JUPITER, Fla. — The major-league season is, oh, not yet two innings old as I start to write this, but all around Roger Dean Stadium and the Cardinals’ complex there’s a quickening of the pace.
The big-league Cardinals are settling into the roster they’ll take north — the brass is having a meeting with the coaches this morning — and the minor leaguers are making their final pitches for a spot on the highest level possible. On Monday, that included some of the bigger bats in the organization popping off. One is trying to win an outfield spot at the highest affiliate, the other is just trying to claim on a spot anywhere he can.
Check out the power from Monday’s games:
- Amaury Marti, the Cuban draft pick, hit a pair of solo homers for Memphis.
- Travis Mitchell doubled and homered for Quad Cities.
- Charles Kingery homered and walked twice for QC.
- Matthew Arburr went 2-for-4 with a HR and two RBIs for QC.
- And Carlos Pupo. He was hanging around campus, hanging around campus, and was a last-minute add to the minor-league camp at the request of hitting coach Dan Radison. He went 3-for-4 and mashed a shot that cleared the batter’s eye in center field.
On with the Vuch Report:
** Memphis defeated Albuquerque, 8-1 **
– Joel Piniero, working his way back from shoulder discomfort, pitched two innings, allowed one hit, no runs and he struck out two. … Lefty Ron Flores worked on inning, allowed one hit and struck out two. … John Wasdin, who had his major-league camp ended by shoulder trouble, worked two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out one against a walk. … Ah, lefty Joe Rogers. He went three innings, allowed two hits and one run. He struck out four.
– In addition to Marti’s homers, Memphis got offense from Joe Mather, who had two doubles and three RBIs.
** Springfield defeated Carolina, 5-1 **
– Righthanded pitcher Adam Ottavino worked 4 2/3 scoreless innings, allowed four hits and struck out seven. If there’s a pitcher that is surging out of major-league camp and into the minors it’s Ottavino. … Young prospect Tyler Herron worked three innings. He allowed one run, two hits, walked one and struck out two. … Matt Scherer pitched one perfect inning.
– Jon Jay looks healthy. He was 3-for-5. … Bryan Anderson went 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. … Tyler Greene and Dan Nelson had two hits each.
** Palm Beach lost to Jupiter, 6-1 **
– Righthander Blake King worked four innings, allowed two hits and two runs. He walked four and struck out four. … Kyle Sadlowski gave up two earned runs on four hits and two walks in his inning. … Marco Gonzalez got five outs, but not before allowing three hits and one earned run. … Cordoza Tucker pitched an inning and allowed no hits and an unearned run.
– Brandon Buckman was 2-for-4. … Tommy Pham doubled. … Daniel Descalso was 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored. … Tony Cruz went 1-for-3 with a walk.
** Quad Cities #1 defeated Greensboro, 9-5 **
– Nick Additon went three innings, allowing one earned run on one hit. He walked three and struck out four. … Logan Collier went 1 2/3 innings, allowing two hits and three runs (two earned). He walked three. … Davis Bilardello pitched 1 1/3 scoreless and Eduardo Sanchez worked two scoreless innings. … Justin Fiske pitched a scoreless inning, allowing two hits and one unearned run.
– Mitchell, Pupo and Kingery propelled Quad Cities’ offense with their homers. But they were not the only extra-base shots for the River Bandits. Beau Riportella had a pair of doubles, scored a run and had an RBI. … Brian Cartie went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI.
** Quad Cities #2 lost to Marlins’ 5th club, 5-2 **
– Prep draft pick Brett Zawacki pitched four innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out two, but walked three. … Matt Spade worked two innings, giving up two runs off two hits and a walk. He struck out two. … David Riddle pitched two hitless innings, walking two and striking out two. … Jose Mateo worked one scoreless inning.
– Arburr’s homer was the biggest blast. And then Ivan Bellazetin went 2-for-4 and Colin Fanning had the only other hit.
***
This is the third spring of the Vuch Report, an exclusive feature of Bird Land. Each day John Vuch, the Cardinals director of minor league operations, harvests statistics and notes from the game reports and scorebooks of the minor-league games played on the back fields. The numbers are his, the comments are mine.
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