JUPITER, Fla. — That 2005 draft that the St. Louis Cardinals have billed as transformative for the organization had its first player make his major-league debut last year, could produce its first major-league contributor officially this weekend (see: Colby Rasmus), and it passed another milestone within the past couple weeks. One of the picks is coming out of retirement to try again.
Josh Wilson, a righthanded pitcher taken 70th overall, had his agent contact the Cardinals recently to see if they had a second chance for him. Wilson made 15 appearances (11 starts) last season in Low-A Quad Cities, and he posted a 1-5, 4.21 turn less than stellar additional stats (41 strikeouts, 68 1/3 innings, 76 hits allowed, etc.). Weary of pitching through soreness and the rehab from several surgeries, Wilson decided to retire — leave the game just three years after receiving a $500,000+ bonus and topping out at the Midwest League. Coaches say he was starting show signs of returning to form when he walked walk away. He was regaining his arm strength and pitching in the 89-90 area.
Now Wilson feels healthy, stronger and is eager to try it again. The Cardinals will have him report in the coming week to extended spring training and see where the second-round pick is after a year.
With that minor-league news noted, here is the belated Vuch Report from Wednesday, a day of only losses for the St. Louis Cardinals’ affiliates:
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Buffalo 6, Memphis 0
– Blake Hawksworth struck out five but allowed seven hits, two walks and two earned runs in his five innings of work. … Lefty Katsuhiko Maekawa pitched three innings and allowd two hits, two earned runs and two walks against four strikeouts.
– In his Triple-A debut, closer Chris Perez pitched an inning and allowed two hits and two earned runs. He struck out two. Perez’s velocity was in the mid-90s, but there is something about velocity that I was reminded of this morning — and would be good not to forget. Raw velocity isn’t as important as strike velocity. So a guy throws 98 mph, right? But was that a strike. Saw Francisco Samuel throw strikes at 94 and 95 mph yesterday. But when he uncorks it at 98 mph, is that strike? Ditto with Perez and Jason Motte. Motte, according to a survey from ESPN.com, has thrown some of the fastest pitches scouts have clocked this spring. And he has done it throwing strikes at 97 mph, or more. A lot of times, you’ll read such things as he pitched at 9X mph, but he touched 9X mph. The touched is the high end, and the “pitched at” can be code for strikes. In the coverage, I will continue to try and distinguish between the raw velocity and the strike velocity when possible.
– Nick Stavinoha, who will play all over, went 2-for-3, with a double and walk. … Antonio DeJesus, David Freese (on loan to get at-bats), Bryan Anderson, Casey Rowlett all went 1-for-3. … Brian Barton was 1-for-4. … The Triple-A team is leaving camp today to go north and meet the major-league club in Memphis tomorrow.
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Binghamton 9, Springfield 1
– TCU’s own and lefty Brad Furnish had a line of 4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K in the start. … Elvis Hernandez 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 unearned run, 0 BB, 1 K. … Ken Maiques had his best outing of the spring according to some observers with a line of 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB. … And here is where that velocity discussion above comes into play most of all: Francisco Samuel pitched 2/3 inning, allowed two hits and three runs and walked three batters. His velocity was up there. His results were not. … Pete Parise had a line of 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 K.
– Tyler Henley went 3-for-4 with a run scored. … Second baseman Daniel Descalso was 2-for-4. … Brett Wallace, Andrew Brown, James Rapoport all 1-for-4.
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St. Lucie 3, Palm Beach 2
– Lefty Ryan Kulik had a line of 4 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 Ks. … Mickey Mantle’s kin Blake King pitched a scoreless inning with one hit allowed, one walk and one strikeout. … Lefty Sam Freeman pitched a couple innings, allowd a couple hits and walked three batters. … Thomas Eager had a perfect inning with three groundouts. … And, again, a velocity guy: Adam Reifer pitched an inning. He walked one and struck out one. Did not allow a run.
– Nick Derba was 1-for-2 with a double and walk. … Third baseman Jermaine Curtis went 1-for-3 with a double. … Charlie Kingrey was 1-for-3 and he scored a run.
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Savannah 4, Quad Cities #1 0
– Scott McGregor had a line of 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. … Kevin Thomas followed with a line of 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks. … Jose Rada pitched and inning and allowed two hits, one earned run and a walk. He K’d one. … Ramon Delgado had a couple strikeouts in his inning of work. He also allowed two baserunners.
– Paul Cruz was 2-for-4. … Alex Castellanos and Roberto Espinoza both went 1-for-3.
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Long Island Storm 7, Quad Cities #2 1
– The LI Storm is a traveling semi-pro team, that has some players with professional experience. A few of the players were in the WBC for various teams, including a pitcher from Team Italia. … Reynier Gonzalez had a line of 2.2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. … Randy Santos retired the only hitter he faced. … Senger Peralta collected five outs, allowing three hits and no runs and no walks. He did strike out one. … Matt Frevert, a Columbia, Mo., native and Missouri State alum, pitched two scoreless innings. He did not walk a batter, did not allow a hit and he struck out three. … Marco Gonzalez had a line of 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 Ks. … Kristhiam Linares followed with a line of 0.2 IP,2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 Ks.
– For the QC2 hitters, Edwin Gomez was 1-for-3 with a double. … Frederick Parejo, an All-Star last year whose name has not come up a bunch this spring, was 1-for-4 with a double. … Jose Garcia went 1-for-3 with an RBI. … Brett Lilly 1-for-3 with a walk. … Travis Mitchell and Beau Riportella were 1-for-4. … Shortstop Yunior Castillo 1-for-3
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Have seen and received some questions about infielder Jose Martinez, who was a highly thought of prospect and arguably the team’s best prospect at second base for a couple year stretch. Martinez is still with the team, but he has missed almost all of spring training while dealing with a family issue back home in Venezuela. He is expected to arrive this week, as spring training for the minor leagues closes. That will impact his assignment to start the year as others have leapfrogged him in the depth chart.
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