Brandon Dickson (currently at Memphis) 8-9. 3.73 ERA, 32BB:122K's

***Update*** per stlcardinals.com, Brandon Dickson will be starting against the Brewers on Thursday, Sep. 1, making him the first official September call up.

Having much better control than Cleto, but perhaps not the same stuff, Dickson is also a nice candidate to make a spot start if Garcia needs some rest.

Infielders:

These guys you largely already know as they have all seen time up with the Cardinals. I suppose there is an outside chance that Cox gets a look. However, I think that with the depth at 3rd with M. Carp, it is more likely that Cox gets his next chance with StL next spring.

Matt Carpenter (currently at Memphis) .303/.419/.463

Matt has been a consistent hitter throughout the minors and it makes sense to have him spelling Freese in September rather than playing Descalso over there.

Tyler Greene (currently at Memphis) .333/.430/.617

When you look at Tyler's AAA numbers you wonder why he hasn't stuck in St. Louis. When you look at his St. Louis numbers, you wonder how he can hit so well down in Memphis. If Furcal doesn't figure into the future plans, why not let Greene start most of the games in September and see if he can hit if given regular AB's.

Mark Hamilton (currently at Memphis) .346/.435/.475

The main knock on Mark is that he just doesn't have the kind of power you would like out of a 1B. However, he gets on base at a pretty good clip and hits for great average. I don't envision him seeing a lot of playing time in September unless something unmentionable happens to a certain 1B, God forbid.

Pete Kozma (currently at Memphis) .220/.288/.299

Obviously Kozma has been a big disappointment for a great man Cardinals fans. He has been outplayed by Greene and without really being a dynamic fielder, it is unlikely that he will get much playing time. He certainly doesn't deserve to grab AB's from Greene.

Zach Cox (currently at Springfield) .312/.379/.457

If you have followed along on Future Redbirds, you know that Cox has turned it on as of late. As I said above, I would be surprised if he gets a September callup, especially barring injury. However, the kid can clearly hit once he gets settled. He will definitely be knocking on the door next spring and almost certainly will see some time in StL next September. Having 3 major-league quality 3B's is a nice problem to have. Lets hope Mo doesn't find a way to screw that up.

Outfielders

Adron Chambers (currently at Memphis) .281/.373/.420

When your current backup Centerfielder is Corey Patterson, it makes sense to bring up the kid from Memphis and see what he can do. Patterson should not see another AB once September 1st rolls around. Actually, Patterson just shouldn't be seeing AB's at all.

Andrew Brown (currently at Memphis) .286/.384/.505

Brown has shown some pop, however unless something happens to prevent Berkman, Holliday, or Craig from playing everyday, Brown would be unlikely to get much playing time in September.

Catcher

Tony Cruz (currently at Memphis) .271/.331/.403

Given his relative success when Laird was injured earlier this season, and his ability to play several positions, Cruz will be a very likely call up.

Bryan Anderson (currently at Memphis) .293/.365/.427

I would be surprised to see Bryan wear the Cardinals uniform this year, and perhaps ever. He has been overtaken by Cruz and clearly doesn't excite the Cardinals' management or front office.

If nothing else, we can look forward to some fresh faces getting a cup of coffee. I am especially looking forward to seeing the young pitchers show what they can do as both have been pitching quite well as of late.

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Comments

Re: Mark Hamilton

I don’t envision him seeing a lot of playing time in September unless something unmentionable happens to a certain 1B, God forbid.

I think it’d take something happening to not only Pujols, but also Puma for Hamilton to get regular playing time at first base.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

- John Wayne

by Tackle Box on Aug 26, 2011 12:44 PM EDT reply actions

his role will mostly be stepping in at first when we

Lead or trail by 8 or more.

"the less I think of it, the more certain I am." beckett

by tom s. on Aug 27, 2011 2:39 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I wouldn't expect to see many of those

Given Tony’s recent comments.

And also, does Cleito really deserve a shot? His control is horrible. 39 walks in 67 innings at AAA is crazy. The guy is 22. Let him figure things out in AAA for a while. In all honesty, I don’t see why he’s even at AAA, AA seems more likely. I dunno why they are trying to rush the guy – it’s like they feel the need to justify the Ryan trade. But he just doesn’t seem to be ready.

by DiscoJer on Aug 26, 2011 6:37 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Admittedly, as with most arbitrary stats, SSS is opperative here

but Cleto has a 2.17 ERA in August, with 17 BB’s and 27K’s. Neither of those last two numbers inspire a whole lot of confidence, but he has been effective and he has some pretty good stuff. I would rather see Dixon as he seems to have much, much better control and with an improved defense behind him should see better results than his first time through.

by ckeiner on Aug 26, 2011 9:06 PM EDT reply actions

While there probably isn't any one better at Memphis

Even just going by August, 19 walks in 29 innings pitched isn’t so hot. (that’s 6.5 per 9 innings, which is worse than his yearly total)
..

by DiscoJer on Aug 27, 2011 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions

it's Dickson, right?

by stlfan on Aug 27, 2011 9:06 AM EDT reply actions

fixed

Thanks

by ckeiner on Aug 27, 2011 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions

I still am flabbergasted that he is white...

I never knew. Same with Robinson!

Geez.

by stlfan on Sep 4, 2011 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions

I think it would make sense to bring up Chambers to see what he does

also it would be intriguing to give Garcia some rest and try another starter, but I don’t think that’ll happen. tyler greene seems like a no-brainer to call up. might point out that Greene is on his last option I think.

low in the zone

by Cards Fan in Chitown on Aug 29, 2011 12:39 AM EDT reply actions

This is a what will happen compared to what i'd like to see

There are 3 no-brainers here; Tony Cruz, Tyler Greene and Brandon Dickson. Extra pitching is needed so Brandon is a given. Larussa has already said Cruz will be back in the first group of call-ups. Greene, will it’s his base stealing that has earned him another chance to fail at the plate. I’ll wager Matt Carpenter gets the nod for his strong second half and high OBP.. Now here’s where I go with what I’d like to see; Bryan Anderson has been terrific with regular playing time and hitting well over .300 since Cruz was called up to St.Louis. I give him another look. Plus I trade Laird to a contending team. Shelby Miller has got to be given a look, so dropped from the 40-man is Francisco Samuel and the ‘Tossin’ Texan’ gets added. Also deleted is Pete Kozma (let’s face it, the only reason he’s on there in the first place is because the front office is still trying to con the fans into thinking he was a good pick) and I reward the first player in the organization to top 100 rbi this year with a well earned call up. Take a bow Nick Stavinoha. With Laird’s spot on the roster I give Shane Robinson his chance to prove he could be a 5th outfielder. So that’s 8 players in total.

by Wileyvet on Aug 29, 2011 2:26 AM EDT reply actions