The Johnson City Cardinals began their
33rd consecutive season as an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals
(51st year overall as the Johnson City Cardinals) with an exhibition
game against the Tennessee Tornado of the Southern Collegiate Baseball League on
Sunday. Prior to the game, the
organization held a forty-five minute long “Meet the Cardinals” in the outfield
pavilion.
Beat reporter Shawn Kerrick filed the following
report after the game. It is being offered free of charge this week only as a
reminder of the excellent minor league reports presented here each Monday
through Saturday for our subscribers, as well as breaking news provided here
first. (For example, look for the Pete Kozma update
below.)
Our stlcardinals.scout.com daily
line-up:
Monday – Johnson City – Shawn Kerrick
Tuesday – Memphis – Brent Diederich
Wednesday – Palm Beach – Jim Rutledge
Thursday – Quad Cities – Jon
P.
Friday – Springfield – John Brayfield
Saturday – This Week in the Cards Minors –
Hitters/Pitchers – Leonda Markee
Schedule Changes and
Features
The 2007 Appalachian League schedule will have a
much different look with the loss of the Pulaski Blue Jays (added a team to the
Gulf Coast League) and a decrease in teams from ten to nine. The schedule used to have almost
exclusively three-game series with several league wide off-days however; the
2007 schedule features nothing but two-game series with four scheduled
doubleheaders (three games in two days) and four scheduled two-day-off
periods.
·
68 scheduled
games
·
Starts Tuesday, June
19
·
Ends August
29
·
Two division winners
(Johnson
City is in the
West) begin a best-of-three series August 31
·
Nine games each against
the West Division (Kingsport Mets, Bristol White Sox, Greeneville Astros, and
Elizabethton Twins)
5 road games @ Greeneville and Elizabethton
5 home games vs. Kingsport and Bristol
·
Eight games each against
the East Division (Bluefield Orioles, Burlington Royals, Danville Braves, and
Princeton Devil Rays) - 4 on road and 4 at home.
·
Four scheduled
doubleheaders
Thu. Jul 19 - Day/Night 2-City - in Greeneville @ Noon and in JC @ 7 PM
Fri. Jul 27 - in Bristol @ 6 PM
Thu. Aug 9 - in Elizabethton @ TBD (probably 6 PM)
Sat. Aug 18 - Day/Night 2-City - in JC @ 1 PM and in Kingsport @ TBD (probably 7 PM)
·
Four scheduled 2-day-off
periods
Jun 29-30 (Fri and Sat)
Jul 13-14 (Fri and Sat)
Aug 4-5 (Sat and Sun)
Aug 22-23 (Wed and Thu)
Returning Players
The 2007 roster had ten players return from the
2006 Johnson City Cardinals roster.
Three of those players are currently on the disabled list, including
right-handed pitcher Kris Bakey, catcher Garrett Bussiere, and infielder Melvin Puello. The other seven include
outfielders Jon Edwards, Travis Mitchell, and Wil Pujols, right-handed starting
pitchers Tyler Leach and Matt North, catcher Casey Mulligan, and left-handed
starting pitcher Senger Peralta.
The Pitching Rotation
Johnson City will be using the same eight-man tandem starting
pitcher rotation that Quad Cities has been using so far this year. I talked with pitching coach Sid Monge
before the game and got the scheduled starters for the first four games of the
season. Maximum pitch counts of 80
pitches exist for all the starters but individual game pitch counts will vary
based on the pitcher’s performance and health.
Tuesday, June 19: Tyler Leach followed by Brian Broderick
Wednesday, June 20: Matt North followed by Jose Mateo
Thursday, June 21: Senger Peralta followed by Mark Diapoules
Friday, June 22: Nick Additon followed by Jose Arredondo
Matt North felt a little discomfort (tendonitis)
when pitching yesterday. Omar Javier could be substituted for North in the Wednesday scheduled start. North will test the arm tomorrow and see
how things feel and a decision on the starters will
follow.
