minor league spring training schedule/stuff from fitch

[abuck1220]

last year one of the minor league teams' website had a schedule for the spring games at fitch, but i haven't seen one yet for this year. anybody see anything? Edited March 24, 2006 by abuck1220

[CaliforniaRaisin]

No, but Nathan told me the minor league games start on the 21st.

[CubsMinorLeagueReport]

Called around a bit, some dates that I know for sure....

 

IOWA CUBS

Monday, March 20: Iowa Cubs @ Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Maryvale Baseball Park (Phoenix)

 

Tuesday, March 21: Iowa Cubs vs Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

Sunday, March 26: Iowa Cubs @ Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Maryvale Baseball Park (Phoenix)

 

Tuesday, March 28: Iowa Cubs vs. Portland

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

Thursday, March 30: Iowa Cubs @ Portland Beavers (Padres)

Peoria Stadium

 

Friday, March 31: Iowa Cubs vs. Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

 

 

WEST TENN

March 20: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Huntsville Stars

 

March 21: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Huntsville Stars

 

March 26: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Huntsville Stars

 

March 28: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Portland Beavers

 

March 30: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Portland Beavers

 

March 31: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Huntsville Stars

 

If anyone has any other dates, please let me know, Thanks.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Everything starts the day after I leave. Sad day! :(

[ChiefsVoice]

Called around a bit, some dates that I know for sure....

 

IOWA CUBS

Monday, March 20: Iowa Cubs @ Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Maryvale Baseball Park (Phoenix)

 

Tuesday, March 21: Iowa Cubs vs Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

Sunday, March 26: Iowa Cubs @ Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Maryvale Baseball Park (Phoenix)

 

Tuesday, March 28: Iowa Cubs vs. Portland

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

Thursday, March 30: Iowa Cubs @ Portland Beavers (Padres)

Peoria Stadium

 

Friday, March 31: Iowa Cubs vs. Nashville Sounds (Brewers)

Fitch Park (Mesa)

 

 

 

WEST TENN

March 20: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Huntsville Stars

 

March 21: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Huntsville Stars

 

March 26: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Huntsville Stars

 

March 28: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Portland Beavers

 

March 30: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx @ Portland Beavers

 

March 31: West Tenn Diamond Jaxx vs. Huntsville Stars

 

If anyone has any other dates, please let me know, Thanks.

 

The way that it works is as follows: All 4 teams (Iowa, West Tenn, Daytona, Peoria) play the same affiliate. If AAA and AA are home then the two A teams are on the road and vice versa....

[UBlink]

Any sort of reporting of the minor league spring training games? Stats, NSBB eye witnesses, etc.

[abuck1220]

i'm going to fitch tomorrow morning, but i doubt i'll be there for any of the games since they start at about the same time as the big league game. unfortunately, it looks like i'll only make it to fitch once this year...i got rained out on sunday, and we've had two trips to tucson (which means an hour and a half drive, an early start, and no fitch).

[CubsMinorLeagueReport]

Any sort of reporting of the minor league spring training games? Stats, NSBB eye witnesses, etc.

 

Stats are on my site if interested...link in sig.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Any sort of reporting of the minor league spring training games? Stats, NSBB eye witnesses, etc.

 

I didn't get a chance to see the intersquad game on Friday because I had to go to Scottsdale to see the Cubs-Giants game. On Sunday, most everything, including the intersquad games, was rained out (that was my planned day to see the minor leaguers play :().

 

I'll have a little blurb up and some average-at-best pics a little later.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Iowa: Nic Jackson is back and healthy.

 

Daytona: Sean Gallagher, Luke Haggerty, Darrin Downs, Mike Billek, Mark Holliman were the notable pitchers.

 

Peoria: Mark Pawelek, Donald Veal, Jesus Yepez, Scott Taylor, Mark Reed, Ryan Norwood.

 

Rookie/Boise(?): The only names I recognized were Mercedes and Albuquerque.

 

Saw Pawelek and Taylor pitching on Sunday in the rain. It was tough to tell since I was immediately behind Mark, but it does look like he cleaned up his windup compared to what I saw on video last year in Boise. His FB looked good, had more zip on it than Taylor's (obviously). His offspeed pitches had nice bite on them, but he didn't have that great control with them.

 

Yusef Carter:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/carter.jpg

 

Fleita:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/Oneri.jpg

 

(L to R) Jesus Yepez, Scott Taylor, #45 (forgot his name :oops: ), Mark Pawelek:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/yeptaypaw.jpg

 

Pawelek:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/pawelek1.jpg

 

Pawelek:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/pawelek2.jpg

 

Pawelek at the end of his pitching session:

 

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i40/nsbbnavin/pawelek3.jpg

 

The rain on Sunday was really disappointing.

