As the team seems to have fallen out of contention in the past week or two, I thought it might be interesting to look at the potential September callups and how they have been doing in the minors.  Right now, Memphis is still in the hunt for the post-season, while Springfield seems to have fallen out of contention as of late.  Just a refresher on the rules, to be called up in September, you must be on the 40 man roster.

Pitchers:

Maikel Cleto (currently at Memphis) 5-2, 3.74 ERA, 39BB:61K's

With it looking increasingly likely that Jaime Garcia's arm is just plain tired, it probably makes sense to bring up Cleto again and see if he can start at the big league level, if nothing else, to allow Jaime to skip a start and see if that helps his performance.

Brandon Dickson (currently at Memphis) 8-9. 3.73 ERA, 32BB:122K's

***Update*** per stlcardinals.com, Brandon Dickson will be starting against the Brewers on Thursday, Sep. 1, making him the first official September call up.

Having much better control than Cleto, but perhaps not the same stuff, Dickson is also a nice candidate to make a spot start if Garcia needs some rest. 

Infielders:

These guys you largely already know as they have all seen time up with the Cardinals.  I suppose there is an outside chance that Cox gets a look.  However, I think that with the depth at 3rd with M. Carp, it is more likely that Cox gets his next chance with StL next spring.

Matt Carpenter (currently at Memphis) .303/.419/.463

Matt has been a consistent hitter throughout the minors and it makes sense to have him spelling Freese in September rather than playing Descalso over there.

Tyler Greene (currently at Memphis) .333/.430/.617

When you look  at Tyler's AAA numbers you wonder why he hasn't stuck in St. Louis.  When you look at his St. Louis numbers, you wonder how he can hit so well down in Memphis.  If Furcal doesn't figure into the future plans, why not let Greene start most of the games in September and see if he can hit if given regular AB's.

Mark Hamilton (currently at Memphis) .346/.435/.475

The main knock on Mark is that he just doesn't have the kind of power you would like out of a 1B.  However, he gets on base at a pretty good clip and hits for great average.  I don't envision him seeing a lot of playing time in September unless something unmentionable happens to a certain 1B, God forbid.

Pete Kozma (currently at Memphis) .220/.288/.299

Obviously Kozma has been a big disappointment for a great man Cardinals fans.  He has been outplayed by Greene and without really being a dynamic fielder, it is unlikely that he will get much playing time.  He certainly doesn't deserve to grab AB's from Greene.

Zach Cox (currently at Springfield) .312/.379/.457

If you have followed along on Future Redbirds, you know that Cox has turned it on as of late.  As I said above, I would be surprised if he gets a September callup, especially barring injury.  However, the kid can clearly hit once he gets settled.  He will definitely be knocking on the door next spring and almost certainly will see some time in StL next September.  Having 3 major-league quality 3B's is a nice problem to have.  Lets hope Mo doesn't find a way to screw that up.

Outfielders

Adron Chambers (currently at Memphis) .281/.373/.420

When your current backup Centerfielder is Corey Patterson, it makes sense to bring up the kid from Memphis and see what he can do.  Patterson should not see another AB once September 1st rolls around.  Actually, Patterson just shouldn't be seeing AB's at all.

Andrew Brown (currently at Memphis) .286/.384/.505

Brown has shown some pop, however unless something happens to prevent Berkman, Holliday, or Craig from playing everyday, Brown would be unlikely to get much playing time in September.

Catcher

Tony Cruz (currently at Memphis) .271/.331/.403

Given his relative success when Laird was injured earlier this season, and his ability to play several positions, Cruz will be a very likely call up. 

Bryan Anderson (currently at Memphis) .293/.365/.427

I would be surprised to see Bryan wear the Cardinals uniform this year, and perhaps ever.  He has been overtaken by Cruz and clearly doesn't excite the Cardinals' management or front office.

If nothing else, we can look forward to some fresh faces getting a cup of coffee.  I am especially looking forward to seeing the young pitchers show what they can do as both have been pitching quite well as of late.

Didn't see this anywhere on the site, though I might be blind.  Couldn't figure out how to make it a Fanshot either, so here it is:

Thurs, Mar. 17 1pm vs. Marlins

Sun. Mar. 20  1pm vs. Red Sox

Thur. Mar. 24 1pm vs. Mets

The one game I saw on MLB earlier this season was in HD, which is always nice.

http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/index.php/2011/02/17/mlb-networks-2011-spring-training-game-tv-schedule/

From the Post-Dispatch, apparently Carpenter threw off the mound today for about 10 minutes with no discomfort.  Article Here

To my mind, that is fantastic news.  Apparently McClellan is pitching on the same days as Carpenter in order to be a seemless backup.  Lets hope that Carp continues to progress normally.  He really means the season for the Cards this year.

The article goes on to state that there is no reason why they will treat Carpenter any differently this Spring than any other pitcher.  I still prefer McClellan to Pinata, so we will have to see how things shake out.