Tag: Stephen Piscotty

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The St. Louis Cardinals’ Memphis Mafia

Thanks to a playoff format that grants two wild-card entries in each league, the 2016 St. Louis Cardinals are clinging to life as contenders in the National League. Trailing the Chicago Cubs by nine games, the Cardinals stand little chance of winning a fourth straight NL Central championship. But through Sunday’s games, St. Louis is tied with the Mets atop “the fourth division,” the wild-card race.

Five recent Memphis Redbirds will have a lot to say about whether or not St. Louis reaches the postseason a sixth year in a row. Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve seen from this quintet . . . and what we might expect as summer heats up.

• Stephen Piscotty — Jason Heyward is a very good rightfielder. He won a Gold Glove and helped the Cardinals win 100 games last season before signing a fat free-agent contract with the Chicago Cubs. Judging by the standings today, Heyward is a wise man. But judging by the numbers Heyward has produced compared with those of Piscotty, the Cardinals have upgraded rightfield and at a little over two percent(!) of the salary Chicago is paying Heyward this year ($21.6 million). Through Sunday, Heyward is hitting .240, with 4 home runs and 22 RBIs for the North Siders. Piscotty’s figures: 308, 7, and 35. Piscotty has a cannon for an arm with range to match Heyward’s. The Stanford alum should be batting third (or fourth) in St. Louis for years to come.

Aledmys Diaz

• Aledmys Diaz — Shortstop has been a developmental blind spot for the Cardinals’ system. Brendan Ryan, Tyler Greene, and Pete Kozma made their way to St. Louis via Memphis, but found themselves overmatched by big-league pitching. Imports like David Eckstein and Jhonny Peralta have manned the position since Edgar Renteria departed after the 2004 season. But when Peralta was shelved by a thumb injury in spring training, the 25-year-old Diaz found himself on the big-league roster. (We caught but a glimpse of the Cuban import last year in Memphis, where he hit .380 in 14 games.) Through Sunday, Diaz has hit .315, drilled 8 homers, and driven in 32 runs. Even more impressive, he’s forced a shift of three-quarters of the Cardinals’ 2015 infield. Just off the disabled list, Peralta is now at third base, Matt Carpenter has moved from third to second, and Kolten Wong — hitting .222 in limited play — is back in Memphis, hoping to rediscover his swing. Diaz will be in the discussion for National League Rookie of the Year.

• Carlos Martinez — With comparisons to another famous Martinez — Pedro — this Dominican flame-thrower made the All-Star team (in 2015) before his 24th birthday. But after going 10-3 with a 2.52 ERA over the season’s first half, he ran out of gas, splitting eight decisions with a 3.73 ERA over the second half before being shut down for the postseason with shoulder fatigue. He’s been inconsistent this season, but leads the St. Louis rotation with seven wins and a 3.46 ERA. The Cardinals’ starting pitching has been the team’s most disappointing unit this season. If Martinez continues to grow toward ace status, other — weaker — areas of the rotation will be easier to address.

• Michael Wacha — It’s hardly reached a Rick Ankiel-level of alarm (yet), but the drop in effectiveness for the golden boy of the 2013 postseason should be a major concern for Cardinal general manager John Mozeliak. Like Martinez, Wacha was an All-Star in 2015 when he led the Cardinals with 17 wins and posted a 3.38 ERA in 181 innings. But after starting this season 2-0, Wacha has lost six straight decisions and recently gave up 21 earned runs over four starts. (He was sharp in a no-decision at Pittsburgh last Friday, allowing two earned runs in seven innings.) Wacha claims his arm feels fine. He turns 25 next month and is an extraordinary asset for the Cardinals as he won’t reach free agency until 2020. But Wacha simply has to find the groove that earned him MVP honors in the 2013 National League Championship Series. Otherwise, middle-relief awaits.

• Randal Grichuk — He’s scaled the centerfield wall to rob home runs from opponents. He’s delivered a walk-off home run (against the Cubs on May 23rd). He even wears number 15, magnifying comparisons with Jim Edmonds, a previous Cardinal centerfielder and a member of the franchise’s Hall of Fame. But the 24-year-old Grichuk remains a work in progress. After contributing a slash line of .276/.329/.548 in 2015, Grichuk has dropped to .210/.281/.400 this season. He had more strikeouts (110) than hits (89) a year ago, and the ratio hasn’t shifted (53 and 42 this year). Grichuk brings the proverbial “five tools” to the ballpark, but the sixth (and most important) “tool” — consistency — remains elusive.

