View from the cheap seats

Down on the Farm - Springfield

On the Hill:

Matt Clement will make a second start at AA Springfield this week after allowing seven hits and three runs in five innings during his most recent rehab game there. Clement pitched better in the early part of the game than his numbers indicate. But he seemed to hit the wall at the end and got tagged.

Jess Todd, a 5-11, 210-pound right-handed starter has, in 36 innings pitched, allowed 21 hits and four earned runs. He has a 1-1 record with a 1.00 earned run average and a walks and hits per innings pitched average of 0.78.

Prospect Adam Ottovino is off to a rough start with an 0-4 record and a 7.64 ERA in nine starts. The 22 years old, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound starter has given up 39 hits in 31 innings and has allowed just a hair under two base runners and inning.

Down on the Farm, June 9

Colby Rasmus has ridden a 10-21 streak at the plate to a .223 batting average and, at least for the moment, has silenced talk that he was on the verge of getting demoted to AA Springfield.

But he still probably isn't the most likely Memphis outfielder to get his ticket punched for a trip to the show. Nick Stavinoha is hitting .344 with an .875 on base plus slugging percentage.

Chris Duncan hasn't done much to convince the parent club that he has rediscovered his stroke in AAA. He's hitting .167 and has struck out four times in 18 at bats.

Down on the Farm, 5/21

Anthony Reyes, sent back to AAA Memphis to showcase the young pitcher to teams looking for a starter, has returned to his form of looking like a million bucks in the minors.

He started the Redbirds' game against Nashville and allowed only three hits and one run in five innings. He walked three and struck out seven.

Right fielder Joe Mather, who batted third, led the offense. He was 2-5 with a pair of RBI's in the 4-1 victory. He's hitting .317 for the season with 8 homers and a 1.062 slugging percentage. Nick Stavinoha went 0-5 in the fifth spot in the lineup, but he still sports a .366 batting average and has six homers while striking out only 18 times in 153 at bats.

Does the farm have the answers to Cardinals' problems?

With Jason Isringhausen, Ryan Franklin, Russ Springer and Anthony Reyes struggling, I think it's time that Cardinals GM John Mozeliak get busy working the phones to make a deal.

The team may not be in a position to trade for a cleanup hitter. But maybe it can improve the bullpen by trading off Reyes -- who is essentially working as a mop up man at this point -- and filling his spot on the roster with Chris Perez.

The closer at AAA Memphis, Perez has saved seven games already this season and is 0-1 with a 1.98 ERA. He's allowed nine hits in 13 2/3 innings and has struck out 17 while the opposition is hitting .184 off of him overall and .083 with runners in scoring position.

He may or may not be ready to slip into the closers role. But by bringing him up now the process of grooming him for it can begin.

Down on the Farm - Springfield

Rehabbing Cardinals southpaw Mark Mulder told MLB.com that his Friday rehab start at AA Springfield was better by leaps and bounds than the one before it -- even though the numbers don't really show it. Mulder said his arm strenght and shoulder flexibility is getting much better and that he's trying to get used to pitching from his proper arm slot, something he hasn't been able to do since his Oakland days. Still no specific return date. But Mulder said he plans to make his next start in Memphis or Springfield in the next four or five days. If things go well, he could be back sooner instead of later.

In other Springfield news:

Catching prospect Bryan Anderson is tearing up the Southern League with a .388 batting average. He has two homers and five doubles among his 31 base hits.

Down on the Farm, April 14

Rehabbing Cardinals infielder Brendan Ryan finally started his rehab assignment over the weekend. But it probably didn't impress big league manager Tony La Russa that Ryan was one out of five at the plate, made an error in the field and the time he did get on the bases, he got picked off.

Ryan could make it back to the big club in about three weeks. But I wonder if the team might send him to AAA Memphis for a while if it continues to play well. Besides a throwing error Sunday, Ryan's replacement Rico Washington has done a pretty good job, although Washington doesn't have Ryan's speed or offensive upside...

Memphis second sacker Jarrett Hoffpauir is hitting .387 with a .943 on base plus slugging percentage. He has made a pair of errors in the field.

Outfielder Nick Stavinoha is hitting .333 with an .813 on base plus slugging percentage, a homer and seven RBIs for the Redbirds.

Fellow flychaser Joe Mather is hitting .318 with a whopping 1.192 on base plus slugging percentage a pair of homers and 19 total bases.

Franchise top prospect Colby Rasmus has hit the skids and is batting about 100 points less than a week ago at .222. He has only a .313 on base percentage.

Down on the Farm, April 8

Rehabbing Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro got off to a rough start in his Tuesday tune-up for AAA Memphis. But after giving up a pair of runs in the first inning of the Redbirds game against the New Orleans Zephyrs, he settled down to give up six hits and no more runs over a total of six innings. He also struck out five and walked none. He threw a total of 78 pitches, 57 for strikes.

It looks like Pineiro may be on pace to return to the major league starting rotation Sunday, which was projected to be Brad Thompson's next turn to pitch. Hopefully there won't be any setbacks and Pineiro will free up Thompson to bolster the Cardinals suddenly shaky bullpen.

A major minor improvement

Wasn't it just a couple of months ago that the Cardinals farm system was reportedly so bad that the team not only had no one on tap to help the major league club but also no one that any other clubs would be interested in trade?

A study done by Baseball America published recently in the Boston Globe ranks the Cardinals farm system as the 13th best in Major League Baseball's 30 teams, which by my count would put it in the top half of minor league player factories. And the evaluation said the Cardinals have been strongly trending up in the last couple of years.

Down on the farm: But not for long

The Cardinals top two prospects are a perfect example of how the marriage of old school and new age scouting techniques can combine to help teams assemble talent, according to the team's vice president of player development.

Jeff Luhnow told fans and the media at the baseball writers dinner Monday that outfielder Colby Rasmus, who was honored as the Cardinals' minor league position player of the year, is a five-tool player that old school scouts love because he has a sweet swing, speed and power to spare and a strong arm. But minor league pitcher of the year P.J. Walters was a late bloomer who produced numbers the math guys like -- even though he doesn't have an overpowering fastball.

Down on the farm 10-31-07

Cardinals prospect Chris Perez has had two consecutive bad outings for Team USA and could be on the verge of losing his job as the squad's closer. He gave up four runs in his last save opportunity Monday and walked three in 2/3 of an inning the game before.

Second base prospect Jarret Hoffpauir is hitting .321 with five runs and 5 RBI in 28 at bats for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League. Hoffpauir, who split time between AA Springfield and AAA Memphis last season, has already committed three errors.

Outfielder Joe Mather, recently added to the Cardinals' 40-man roster to protect him from the minor league rule 5 draft, has a .286 BA and a stolen base in 21 at bats for Mesa.