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Don’t Worry About Colby

Colby Rasmus has a reputation for starting slow at times.  And that seems to be the only shortcoming in his game.  He is a five-tool player and the Cardinals top prospect.  The Cardinals were so confident in his abilities, that they let Jim Edmonds go to San Diego, knowing that they were in good hands.  Rick Ankiel is keeping the spot warm in St. Louis right now, with Colby starting the year here in the Bluff City.  His only job?  To get at bats.  He needs to get quality at bats at the AAA level.

Through the Memphis Redbirds’ first 19 games, Rasmus is hitting .221 with only 2 home runs and 7 RBI’s.  But don’t worry Cardinal Nation, this guy is the real deal.  He is mature beyond his 21 years.  He plays focused and when he gets in a groove, watch out Memphis.  He is taking good at bats for the most part.  I have seen him have a few strikeouts where he shouldn’t have gone after pitches out of the zone, but more times than not, he is hitting the ball solid, he just isn’t finding the holes.  He defense has been solid and he has got a heck of an arm.  And you have to remember, this is his first month to play above AA ball, so there is a learning curve after all.

The concern with Rasmus, in my opinion, isn’t whether or not he will start hitting.  But rather, who spot does he take when he does make it to St. Louis.  The “Fab Five” as I call them are Skip Schumaker, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, Chris Duncan, and Brian Barton.  Schumaker is hitting .324 and doing an excellent job as the lead-off hitter for St. Louis.  Rasmus is batting lead-off for Memphis, just like he did for Team USA last fall.  But in my opinion, he has too much power to be in the number one slot.  Besides, how do you tell a guy like Schumaker that .324 isn’t good enough.  I see Rasmus as more of a number 2 hitter.

In addition to Schumaker’s success, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Ludwick, and Chris Duncan have all been spectacular as well.  Tony La Russa already has his hands full trying to decide who starts each night.  Everyone keeps making it very hard for Tony to keep them out of the lineup.  Then you have Brian Barton, a rule 5 pickup that provides the team with MUCH needed speed and a good bat off the bench.  His arm is weak and his defense is average.  But he is the speedster that we clearly lack.  But as a rule 5, he must stay on the major league roster, or be offered back to Cleveland for $50,000.

So what does all that have to do with Rasmus?  Well, what it means is that Rasmus will more than likely be called up at some point this season and that Tony La Russa will have some major decisions to make.  If it were up to me, I would put Schumaker in left, Rasmus in center, and Ankiel in right.  And Ludwick would be my fourth guy.  Duncan, while he is doing well, would be possible trade bait.  He would be attractive to an American League team especially, as a possible DH.  And Barton, well, time will tell if he has what it takes to make it as a big leage hitter.  His speed definitely makes him worth keeping around to see.

But for now, Colby will continue to collect at bats here in Memphis.  And I will continue to track his progress, as we watch perhaps the best minor league prospect to ever come up through the Cardinals system since Albert Pujols.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008 at 5:28 pm and is filed under Colby Rasmus, AAA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.