Breakout Cardinal

by mateodh on Aug 11, 2007 3:04 PM EDT

Second baseman Jarrett Hoffpauir is having a monster season. After hitting .345/.420/.527 with 7 HR in 203 AB for Springfield, he was promoted to Memphis where he's hit .330/.414/.482 with 3 HR in 112 AB. Even more impressive, on the year he's walked 42 times compared to just 29 strikeouts.
Call me crazy, but I liken him to Dustin Pedroia. He doesn't quite have the range and defensive prowess of the Red Sox second baseman, but he makes plays. Also, Dustin is a year ahead in his development after they were taken in the same draft(2004; 2nd/6th), with Hoffpauir being a month older and still in the minors. But they're both short, stocky guys who still hit the ball pretty hard and have great plate discipline.

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breakout cardinal

i thought you meant rick ankiel. 3 homers in 3 games is pretty good.

by fewgoodcards on Aug 11, 2007 6:07 PM EDT reply actions

rick...

Yeah, there's always him, but he does get a lot of attention, and Hoffpauir doesn't get any at all.

What Ankiel's done the past few days, and all season really, has been nothing short of amazing. Definitely Disney-esque. Right now he really looks like he'll be something special...

by mateodh on Aug 12, 2007 1:53 AM EDT up reply actions

2nd baseman of 2008?

If I'm the Cards, I keep a veteran, but give him a look. That said, the 7.5 million left on Adam Kennedy's contract may prevent that.

On a side note, it'd be nice to get another thread solely focused on breakout/intriguing under the radar players across the minors going again, for those of us that don't quite have the time anymore to keep up with breakout guys from other organizations.

by toonsterwu on Aug 12, 2007 2:58 AM EDT reply actions