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DFR: Rob Kaminsky and the young pitching prospects end camp on a high note and Kenny Peoples-Walls has a big weekend

By ebo
USA TODAY Sports

This weekend marked the end of camp for the Cardinals minor league affiliate. Memphis headed north on Thursday to take on the parent club, but their was still plenty of action on the backfields as most of the Cardinals younger pitching prospects made starts and a few of the younger position players had impressive days.


Friday, March 27th
St. Louis at Memphis (Cancelled)

Inclement weather forced the Memphis Redbirds to cancel their planned exhibition against the Cardinals.

Springfield 2 Peoria 2 (5 Innings)

Springfield Pitching

  • Chris Thomas - 1 IP, K
  • Anthony Ferrara - 1 IP, H
  • Mitch Harris - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB
  • Steven Gaviglio - 2 IP, 3 H

Springfield Hitting

  • Patrick Wisdom (3B) - 1 for 2, R 3B
  • David Popkins - 2 for 2, RBI

Palm Beach Pitching

  • Kurt Heyer - 5 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 2K

Palm Beach Hitting

  • Ildemaro Vargas (SS) 1 for 2, R 2B

Notes:

  • After finishing up his Navy commitment Harris needs to make up for lost developmental time, since he will be 28 to start the season. Look for the club to challenge him this year, as they try to figure out what they have.
  • Wisdom continues to have a nice spring. After a solid debut in the New York-Penn League in 2012, he struggled last year at Peoria and Palm Beach. The Cardinals went heavy on third basemen early in the 2012 draft, but with Stephen Piscotty and Carson Kelly moving to RF and C respectively Wisdom is the last man standing. With no third basemen of note in the high minors he will have a chance to move fast this year.
  • David Popkins showed well in the tough offensive environment of the Florida State League last year, hitting .317/.377/.463 in 396 plate appearances. He'll be 24 to start the season, but there are a lot of outfield prospects in front of him, so he'll need to hit the ground running to get regular at-bats in Springfield and keep up his momentum from last season.

Peoria1 1 Peoria2 1


Peoria1 Pitching

  • Rob Kaminsky - 4 IP, 2 H, 4K
  • Juan Perez - 2 IP, 2 H, ER, BB, K

Peoria1 Hitting

  • Jimmy Bosco (LF) - 1 for 2
  • Kenneth Peoples-Walls - (CF) - 1 for 2
  • Jake Stone (1B) - 1 for 2
  • Mason Katz (2B) 1 for 2
  • JJ Altobelli (3B) 1 for 2

Peoria2 Pitching

  • Jimmy Reed - 5 IP, 5 H, ER, K

Peoria2 Hitting

  • Edmundo Sosa (SS) - 2 for 3
  • Elier Rodriguez (C) - 1 for 3, 2B, RBI

Notes:

  • Kaminsky threw only 22 innings last year in the Gulf Coast League after being drafted out of high school in the first round. He will likely stay behind in extended spring training before moving on to a short season assignment, but he has performed well this spring.
  • Peoples-Walls was drafted as a shortstop in 2011, but has been shifted to the outfield full time. He slashed .300/.351/.468 in his short season debut last year at Johnson City. Still only 20 years old, he's a good candidate to breakout in the low minors this season.
  • Jimmy Reed is the other diminutive lefty from the 2013 draft. He had a solid GCL NYPL debut last year, and will be hoping to crack the rotation in Peoria to start 2014.

