TOWER GROVE • For the second consecutive year, the St. Louis Cardinals will have a hand-picked group of prospects come to spring training early in order to mirror the major-league camp, mix with the major-league camp coaches and get a head start on their prep before minor-league camp opens.
Two of the Cardinals top three prospects, per the Baseball American rankings, have been invited to the pre-camp camp (still looking for a good name): righty Carlos Martinez and outfielder Oscar Taveras.
The other 22 minor-leaguers are a mix of recent additions, sleepers and players on the fringe of the prospect discussion who are about to show whether or not they belong in it.
The Cardinals' early camp allows the minor-leaguers to come to the Jupiter, Fla., complex more than a week early and take part in workouts geared toward getting them individualized attention. Two minor-league coaches are assigned to the camp, but many of the coaches from the majors and minor-league coaches from the major-league camp will spend time with the prospects. The early camp's workouts are held in the afternoon so that they don't conflict with the major-league time, and that allows for some unscheduled visits. Last year, the early camp spent time with manager Tony La Russa, had a session about media requirements at the big-league level, and even a few of the major-league players.
Here are bios on the 24 minor-leaguers coming to this year's early camp (can't we come up with a better name?):
RHP Carlos Martinez -- No. 2 prospect. Ended season with High-A Palm Beach. By now, Martinez is well-know throughout Cardinals Nation. The young righty is a true power arm who has drawn comparisons to another undersized starter with wicked velocity, Pedro Martinez. That's heady -- and unfair company -- for someone before their 21st birthday. Martinez has easy mechanics and is developing better control of off-speed stuff. His fastball, which has hit 100 mph according to scouts with other teams, has good movement.
LHP Anthony Ferrara -- Ended season in Low-A Quad Cities. A seventh-round pick in 2008, Ferrara found traction as one of the starters for the champion River Bandits. Ferrara went 13-7 with a 3.03 ERA in Quad Cities. The more telling stats are his 127 2/3 innings in 23 appearances (22 starts), 93 strikeouts and 53 walks.
RHP Victor DeLeon -- No. 25 prospect. Ended season at low-level Gulf Coast League. In its handbook this season Baseball America has a new prospect classification, one that classifies the player by the "risk." That is, how safe a bet the player is to reach his ranking. DeLeon is labeled "extreme." That designation comes mostly because of his level, but fits because he's one of those big arms that flashes velocity, shines with potential and doesn't yet have the production to backup the ranking. DeLeon throws consistently in the 94-96 range. He has hit 98 mph. His command and secondary stuff needs work as coaches believe he has one of the livelier arms - and durable-type frames - that could put him, someday, in the power-arm class.
LHP Hector Hernandez - Reached Low-A Quad Cities last season. The lefty threw three innings at the Cardinals' lowest full-season club, spending more of the year at short-season Batavia as a starter. Hernandez was 3-2, 2.72 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) at Batavia. A 10th-round pick in 2009, Hernandez is on the edge of the Cardinals' lefty depth chart. He has an above-average fastball for a lefty and his breaking ball is better than most at his level. He struck out 48 and walked 18 in 53 innings and should give a better sense of where he fits (starter, reliever, prospect?) with how he does at the start of this coming season.
RHP Michael Blazek - Had cameo starts in Class AAA Memphis. An All-Star in the Texas League this past season, Blazek went 11-6, 5.45 ERA for Class AA Springfield. He had 128 strikeouts and 64 walks in 133 2/3 innings for the S-Cards, and he allowed 25 homers - which tells you more about the two homers that Shelby Miller allowed in the Texas League and not so much about Blazek. In his two spot starts at Memphis, Blazek was 2-0 with a 3.75 ERA, and he averaged six innings. As expected, his command wasn't as crisp Memphis, but he's a steady-climber and could put himself one run away from the majors this spring.
RHP Deryk Hooker - Ended at Class AA Springfield. Hooker is one of the most elusive talents in the system, and annually one of the most difficult pitchers to assess as a prospect. There are some indicators and some scouts that see Hooker as one of the Cardinals next-tier starting pitcher starters. There are also reasons to ease off the high expectations. Since joining the Cardinals as a heralded, seventh-round pick in 2007 Hooker has had his mix of off-field and on-field troubles through his career. He's on more solid footing in both places coming in to 2012. Hooker was 2-7, 4.94 ERA in 11 starts for Springfield, and for three teams in 2011 the righty pitched 130 2/3 innings and made 28 starts. As far as unranked players go, he's one of the more intriguing members of the early camp.
RHP Eric Fornataro - Ended season at High-A Palm Beach. The strapping righty was selected by the P-D as the "standout" player for the PB-Cards this past season because he was the constant as prospects like Miller and Martinez swirled around him. Fornataro went 7-13, 3.67 ERA in 24 starts, and he pitched 50 more innings for Palm Beach than any teammate. In 144 2/3 innings, Fornataro struck out 116, walked 50 and allowed 150 hits.
