Emerging Pitchers Bolster Cards

Prospect Pulse By John Manuel
September 8, 2004

Baseball America's Talent Rankings haven't been kind to the St. Louis Cardinals over the last five years.

In 1999, with a farm system anchored by Rick Ankiel and J.D. Drew, the Cardinals ranked ninth. Every year since that dynamic duo graduated to the major leagues, though, the Cardinals have ranked in the bottom third of baseball's farm systems in terms of talent.

That's not to say the Cardinals have been without successes from a player-development standpoint, though. Albert Pujols, a 1999 13th-round draftee, is the most obvious example, and general manager Walt Jocketty has shown an acumen for spinning minor league players into big league talent through trades. While former Cardinals farmhands such as Adam Kennedy, Braden Looper, Placido Polanco and Jack Wilson are having fine careers elsewhere, only Wilson (traded for Jason Christianson) was dealt in vain. The other players brought Jim Edmonds, Edgar Renteria and Scott Rolen to St. Louis.

The trades over the years have sapped the organization of depth, farm director Bruce Manno concedes, though he disagrees with BA's rankings. "Every organization always wants to have more depth," he said. "I think certainly this is a year where we have added some depth to our system, and I think we've got some good young players who have had good seasons."

Indeed, while the minor leagues haven't kept up with the success of the big league Cardinals, the organization has had one of its strongest years since '99 in terms of developing talent. Most importantly, the Cardinals didn't take a major hit when Jocketty made his stretch-drive move, acquiring Larry Walker from the Rockies for three modest prospects, led by lefthander Chris Narveson.

Even after trading Narveson (their top lefthander) and missing top prospect Blake Hawksworth for all but two starts (circulation problems in his shoulder), the Cardinals made their greatest strides in 2004 on the mound. The biggest stories of the farm system were a pair of righthanders, one that started strong and one that finished that way.

Double-A Tennessee righthander Brad Thompson was one of the minors' biggest stories in the first half, when he set a Southern League record by starting the year with 49 consecutive scoreless innings. While the streak (57 2/3 spreading back to last season) sparked controversy, Thompson's emergence as a prospect was just as noteworthy.

So was his supposed demise. He stumbled in late June, as weakness in his shoulder and the resulting loss of velocity led to stint on the disabled list and a rough three-start stretch at Triple-A Memphis (5.52 ERA, 20 hits allowed in 15 innings).

However, Thompson ended the year the way he started it. He re-joined Tennessee's rotation for its playoff run and threw five perfect innings in his last start against Mobile, striking out seven. His fastball was back in the 88-92 mph range with his trademark command, and his slider was biting again. For the year, he went 9-2, 2.90 and walked just 14 in 87 innings while striking out 67.

"That streak at the beginning of the year took its toll," Manno said. "When you compete like that right out of the gate, with the pressure of a streak like that and the adrenaline gets going, it can create a little more stress on the arm. That's what we think happened to Brad.

"We wanted him to get more work, so we sent him back to Tennessee for the playoffs. Then we'll get him into instructional league and monitor his progress carefully, but he should be fine."

Just as Thompson, 22, was weakening, Anthony Reyes stepped forward to take the baton. Reyes' pedigree and hard fastball meant he was better known than Thompson entering the year. The former Southern California ace is one of the hardest throwers in the system with a low-90s fastball topping out at 94.

Reyes, 22, also boasts a sharp slider, and the two pitches helped make him one of college baseball's best pitchers in 2001. Pitching in the rotation behind Mark Prior, he finished that year 4-0, 0.27 in his last four starts before getting pounded by Tennessee in his College World Series start. Reyes never subsequently regained the form he showed late in '01, however, through two injury-plagued seasons with the Trojans, as his elbow rarely felt right.

"I never had surgery; it was just a sprain," Reyes said. "I remember feeling when I hurt it on a couple of pitches, early in fall ball (in 2001). I tried to come back early a couple of times, because I just couldn't stand sitting on the bench anymore."

His impatience cost him, though, as Reyes was in and out of the Trojans' rotation for two years, making just 22 starts and rarely pitching with his best stuff. Drafted by the Tigers as a junior in the 13th round, he didn't sign. The Cardinals were able to wait until the 15th round to pick Reyes after his senior year, then signed him in time for instructional league last year.

"He was very impressive in instructional league, so we thought there was a chance he could move quickly this year," Manno said. "He had a little bit of shoulder tendinitis in the first half, but once he came back from that, he's been pitching very well."

That's one way to put it. Reyes missed nearly two months after his first two starts for high Class A Palm Beach, but after a 3-0, 4.66 stint there in seven games, the Cardinals moved him up to Tennessee to replace Thompson in the rotation, and Reyes exploded.

He struck out eight over seven innings of his first start, and only once--against Carolina on Aug. 11--did he pitch fewer than five innings in a start, his best stretch of durability since that 2001 season. Moreover, Reyes' response to his three-inning, six-run outing against the Mudcats was to strike out 41 in his last four starts.

In 12 games with the Smokies, he went 6-2, 2.91 with 102 strikeouts in 74 innings. He allowed just 62 hits and 13 walks. For the season overall, Reyes went 9-2, 3.48 with a sterling 140-20 strikeout-walk ratio.

"It seems like a while ago since I've been throwing this well," he said. "The last two years, I just wasn't really healthy, and I wasn't throwing more than 50 or 60 innings a year. This year I've been healthy, and I've got my velocity back."

