Daily Farm Report: Luken lurking?

Tulsa Drillers 5, Springfield Cardinals 4

Tommy Parsons (SP) - 4.1 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

Bryan Dobzanski (RP) - 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Yariel Gonzalez (1B-2B) - 1-4, HR, 2 RBI, K

Johan Mieses (RF) - 3-4, HR, RBI

Regardless of how the rest of the season shakes out, it’s impossible to judge Tommy Parsons’ 2019 campaign as anything other than a resounding success. As an undrafted free agent in his first full year of pro ball, Parsons has made 23 starts across Peoria, Palm Beach, and now Springfield. In that time, he’s pitched to a 3.01 ERA with an absolutely robotic 3.9% walk rate. The only real smudge on his record is a bought of homeritis at Springfield, where he’s allowed an astounding 21 home runs in just 66 innings. 21 in 66. Mind-bottling, isn’t it? You know, when things are so crazy, you get your thoughts trapped, like in a bottle? I need to watch that movie again...

Springfield is now 54-68. The series with Tulsa will continue tonight at 7:05pm CDT.

Tampa Tarpons 11, Palm Beach Cardinals 4

Kyle Leahy (SP) - 6 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Luken Baker (1B) - 2-4, 2B, RBI, K

Nolan Gorman (3B) - 2-4

I’m going to toss two lines at you:

Player #1: .288/.359/.417, 10.3% BB%, 19.9% K%, .129 ISO, .349 BABIP, 123 wRC+

Player #2: .236/.324/.364, 10.9% BB%, 22.2% K%, .128 ISO, .297 BABIP, 107 wRC+

Any guesses? Okay, so it’s not that big of a mystery. Both players are hulking first basemen Luken Baker, with the top line being his Peoria 2018 campaign and the bottom his 2019 in Palm Beach. Baker is one of my picks to break out next year, for a few reasons. His 2018 and 2019 marks are remarkably similar, with the only real differences being a slight K% uptick and a BABIP downtick at Palm Beach. Now take his FB% increase (34.0% to 44.4%) and adjust for the hitting misery of Roger Dean, and it’s not hard to see a player simply waiting to be freed from the Florida State League.

The Cardinals are now 53-65. They take on Tampa again this evening at 5:30pm CDT.

Peoria Chiefs 6 @ Kane County Cougars 3

Dalton Roach (SP) - 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K

Leandro Cedeno (DH) - 2-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI, K

Imeldo Diaz (3B) - 3-4, HR, RBI

Jonatan Machado (CF) - 1-4, 2B, BB

Time for a deep cut. Heard of Imeldo Diaz? Me neither, not really. The most preliminary stages of Googling has told me a couple things. He’s been a Cardinals since 2017, when he was acquired from the Red Sox on July 2 for international cap money. His tools are mainly average across the board, with 45’s or 50’s on his raw power, speed, and arm strength. He doesn’t strike out a whole lot, but he also doesn’t exactly hoard walks either. So far in 2019, he’s traversed Peoria and Palm Beach and has hit .307/.343/.411 in 43 games. Yeah, so a bit of an obscure prospect blurb. The Chiefs didn’t give me a whole lot to work with on this Thursday morning.

The win improves Peoria to 45-75. The Chiefs face off with Kane County again tonight at 6:30pm CDT.

Mahoning Valley Scrappers 7, State College Spikes 5

Scott Politz (SP) - 3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

Jacob Schlesener (RP) - 3.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

Terry Fuller (RF) - 1-3, 3B, RBI, BB

Dariel Gomez (1B) - 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Did anyone expect this? Fuller was an enigma entering 2019 after only playing 11 games in 2018, and now he’s found success at both Johnson City and State College. I’m not saying that Fuller finding success in itself is weird, but the way that success has come about should be surprising to us all. While he appeared to be a three-true-outcomes prototype first baseman coming out of high school, Fuller has displayed much more advanced plate discipline than I think any of us reasonably expected. He’s walked a wild amount (15.4%) and struck out a reasonable amount (25.6%), while also playing basically every game in right field. It’s not a token corner outfield assignment either - Fuller’s conditioning has improved so much that he can comfortably fit there long-term now. The power? It’ll come. His game is still unrefined, and the raw power is still minimum 70-grade, so to my eye it’s just a matter of time before balls start flying out of the park at a healthy clip.

The Spikes are now 29-29. The series against Mahoning Valley continues tonight at 6:05pm CDT.

GCL Cardinals 3, GCL Mets 2

Inohan Paniagua (SP) - 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K

Cristhian Longa (C) - 2-3, 2 2B

Patrick Romeri (CF-LF) - 2-4, RBI, 2 K

Pablo Gomez (2B) - 1-2, RBI, BB, K

DSL Cardinals Blue 12, DSL Orioles 5

Yordy Richard (SP) - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 HR

Benjamin Arias (RP) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 Er, 0 BB, 4 K

Hansel Otamendi (CF) - 1-2, 3 RBI, 3 BB

Darlyn Del Villar (SS) - 1-5, 2 RBI, K

DSL Phillies White 2, DSL Cardinals Red 1

Yonael Dominguez (SP) - 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

Luis Garcia (RP) - 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Sander Mora (SS) - 3-3, 2B, BB

~

Thursday’s Probables

MEM: Daniel Ponce de Leon

SPR: Evan Kruczynski

PMB: TBD

PEO: TBD

SC: Adrian Mardueno

JC: Jose Moreno