2008 Cards Minors Rookie Starter of the Year

The St. Louis Cardinals fourth-round pick, Scott Gorgen, proved to be the most consistent of a very strong group and is named our 2008 Scout.com St. Louis Cardinals Minor League Rookie Starting Pitcher of the Year.

After a fantastic career at the University of California-Irvine, Scott Gorgen did not miss a beat in his first professional assignment in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Playing with the Batavia Muckdogs, Gorgen finished with a 5-2 record and a 2.32 ERA. The opposition managed only a .186 batting average against him.

Gorgen allowed less than one base runner per inning, finishing with a WHIP of 0.99. The 5-foot-10 right-hander posted a FIP of 2.70, second best among those who qualified. The native Californian finished with the third best ERA amongst starters, 2.32. He also finished second in DIPS and innings pitched. With 60 strikeouts in 54.1 innings, it was the fourth best mark in K/9 innings.

In game one of the New York-Penn League championship, Gorgen threw six shutout innings but did not factor in the decision.

Honorable Mention

Scott McGregor made a brief stop in the Gulf Coast League before heading to Johnson City, where he shined. In seven games, he was a perfect 4-0 with a 0.33 ERA. While at JC, Appalachian hitters managed only a .172 batting average against McGregor.

The former Memphis Tiger was superb, finishing with a system-best 1.45 ERA. McGregor made hitters earn their way on, allowing only 1.2 walks per nine innings. He finished second best mark in WHIP, fourth in batting average against, FIP, and strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Sixth-round pick Eric Fornataro quietly put up a solid season between the Gulf Coast League and Johnson City. The right-hander allowed only a .216 batting average against and was second in ERA with a mark of 1.89. His WHIP of 1.08 rated as the third best among those who qualified.

Adam Veres averaged 12 strikeouts per nine innings pitched while Anthony Ferrara averaged 10.8.

By the numbers

As with all system-wide awards, there was significant competition. Our own Leonda Markee assembled 2008 system-wide stats, both traditional and sabermetric, for Cardinals rookie minor league starting pitchers.

Earned Run Average
Rk	Player	Team	ERA	G	GS	IP	ER
1	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	1.45	12	3	37.1	6
2	Eric Fornataro	JC/GCL	1.89	11	4	38	8
3	Scott Gorgen	Bat	2.32	14	6	54.1	14
4	Richard Castillo	QC/PB	2.37	19	15	95	25
5	Kevin Thomas	JC	2.65	10	4	34	10
DIPS Earned Run Average
Rk	Player	Team	G	GS	dERA	dIP	dER
1	Jonny Bravo	JC	10	3	2.29	38.4	9.8
2	George Brown	Bat	17	6	2.73	50.0	15.2
3	Scott Gorgen	Bat	14	6	2.75	54.3	16.6
4	Josh Hester	Bat	14	7	2.81	54.7	17.1
5	Kevin Thomas	JC	10	4	2.83	36.6	11.5
FIP
Rk	Player	Team	FIP	HR	BB	HB	SO
1	Jonny Bravo	JC	2.66	2	10	7	48
2	Scott Gorgen	Bat	2.70	3	17	1	60
3	Josh Hester	Bat	2.74	3	9	2	47
4	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	2.88	1	5	2	23
5	George Brown	Bat	2.93	3	8	6	47
WHIP
Rk	Player	Team	ERA	IP	H	BB	WHIP
1	Scott Gorgen	Bat	2.32	54.1	37	17	0.99
2	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	1.45	37.1	33	5	1.02
3	Eric Fornataro	JC/GCL	1.89	38	32	9	1.08
4	Richard Castillo	QC/PB	2.37	95	76	28	1.09
5	Miguel Flores	JC/GCL	2.66	44	41	10	1.16
Strikeouts-to-Walks Ratio
Rk	Player	Team	IP	BB	SO	K/BB
1	George Brown	Bat	47.1	8	47	5.9
2	Josh Hester	Bat	48	9	47	5.2
3	Jonny Bravo	JC	35	10	48	4.8
4	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	37.1	5	23	4.6
5	Ryan Kulik	QC/Bat	63	10	43	4.3
The Flamethrowers
Rk	Player	Team	IP	SO	K/9 IP
1	Jonny Bravo	JC	35	48	12.3
2	Adam Veres	Bat/JC	43.1	58	12.0
3	Anthony Ferrara	GCL	30	36	10.8
T4	Scott Gorgen	Bat	54.1	60	9.9
T4	Randy Santos	JC	46.1	51	9.9
The Control Artists
Rk	Player	Team	IP	BB	BB/9 IP
1	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	37.1	5	1.2
2	Ryan Kulik	QC/Bat	63	10	1.4
3	George Brown	Bat	47.1	8	1.5
4	Josh Hester	Bat	48	9	1.7
5	Miguel Flores	JC/GCL	44	10	2.0
Batting Average Against
Rk	Player	Team	IP	H	TBF	BAA
1	Scott Gorgen	Bat	54.1	37	219	0.186
2	Randy Santos	JC	46.1	35	198	0.211
3	Eric Fornataro	JC/GCL	38	32	162	0.216
4	Scott McGregor	QC/JC/GCL	37.1	33	155	0.224
5	Richard Castillo	QC/PB	95	76	378	0.226
Innings Eaters
Rk	Player	Team	G	GS	IP
1	Richard Castillo	QC/PB	19	15	95
2	Ryan Kulik	QC/Bat	14	12	63
3	Scott Gorgen	Bat	14	6	54.1
4	Miguel Tapia	Bat	15	9	53.2
5	Zach Pitts	Bat	14	7	51.2

Master article with all 2008 Scout.com Cardinals Minor League Players of the Year and the schedule for daily announcements: link. (This link is also permanently located at the lower left of The Birdhouse home page.)

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