Daily Farm Report: Gorman Goes Deep (Again)

The minor league slate was anything but lacking in action on Monday. Three of the upper level affiliates picked up wins, and three of the five affiliates won games in the later innings. Also, spoiler alert, Nolan Gorman has power.

Memphis Redbirds 7 at Iowa Cubs 3

Chris Ellis (SP): 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K’s

Max Schrock (2B): 2-3, 2 2B, R

Luke Voit (1B): 3-3, 2 BB, 2 R

Patrick Wisdom (3B): 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

The Redbirds started hot in the top of the first. Max Schrock led off with a double and was moved to third by a Luke Voit single two batters later. Patrick Wisdom capitalized with runners on with a line drive double to center. Schrock and Voit both came in to score.

The Iowa Cubs cut the deficit with a Victor Caritini sac fly to score a run. Jason Vosler later homered off of Memphis starter Chris Ellis to give the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Those would be the last runs that Iowa would score in the game. Memphis would pick up two more runs in the sixth, this time on a wild pitch and a sac fly. The Memphis lead extended in the ninth when Edmundo Sosa doubled in three base runners.

Luke Voit’s bat stayed hot with the 3-3 effort. Over the last ten games, Voit is slashing .425/.455/.775 across 40 AB’s. That streak also includes three home runs.

Springfield Cardinals 6 at Midland Rockhounds 3

Sam Tewes (SP): 6 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 3 K’s

Tommy Edman (SS): 2-5, 2B, RBI, R

Chris Chinea (DH): 3-4, 2 RBI, R

Lane Thomas (CF): 2-5, R

Springfield mounted a late comeback to steal this game from the Midland Rockhounds. The contest remained scoreless through five frames until the Rockhounds finally tagged Springfield starter Sam Tewes. The wheels came off fairly quickly for Tewes in the sixth inning. He induced a line out to start he inning, but hit Richie Martin in the next at bat. He followed to hit by pitch up by walking Sean Murphy. A subsequent passed ball would send Martin and Murphy to third and second, respectively. Seth Brown capitalized with a triple. In the following at bat, Brown would score on a sac fly.

The Cardinals’ bats came alive in the ninth when Chris Chinea hit a two-run single with the bases loaded. Victor Roache then walked to reload the bases. Outfielder Johan Mieses then reached on a fielding error, which was able to score Jeremy Martinez. Infielders Tommy Edman and Ramon Urias would pile on runs with singles later in the frame.

The win puts Springfield at 35-46 on the season.

Palm Beach Cardinals 4 at Bradenton Marauders 2

Diego Cordero (SP): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Andy Young (2B); 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

Kramer Robertson (SS): 2-4, BB, R

Danny Hudzina (3B): 1-3, 2B, RBI

Palm Beach also staged a late comeback to take the game, this time in extra innings. Bradenton jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Cardinal starter Diego Cordero would settle in and hold the Marauders to no runs for the rest of his outing.

The Cardinals would jump ahead in the top of the seventh. Infielder Andy Young homered to left to open the frame. Danny Hudzina would drive in the go ahead with a double to plate outfielder J.B. Woodman. In the bottom of the frame, Bradenton tied the contest with a home run of their own.

In the tenth inning, Palm Beach regained the lead with a bases loaded walk. They would add one more via an Andy Young sac fly. The Cardinals went on the win the game by that margin.

Burlington Bees 9, Peoria Chiefs 8

Franyel Casadilla (SP): 3 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K’s

Nick Plummer (CF): 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, 2 R’s

Elehuris Montero (3B): 3-4. 2B, 2 RBI, BB, 2 R

Julio Rodriguez (C): 3-5, 2 RBI

Peoria jumped out to a large lead by the second inning but eventually lost the game in extra innings. Starting in the sixth inning, Burlington was able to steadily chip away at the Chiefs lead. They would ultimately capitalize with a Kevin Williams RBI single in the tenth.

The most interesting part of this game is a pair of individual performances. The first is from former first round pick Nick Plummer. He’s struggled at the plate again this year after having the beginning of his career derailed by injury. After the strong 2-3 effort on Monday, Plummer is slashing .227/.353/.381. He’s still running high walk rates and hitting for modest power, but contact continues to be an issue. Prospect fatigue has certainly set in. Hand injuries can be tricky, however, so don’t count him out as a late bloomer down the road. I’m just saying the peripherals are good so it’s a possibility.

The other strong performance came from infielder Elehuris Montero. Montero just keeps adding onto his stellar 2018 campaign. Through Monday, the 19 year old infielder is slashing .322/.378/.511 in the Midwest League. That’s good for a 148 wRC+. The youth and results are both promising, we’ll just have to wait and see what reports on the glove look like.

Mahoning Valley Scrapper 9 at State College Spikes 7

Winston Nicacio (SP): 0 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 0 K

Nick Dunn (2B): 2-5, 2 R

Brady Whalen (1B): 2-4, 2B, 4 RBI

Edwin Figuera (3B): 2-2, BB, 2 R

Edgar Gonzalez (RP): 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 3 K’s

Things didn't start off on a great foot for State College. Starter Winston Nicacio never recorded an out in the first inning before being pulled in favor of reliever Gabe Gentner. Gentner would go on to throw four innings and give up two runs.

The Spikes took the largest chunk out of the Mahoning Valley lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Nick Dunn singled to load the bases. A wild pitch with Edwin Figuera at the plate scored the first run of the frame. Brady Whalen later doubled to bring in three more runs. The four run effort would leave the Spikes down only 7-6. They’d tie the game in the fifth, but couldn’t stop the Scrappers from adding a run a piece in the sixth and ninth innings.

The loss puts State College at 6-11 on the year.

Johnson City Cardinals 13, Greenville Reds 12

Wowza. The one was a doozie. Greenville came out of the gates red hot, piling on twelve runs in the first four innings. The burden was on Johnson City to claw their way back.

The Cardinals comeback began in the bottom of the third inning. With Leandro Cedeno and Nolan Gorman on base, Kevin Woodall doubled to left field to score two runs. Daniel Gomez then homered to score two more. 6-4 Greenville.

Greenville responded with six runs to extend a 12-4 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Leandro Cedeno hit a home run to left field to plate two runs. Nolan Gorman followed Cedeno’s lead by homering in the next at bat. Johnson would continue to chip away at the Greenville lead, only to come out on top via a wild pitch in extra innings.

Gorman’s home run was his fourth of the young season. Through the first round pick’s first ten games, he’s slashing .294/.429/.676 for a 174 wRC+. The Arizona native is striking out a fair amount (21.4%) but also walking at a crazy clip (19.0%). Small sample size to be sure, but hey, chicks dig the long ball.

GCL Cardinals 9 at GCL Mets 4

Enmanuel Solano (SP): 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 2 K’s

Josh Shaw (3B): 2-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, R

Raffy Ozuna (DH): 2-4, RBI, BB, 3 R

William Jimenez (CF): 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI

DSL Rangers 13, DSL Cardinals Red 4

Wilman Madera (SP): 0.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 2 K’s

Sander Mora (SS): 2-4. 2B, R

Francisco Hernandez (3B): 1-3, RBI, R

DSL Yankees 6 at DSL Cardinals Blue 0

Hector Soto (SP): 5 IP. 3 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K’s

Carlos Soler (CF): 1-3, BB

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Tuesday’s Probables

MEM: Dakota Hudson

SPR: TBD

PMB: Evan Guillory

PEO: Johan Oviedo

SC: Angel Rondon

JC: Dionis Zamora