Pete Parise will serve as the initial closer. The relievers will include 2007 draftees
Chuckie Fick, Dylan Gonzalez, and Steven Hill, 2006 Venezuelan Summer League
left-handed pitcher Wladimir Mendoza, and 2006 draft-and-follow LaCurtis Mayes.
Exhibition Game Results
Johnson City won 9-5 in eight innings (it was scheduled for
seven innings but both teams apparently decided to play an extra inning). Johnson City trailed 1-0 entering the bottom of the second but
scored four runs and never trailed, scoring two in the third, two in the sixth,
and one run in the seventh inning.
The Cardinals scored nine runs on eleven hits while committing one error
and the Tornado scored five runs on five hits while committing three
errors.
Box Score
CF-Travis Mitchell: 0-for-0, BB.
PH (second inning for Mitchell)-3B-Mike Folli: 1-for-4, RBI.
2B-Jose Garcia: 2-for-4, R, GIDP, fielding
error.
1B-Charlie Pelt: 1-for-4.
3B-CF (third inning for Mitchell)-Nick Vera: 1-for-2, 3B, R, RBI, BB, K,
SF.
RF-Jon Edwards: 2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, RBI, BB.
C-Casey Mulligan: 0-for-2.
C (fifth inning for Mulligan) Robert Sanzillo: 0-for-2, K, PB.
DH-Brian Buck: 1-for-4, 2 R, RBI, K, SB (home in the
second inning).
LF-Beau Riportella: 1-for-4, R, SB (second in the second
inning).
SS-Domnit Bolivar: 2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, SB (third in
the second inning), SF.
P-Senger Peralta: 2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER (Garcia fielding error),
1 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 36 pitches, 20 strikes.
P-Nick Additon: 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 31
pitches, 20 strikes.
P-Jose Arredondo: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 12 pitches, 8
strikes.
P-Omar Javier: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, HB, 19
pitches, 14 strikes.
P-Wladimir Mendoza: 0.2 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HB,
25 pitches, 13 strikes.
P-Dylan Gonzalez: 1.1 IP, 1 R, 0 ER (Sanzillo PB), 0 H, 2
BB, 22 pitches, 9 strikes.
Notes
Pitching coach Sid Monge told me that the only
additional roster move expected is the addition of first-round draft pick Pete
Kozma. He explained that there is
some type of “mandatory hold” on the signing but that he expected that to be
worked out shortly and that Kozma would soon be in
Johnson
City.
Tyler Leach indicated that he might be on a shorter
pitch count than some of the other starters.
Charlie Pelt has the required clean-shaven look now
and looks nothing like the picture in Brian Walton’s article
about him.
Matt Arburr twisted his ankle in a workout this
weekend and was scratched from the exhibition game. Arburr told me that it was not a bad
sprain and that he didn’t expect to miss any playing time.
Former major league umpire Dale Ford was the field
umpire for the exhibition game.
2006 Johnson City manager and 2007 roving hitting instructor Dan
Radison took videos of several players’ at-bats during the game and is expected
to be with the team for about ten days.
Travis Mitchell was hit by a pitch in extended
spring training and felt a little sore in the field so he was removed in the
second inning of the exhibition game as a precautionary measure and should be
ready for Tuesday’s opening game.
Jose Arredondo was the most impressive pitcher in
the exhibition game.
==========================================
Impressed? This is one of dozens of articles posted here at stlcardinals.scout.com each week. For example, our network of local reporters in Memphis, Springfield, the Quad Cities, Palm Beach and now Johnson City, provide comprehensive reports like this one that cover the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system like nowhere else.
Join The Birdhouse, stlcardinals.scout.com, today to access these and our wealth of articles about the Cardinals and all major sports. You can also take advantage of benefits like 56 issues of Sports Illustrated magazine and our first-ever Scout.com Prospect Guide included at no extra charge with your annual subscription.
Don’t miss out! Join stlcardinals.scout.com today!
===========================================
© 2007 stlcardinals.scout.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed.