MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Folli Moves Up In All-Star Break Shakeup

Published on June 19, 2008 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The St. Louis Cardinals made a series of transactions affecting the Quad Cities River Bandits roster on Monday, including the promotion of infielder Mike Folli to the high-A Florida State League and the addition of three new players.

Folli, a gritty, hard-nosed second baseman, was hitting .264 with 14 extra-base hits and 22 runs scored at the time of his promotion to the Palm Beach Cardinals. A switch-hitting 23-year-old, he was batting .278 as a left-handed hitter. Folli finished his time with the River Bandits on a tear, batting .352 with 12 runs scored over his final 17 games to raise his average 55 points, including a 4-for-5 performance in his final game at Modern Woodmen Park on Saturday.

Joining the Quad Cities roster are SS Oliver Marmol, 2B Ross Oeder, and C Roberto Espinoza.

For Marmol, Davenport is nothing new. The 22-year-old shortstop out of the College of Charleston finished the 2007 season with Quad Cities, hitting .209 with seven RBI and four stolen bases in 31 games. He opened the 2008 campaign with Palm Beach and was hitting .204 with 10 stolen bases in as many attempts through the first half of the season. Marmol became the highest drafted player ever out of the Southern Conference when the Cardinals took him with their sixth-round pick in the 2007 draft. He batted .327 over the course of his college career while earning First-Team All-Conference honors and batting .345 with a conference-leading 84 runs in his final season.

Oedor, a 23-year-old second baseman out of Wright State University, joins the River Bandits from Extended Spring Training. The 5-foot-9, 165-pounder hit .270 during his pro debut with the Batavia Muckdogs (New York-Penn League) in 2007, adding 18 runs scored and seven stolen bases in 48 games. A 28th-round pick by the Cardinals in 2007, Oeder was named the Horizon League Player of the Year in his final collegiate campaign thanks to a .408 batting average and a slew of league-leading totals, including a .496 on-base percentage, a .649 slugging percentage, a school-record 79 runs scored, and 25 stolen bases.

Also making the flight from Extended Spring Training to the Quad Cities is Espinoza. A 19-year-old catcher from Palo Negro, Venezuela, Espinoza made his United States debut in 2007, hitting .123 with one home run between the Gulf Coast League and the Appalachian League. He opened his pro career in the Venezuelan Summer League, where he hit .213 while drawing more walks (29) than strikeouts (23) in 2006.

While Folli left the Quad Cities to move up, four other River Bandits players will be leaving town to participate in short-season leagues.

With the River Bandits doing away with the tandem starting system and reducing the number of starting pitchers from eight to five, Thomas Eager, a 23-year-old right-hander, will take his 2-2 record and 5.92 ERA and join the Batavia Muckdogs for the start of the New York-Penn League season. He will be joined in Batavia by 20-year-old infielder Jose Garcia, who was hitting .175, and strong-armed 19-year-old catcher Luis De La Cruz, who was ranked by Baseball America as the No. 30 prospect in the Cardinals organization pre-season but was hitting just .167.

Osvaldo Morales, a 20-year-old first baseman, will head to Johnson City where he will open the Appalachian League season with the Cardinals. A powerful young Dominican, Morales showed significant raw strength but was batting just .194 with 45 strikeouts in 27 games for Quad Cities.

The River Bandits roster currently stands at 23 active players, two shy of the maximum allowed by the Midwest League. An updated roster accompanies this release.

UP NEXT: The River Bandits open the second half of the season with a four-game series in Cedar Rapids on Thursday before returning to Modern Woodmen Park on June 23 to host the Kane County Cougars. Bandit Wear featuring the new team name and logo is currently available by visiting the Modern Woodmen Park team store, and season ticket packages, mini-packages, and the popular You-Pick-10 Plan are on sale at the park or by calling (563) 3-BANDITS!

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from June 19, 2008


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central