Reyes points to two factors for his improvement. First, he improved his offseason conditioning and preparation, taking tips from Prior, among others. "I refined what I was doing in the weight room and refined my mechanics, things I didn't do as well in college," he said. "I was in pretty good shape in college, but this year the little things I added to my training helped to prepare me for a full season."

He also has supplemented his fastball and hard slider with an improved changeup that he says he developed last fall. He grips it deep in his hand almost with a palmball grip, and he says throwing it for strikes has helped make his fastball even more effective.

"I've never had a problem with walks; I've always been around the plate," he said. "With two strikes, I just have learned where to put it to put 'em away."

Reyes ranked second in the organization behind Dan Haren in strikeouts, and he and Thompson led the Cardinals' success stories. There have been others, though, such as lefthander Carmen Cali, who with a mechanical tweak and more experience has harnessed his electric arm. The 25-year-old now can find the strike zone with his 96-97 mph fastball, and his 67 strikeouts (and just 23 walks) in 66 innings earned him a September callup.

And 19-year-old Stuart Pomeranz, a 6-foot-7 righthander who started the year in extended spring training, finished it as low Class A Peoria's ace, winning 12 of his 17 starts with a 3.55 ERA and posting a solid 88-25 strikeout-walk ratio.

"We had several players like Pomeranz, (shortstop) Brennan Ryan and (catcher) Daric Barton that needed time in extended spring before joining a club," Manno said. "When they went to Peoria, though, they didn't have much adjustment time, and they all contributed right away and performed well. That was a good sign."

For the Cardinals, it's a start to developing the kind of depth they want.

QUICK HITS

• It's been six years since he was a first-round pick, but Marlins outfielder Chip Ambres is showing signs that he's not done as a prospect yet. Ambres, 24, hit in six of his final seven games while sitting in the cleanup slot for Double-A Carolina and finished the year hitting .241-20-62, setting career highs in home runs, RBIs, walks (76) and doubles (28), while adding a .352 on-base percentage and .449 slugging average. Ambres hit 13 home runs since July after hitting just six in the season's first three months. His career high for homers had been 10, and he also tied a career high with 26 steals in 35 attempts

• When the Giants signed Jon Coutlangus as a 19th-round pick out of South Carolina last year, they intended to move the strong-armed lefthander to the mound. But Coutlangus, who was the Gamecocks' leadoff hitter for the better part of two seasons, hit .301 with a .394 on-base percentage in his pro debut for short-season Salem-Keizer, so the transition to the mound--which was supposed to happen in instructional league--was delayed. This season, Coutlangus hit his way onto the mound. His .194 performance at Class A Hagerstown gave the Giants the ammunition they needed to make the switch, and Coutlangus reported to the Rookie-level Arizona League, where he pitched a scoreless inning in his debut.

• Two years ago, Yhency Brazoban was a struggling outfielder at Class A Greensboro, hitting just .242 and striking out more than once every four at-bats. The Yankees moved him to the mound, included him in the Kevin Brown trade with the Dodgers, and Brazoban was spending September as one of the key setup men in the Los Angeles bullpen. Now, another former Greensboro outfielder could follow in Brazoban's footsteps. Marlins farmhand Chris Resop hit just .191 for the Bats last season and returned to the South Atlantic League as a pitcher, armed with a mid-90s fastball that tops out at 98. Resop started slowly but clearly got the hang of this pitching thing. Resop gave up a run in just two of his last 27 outings, and had just three games all season in which he failed to register a strikeout. Overall, the 21-year-old went 3-1, 2.11 with 13 saves, striking out 71 and walking just eight in 43 innings. "He's still learning, but he's really come along, especially in the last couple of weeks," Bats manager Steve Phillips said. "His fastball is his strikeout pitch, but I've encouraged him to throw his breaking ball more. He's got a power curveball and has started to be a pretty good pitch for him." The Marlins envision Resop, a fourth-round pick in 2001 out of Barron Collier High in Naples, Fla., as a short reliever.

• A foot injury temporarily halted the rapid progress Juan Senreiso was making, but the Rangers outfielder still had an impressive 2004 season, capped with a late promotion to Double-A Frisco. Senreiso, 23, started the year back in the Midwest League, where he hit just .216 with an OPS below .600. However, he set a career high with 38 walks, held his strikeouts to 90 in 434 at-bats, and hit a combined .313/.370/.468 with 11 homers and 65 RBIs with 28 stolen bases in 40 attempts.

• While Ismael Valdez was helping the Marlins in their stretch run, the Padres picked up a quality righthander in 20-year-old Travis Chick, who won five of his seven starts with low Class A Fort Wayne, striking out 55 in 42 innings. Chick, who throws a low 90s fastball that touches 95, a hard slider and solid-average changeup, started the year in the Greensboro bullpen with Resop and had 112 strikeouts and just 27 walks in 91 innings. Between the two low A levels, Chick was 11-4, 3.43 and gave up just 111 hits in 134 innings while striking out 167 and walking 36.

• With Khalil Greene having passed him on the Padres depth chart, J.J. Furmaniak needed a big year, and he came through with one in his first try at Triple-A. He started the year back in the Southern League at Double-A Mobile and went 10-for-51, but he was needed at Triple-A Portland and responded, helping lead the Beavers into the Pacific Coast League playoffs. He batted .292/.348/.489 and set career highs in home runs (17) and RBIs (73) as the everyday shortstop, though he profiles better as a utility player. "He's a blue-collar guy who quietly goes about his business and has kind of been overshadowed," Padres minor league field coordinator Bill Bryk said. "He has some power, he's playing solid defense and he has some tools. It used to be that he'd be too tight and would blow the routine play, but he's come out of that."