MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Roster Moves Continue In The QC

Published on June 29, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The St. Louis Cardinals continued their shakeup of the Swing of the Quad Cities roster on Friday, doing away with the tandem starting rotation while promoting Eddie Degerman to high Class-A Palm Beach.

The Swing pitching staff will return to a traditional five-man rotation beginning with Friday night's game against Wisconsin. The rotation will include Elvis Hernandez, Shaun Garceau, Tyler Herron, Brad Furnish, and Brandon Dickson.

In addition to Degerman's promotion to Palm Beach, the Cardinals transferred Blake King to Short Season-A Batavia. Joining the Swing are Jason Cairns, who spent parts of each of the last two seasons with Quad Cities, and Marco Gonzalez.

Degerman, a 23-year-old from California, becomes the second Swing pitcher to earn a promotion this year after going 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in 12 appearances with Quad Cities. The right-hander with the unique, over-the-top delivery racked up 71 strikeouts in 47.2 innings of work, holding opponents to just a .160 batting average.

Moving down to Batavia is King, a flame-throwing 20-year-old with electric stuff. While the Tulsa native struck out 62 over 57 innings with the Swing, he also issued 44 walks and uncorked 18 wild pitches - both league highs. He went 2-3 with a 5.21 ERA in 19 outings.

Cairns, 24, returns to the Swing for the third consecutive season after opening the year rehabbing an injury at the Cardinals' headquarters in Jupiter, Florida. An eighth-round pick in the 2005 draft out of Central Michigan University, Cairns made 22 of his 24 pro appearances that year with Quad Cities before spending the entire season with the club last season. Combined, Cairns is 6-8 with a 3.01 ERA, eight saves, and 60 strikeouts over 65 appearances and 95.2 innings pitched with the Swing.

Gonzalez heads to Davenport after opening the year with Batavia, posting a 2.70 ERA with no record over four relief appearances. The 23-year-old right-hander split the 2006 season between the rookie level Appalachian League and Short Season-A State College, going 3-0 with a 2.63 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 24 innings.

The roster moves come on the same day that Steven Hill, a 13th-round pick in the 2007 draft, was also promoted to Quad Cities from Batavia.

The Swing of the Quad Cities roster currently stands at 25 active players, the maximum allowed by the Midwest League. An updated roster accompanies this release.

TICKETS: Tickets for all events at John O'Donnell Stadium can be purchased by calling the Swing of the Quad Cities ticket office at (563) 328-2000, coming to the box office located at the stadium along South Gaines Street, or by logging on to www.swingbaseball.com.

UP NEXT: The Swing return to Davenport on Friday night to kickoff a six-game homestand. All Swing games feature a radio broadcast that can be heard on WKBF AM-1270 or online at www.swingbaseball.com, with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to scheduled first pitch. NEXT HOMESTAND: The Swing are back at John O'Donnell Stadium for a six-game homestand beginning on Friday, June 29, as the Principal Financial Group Family Fun Fest comes to town at 4:00 p.m. and concludes with post-game fireworks and a sleepover on Girl Scout Night!!! Saturday's ballgame will feature a baseball cap giveaway for the first 800 fans courtesy of the Quad City Times. The first day of July will be a US Bank Family Sunday, followed by a Kids Eat Free Monday. And the Swing will celebrate Independence Day with a pair of 6:00 starts, featuring the Red, White, and Boom fireworks extravaganza on July 3 and another spectacular fireworks display on July 4.

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Midwest League Stories from June 29, 2007


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