With the demotion of Kolten Wong and the promotion of infielder Greg Garcia, fantasy baseball players everywhere were left asking the question: Will Greg Garcia start?
Its a legitimate question, as the Cardinals other option, Mark Ellis, is currently hitting .100 (2 for 20), however, is Garcia a legitimate starting second baseman for a major league team?
Short answer--probably not, but that's not to say that Garcia doesn't have his merits.
Over 5 seasons in the minors, he has compiled a .280/.385/.411 line. He has a little pop, with a career high 10 homers in 2012 and he can steal a base on occasion, with 14 stolen bases in 2013.
However, what is most impressive about Garcia is his eye and ability to get on base. In his 2012 breakout season, he drew 80 walks against 83 strikeouts finishing the year with a .408 OBP.
His minor league stats are very similar to Ellis, who put up a .293/.393/.419 line in the minors prior to his first callup.
Best case scenario - Garcia, who hits left handed, forms a platoon with the right handed Ellis and gets the majority of the at bats while Wong sorts things out in the minors.
Worst case scenario - Garcia spends a month with the team as a pinch-hitter, defensive replacement before being sent back down to the minors when Wong is deemed ready.
While its unlikely that Garcia will make a big impact during his current stay, he could eventually replace the light-hitting and overused Daniel Descalso as the Cardinals primary utility infielder.
Showing posts with label Greg Garcia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greg Garcia. Show all posts
Monday, April 28, 2014
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Cardinals look to shake thing up by demoting Kolten Wong
With their offense continuing to struggle, the Cardinals decided to shake things up by demoting second baseman Kolten Wong to AAA. Wong has certainly struggled on the season, hitting just .225/.276/.268, but he is not the only one.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta (.195/.290/.476) is not doing much to make Cardinals fans forget about Pete Kozma and his offensive struggles. "Clutch" hitter Allen Craig is sporting a .177 average and just 6 rbi's and offseason acquisition Peter Bourjos has lost his starting job to Jon Jay thanks in large part to his .163 average.
Unfortunately, the Cards cannot demote their entire team, so they are making this change to try to light a fire under the team.
The Cardinals have recalled Greg Garcia to replace Wong on the roster. Mark Ellis should get the lion's share of the starts at second, however, with Ellis hitting only .100 since coming off the DL, don't be surprised to see Garcia split time with Ellis.
In addition to Wong's demotion, the Cardinals also sent down Shane Robinson and called up Randal Grichuk. Grichuk was hitting .313/.356/.542 in AAA and will look to provide a spark off the bench.
Hopefully Wong's demotion will be short-term as he looks to get his stroke back. However, it is good to have a veteran like Ellis available to plug into the void and hopefully either he or Garcia can provide the offense with a boost.
Shortstop Jhonny Peralta (.195/.290/.476) is not doing much to make Cardinals fans forget about Pete Kozma and his offensive struggles. "Clutch" hitter Allen Craig is sporting a .177 average and just 6 rbi's and offseason acquisition Peter Bourjos has lost his starting job to Jon Jay thanks in large part to his .163 average.
Unfortunately, the Cards cannot demote their entire team, so they are making this change to try to light a fire under the team.
The Cardinals have recalled Greg Garcia to replace Wong on the roster. Mark Ellis should get the lion's share of the starts at second, however, with Ellis hitting only .100 since coming off the DL, don't be surprised to see Garcia split time with Ellis.
In addition to Wong's demotion, the Cardinals also sent down Shane Robinson and called up Randal Grichuk. Grichuk was hitting .313/.356/.542 in AAA and will look to provide a spark off the bench.
Hopefully Wong's demotion will be short-term as he looks to get his stroke back. However, it is good to have a veteran like Ellis available to plug into the void and hopefully either he or Garcia can provide the offense with a boost.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Cardinals set 40-man roster before next month's rule 5 draft. Who did they leave exposed?
Wednesday was the deadline for major league teams to set their 40-man rosters prior to the December 12th Rule 5 draft. As such, the Cardinals made a series of moves to protect their key prospects.
First, they tried to clear some extra space by putting Ryan Jackson on waivers, however he was claimed by the Houston Astros. Despite the Cardinals struggles with Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso at short, Jackson never seemed to be an option, at least in the minds of Cardinals management, thus clearing him off the roster makes sense.
Second, the Cardinals removed pitcher John Gast and infielder Jermaine Curtis from the 40-man roster. Gast is a question mark for 2014 after undergoing shoulder surgery and Curtis is not in the Cards long range plans.
Finally, the Cardinals added Oscar Taveras, outfielder Mike O'Neill and infielder Greg Garcia to their 40-man roster.
Taveras was a no-brainer. The Cardinals would have never left him exposed to the Rule 5 draft.
O'Neill has been proving critics wrong for years, by his ability to hit for average and get on base (career .328/.435/.405 line in the minors). He has little power or speed, but if his skills translate to the majors, he can be at least a quality 4th or 5th outfielder.
Garcia is a quality middle infield prospect who started getting some work at third this year. He has a career .281/.386/.403 line in the minors and should prove to be at least a good utility infielder in the majors.
