Cards' Stanley leaving his mark on Fall League
Rafters catcher slugs two homers, drives in three runs, cools off Javelinas
The Cardinals catching prospect homered twice Friday night, giving him three in his last three games, as Surprise outslugged the Peoria Javelinas, 11-8.
Appearing in only his 10th game for the Saguaros, Stanley went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs. The 23-year-old raised his average to .243 and has a .317 on-base percentage and .514 slugging percentage.
Selected in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft, Stanley did not begin his season until the end of May after serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for banned substances.
The suspension did not appear to derail his progress, however. The University of North Carolina-Wilmington product hit .280/.300/.401 with three homers and 35 RBIs in 45 games for Class A Advanced Palm Beach, a year after batting .264 with 11 homers and 66 RBIs in 101 games for Class A Quad Cities.
Stanley traveled to Arizona to get to extend his abbreviated season but played in only seven games in October, going 6-for-30. On Nov. 2, he belted his first Fall League homer against Phoenix and continued his mini-breakout on Friday against the first-place Javelinas.
Stanley wasn't the only breakout star Friday. Mets prospect Danny Muno, who had played in only six of Surprise's first 25 games, went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. The 23-year-old second baseman raised his AFL average 92 points to .250 after hitting .280 with a .387 OBP and .412 slugging mark for Class A Advanced St. Lucie.
Mike O'Neill (Cardinals) was 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored out of the leadoff spot and Chris McGuiness (Rangers) drove in three runs for the Saguaros.
Nate Roberts (Twins), Rymer Liriano (Padres) and Vinnie Catricala (Mariners) homered for the Javelinas, who had a six-game winning streak snapped. Zach Collier (Phillies) was 3-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Saguaros starter Boone Whiting (3-1) won his second straight decision, despite giving up four runs on six hits, including a pair of homers, over four innings. The Cards right-hander struck out seven and walked one.