LHP Justin Wright - Reached High-A Palm Beach. The lefty pitched at three different levels last season, moving from the GCL club up to the full-season team at Roger Dean Stadium. The lefty finished 10 of the 17 games he appeared in for Low-A Quad Cities and saved four games there. Wright's stats are striking: he had 52 1/3 innings as a reliever in 32 appearances and he struck out 70 against 18 walks. Pulled out of Virginia Tech in the 47th round of the 2010 draft, Wright held opponents to a .434 OPS and he earned an invite to baseball's finishing school, the Arizona Fall League. He had an 11.42 ERA with 14 walks and six strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings at the AFL. He does not have overpowering stuff, but as a savvy lefty reliever the path is open for him to ascend this season to a level that will test how far command can get him.
RHP Willy Paulino - Pitched for the Cardinals' GCL affiliate. In his first summer in North America, Paulino emerged as the lowest affiliate's closer and an All-Star in GCL. Paulino had 12 saves in 23 appearances (20 finishes) for the GCL-Cards, and in 31 1/3 innings he had a 2.30 ERA. Paulino showed unusual command for the level with nine walks, four hit batters and three wild pitches against 35 strikeouts. He allowed 22 hits. The shift from starter to reliever may explain the improved command - he didn't have the same success in the Dominican - or it could merely be a matter of a 6-foot-2, 190-pound 21-year-old gaining more coordination and a more consistent delivery.
LHP Tyler Lyons - Pitched for High-A Palm Beach. Lyons became the first pitcher in Palm Beach franchise history to throw a no-hitter this past season. Twice Joe Kelly took a run at the first no-no but fell short in the eighth inning. Lyons got his in a shortened seven-inning game. Still counts. Lyons, a ninth-round pick in 2010, went 9-4, 4.50 ERA in 33 games (12 starts) for the PB-Cards. He had 79 strikeouts and 29 walks in 94 innings, and he used that steadiness to slingshot to the AFL. As one of the Cardinals' standard college picks, Lyons has a good mix of pitches, and his changeup could be a plus pitch.
C Geoff Klein - Played last season for Low-A Quad Cities. A year removed from Santa Clara, Klein had 53 games behind the plate for the River Bandits. The switch-hitter batted .268/.333/.410 with 33 RBIs and 21 extra-base hits. He missed time with a hand injury this past season.
C Audry Perez - Spent most of the season with Class AA Springfield. From a Five-Tool Friday entry this past season:
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound catcher out of the Dominican republic is rising on the depth chart as the next prospect at his position. In a promotion to Class AA he's hit .261/.277/.423, though overall this season he's shown fine pop (eight homers, 12 doubles) if not so fine OBP (.288). Perez, 22, is beginning to regain some of the form defensively he showed at the lower levels as well. "At the beginning here, he was really unsure of himself," said S-Cards manager Pop Warner. An example was Perez's throws to second. He was 1.85 seconds or 1.89 seconds to second base in drills - a fine speed for a catcher. But when he got into games, Perez would drop to 2.10 seconds. Opponents would run at will on him, and did with great alacrity. Perez has the athleticism and the arm to perform better. He lacked the "confidence," Warner said. It's the same with calling games. He'll still call some pitches that confuse the coaches, but he's proven eager to accept suggestions or revisit curious calls after the game. Perez is the priority for playing time at Springfield, so he'll get plenty of opportunities to improve on all facets.
1B Xavier Scruggs - Spent season with High-A Palm Beach. The gregarious first baseman spent the winter playing ball and blogging from Colombia. Scruggs, a righthanded hitter, batted .260/.340/.494 for Palm Beach with 21 homers in that pitcher-coddling league and 51 extra-base hits. Scruggs has power and, as he's noted a few times this winter through social media, a greater opportunity now to rise through the system without some notable first baseman holding down the position for the next 10 years at the major-league level. This could be a big year for Scruggs.
2B Starlin Rodriguez - Finished last season with High-A Palm Beach. To make room for Kolten Wong at Low-Quad Cities, Rodriguez moved up a level and took advantage of the promotion. Rodriguez hit .315/.354/.455 in 45 games for the PB-Cards. The Dominican native was pushed by the promotion and didn't wilt. Given his play in the field and how he adjusted to the higher level in 2011 it's possible to see Rodriguez as the second-best prospect at second base in the system (for now). It's just bad luck that the best prospect at the position (Wong) is poised to leapfrog him.
INF Greg Garcia - Split season between Class A clubs. Garcia hit .290/.400/.419 for High-A Palm Beach. He was an All-Star in the Midwest League at the midway point. A teammate of Wong's at the University of Hawaii, Garcia has the glove and feel to play either middle infield spots and a bat that's going to be good enough to get him a job in Class AA and see what happens.
SS/2B Breyvic Valera - Had brief appearance with short-season Johnson City. If farmniks wanted to prove their prospect cred a year ago they could talk about Taveras, the young hitting sensation that wrecked the Appy League for the JC-Cards in 2010. While not the preternatural prospect that Taveras is, Valera could be that pet prospect for insiders this year. In 19 games at Johnson City, Valera hit .397/.430/.479. He's a switch-hitter from Venezuela, has the agility to handle shortstop now, is a good runner, and could eventually gravitate toward second base. I spoke to one scout who had seen the JC team this season and described Valera thus: "barrels everything; uses whole field; tough guy to get out." Oh, and he played most of the 2011 season at 18. I've got him listed as the "sleeper" in Baseball America's rankings, though it's likely I'll regret not putting him in the top 30.