Yesterday, Derrick Goold provided a pretty comprehensive list of players eligible for the Rule 5 draft in the Cardinals organization, based on that and the above moves, here are the players I think could potentially be drafted next month.
John Gast
I was a bit surprised that the Cardinals dropped Gast from the 40-man roster. Although he underwent surgery to repair a torn lat in July, he still is a quality prospect and any team that drafts him can stash him on the DL until he's healthy. In my mind, he's the most likely Cardinal to get selected next month.
Boone Whiting
An 18th round pick in 2010, Whiting has decent minor league numbers (3.13 ERA in 345 innings) despite the lack of overpowering stuff. His fastball sits in the 89-91 mph range, but he has a quality slider to go with it. Some team could select him as a bullpen arm.
Seth Blair
A first round pick (46th overall) in 2010, Blair has dealt with control issues, inconsistency and injuries in his minor league career. He posted a 5.07 ERA at AA this year and still has a mid-90's fastball, but may be better suited for relief.
Jordan Swagerty
A second round pick in 2010, Swagerty has a nice minor league debut in 2011, posting a 1.83 ERA in 93.2 innings. However, he had Tommy John surgery in April 2012 and pitched just 10.2 innings in 2013.
He has a mid-90's fastball and an excellent curve and could be another guy that a team could select and stash on the D.L. while he works his way back.
Robert Stock
Stock was drafted as a catcher but was converted to a pitcher in 2012. He pitched for USC in college and flashed a low-to-mid-90's fastball and an average slider. He's still pretty raw (4.20 ERA in 109.1 innings in the minors), but could be stashed in a major league bullpen.
Overall, you will notice that all of the above players are pitchers, mainly because teams usually select pitching in the Rule 5 draft, as its easier to stash a pitcher in a major league bullpen, and because the hitters the Cardinals left unprotected are not so special.
I think that Gast is likely to be chosen and possibly even Whiting, which will greatly hurt the Cardinals depth.
First, they tried to clear some extra space by putting Ryan Jackson on waivers, however he was claimed by the Houston Astros. Despite the Cardinals struggles with Pete Kozma and Daniel Descalso at short, Jackson never seemed to be an option, at least in the minds of Cardinals management, thus clearing him off the roster makes sense.
Second, the Cardinals removed pitcher John Gast and infielder Jermaine Curtis from the 40-man roster. Gast is a question mark for 2014 after undergoing shoulder surgery and Curtis is not in the Cards long range plans.
Finally, the Cardinals added Oscar Taveras, outfielder Mike O'Neill and infielder Greg Garcia to their 40-man roster.
Taveras was a no-brainer. The Cardinals would have never left him exposed to the Rule 5 draft.
O'Neill has been proving critics wrong for years, by his ability to hit for average and get on base (career .328/.435/.405 line in the minors). He has little power or speed, but if his skills translate to the majors, he can be at least a quality 4th or 5th outfielder.
Garcia is a quality middle infield prospect who started getting some work at third this year. He has a career .281/.386/.403 line in the minors and should prove to be at least a good utility infielder in the majors.
Yesterday, Derrick Goold provided a pretty comprehensive list of players eligible for the Rule 5 draft in the Cardinals organization, based on that and the above moves, here are the players I think could potentially be drafted next month.
John Gast
I was a bit surprised that the Cardinals dropped Gast from the 40-man roster. Although he underwent surgery to repair a torn lat in July, he still is a quality prospect and any team that drafts him can stash him on the DL until he's healthy. In my mind, he's the most likely Cardinal to get selected next month.
Boone Whiting
An 18th round pick in 2010, Whiting has decent minor league numbers (3.13 ERA in 345 innings) despite the lack of overpowering stuff. His fastball sits in the 89-91 mph range, but he has a quality slider to go with it. Some team could select him as a bullpen arm.
Seth Blair
A first round pick (46th overall) in 2010, Blair has dealt with control issues, inconsistency and injuries in his minor league career. He posted a 5.07 ERA at AA this year and still has a mid-90's fastball, but may be better suited for relief.
Jordan Swagerty
A second round pick in 2010, Swagerty has a nice minor league debut in 2011, posting a 1.83 ERA in 93.2 innings. However, he had Tommy John surgery in April 2012 and pitched just 10.2 innings in 2013.
He has a mid-90's fastball and an excellent curve and could be another guy that a team could select and stash on the D.L. while he works his way back.
Robert Stock
Stock was drafted as a catcher but was converted to a pitcher in 2012. He pitched for USC in college and flashed a low-to-mid-90's fastball and an average slider. He's still pretty raw (4.20 ERA in 109.1 innings in the minors), but could be stashed in a major league bullpen.
Overall, you will notice that all of the above players are pitchers, mainly because teams usually select pitching in the Rule 5 draft, as its easier to stash a pitcher in a major league bullpen, and because the hitters the Cardinals left unprotected are not so special.
I think that Gast is likely to be chosen and possibly even Whiting, which will greatly hurt the Cardinals depth.
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