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Memphis Redbirds Mid-Season Report

Oscar Taveras

The 2014 Memphis Redbirds have been a perplexing team. Stacked with just enough veterans and an outfield a few major-league teams would be happy to field, the club has been scratching and clawing to reach break-even for three months now. After opening the season with three wins, the team has never been four games above .500, and never more than five below .500 (as they were through Sunday). The good news? Memphis is tucked in the Pacific Coast League’s version of the World Cup’s “Group of Death,” four teams within five games of one another with two months left in the regular season. A return to the postseason after four years is within reach. But will this team ever find traction?

Last Thursday at AutoZone Park, the Redbirds opened a critical 18-game stretch against their three division rivals: Round Rock, Nashville, and first-place New Orleans. Game-time temperature was in the mid-80s, there was a reasonable crowd to open a homestand, and veteran John Gast was on the hill for the ’Birds. The Redbirds’ second through sixth hitters in the batting order — Randal Grichuk, Oscar Taveras, Stephen Piscotty, Scott Moore, and Xavier Scruggs — each entered the game with at least 38 RBIs. (Memphis and New Orleans are the only two PCL clubs with four 40-RBI men.) The table seemed to be set for something fun.

Gast didn’t last four innings. Unable to hit the upper 80s on the radar gun, the 25-year-old lefty took a step back in his climb back from surgery last July, allowing 10 hits, four walks, and nine earned runs while retiring only 10 batters. (This is a pitcher who opened the 2013 season with a franchise-record streak of 32 scoreless innings.) Angel Castro relieved Gast and didn’t allow a hit in 3 2/3 innings, but the damage had been done. As for the potent Memphis offense, they outhit the Express, 13-10. Alas, every Redbird hit was a single, four of them by uber-prospect Taveras. Memphis left 13 men on base and fell four games under .500 for the first time this season.

Joe Kelly was no better Friday night. Making his first rehab start after a lengthy stay on the St. Louis Cardinals’ disabled list, Kelly lasted only two innings, allowing a pair of runs and three walks. The Redbirds’ offense awakened for seven runs, one shy of those scored by the Express.

Despite the presence of Taveras, Grichuk, and Piscotty (that all-prospect outfield), the Redbirds’ offense (ranked 10th in the 16-team PCL in batting) has been schizophrenic. Memphis has scored seven or more runs 29 times (winning 24 of those games), but has scored fewer than three runs 21 times (losing all but three). In the run-happy PCL, the Redbirds are seventh in scoring and 11th in home runs. Only four PCL teams have allowed fewer runs than the Redbirds, yet Memphis has yet to build so much as a four-game winning streak.

Starting pitching, of course, is the lifeblood of any winning streak. Redbird manager Pop Warner has called upon nine different pitchers to make multiple starts this season. Thirteen were needed last season, and that’s with current Cardinals Michael Wacha and Carlos Martinez combining for 28. That team finished 69-75 (though the Redbirds weren’t eliminated from the playoffs until the season’s final game). Who is the ace for the 2014 Redbirds? Tim Cooney (15 starts) and Angel Castro (14) have had lockdown outings — and each has been lit up. The Cardinals’ minor-league Pitcher of the Year last season, Zach Petrick is 4-3 with a 4.48 ERA in his first Triple-A season. In 23 starts, Scott McGregor and Boone Whiting have combined for a 1-11 record. When the Cardinals needed a starter to fill the newly disabled Wacha’s spot in the rotation last week in Colorado, they called upon Marco Gonzales, who has starred this year for the Double-A Springfield Cardinals.

Without steadier starting pitching, it’s hard to envision these Redbirds playing post-season baseball. The continued growth of Taveras (.318 batting average), Grichuk (.283), and Piscotty (.315) will draw the attention of fans at AutoZone Park (and scouts, as the July 31st trade deadline nears). If Wacha (or Jaime Garcia) regains his health in St. Louis, Gonzales may be assigned to the Memphis rotation. It would be the most productive demotion in recent Redbird history, perhaps just enough to win the PCL’s Division of Death.

Next week: A midseason look at the St. Louis Cardinals and how recent (and current) Redbirds may impact their playoff chances.

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St. Louis Cardinals Outfielders: Too Much Talent?

Matt Holliday

It’s a surplus of riches unlike any other in professional baseball. Between their major-league roster and that of their Triple-A affiliate here in Memphis, the St. Louis Cardinals have seven outfielders willing and able to claim they belong in the Cardinals’ everyday lineup … now. So why does the Cardinal outfield not feel right? As the season hits the quarter pole and the defending National League champions hover around the .500 mark, here’s a look at “the seven who would be three.” With apologies to Shane Robinson and Joey Butler, who would rank no better than eighth on this list. (Players are listed by age, descending order. All statistics are through Sunday’s action.)

