Spring Farm Report - 3/20/13

CJ McElroy and Michael Swinson remind you of some talent in the lower minors. A weak pitching day overall but led by a very good John Gast outing.

Memphis 4, Springfield 2

Memphis

• John Gast was perfect for 3 innings striking out 2. The Cardinals have suffered some criticism for their inability to develop lefties in house (Jaime Garcia being the exception) but that's quietly changed. John Gast, Tyler Lyons and even Nick Additon have all reached Memphis with some degree of success. It's unreasonable to think that all three can have starting roles or even bullpen roles but the Cardinals have more depth on the left side in the upper minors than any point in the last several years.
• Eduardo Sanchez pitched 1.2 innings walking 1 and allowing 4 hits. He struck out 3.
• Deryk Hooker allowed 3 hits and 1 walk in 2 innings.
• Dixon Llorens allowed both Springfield runs on 3 hits and a walk in his inning of work.
• Tommy Pham was 1-for-2 with a 2 run home run.
• Ryan Jackson was 1-for-2. Not bad when you are batting inside a dog house.
• Jonathan Rodroguez was 2-for-4.
• Jermaine Curtis was 2-for-3 with a home run.

Springfield

• Scott Gorgen pitched 2 frames allowing 2 hits and striking out 1.
• Justin Wright struck out 1 allowing 1 hit in 2 innings.
• Matt Williams was 2-for-3 with two walks.
• Nick Martini was 2-for-3.
• Casey Rasmus was 2-for-2 wit a stolen base. He also tweeted out the full lyrics to a country song in between pitches. Twice.
• Stephen Piscotty was 2-for-5.

Palm Beach 7, Peoria 5

Palm Beach

• Sam Gaviglio walked 4 in 4 innings with 2 hits. If Gaviglio is going to succeed, he can't have many outings that look like that. Think Jake Westbrook as the ideal for Gaviglio. High groundball rate, low walks and low-90s fastball and a smattering of strikeouts.
• Jonathan Cornelius was roughed up for 3 runs on 5 hits. He struck out 2 in 2.2. IP.
• CJ McElroy was 2-for-5 with a home run. McElroy has seemingly had a good spring. (So hard to know without seeing him or having aggregate stats.) It's worth remembering that he's been quite awful for a season and a half. McElroy was always a long-term prospect who needed to make good on tools. If he can, there's special talent there.
• Jeremy Schaffer was 3-for-4.

Peoria

• Kyle Helisek allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits in 4 innings. He struck out 1.
• Joe Donofrio and Josh Renfro both allowed 2 hits in 2 innings of work. The former allowed 1 unearned run and the latter 2 unearned runs.
• Jacob Booden was perfect for 2 innings striking out 4.
• Michael Swinson was 4-for-5 with a triple and a stolen base. I nominate Swinson for the Adron Chambers post season pinch runner role once Chambers moves on. In my opinion, that's actually a remarkably valuable role to play in the offseason and Chambers won't be around forever.
  
• Lance Jeffries was perfect at the plate with a single and two walks.

Note: All stats provided by the Cardinals minor league staff and Farm Director. Comments and editorializing are the author's alone.