Saturday, March 29th
Springfield 2 New Orleans 1

Springfield Pitching

  • Shelby Miller - 4 IP, 6 H, ER, BB, 2 K
  • Justin Wright - 2 IP, 3 K
  • Joe Donofrio - 1 IP
  • Iden Nazario - 1 IP, H
  • Danny Miranda - 1 IP

Springfield Hitting

  • Matt Williams (SS) - 2 for 3, 2B, RBI

Notes:

  • Shelby Miller stayed in Jupiter to get one final start while the big club went to Memphis and then on to Cincinnati. Miller is scheduled to start in Pittsburgh on Friday.
  • Matt Williams had a nice afternoon for the S-Cards. He has moved steadily through the system, topping out with a handful of at-bats in Springfield last year. Most of the organization's shortstop talent is clustered in the very lowest and very highest levels of the system, so Williams should have every opportunity to see if his patient, low strikeout approach will play in the high minors.
Palm Beach 2 Jacksonville 1


Palm Beach Pitching

  • Joe Cuda - 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 3 K
  • Aiden Lucas - 2 IP, 2 H, ER
  • Thomas Lee - 1 IP
  • Sam Tuivailala - 1 IP, 2 BB, 2 K

Palm Beach Hitting

  • Breyvic Valera (2B) - 3 for 4
  • Anthony Garcia (LF) - 2 for 3, R, 2B
  • Starlin Rodriguez (RF) - 2 for 3, R, 2B, RBI

Notes:

  • Sam Tuivailala doin' Sam Tuivailala things; throwing hard, walking batters and striking people out.
  • Anthony Garcia had hit well at every stop of his minor league career coming into last season. He still showed some pop last year at Palm Beach hitting 13 home runs, but his average cratered and he posted the lowest walk rate of his professional career, he needs to have a bounce back season to reclaim his prospect status.

Peoria1 6 Jupiter 4


Peoria Pitching

  • Mike Mayers - 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K
  • Jhonny Polanco - 1 IP, 2 H, K
  • Joe Scanio - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 K
  • Kyle Barraclough - 1 IP, H, BB
  • Zach Loraine - 1 IP

Peoria Hitting

  • Mason Katz (2B) - 2 for 5, R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
  • Kenny Peoples-Walls (LF) - 2 for 4, R, 3B
  • Jake Stone (1B) - 2 for 4, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI
Notes:
  • Mason Katz had a big afternoon for Peoria with a double and a homer. Katz made his professional debut in the Gulf Coast League New York-Penn League last year. The former LSU second baseman will likely start the year in Peoria, his bat will determine how fast he moves through the system.
Greensboro 6 Peoria2 2

Peoria Pitching

  • Silfredo Garcia - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
  • Steven Farinaro - 2 IP
  • Nick Lomascolo - 1 IP, H, K
  • Norge Paredes - 1 IP, H, BB, K

Peoria Hitting

  • Vaughn Bryan (CF) - 2 for 4
  • Oscar Mercado (SS) - 2 for 4

Notes:

  • Silfredo Garcia had a rough day, but the strike outs are encouraging, as he didn't miss many bats in the Midwest League last year.
  • Vaughn Bryan is of course Baseball Prospectus writer Jason Parks' candidate to break out this year. The toolsy outfielder has a very high ceiling, but a long way to go before he reaches it.
  • Oscar Mercado had a couple more base hits, as fourstick noted on Thursday, he is having a very strong spring.

Extended1 6 Batavia 1

Extended Pitching

  • Ian McKinney - 3 IP, H, BB
  • Dailyn Martinez - 3 IP, 2 H, BB, K
  • Jonathan Escudero - 1 IP, H, BB, 2 K
  • Steven Sabatino - 1 IP, H, ER, 2 BB
  • Anderson Gerdel - 1 IP

Extended Hitting

  • Rowan Wick (RF) - 2 for 4, 2 R, 2B, 3 RBI
  • Justin Ringo (1B) - 3 for 4, RBI
  • Ronnierd Garcia (3B) - 2 for 4, R, 2B
  • Leobaldo Pina (SS) - 2 for 4, R
Notes:
  • Red Baron favorite, Rowan Wick was the hitting star, it will be fun to see if he figures out how to make enough contact to take advantage of his tremendous power.
  • A Leobaldo Pina sighting, the 2011 international signee made his U.S. debut last year in the GCL. Even though he's beginning his fourth season in the Cardinals system he is still only 19, he will likely stay behind in extended spring training before moving on to a short season assignment.

Sunday, March 30th
Palm Beach 4 Springfield 2

Springfield Pitching

  • Seth Blair - 4 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 6 K
  • Logan Billbrough - 1 IP
  • Ronald Shaban - 1 IP, H, K
  • Kyle Hald - 1 IP, H, BB, 2 K
  • Robert Stock - 1 IP, BB, K

Springfield Hitting

  • Chris Swauger (LF) - 3 for 4, R, 2 2B

Notes:

  • Seth Blair got knocked around a bit by Palm Beach, but he only walked on batter. He walked batters at about half his career rate last year, it's a good sign that he has limited his free passes this spring.

Palm Beach Pitching

  • Zach Petrick - 5 IP, 2 H, 7 K
  • Sam Gaviglio - 1 IP, H, ER, BB, K
  • Anthony Ferrara - 1 IP, 2 H, ER, K
  • Ryan Sherriff - 1 IP, 2 K
  • Dixon Llorens - 1 IP, K
  • Dean Kiekhefer - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 K

Palm Beach Hitting

  • Breyvic Valera (SS) - 2 for 4, R, 2B
  • Jacob Wilson (3B) - 2 for 4, 2 R, HR, RBI
  • Casey Rasmus (C) 2 for 2, R, 2B, 2 BB

Notes:

  • Zach Petrick started the 2013 season and pitched his all the way to Springfield, he looks to have picked up where he left.
  • Dixon Llorens has missed a lot of bats in camp, which is kind of his thing, after two professional seasons his K/9 is sitting at 14.4.
  • Jacob Wilson provided the offense for Palm Beach, he will look to rebound from his rough stint in Palm Beach last year.

Peoria2 3 Peoria1 2

Peoria1 Pitching

  • Marco Gonzales - 3 IP, 2 H, 5 K
  • Cory Jones - 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, K
  • Corey Baker - 1 IP
  • Chris Perry - 1 IP, 2 K

Peoria1 Hitting

  • Vaughn Bryan (CF) - 3 for 3, R, 2B, RBI, BB
Notes:
  • Marco Gonzales looked good in his second start back after being sidelined earlier this spring with a sore forearm. Gonzales will likely start the season with Palm Beach.
  • Vaughn Bryan had all of his potential on display, filling up the box score for Peoria.

Peoria2 Pitching

  • Alex Reyes - 5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 6 K
  • Kevin Herget - 2 IP, H, BB, K
  • Kyle Grana - 1 IP, 2 H, ER
  • Will Anderson - 1 IP

Peoria2 Hitting

  • Jimmy Bosco (LF) - 1 for 4
  • Cesar Valera (SS) - 1 for 4
  • Ronald Castillo (DH) - 1 for 4
  • Kenny Peoples-Walls (CF) - 1 for 3, 2B, RBI

Notes:

  • Alex Reyes was strong in his final spring start.
  • Another day another extra base hit for Kenny Peoples-Walls.
  • Ronald Castillo capped off an impressive camp with a base hit.

Extended Spring Training Simulated Game

Extended Pitching

  • Chase Brookshire - 5 IP, 6 H,
  • Jeff Rauh - 1 IP, H
  • Brandon Lee - 1 IP,  H
  • Josh Lucas - 1 IP
  • Isaac Silva - 1 IP, H, ER

Extended Hitting

  • Rowan Wick - 1 for 3, HR, RBI
  • Elier Rodriguez - 2 for 4
  • Luis Perez - 2 for 4
Notes:
  • Rowan Wick ended camp with a bang, putting one over the fence.
As noted in the intro, Sunday was the final day of minor league camp. The organization will now begin the process of assigning players to its various affiliates. The real games will begin later this week.

Enjoy the rest of Opening Day.

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