http://www.sbnation.com/users/mattlo Posts made by mattlo on SB Nation http://www.vivaelbirdos.com/2008/5/9/506744/redbirds-in-vegas mattlo Fri, 09 May 2008 21:02:47 -0000 <p>I'm working in Las Vegas and got to go to the Redbirds-51s game last night, and will be there tonight for the series finale.&nbsp; I actually only saw the last 9 innings last night, after arriving in the 3rd.</p> <p>My biggest concern was the infield defense.&nbsp; Barden seemed fine but both Hoffpauir and Freese looked more like college players than major leaguers. The box score only gave the Redbirds 3 errors:</p> <p>http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t235&amp;gid=2008_05_08_mrbaaa_lvgaaa_1&amp;cid=235&amp;t=g_bo</p> <p>But there were a few other questionable plays.&nbsp; It might just have been one bad night, but based on the defense I saw I'd be surprised if either Hoff or Freese plays in St. Louis this year.</p> <p>The offense and the pitching looked promising.&nbsp; Jaime Garcia looked good, he was consistently ahead of hitters.&nbsp; Motte and Perez each pitched well.&nbsp; (The run off Perez in the 11th should have been UNearned - the runner who scored reached on a soft floater to 3rd that Freese definitely should have caught.)&nbsp; If the Cards need bullpen help anytime soon, those two look like reasonable alternatives to Kelvin Jimenez.</p> <p>Stavinoha and Freese both did what was asked of them to get Phelps home in the 4th.&nbsp; Phelps had led off with a double; Stavinoha forced a grounder to second to move him to third, and Freese then fouled off several pitches before lifting a fly ball to score the runner.&nbsp; Nice to see young players executing the fundamentals.</p> <p>Speaking of which, Joe Mather looked like the real deal.&nbsp; He was officially 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored.&nbsp; He also crushed a ball that was caught (Cashman field has a lot of room for flyballs to die - straightaway center is 433 feet), laid down a nice sac bunt in the 12th to put the lead run in scoring position, and made a nice throw from RF to complete a double play to end the 51s tenth.&nbsp; He'll definitely deserve a look if any of our outfielders gets injured or traded</p> <p>Anderson can hit and he's a lot faster than Yadi on the basepaths.&nbsp; Rasmus looked like he's still trying to find his swing, but he was solid in the field and displayed a strong arm.&nbsp; Anthony Reyes is listed as the starter for tonight, that should be interesting and I'll try to post my notes as soon as I can.</p>