St. Louis Cardinals Daily Farm Report: Cooney tunes up against Sounds

Memphis beat Nashville 8 - 1

• Shane Robinson (RF), 2 for 5, 2B, 2 Runs, RBI
• Randal Grichuk (LF), 1 for 5, HR, R, RBI
• Thomas Pham (CF), 0 for 2, 2 BBs, K
• Greg Garcia (2B), 2 for 3, BB, 2 RBI
• Pete Kozma (SS), 1 for 4, K, RBI
• Stephen Piscotty (PH), 0 for 1
• Tim Cooney, 8.0 IP, 8 Ks, 0 BBs, 3 Hits, HR, ER

Notes:

Great start from Cooney, against former Cardinal farmhand (and teammate with Springfield, I think). Cooney has struggled a bit the last couple of months with a 40:30 K:BB ratio, so it's great to see him with a dominant outing like this one, particularly at a time when the Cardinals' rotation has had some injuries and the continued lackluster performance from Shelby Miller.

Springfield beat Northwest Arkansas 4 - 1

• Mike O'Neill (LF), 0 for 4
• Cody Stanley (C), 2 for 3, 2 HRs, 2 Runs, 2 RBI
• James Ramsey (RF), 0 for 4, K
• Breyvic Valera (2B), 0 for 3, K
• Rafael Ortega (CF), 3 for 3, HR, R, 2 RBI
• Jonathan Cornelius, 6.0 IP, 4 Ks, 0 BBs, 6 Hits, ER
• Christopher Thomas, 2.0 IP, 4 Ks, H
• Justin Wright, 1.0 IP, H

Notes:

Great game from Cody Stanley, obviously. He's now at .351/.395/.622 in his last ten games. I'm eager to see what he can do at AAA, with an eye toward having a backup catcher with offensive potential on the major league roster in 2015.

Not a great first game back from James Ramsey, but it's nice to see him back nonetheless. After sitting on the DL for the better part of the month, he still ranks third in the Texas League in home runs, five behind the lead, and two ahead of Stanley and Patrick Wisdom for the team lead. Memphis is still pretty crowded, but it would be nice to see Ramsey get back to mashing

Palm Beach beat Fort Myers 3 - 2

• Charlie Tilson (CF), 0 for 3, K
• Anthony Garcia (LF), 1 for 3
• Silfredo Garcia, 7.0 IP, CG, 7 Ks, BB, HR, 4 Hits, 2 ER

Palm Beach beat Fort Myers 4 - 1

• Charlie Tilson (CF), 1 for 2, BB, K, 2 Runs
• Anthony Garcia (LF), 1 for 3, K
• Jimmy Reed, 7.0 IP, CG, 6 Ks, 0 BBs, 4 Hits, ER

Notes:

The doubleheader made up for the prior day's rain out. Garcia and Reed did an impressive job not only keeping runs off the board, but also by going the (relatively short) distance to give the bullpen a rest  in a situation where relievers can sometime be used up quite a bit.

Peoria beat Clinton 4 - 3

• Vaughn Bryan (CF), 1 for 4, Fielding Error
• C.J. McElroy (LF), 0 for 2, 2 BBs, 2 Ks, R, SB (23rd)
• Carson Kelly (DH), 2 for 4, R, RBI
• Steve Bean (C), 0 for 2, BB, K
• Alex Reyes, 4 2/3 IP, 7 Ks, 2 BBs, 3 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 ER

Notes:

A solid start from Reyes, but still pretty inefficient, considering he couldn't get through five innings. It's clear Reyes has dynamite stuff, and also clear he still has some control issues to figure out. This has me wondering, do players that "figure it out" usually make a sudden turn, like Shelby's dramatic tale of two halves in Memphis a couple season back, or is it usually a more gradual progression? I don't have an answer, though I'm sure there are plenty of both.

State College lost to Brooklyn 0 - 4

• Darren Seferina (2B), 0 for 5, 3 Ks
• Rowan Wick (RF), 1 for 4, K
• Nick Thompson (LF), 2 for 4, CS
• Brian O'Keefe (C), 1 for 3, 2 Ks, PB
• Daniel Poncedeleon, 2 2/3 IP, 5 Ks, 4 BBs, 2 Hits, 3 ER

DSL Cardinals lost to the DSL Nationals 1 - 4

GCL Cardinals beat GCL Mets 2 - 1

• Edmundo Sosa (SS), 1 for 2, 3B, R
• Elier Rodriugez (1B), 0 for 2, K
• Malik Collymore (2B), 1 for 2, K, RBI
• Jorge L. Rodriguez, 5.0 IP, 4 Ks, BB, 3 Hits, ER, CG

Notes:

This game was called after five innings due to rain.

Johnson City lost to Greeneville 2 - 8

• Casey Turgeon (2B), 2 for 4, 3B, R
• Oscar Mercado (SS), 2 for 4, R, RBI, SB, Throwing Error (11th)
• Blake Drake (CF), 0 for 3, BB, K
• Jose Godoy (C), 1 for 3
• Steven Farinaro, 3.0 IP, 4 Hits, K, 5 Runs, ER, 0 BBs, HR

Notes:

Oscar Mercado now has hits in eight of his last ten games, .357/.400/.452 in that time. I can't say I was a fan of drafting him -- draft picks that haven't hit always strike me as bad -- but if he continues to hit he's a very exciting prospect.

Tonight's Starters:

Memphis: Boone Whiting

Springfield: Kurt Heyer

Palm Beach: Kyle Helisek

Peoria: Chase Brookshire

State College: Cody Schumacher

Johnson City: Ian McKinney