Matt Carpenter & Mark Hamilton Called Up, Kozma & Cleto Sent Down

The Cardinals make more roster moves yet again, this time in a form of something I am a little more excited about.

Matt Carpenter (I dubbed him the Anti-Chris, oddly enough in Spring Training he was #92 while Chris Carpenter was of course #29) is someone I kept my eye on in Spring Training this past March while in Jupiter. We went to see the Cardinals-Braves on 3/14 & 3/15 and traveled to watch the Cards play the Tigers on 3/16. Matt Carpenter was playing the hot corner over at 3B. Everyone at Roger Dean Stadium was buzzing about this guy and I had to find out what he was all about. By the time we had come to join the festivities he was 12 for 30 and while he was not a power hitter (0 HRs in the spring) he was incredibly consistent with the bat.

I thought he would be a lock to make the club early on or even start the season in St. Louis, but alas, it never happened. Now he gets his first call up to the show to prove what he is made of and as a Cardinals fan, this has been my favorite prospect for obvious reasons. Thus far in his 25 games in Memphis, he is batting .391. The lineups have just been released and he is in fact Saturdays starting 3B.

Mark Hamilton has seen his share of Cardinals time this season and a little of last year. Last season appearing in only 9 games but already being put into 16 this year, mainly as a pinch hitter. In his 15 ABs he has brought in 3 hits before being sent back down to Memphis in mid to late May.

Pete Kozma has been touted as one of the biggest prospects from the Cardinals organization in the last few years. He was drafted in 2007 straight out of high school by the Cardinals in the first round. Kozma is listed as a 2B, SS which we always seem to be in desperate need of, but for the time being looks like he is going back to Memphis to polish his game a little more. In his 10 MLB games, he has had bright spots but has mostly been just a dot on the radar. In his debut May 18, he came in as a pinch hitter to slap a double and an RBI in his first major league at bat. Unfortunately that has been his one hit and was only batting .125 by the time he was sent back down Friday. We have nothing but faith in you Pete, but for now just go take care of business back in Memphis in anticipation of your return as a regular hopefully in the next couple seasons.

Just a couple of days after his STL debut from the Springfield Cardinals, Maikel Cleto has been sent back to Double A ball after the tough outing against the Giants Thursday. He went two full innings giving up 3 hits and 5 earned runs.

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