When Kozma was drafted as the 18th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, there were certainly a handful of critics. It definitely was not a “sexy” pick by the Cardinals, but he did have the skill set. Coming out of high school, Kozma was compared to the Texas Rangers shortstop, Michael Young. He has always been scouted as doing everything well, but nothing incredibly well. He has all-around average MLB tools, but no standout tool.

Jeff Luhnow, the Cardinals VP in Player Operations, says Pete Kozma has the potential to be a top 15 Major League shortstop. He fields his position well, he has decent power (10-15 HR in MLB), but has never finished a minor league season with a batting average over .300. That is odd because, when Pete was drafted out of high school, his best tool was hitting for contact. Ben Badler of Baseball America believes that Kozma could very well be a .270/.350/.430. If he can post those numbers on offense, and be a good defensive shortstop, that makes Koz a very valuable prospect.

I believe his bat is still there, he’s not a lost cause, but he has had his fair share of tough times at the dish. In May of this year, Cardinal fans got a taste of the type of hitter Kozma can be. In 26 games, the young shortstop batted .327 with three home runs and 20 RBI. To put that into perspective, if that was his April in the Majors, he’d be on pace to drive in 124 runs.

The problem is, his consistency at the plate is sub-par to say the least. While his power numbers have improved, Kozma’a ability to find the gap has been questionable at best. The kid has very good tools, even on the offensive end, but just hasn’t produced like the club thought he would. Some blame this on management. Kozma was promoted to Double A-Springfield in only his second full minor league season. He was 21-years-old at the time and, with only 165 minor league games under his belt (in which he only hit .252), that could have been a little premature.

So far this season, Kozma is batting .234/.305/.357 with 44 runs scored, eight home runs, 43 RBI, and 10 steals in 88 AA games.

The potential is still there. Some have given up on Kozma, but I actually think he has improved a ton this season. If he can develop a somewhat consistent bat, and still play good defense at a premium position, he may just pan out to be the player we thought he would be in 2007.

This past week: 3-3
Behind another great start by P.J. Walters last weekend, the Redbirds took game four before losing the final game to New Orleans. The team then traveled back home to take on Omaha starting on Monday. The ‘Birds lost game one, won games two and three, then dropped the final game of the four-game set for a series split. Last night’s game against Oklahoma City was postponed due to a power outage in downtown Memphis.

Transactions: P.J. Walters was promoted to St. Louis from Memphis (4-2, 2.79 ERA, 63 SO, 61 1/3 IP in AAA), Allen Craig was optioned to Memphis from St. Louis (.139, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 36 AB in MLB), Ryan Ludwick was assigned to Memphis for a rehab stint (.273, 11 HR, 42 RBI, 264 AB in MLB), Ryan Kulik was promoted to Memphis from Springfield (7-2, 3.08 ERA, 45 SO, 76 IP in AA), David Kopp was optioned to Springfield from Memphis (0-5, 8.62 ERA, 12 SO, 24 IP in AAA), Evan MacLane was optioned to Memphis from St. Louis (0-1, 9.00 ERA, 0 SO, 1 IP in MLB), Fernando Salas was promoted to St. Louis from Memphis (17 saves, 2.10 ERA, 35 SO, 30 IP in AAA), Mark Hamilton assigned to Memphis from the disabled list (.296, 6 HR, 28 RBI, 115 AB in AAA)

Coming up: The Redbirds will finish up their series against Oklahoma City this weekend. There will likely be a double-header thrown in somewhere (Sunday?) to make up for last night’s postponed game. They will then travel back down to New Orleans for another four-game series that will go through Friday.

This past week: 6-2
Springfield had the best week that any of the Cardinals minor league teams have had in a while. They started off last weekend finished up the NW Arkansas series with a double-header on Saturday, which was spilt, and game three on Sunday. The Cardinals then were the host to Tulsa for a five-game set. Springfield took four of the five games to inch a little closer to the league leader. Last night, the Cards began another series with Northwest Arkansas by taking game one 9-8 in extra innings.

Transactions: Ryan Kulik was promoted to Memphis from Springfield (7-2, 3.08 ERA, 45 SO, 76 IP in AA), Arquimedes Nieto was promoted to Springfield from Palm Beach (8-5, 3.36 ERA, 65 SO, 99 IP in A+), Gary Daley was released by Springfield (3-11, 6.70 ERA, 62 SO, 88 2/3 IP in AA)

Coming up: There won’t be much traveling this upcoming week thanks to the fine people that scheduled Springfield to play NW Arkansas, Arkansas, then NW again to wrap up the month of July. The Cards will continue with the NW Arkansas series tonight through Monday. They will then take on Arkansas for a three-game set before facing off with NW again starting Friday.

This past week: 2-5
Palm Beach started the week with a loss to Lakeland and that theme stuck with them for most of the week. Thanks to a magnificant start by Nieto, the Cardinals took the first of four games against Brevard County. Palm Beach would then lose two before winning the fourth to earn a series split. The winning stopped there though as Tampa won Thursday and Friday night’s games.