 

I thought I had better pics - especially of Sean Gallagher, Nic Jackson, Eric Patterson and Luke Haggerty, but alas, they look even worse and smaller. :(

 

Talked to Ryan Harvey's dad for a few seconds - he said the Cubs were having him work on his pitch selection (yay) but before I could ask how, a coach came by and he went to talk to him.

 

This fan next to me in the stands at Fitch was looking for some autographs of minor leaguers. He saw this blonde, about age 20, and decided to go hit on her. It was rather obvious he was a player's girlfriend. He started flirting with her and Ryan Harvey comes right then and there; the fan realizes he was hitting on Ryan's girlfriend and freaks out. Ryan looks perplexed for a second, then notices the fan's card collection with Harvey's card on top and asks him if he wants it signed. The fan says yes and looked relieved.

[abuck1220]

i was there sunday morning too. but i left at around 10:30 b/c the rain wasn't letting up. plus, i had to go sit in 40 degree weather + rain at hohokam for three hours.

 

though the rain at hohokam kept the crowd (and bids!) down for a charity auction where i scored a pretty sweet piece of memorabilia that i think you guys will like. i'll post scans later...

[abuck1220]

only got to go one morning, but i did get to see infield, pfp's, and some bp. i was pumped for harvey and sing in bp, but neither did anything special. craig had the most impressive bp session, as he was knocking em off the rf fence w/ regularity. epatt looked good too, driving the ball well to both gaps.

 

fontenot was taking infield at 3b. coats was at ss, which i thought was kinda stranage...i thought he had been more of an of lately. sing took grounders at 1b and flyballs in rf. he was also with the AAA group for much of the morning. epatt was w/ the AA guys, and so was craig (when's that guy gonna get a shot at AAA?). craig was at 1b.

 

also, didn't the cubs release carlos vasquez last season? i thought they dumped him after the steroids thing. anyway, he was there. blasko and connolly were both there participating in drills. neither of them threw, but i wasn't there to see any pitchers do any throwing. no sign of hagerty.

[donobr]

Saw Haggerty March 8 at Fitch,all pitchers were doing infield drills.

[craig]

Thanks for notes. I'd forgotten about Vasquez, at one point I was very high on him.

 

Will be very interesting to see how many of these rehab pitchers are actually ready to pitch in full-season leagues when the season games begins. And of those who can, which have any of the stuff that originally made them interesting?

 

Question for those who know better: what kind of timeline would you think Petrick would be on? Any sign of him in camp? Is he advanced enough to be participating in some of the workouts, I wonder?

 

For some reason I think I recall hearing some reference to May. But my general experience is that if Fleita doesn't have a guy ready in April, the happy May talk usually ends up being no more than a few August innings in Mesa.

[NCCubFan]

though the rain at hohokam kept the crowd (and bids!) down for a charity auction where i scored a pretty sweet piece of memorabilia that i think you guys will like. i'll post scans later...

Was that the Cubs' wives charity auction? It was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 11 (the day after the game I went to), but that game was rained out. I never read whether the auction was also postponed.

[Outshined_One]

Iowa: Nic Jackson is back and healthy.

 

Daytona: Sean Gallagher, Luke Haggerty, Darrin Downs, Mike Billek, Mark Holliman were the notable pitchers.

 

Peoria: Mark Pawelek, Donald Veal, Jesus Yepez, Scott Taylor, Mark Reed, Ryan Norwood.

 

Rookie/Boise(?): The only names I recognized were Mercedes and Albuquerque.

 

I'll go point-by-point...

 

-We'll see when it comes to Nic. If he can stay healthy, he might have a chance to finally make something of himself...but lately, that's been one heck of an if.

 

-Downs is a surprise. He started out in Peoria last season and got shellacked, then came back with Boise and didn't exactly look all that stellar given that he was repeating. Are the Cubs trying to make something of him or has he finally added those mythical inches to kick his velocity up?

 

-Wow is that Peoria rotation left-handed.

 

-Good to see Pawelek is ahead of schedule and skipping Boise ala Gallagher last season.

 

-Taylor in Peoria is mildly surprising, given that he was drafted last year out of high school and spent most of his time down in Arizona with a stint in Boise. Then again, his stuff was already advanced for his age, so it should be fun to see what he can do.

