40 Minor Leaguers to Mesa for Instructionals

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scout.com with a story on the instructs.

 

Highlights:

 

-Pie worked on base running and stealing with Bob Dernier.

-Trying out new positions: Matt Camp was at second base as Steve Clevenger and Casey McGehee tried out catcher.

-Ryan Harvey made a good impression on Tim Wilken.

[Quakers]

1. What do we know about Roquet? What position did he play? He pitched two college seasons, and is already 24. Ihadn't realized that he was a position convert, or that he has a "big arm". I'll pay more attention to him now.

 

He is a converted position player? That is news to me too. That would explain a few things. He did show some heat this summer, but I didn't see any evidence of a secondary pitch. A good slider would be an improvement.

[Quakers]

5. I'm very pleased that they've moved Camp to 2nd. For a little batting-average/OBP/no-power dude, 2B is a place where an OBP can make a big-league job. But CF is usually reserved for super-athletes. Camp and Clevenger could provide a couple of guys who for 2B who don't strike out at all and have pretty good plate discipline, but no power.

 

Camp played a decent center, but not nearly as well as Walker. My guess is that the Cubs plan on moving Colvin to center next year, which would mean that Camp would have to find another position. He does not have the power to play a corner outfield position.

 

 

 

 

Trying out new positions: Matt Camp was at second base as Steve Clevenger and Casey McGehee tried out catcher.

 

This makes sense too. From what I saw, Clevenger is defensively challenged at second.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Trying out new positions: Matt Camp was at second base as Steve Clevenger and Casey McGehee tried out catcher.

 

This makes sense too. From what I saw, Clevenger is defensively challenged at second.

 

That's partly because Clevenger had moved to a new position from his time at college (he was a SS-3B).

[craig]

Thanks for the notes. Clevenger and McGehee at catcher? That's interesting.

 

Disappointing, in a sense, if it reflects that Clevenger looked bad at 2B. As a college SS, I'd hoped he'd be fine at 2B. I was pretty interested in clevenger as a good-hitting, good-OBP 2B. But if his defense there is poor, real problem.

 

He knows how to hit the ball and he has good plate discipline/OBP potential, even though his power looks negligible. As a catcher, his bat could look pretty good. Very good.

 

So, would be really cool if he could make the switch. Of course, I've thought that about a lot of other prospects, none of whom have ever made the switch successfully. I think McGehee with around 40 games at catcher maybe (??) got more actual game catching action than any other catcher-convert I can remember. Well, I guess there is always a first. Maybe Clev will be that first.

 

Odd that McGehee would be fiddling around at C again, after trying and dropping it before. Wonder if that's at his request or the Cubs? Perhaps he realizes that he's not quite going to make it at 3B, and that if he could make it at catcher, his bat would be good enough for majors? More likely it's an attempt to refresh enough to maybe get a spring training invite. Or to pad the resume. Teams almost never use 3rd catcher/emergency catcher. But managers often like to have them. If McGehee can sell that, it might help break a tie and help him crack a big-league roster some day as some team's 25th man. When sifting between end-of-bench candidates, a manager might well prefer the guy that had the emergency catcher tag.

[the splendid splinter]

I think I read this was the intent of the Cubs when they drafted Clevenger it was with the thought they would eventually try him behind the plate because of his arm strength and a left handed bat behind the plate and it looks like he can hit some!

[Neuby]

Thanks for the notes. Clevenger and McGehee at catcher? That's interesting.

 

Disappointing, in a sense, if it reflects that Clevenger looked bad at 2B. As a college SS, I'd hoped he'd be fine at 2B. I was pretty interested in clevenger as a good-hitting, good-OBP 2B. But if his defense there is poor, real problem.

 

He knows how to hit the ball and he has good plate discipline/OBP potential, even though his power looks negligible. As a catcher, his bat could look pretty good. Very good.

 

So, would be really cool if he could make the switch. Of course, I've thought that about a lot of other prospects, none of whom have ever made the switch successfully. I think McGehee with around 40 games at catcher maybe (??) got more actual game catching action than any other catcher-convert I can remember. Well, I guess there is always a first. Maybe Clev will be that first.

 

Odd that McGehee would be fiddling around at C again, after trying and dropping it before. Wonder if that's at his request or the Cubs? Perhaps he realizes that he's not quite going to make it at 3B, and that if he could make it at catcher, his bat would be good enough for majors? More likely it's an attempt to refresh enough to maybe get a spring training invite. Or to pad the resume. Teams almost never use 3rd catcher/emergency catcher. But managers often like to have them. If McGehee can sell that, it might help break a tie and help him crack a big-league roster some day as some team's 25th man. When sifting between end-of-bench candidates, a manager might well prefer the guy that had the emergency catcher tag.

I was hoping the Cubs can snag a guy like Craig Wilson this offseason for a platoon partner with Jacque/RH Power Bench/Backup1B/Catcher/DH. Having a big bat like Wilson's to play around the diamond can go a long way towards building a deep bench. Nevin could also fill this role and play a little third to boot but his outfield skills are terrrible and I'm not all that sure Nevin could even catch a game a week if he prepared this offseason.