TOWER GROVE So Oscar Taveras hit another homer Tuesday night.
The Cardinals' teen sensation raised his average to .331, upped that OPS to 1.056, and generally continued announcing his presence in the Texas League with authority. His nine homers, 21 extra-base hits, 30 RBIs in 30 games, and that .678 slugging percentage all rank him among the leaders throughout Minor League Baseball, not just in Class AA or the Cardinals' system.
More than month away from his 20th birthday, Taveras is still less than seven weeks into his first swing through Double-A, and observers" coaches, scouts, etc." are eager to see how the intimate Texas League adjusts to him once he's making a second and third tour of opponents.
He has not quite ascended to the level of the most famous teen in baseball. Who has? Bryce Harper , for example, has already inspired a video from Batting Stance Guy . Harper is four months younger than Taveras and two levels ahead of him. Yet, they were the youngest hitters at the Arizona Fall League last year, and Taveras is gradually increasing his national notoriety as the best hitting prospect in the Cardinals organization and, arguably, in the Texas League. This much is clear: The Cardinals have their own terrific teen to watch.
And that is a relatively rare thing for the club.
That's where we'll start the daily Bird Land lineup.
KID CARDS (2): As mentioned in Sunday's Minor League "Insider ," Taveras is the first teen position player to reach Class AA for the Cardinals since Dmitri Young did it in 1993, the year after Taveras was born. Taveras is the first teen to start a season at Class AA for the Cardinals since 1979, the year before Matt Holliday was born. With the help of Baseball-Reference.com and a Cardinals official who shares an interest in this kind of trivia, here are the past five teen position players to reach the Cardinals' Class AA affiliate before their 20th birthday and what they did at the level (batting numbers are the standard slash line with BA/OBP/SLG):
Dmitri Young, 1993*, Arkansas " 45 games, .247/.294/.392, 3 HR, 21 RBIs, 13 runs
Joe DeSa, 1979, Arkansas " 130 games, .317/.389/.492, 13 HR, 86 RBIs, 71 runs
Ken Oberkfell, 1976, Arkansas " 128 games, .287/.373/.357, 3 HR, 47 RBIs, 64 runs
Manny Castillo, 1976, Arkansas " 116 games, .279/.315/.321, 0 HR, 35 RBIs, 36 runs
Garry Templeton, 1975*, Arkansas " 42 games, .401/.424/.531, 2 HR, 20 RBIs, 36 runs
Oscar Taveras, 2012, Springfield " 30 games, .331/.378/.678, 9 HR, 30 RBIs, 17 runs
* Did not start the season at level.
Three of the players reached the majors before turning 22, and only Manny Castillo did not reach the majors before his 23rd birthday.
LONGEST DRIVE II (3): On Tuesday morning, this here blog detailed how four homers hit Monday night reset season highs for the Cardinals and career highs for two Cardinals when it came to "true distance." Well, here's the rewrite. At one of the best ballparks in baseball to hit, the Cardinals are flaunting their power, putting the feet in, ahem, feat. Carlos Beltran's first homer Tuesday night traveled a "true distance" of 464 feet according to ESPN Home Run Tracker, the site formerly known as Hit Tracker. Beltran's homer left his bat at 113.9 mph" the fastest escape velocity for a Cardinals' homer so far this season" and it reached a highest point 106 feet above the field.
WITH WHOM THE BELTRAN TOLLS (4): With a seven-RBI game last week and a six-RBI game last night, Beltran has joined a heady group of Cardinals hitters already, and he's not even through his sixth week with the club. The switch-hitter is one of nine Cardinals in the modern era to have two games of at least six RBIs in the same season. Here is the list, and their RBI totals for the season:
Jim Bottomley, 1929 -- 137
Chick Hafey, 1931 " 95
Ripper Collins, 1934 -- 128
Johnny Mize, 1940 " 137*
Enos Slaughter, 1946 " 130*
Stan Musial, 1954 " 126
Brian Jordan, 1996 -- 104
Albert Pujols, 2009 -- 135
Carlos Beltran, 2012 -- TBD
There are a few things that stand out about this group that Beltran has joined. All but one (Hafey) finished the season with more than 100 RBIs and two, designated by asterisks, topped the league with their RBI totals. Of the eight Cardinals to get repeat six-packs in a single season, only Collins, Jordan and still-active Pujols are not in the Hall of Fame. But that's not the real trend. There have been seven Cardinals who have done this season 1930, and all seven finished eighth or higher in the National League MVP voting. Six finished sixth or higher. Hafey, Slaughter and Mize finished fifth, third and second, respectively, and Pujols won the NL MVP in his season with the two six-RBI games. Worth noting.
JUMP STARTERS (5): The Cardinals scored two runs in the first inning against Arizona on Tuesday night and today they go for a team record. The Cardinals have scored in the first inning of eight consecutive games, tying the franchise record set back in July 1986, according to The Elias Sports Bureau. The Cardinals have outscored opponents 29 to 16 in the first inning this season. Their ability to pounce on a starter early is better revealed by how the Cardinals have shelled opponents in the first three innings, outscoring other teams 82 to 28. Not coincidentally, in six of the eight consecutive games with at least a run in the first inning, leadoff hitter Rafael Furcal has been on base to open the Cardinals' inning.
ON THE MARK (6): Almost 18 years ago, a Cardinals slugger was so overwhelmed by the attention a single game brought him that he blocked his phone at the Hyatt Regency and only one telegram was able to sneak through, from his agent. A telegram! I have to imagine there is someone reading this entry right now who has never heard of a telegram. What prompted that quaint communication from the past was the record-setting late-night show that Mark Whiten had at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. Whiten slugged four home runs to tie a major-league record and drove in 12 runs to tie a major-league record held only by the aforementioned Bottomley. Whiten was the 12th player in major-league history to hit four home runs in a single game and he was the first switch-hitter to do so, though all four of the homers came from the left side.