• Matt Holliday (34) — Holliday has been a steady presence in leftfield since the Cardinals acquired him from Oakland in July 2009. A three-time All-Star wearing the Cardinal uniform, Holliday has been a part of four playoff teams with St. Louis, though if you had to name his signature postseason moment, it could be the dropped fly ball that cost the Cardinals a game at Dodger Stadium in 2009. Holliday is signed through 2016 (with a team option for 2017) and earns $17 million a year. But no player is untradeable. As the Cardinal outfield’s game of musical chairs continues, factor in the possibility of leftfield opening up if the right deal presents itself.

• Allen Craig (turns 30 in July) — Craig pulled off the impossible and replaced Albert Pujols at first base for the Cardinals in 2012. But with the emergence of Matt Adams — who can play first base and first base only — Craig moved to right field this season following Carlos Beltran’s departure to New York. Craig’s hitting has been metronomic throughout the Cardinals’ system, and he hit a jaw-dropping .454 last season with runners in scoring position. Which makes his start this season (.221 batting average, .357 slugging percentage) all the more puzzling. He’s signed through 2017, with a team option for 2018, earning $2.75 million this season, but $9 million by 2016.

• Jon Jay (29) — He doesn’t hit for power. He’s not fleet of foot (though he led St. Louis with 10 stolen bases in 2013), and will never win a Gold Glove. Jay has simply helped win a lot of baseball games, first in Memphis (where he manned center field for the 2009 PCL champions), then in St. Louis, where he took over in center after Colby Rasmus was traded, then delivered a key hit in the Cardinals’ epic comeback victory in Game 6 of the 2011 World Series. He played in 157 games for another pennant-winner last season. Yet the Cardinals traded fan favorite David Freese last fall for another center-fielder.

• Peter Bourjos (27) — He doesn’t hit for power either. But Bourjos is about as fleet as they come, bringing an element to the base paths and center field that St. Louis hasn’t seen at least since Ray Lankford’s prime in the late Nineties. That speed was enough for Cardinal general manager John Mozeliak to sacrifice Freese, gambling that the former Angel could win games even as a .250 hitter. (In his one full season in the majors — 2011 — Bourjos hit .271 with 11 triples and 12 homers.) He’s shared time with Jay this season and has struggled to make an impact at the plate. He did deliver some big hits in Atlanta and Pittsburgh last week, though. You get the feeling center field (for now) is his position to win.

• Stephen Piscotty (23) — If you met Piscotty wearing a coat and tie, his 6-3, 210-pound frame would tell you he’s an athlete. The former third-baseman has a big-league arm and appears bound for a corner outfield spot in St. Louis (or elsewhere). Playing primarily right field for Memphis, Piscotty is hitting .311 and has driven in 24 runs (second on the team) in 35 games. He slammed a pair of home runs onto the left field bluff at AutoZone Park last Saturday night. He’ll be playing in the major leagues in 2015.

• Randal Grichuk (22) — Part of the deal that sent Freese to Los Angeles, Grichuk made his Cardinal debut last month, but saw action in only nine games (three hits in 21 at-bats) before returning to Memphis. Grichuk earned one of three Gold Gloves awarded to outfielders throughout the minor leagues in 2013. Redbird manager Pop Warner prefers him in center field, though Grichuk seems to have the kind of bat (.566 slugging percentage in Memphis) that could land him comfortably in right or left. He has brought “abundance” to the Cardinals’ outfield surplus.

• Oscar Taveras (turns 22 in June) — Whatever happens to the six players above, mark this down: Taveras will be playing every day — presumably for St. Louis — in the majors next season. His tools at the plate, while still being refined, can’t be taught: full coverage of the hitting zone, gap-to-gap power, and speed out of the box. After losing most of his 2013 season to an ankle injury, Taveras is hitting .293 with the Redbirds and leads the team with 27 RBIs and 22 runs scored. A lingering question seems to be whether or not he can play center field in the big leagues. If he’s the kind of hitter scouts remain convinced he will be, room can be made in any outfield.

The one intangible shared by all seven of these outfielders is the certainty they’ll be happiest — and presumably, most productive — when they’re playing every day with two cardinals on their jersey. For what it’s worth, I can see a 2016 Cardinal outfield with Craig in left, Taveras in center, and Piscotty in right. The beauty of the current surplus, though, is that I could be wrong at every position and the Cardinals may still have a superior trio roaming the pasture at Busch Stadium.