Baseball season couldn’t have gotten here any sooner.
After an unusually rough winter, things are finally starting to thaw out and Tiger Blog hit the diamond for the first time this week, taking in Republic’s win at Hillcrest Tuesday afternoon. It was glorious.
College baseball is well underway, too, and the professionals – both major and minor – are getting ready to take the field. Some folks in southwest Missouri will have the opportunity to see both this weekend at Hammons Field in Springfield, when the Double-A Springfield Cardinals host the Major League St. Louis Cardinals.
We’ve been geeked about this one for weeks now and dying to see who breaks camp with the S-Birds. So Tiger Blog did the only sensible thing and got in touch with Springfield play-by-play voice Mike Lindskog for the scoop on who to keep an eye on at Hammons Field this summer.
Bryan Anderson will be one of th emost recognizable names as the Cardinals chase back-to-back Texas League North Division titles. He was all of 20 years old last season when he led the team with a .297 average and was named a Texas League All-Star.
“(Anderson) will be back again to continue to improve on defense beore making the leap to Triple-A,” Lindskog said.
Pitcher PJ Walters should be back as well. He made eight regular season starts for Springfield and was named St. Louis’ Minor Leaue Pitcher of the Year.
The Cardinals should have some pop coming from the corner infield spots, with Mark Hamilton likely to return at first and Allen Craig at the hot corner.
“Both were here last season and are ranked among the top prospects within the St. Louis minor league system,” said Lindskog. “They both hit for power and should be fun to watch.”
As for up-and-comers? Keep an eye on the mound. Adam Ottavino and Clayton Mortensen are right-handed starters who bring high expectations with them to Double-A.
“They’ve both had great Springs, spending time with the big league club in their camp before reporting to Minor League Camp,” said Lindskog. “They’ll both be in the rotation.”
Friday’s exhibition opener got some added star power this week when the club announced that American Idol finalist Asia’h Epperson, a Joplin native, will sing the National Anthem.
“This is gonna’ be good,” Epperson said in a club press release. “The chance to perform live in front of the community…yeah…I’m real excited!”
So are a lot of people in southwest Missouri. Anybody out there lucky enough to have their ticket for this weekend?
–Jeff
