DOWNTOWN — The Cardinals four highest minor-league affiliates will open their regular seasons today, and already there was a move of some consequence.

Trey Hearne, who became something of an Internet darling in 2006 with his performance at Low-A Quad Cities, will pitch this season in the Mexican League. The righthander reported to Minatitlan, the same club outfielder Amaury Marti started with last summer. The Cardinals were lacking innings to give the starter, so they completed a “deal” with the Mexican League team that included lefty Joe Rogers coming to the Cardinals’ to help their Triple-A rotation.

Hearne burst onto the prospect radar a couple seasons ago, going 12-3 with a 2.25 ERA for the Club Formerly Known as the Swing. He also was one a handful of Cardinals’ minor-league pitchers who allowed fewer hits than innings pitched. He didn’t throw hard (in the mid-80s), fashioned himself as a control pitcher (late movement; gobs of grounders) and came from a lesser-known college program (one of two drafted out of Corpus Christi A&M; both by the Cardinals). He had all the trappings of sensation, straight out of the Cardinals expanded database analytical draft and scouting survery number crunching.

He was STOUT before STOUT was STOUT.

After stumbling a bit in High-A Palm Beach last summer — 5-11 and a 5.95 ERA — Hearne will work his way back from south of the border. The Mexican League is considered a Triple-A level league, though its competition level is sandwiched between Class AA and Class AAA.

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In the Cards’ minors, here are Thursday’s opening day starters:

• For Memphis: RHP Mike Parisi
• For Springfield: RHP P. J. Walters
• For Palm Beach: RHP Tyler Herron/RHP Brandon Dickson
• For Quad Cities: RHP Shawn Garceau/LHP J.D. Stambaugh

The Cardinals two Class A clubs will be using the piggyback rotation this season. This was employed last year and consists of two pitchers alternating starts every four days. It allows the Cardinals to pack a rotation with eight pitchers, and the organization feels that it encourages economy of pitches. It does take the pitchers buying into the fact that a pitcher is not judged on wins alone.

An intriguing piggyback pair is in Palm Beach: RHP Mark McCormick/LHP Brad Furnish. They make their tandem debut Friday.

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Some intriguing assignments to start the season, culled from the rosters each affiliate is expected to announce going into today’s games:

In Memphis – Brian Barden looks to be the starting shortstop, and a packed outfield has settled into Colby Rasmus, Joe Mather, Nick Stavinoha and Marti. As mentioned before, the bullpen is loaded with three closer prospects and three veterans. It’s likely there will be no fixed closer, as the Redbirds will use Chris Perez, Mark Worrell and Jason Motte for multiple innings each in preparation for any need that could develop at the big-league level.

In Springfield – The planned pooling of pitching prospects continues at the Texas League affiliate. This year, LHP Jaime Garcia returns to headline a group that includes Walters (reigning pitcher of the year), RHP Adam Ottavino (cover boy who looked strong in spring) and RHP Clayton Mortensen (straight to the head of his class). Cody Haerther is back for another Double-A turn; a victim of the outfield crunch more than anything. Jon Jay will start in center and be ready if/when Rasmus’ promotion leaves a vacancy in Memphis. Infielder Dan Nelson played his way onto this level and forced the Cardinals to make some roster decisions to make room.

In Palm Beach — RHP Gary Daley Jr., who has some of the best (if untamed) stuff of the pitchers at the level, has been assigned to the bullpen. RHP Jess Todd is in the tandem rotation. Steven Hill is listed as a catcher candidate, and so is Tony Cruz. Both will up their prospect ranking considerably by being proficient at that position. Two noteworthy outfielders have been assigned here — former top-1o prospect Daryl Jones and former shortstop and best-player-in-Nevada Tommy Pham. Both have had their disappointments. Both had good springs. Both are being pushed.

In Quad Cities – OF Adron Chambers and OF Matt Arburr hit their way onto the full-season roster with their performances in March. Especially Arburr. The Cardinals 17th-round selection in last year’s draft, Arburr was a regular on the Vuch Report and one of the last players added to the Low-A roster. First-round pitch Pete Kozma is also on the full-season roster, set to start as the everyday shortstop for the newly retro River Bandits.

Also on the Quad Cities roster is catcher David Carpenter – which gives me an excuse to finally write about one of the coolest snapshots of spring training. Early one morning on the campus at Roger Dean Stadium a low fog hung over the backfields, hovering just a foot or so above the grass of the field. On Field 1, catcher Carpenter was playing catch with pitcher Chris Carpenter.

Not that you could really see the major-league Carpenter.

Like one of Kinsella’s ballplayers, only the faint outline of Carpenter was visible through the fog. And when he threw the ball popped out of the low-hanging cloud about halfway to its intended target. Catcher Carpenter might as well have been playing catch with a ghost.

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The Vuch Reports were so well received during spring traing this year that a more concerted effort will be made to track the minor doings in the Cardinals’ organization. Came up with a tag for these reports — Farmniks – and even added a category to the Bird Land catalog over there on the left. Suggestions are always welcome. 

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