"It's kind of a blur," Whiten told Rick Hummel on Sept. 8, 1993, the day after his four-homer night. "I guess I'll have to deal with it for a spell. Maybe all the hype that has been created will settle down. ... It was something you never expect to do, even to hit two."
Well, now there is a 16th hitter who knows the feeling.
On Tuesday night, Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton hit four home runs (you may have heard) and set an American League record with 18 total bases. Because I know you wondered, here is how Whiten's box score line from 18 years ago compares with Hamilton's from last night:
Whiten " 4-for-5, 4 runs, 4 HRs, 12 RBIs (7 2-out), 16 TBs, popped up to third base in hitless at-bat. Distances ... 408 feet (first inning). 397 feet (sixth inning), 388 feet (seventh inning), 441 feet (ninth inning). Total, 1,634 feet .
Hamilton " 5-for-5, 4 runs, 4 HRs, 8 RBIs (2 2-out), 18 TBs. Distances* ... 404 feet (first inning), 387 feet (third inning), 406 feet (seventh inning), 425 feet (eighth inning). Total, 1,622 feet .
* According to Home Run Tracker's "true distance."
FARM REPORT (7): The Class AAA Memphis Redbirds lost 9-8 in 13 innings at home. Shortstop Ryan Jackson had four hits in seven at-bats to raise his average to .294. He and Adron Chambers combined for seven hits in the extra-inning game. ... Zack Cox , the Redbirds starting third baseman, went 1-for-3 with a walk. His average is at .198 in his first taste of Triple-A. His career trend is to start slow at each new level. ... Bryan Anderson , at catcher, had three RBIs and two hits. Pete Kozma drove in two runs and had a triple. Anderson is struggling, batting .138 this season. ... Jackson committed his fourth error of the season (fielding), Kozma his fourth (fielding), and Anderson his second (throwing). ... Lefty R. J. Swindle took the loss after four previous relievers, including righty Eduardo Sanchez , had combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings. ... Class AA Springfield won 4-0. As mentioned above, Taveras had a homer. His ninth. Ho. Hum. ... Lefty John Gast collected his fourth win of the season with seven shutout innings to lower his overall ERA to 2.03. Sam Freeman followed with his fifth hold of the season. He struck out the side in his scoreless inning and now has an ERA of 1.10 as the S-Cards' primary lefty reliever. ... Gast picked off two batters. Ho. Hum. ... In the leadoff spot, Greg Garcia went 2-for-3 with a couple runs scored. ... High-A Palm Beach is already playing today as I type this. The PB-Cards lost 5-1 in Lakeland on Tuesday. Vance Albitz went 2-for-3 with a walk. Seth Maness had his toughest outing of the season, allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings. Maness (3-1) continued one trend this season: in 40 innings, he's yet to walk a batter. He has 24 strikeouts. ... Low-A Quad Cities lost 7-2 in Peoria. Peoria had 11 hits but also 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position because of seven walks by the QC pitchers and three errors committed by QC fielders. ... Jonathan Cornelius allowed five runs (three earned) on three walks and five hits in his three innings. He struck out five. ... Robert Stock had a scoreless two innings of work. He walked one, allowed two hits, and struck out one. His ERA remains in decline. ... Anthony Garcia , left field, had three hits and an RBI. Roberto De La Cruz , that first big-bonus signing from the Cardinals' renewed presence in Latin America, hit his second homer of the season.
GAMER YOU'VE GOTTA READ (8): It's not quite the telegram that Whiten received, but ESPN.com 's Jerry Crasnick writes about how Hamilton planned to grab a pizza and then start replying to the text messages he had received after his four-homer feat Tuesday in Baltimore.
HIT THE LINKS (9): I just enjoyed this story Sunday by Harvey Araton in The New York Times about Ron "Gator" Guidry , his two appearances in center field, and why he can empathize with Mariano Rivera's need to chase down fly balls, a habit that has likely ended the season for the game's greatest closer . ... Bob McManaman writes in The Arizona Republic about the Cardinals' blasting of D-Backs ace Ian Kennedy . ... In the Angels' seventh shutout loss of the season, former Cardinals pitcher Dan Haren failed to strike out a batter. That's the first time in 247 consecutive starts for the righty that he's left without a K, according to Elias . ... At MLB.com , Jenifer Langosch tells the story behind the reunion you probably saw on TV before Monday's Cardinals-Diamondbacks game at Chase Field. ... The Milwaukee Brewers ended a three-game losing streak and showed Cincinnati the type of team they expect to be this season , writes Todd Rosiak in The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel . They also handed out extensions in Milwaukee to architects of the future (and past) , writes Tom Haudricourt at the J-S . ... Cubs prez Theo Epstein sees "some really good things happening" amidst the ivy , writes Paul Sullivan in The Chicago Tribune .
CLOSING REMARK (10): A quick note from the culture files, where debuting this Friday in St. Louis is a play about baseball, little league, fatherhood, and sportsmanship. "Rounding Third," a play by Richard Dresser , opens for a three weekend showing at The Kranzberg Arts Center in Grand Center. Tickets range from $15 to $25. The play focuses on two dads, Don and Michael, who come from different ends of the experience spectrum. Grizzled Don is eager "to win at all costs," and greenhorn Michael seeks fun for all. A friend of mine, Chris Lawyer , is starring as Michael. For more information see hotcitytheatre.com .
No comments:
Post a Comment