Transactions: Deryk Hooker was promted to Palm Beach from Quad Cities (5-4, 2.83 ERA, 88 SO, 70 IP in A), Ryde Rodriguez was promoted to Palm Beach from Quad Cities (.274, 5 HR, 45 RBI, 274 AB in A), Ryan Jackson was promoted to Palm Beach from Quad Cities (.272, .366 OBP, 47 R, 302 AB in A), Ted Obregon optioned to Quad Cities from Palm Beach (.174, 11 R, 5 RBI, 69 AB in A+), Oliver Marmol was released by Palm Beach (.221, 19 R, 12 RBI, 104 AB in A+), Devin Shepherd was released by Palm Beach (.171, 3 R, 4 RBI, 35 AB in A+)

Coming up: The Cardinals will play the final two games of the Tampa series today and Sunday before heading to Daytona for a four-game set that will run all the way until Friday.

Yet, in 2008, Samuel experienced the breakthrough that caught so many eyes. He started out the season in Quad Cities but only pitched seven innings there before promoted to Palm Beach to take over their closing role. In 63 2/3 innings with the Single-A club, Samuel struck out 94 batters while saving 30 games. He finished the season off with an ERA of 2.86 and his WHIP had dropped a full point.The following year, Samuel spent his entire season in Double-A Springfield where he again ran into a rough patch. He ended up recording 22 saves, but had given up 30 runs in only 47 2/3 innings of work. He was, however, selected to the MLB All-Star Future’s Game for the first time.

This season has been up and down for the right-handed flamethrower. He seems to finally be back on track after suffering from a minor shoulder tweak earlier in the season. Thus far this year, Samuel has three saves, a 4.19 ERA, and 21 strikeouts in 19 1/3 innings pitched.

Like I said above, I think there is little doubt that, when it comes to “stuff”, Samuel is one of the best the Cardinals have seen. This kid can simply bring it. He has been compared to Jose Valverde, and Carlos Marmol. His 99 mph fastball is reason enough to be amazed, but his best pitch is actually his slider. There is no doubt that his slider is MLB-ready. A scout/friend of mine told me that it was “devastating” and “full of life”. It tops out around 92 mph and is considered Samuel’s definite strikeout pitch.

There is one major problem though… His control.

Baseball America said it best, “Control is the only thing keeping Francisco Samuel from rocketing through the Cardinals system. His stuff is generally unhittable.”

He is talented enough to be a closer in the big leagues today, but he has to find command. Hitters have learned they can work him for a walk. In his five seasons in the minors, Samuel has a BB/9 mark of 8.3. In 2010, it is 7.5. Once he gains some control, he’ll be a Major League pitcher. Until then, he will idle in AA.

Things are appearing to get better though. Samuel has recently reclaimed the closing role for Springfield and, according to his coaches, the control is starting to come along.

“He’s keeping his delivery a lot more efficient, and his misses aren’t as drastic as they have been. He’s getting to where he can repeat his mechanics,” says Springfield manager Pop Warner.

Pitching coach Dennis Martinez believes he has found and fixed the problem. He told Samuel to incorporate his legs and torso into his delivery. Before, he would rely too heavily on his arm and just “let it rip”. This often causes control problems for young pitchers.

Martinez has spent a ton of time with the prospect pitcher and he believes it is paying off. “Finally, Samuel is not jerking. We’ve really been hammering that out. And finally he’s starting to look comfortable.”

This past week: 1-3
The Redbirds finished off a five-game series with Nashville at the beginning of this week. They dropped game four 5-1 but took the final game of the series behind another great start by P.J. Walters. Memphis then had three days off for the All Star break before heading to New Orleans for a four-game set. Lance Lynn’s six innings of four-hit ball wasn’t good enough in game one and the Redbirds lost 1-5. Last night’s 4-7 loss was just as disappointing though.

Transactions: Allen Craig was promoted to St. Louis from Memphis (.308, 11 HR, 65 RBI in AAA), Adron Chambers was promoted to Memphis from Springfield (.282, 5 HR, 52 R in AA)

Coming up: The Redbirds will finish up their series in New Orleans. Games three and four are on Saturday and Sunday. They will then come home for a four-game series against Omaha that will go through Thursday. Oklahoma City will then take on the Redbirds in a four game set starting Friday.

This past week: 2-3
Just like Memphis, Springfield did not exactly have a week’s full of games. Unlike Memphis however, the Cardinals were plagued by rainouts instead of having the All Star break. Sunday, Thursday, and both of the games last night were rained out. They did get a double-header in on Saturday but only managed a split with Frisco to wrap up a four-game series. Game one of the series with Midland was rained out, but the Cards won behind an excellent start by Ryan Kulik on Monday before dropping games on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Transactions: Adron Chambers was promoted to Memphis from Springfield (.282, 5 HR, 52 R in AA), Chris Swauger was promoted to Springfield from Palm Beach (.294, 4 HR, 26 RBI)

Coming up: The Cardinals have three games to make up with NW Arkansas, but when those games will be made up is yet to be known. They will have a double-header on Saturday that will cover one of those games, but I doubt they will make up the other two until next weekend. The Cardinals will then take on Tulsa, the league leaders, on Monday through Thursday before starting another series with NW Arkansas on Friday.

This past week: 3-3
Palm Beach started the week with a series against the league leaders, Bradenton but only took one of three thanks to a great start by Arquimedes Nieto. The team then traveled to Lakeland to take on the Flying Tigers. Game one was a tough 3-4 loss and game two was rained out, but Palm Beach won both of the games of the double-header last night with a combined score of 13-1.

Transactions: Chris Swauger was promoted to Springfield from Palm Beach (.294, 4 HR, 26 RBI)

Coming up: The Cardinals will play the final game against Lakeland tonight before they take on Brevard County in a four-game series that will go through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday will be game’s one and two of the Tampa series.