SS Ronny Gil - Was the starter at Low-A Quad Cities. The switch-hitter was sent to Quad Cities as a slick-fielding companion for Wong. Gil added to his fielding with a .260/.319/.330 line at the plate and 18 steals in 20 attempts. A reliable player who is going to find a way in the organization as a fielder they can trust.
SS Kenny Peoples-Walls - Played in the GCL. The 140th overall pick in the most recent draft, Peoples-Walls came to the Cardinals from Westchester High in the Los Angeles area. In his first exposure to pro ball, KPW - that is what we're doing with names nowadays, right? - hit .239/.313/.250 in 28 games for the Cardinals' lowest affiliate. He started slow but found some traction later in the season. He's a bundle of athleticism that needs refining in the field and at the plate. He could drift toward second or into the outfield eventually, but the Cardinals like his raw ability.
OF Kyle Conley - Spent most of season at High-A Palm Beach. In his first turn at the Midwest League, Conley struggled. This past summer, he didn't spend much time there before a promotion. Back on pace, Conley, a pick out of Washington, remains one of the power prospects in the system, a tier lower than the likes of Matt Adams. Conley hit 13 homers with 35 extra-base hits in 72 games (273 at-bats) at High-A Palm Beach. He hit .249/.321/.487 in the spacious league. He has the look of an outfielder who with experience and improved plate discipline could generate eventually power in Class AAA and see what opportunities that opens for him.
OF Oscar Taveras -- No. 3 prospect. There isn't much to say about him except to maybe explain why he's on this list and not headed to major-league spring training. Put simply: There's more to the game than hitter. Taveras is a legit prospect as a hitter, and it's somewhat of a surprise that he didn't generate more attention as a top-100 prospect around the minors. He, Wong or Zack Cox are the Cardinals' position players on deck for that kind of national attention depending on how this season goes. Unlike the other two, Taveras is not an NRI this spring because the sense internally is that he has to polish his play when he's outside the batter's box. He could improve defensively, could become a more aware baserunner ... and so on. The kind of things that the major-league camp takes for granted are the things that Taveras as the improve upon.
OF Nick Longmire - Played for Low-A Quad Cities. At the start of the 2011 season, Longmire would have been on a lot of lists to end the year in the top 30. A fifth-round pick out of the University of Pacific, Longmire had the look of a hitter ready to feast in the Midwest League. A slow start and a hole in his swing held him back. Longmire hit .184/.235/.224 in April because opposing pitchers could funnel strikes to the inner third of the plate and he could do nothing. He was handcuffed, closed off to hitting that pitch. Longmire was a top-10 prospect in the New York-Penn league in 2010, and his ability to play all three outfield positions and hit well enough to profile as a corner outfielder encouraged the Cardinals to make him a featured part of the Quad Cities lineup.
"There are definitely things you can do with a metal bat that you just have to make an adjustment to get better with wood," Longmire told me during my visit to Davenport, Iowa. "You can't get away with certain things. The metal is obviously forgiving."
Longmire improved during June (.319 average) and July (.386 OBP) as he moved toward a second half that saw a more representative .260/.328/.390. He will be positioned to be the most improved of the Cardinals' minor-leaguers on the fringe of being prospects.
OF Charlie Tilson -- No. 15 prospect. Split brief time between Johnson City and the GCL club. Tilson, the Cardinals' second-round pick last summer, chose pro ball over a scholarship offer to Illinois. He is one of three center fielders that the Cardinals selected high in the 2011 draft - the other two are mentioned shortly - and he'll be the one who gets a priority role in center because scouts and the Cardinals believe he has the traits needed to stay at the position. How his bat develops this season will be something watched closely by pundits - and the club.
OF CJ McElroy -- No. 18 prospect. Played for the Gulf Coast League club. McElroy, son of former big-league pitcher Chuck, turned down a football scholarship with Houston to start his baseball career. McElroy rushed for 1,523 yards and 28 touchdowns and was set to try his hands at receiver. McElroy has top speed, clocked as one of the best prospects that the Cardinals invited to a pre-draft workout this past summer. He stole eight bases in his first pro turn and 33 in his high school season. McElroy doesn't project to hit much for power, but his righthanded swing does play well for his speed and his sense of the strike zone won't collapse his average.
OF Lance Jeffries -- No. 29 prospect. Played for the Gulf Coast League club. The St. Louis native certainly intrigued a few of the writers who cover the draft, a few of whom compared him to Ron Gant. Jeffries did well with a .256/.363/.376 line in his 44 games of pro ball. Not quite the speedster that McElroy is (though Jeffries is not far off), not the defensive glove that Tilson is expected to be, Jeffries is instead more of a composite outfielder, with tools that are more a blend of the two prospects ranked ahead of him. One of the benefits of this camp is seeing all three line up on the same field and not just listed in the same prospect rankings.
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