 

-Norwood was a guy I was pulling for last season. Ugly injury he had to end last season. Yech.

 

-Mercedes is one of the Latin guys I've been curious about. Seeing him get some regular time behind the dish at Boise would be nice.

 

Also, considering most of the Arizona/Boise guys are draftees, I'm kinda unsurprised they haven't announced the rosters yet...

[abuck1220]

though the rain at hohokam kept the crowd (and bids!) down for a charity auction where i scored a pretty sweet piece of memorabilia that i think you guys will like. i'll post scans later...

Was that the Cubs' wives charity auction? It was originally scheduled for Saturday, March 11 (the day after the game I went to), but that game was rained out. I never read whether the auction was also postponed.

 

that's the one.

 

 

no sign of petrick the day i was at fitch.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Iowa: Nic Jackson is back and healthy.

 

Daytona: Sean Gallagher, Luke Haggerty, Darrin Downs, Mike Billek, Mark Holliman were the notable pitchers.

 

Peoria: Mark Pawelek, Donald Veal, Jesus Yepez, Scott Taylor, Mark Reed, Ryan Norwood.

 

Rookie/Boise(?): The only names I recognized were Mercedes and Albuquerque.

 

I'll go point-by-point...

 

-We'll see when it comes to Nic. If he can stay healthy, he might have a chance to finally make something of himself...but lately, that's been one heck of an if.

 

-Downs is a surprise. He started out in Peoria last season and got shellacked, then came back with Boise and didn't exactly look all that stellar given that he was repeating. Are the Cubs trying to make something of him or has he finally added those mythical inches to kick his velocity up?

 

-Wow is that Peoria rotation left-handed.

 

-Good to see Pawelek is ahead of schedule and skipping Boise ala Gallagher last season.

 

-Taylor in Peoria is mildly surprising, given that he was drafted last year out of high school and spent most of his time down in Arizona with a stint in Boise. Then again, his stuff was already advanced for his age, so it should be fun to see what he can do.

 

-Norwood was a guy I was pulling for last season. Ugly injury he had to end last season. Yech.

 

-Mercedes is one of the Latin guys I've been curious about. Seeing him get some regular time behind the dish at Boise would be nice.

 

Also, considering most of the Arizona/Boise guys are draftees, I'm kinda unsurprised they haven't announced the rosters yet...

 

Those aren't necessarily rosters, just the group the players were practicing with. A lot of the players were affected by the WBC depleting the big league squad and also guys like Marshall, Marmol, Ryu, etc. being with the big league team.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

only got to go one morning, but i did get to see infield, pfp's, and some bp. i was pumped for harvey and sing in bp, but neither did anything special. craig had the most impressive bp session, as he was knocking em off the rf fence w/ regularity. epatt looked good too, driving the ball well to both gaps.

 

fontenot was taking infield at 3b. coats was at ss, which i thought was kinda stranage...i thought he had been more of an of lately. sing took grounders at 1b and flyballs in rf. he was also with the AAA group for much of the morning. epatt was w/ the AA guys, and so was craig (when's that guy gonna get a shot at AAA?). craig was at 1b.

 

also, didn't the cubs release carlos vasquez last season? i thought they dumped him after the steroids thing. anyway, he was there. blasko and connolly were both there participating in drills. neither of them threw, but i wasn't there to see any pitchers do any throwing. no sign of hagerty.

 

Yeah, Coats was working with the IFs on Friday too.

[Laura]

Any Grant Johnson sightings?

[abuck1220]

Any Grant Johnson sightings?

 

nope.

[karenmac]

Saw Grant working out with the Daytona folks last week (Saturday the 18th in particular) when we were at Fitch, so I would guess he'll wind up there with Gallagher, Weber, & Estrada...

 

Happy Friday,

Karen

[Laura]

Thanks! :)

[rawaction]

That's a lot of talent at Daytona. Possibly Gallagher, Downs, Hagerty, Billek, Holliman, Estrada, Weber, and Johnson all there.

 

My guess is Downs back in Peoria. Gallagher to AA. Hagerty not ready to start the season.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

That's a lot of talent at Daytona. Possibly Gallagher, Downs, Hagerty, Billek, Holliman, Estrada, Weber, and Johnson all there.

 

My guess is Downs back in Peoria. Gallagher to AA. Hagerty not ready to start the season.

 

Luke was already pitching last weekend, not sure if he'll miss the start of the season (unlike Blasko and Connolly).

 

Good to see Grant was around - I didn't see him on Friday.