Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-29-2007

[Guest]

I wonder if the adjustment was mechanical or mental.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Ugh, Mendez gets two outs and then gives up a 3-run HR.

 

Veal: 6+ IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 9 K/2 BB, 1 HR. Veal's ERA down to 8.86.

[Balsa]

Much better outing for Donny Veal.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Good day for Colvin. 2 for 4 with a double

[Flames24Rulz]

Issmael Salas with an RBI single to win the game for Tennessee, 5-4. Fuld and Kroeger both had doubles and Cates and Salas each had two singles. Dope was 0/4 with two strikeouts. His average is now dow to .204 on the season.

[Laura]

Veal faced two batters in the top of the 7th and they both walked. Adalberto Mendez has come in and is trying to end the jam.

 

His current line is: 6+ IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 9 K/2 BB, 1 HR

 

YAY!!!!!

 

eta: I see that it's not his final line, but obviously a marked improvement.

[TruffleShuffle]

I wonder if the adjustment was mechanical or mental.

 

The fact that he walked two batters at the end of his outing suggests to me that it was mechanical... he probably got sloppy with his mechanics as he tired and fell back into his bad habits.

[Laura]

Listach had said after a recent game that they had identified some mechanical issues they'd be working on. I can't find a link, though, and can't remember where I read that.

 

I saw his last start. He was his own worst enemy that night; when he threw strikes, they really weren't hitting him hard.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

IowaCubs.com[/url]"]Ankiel, 'Birds outlast Soto, Cubs

April 29, 2007

 

Rick Ankiel went 2-for-4 with four RBIs to lead Memphis over visiting Iowa, 8-5, on Sunday.

Ankiel delivered an RBI double in the fourth and a three-run triple in the fifth to help the Redbirds (13-11) win their fourth straight game and survive a 5-for-5 performance by the Cubs' Geovany Soto.

 

Travis Hanson contributed a two-run double for Memphis in the fourth, and Ryan Ludwick and Edgar Gonzalez extended their hitting streaks to 13 and 12 games respectively.

 

Redbirds starter Chris Narveson (3-1) picked up the win, despite allowing five runs on nine hits and a walk in six innings. Brian Falkenborg scattered a hit and a walk in the ninth for his seventh save.

 

Soto had two doubles and two RBIs for Iowa (10-13). Micah Hoffpauir and Mike Fontenot added run-scoring singles.

 

Cubs starter Les Walrond (2-2) surrendered a season-high eight runs -- five earned -- on 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking one. --Marc Jimenez/MLB.com

 

SmokiesBaseball.com[/url]"]SMOKIES SQUEEZE OUT A VICTORY 5-4

 

Sevierville, TN – In another back and forth contest, the Tennessee Smokies scored the winning run in the ninth on a squeeze play by Jemel Spearman to defeat the Carolina Mudcats 5-4 in front of 3,547 excited fans at Smokies Park.

 

Spearman led off the ninth inning with a walk, was moved over to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt by Chris Robinson, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Joe Simokaitis walked, Issmael Salas came to the plate. Spearman was more than halfway to home plate when Salas hit a chopper to third base, and was across the plate before a throw was attempted.

 

The Mudcats continued their fast start, going up 1-0 in the first. Grant Psomas took a pitch off Donnie Veal over the wall in left field. The homerun was the third one of the series that the Mudcats have hit in the first inning. In the bottom half, the Smokies answer quickly with a run of their own. Sam Fuld hit a double down the leftfield line, and then moved to third on a bunt by Gary Cates. Josh Kroeger brought home Fuld on a ground out to first, making the score 1-1.

 

The Smokies took an early lead in the 3rd on an RBI double by Kroeger. Joe Simokaitis reached base on a walk, and Veal moved him over on a sacrifice bunt. Kroeger continued his clutch hitting with a rocket up the middle, scoring Simokaitis and making the score 2-1.

 

Veal was cruising along until the 7th, where he recorded his first two walks of the game. Aldaberto Mendez came in to relieve, and gave up a three-run homer to pinch hitter Frank Moore, giving a 4-3 lead to Carolina. In the bottom half, Carolina could not hold on as the Smokies tied it 4-4. Simokaitis walked once again, then moved to second on a wild pitch. Issmael Salas came in to pinch hit and singled to short while colliding with Psomas at first, allowing Simokaitis to score from second.

 

Veal pitched his strongest outing of the season, going six innings while giving up three runs on three hits, with nine strikeouts. James Henderson (1-0) notched the win for the Smokies, pitching a scoreless ninth inning. Rick Vanden Hurk was also strong for the Mudcats, going six innings while giving up three runs on four hits. Scott Tyler (0-1) suffered the loss for Carolina.

 

DaytonaCubs.com[/url]"]Palm Beach Strikes First in 5-3 Victory

Cubs Bats Stifled with Only 5 Hits

 

Matt Martinez

 

[JUPITER, FL] The Cubs struggled Sunday afternoon to support Jeff Samardzija yet again. In Samardzija's five starts, "Shark" has earned one loss and four no decisions. Sunday was no different as Daytona fell to Palm Beach, 5-3.

 

Daytona (12-11) trailed early as Palm Beach (13-9) scored one run in both the second and third innings on five hits. Samardzija settled down and threw a clean fourth and fifth when the Cub's came to bat in the top of the sixth.

 

With two outs in the inning, Matt Matulia drew a five pitch walk, Tyler Colvin laced a single to the gap in right center and advanced to second on a throwing error. Jesus Valdez came through with a laser double down the line to score both Matulia and Colvin and equalize the game at 2. Ryan Harvey slapped a single to center to score Valdez from second to give the Cubs the lead, 3-2, for the first time in not only the game, but during a Samardzija start.

 

Samardzija came in to pitch in the sixth but surrendered a one out single to Card's shortstop Jose Martinez. Scott Koerber came in to replace Samardzija and gave up a single to Isais Garcia to advance Martinez to third with only one out. Shane Robinson lifted a fly ball to left field to sacrifice Martinez home as the Cardinals tied the game back at 3.

 

A silent seventh and eighth kept the scored knotted at 3 when the Cubs had their shot in the top of the ninth. The inning looked to provide promise for Daytona as Valdez reached on an error but back-to-back strikeouts by Harvey and Kyle Reynolds left Ryan Norwood in dire straights. Norwood popped out to the first baseman to give Palm Beach a chance to win the game in regulation.

 

Garcia was plunked on an 0-2 count by Cub's reliever Grant Johnson and Shane Robinson laid a bunt down to move Garcia into scoring position. On a 1-0 fastball, A.J. Van Slyke cracked a game-winning two-run walk-off homer to end it, 5-3.

 

The Cubs allowed 12 hits in their loss to Palm Beach as the Cardinals only allotted 5 hits to their counterparts, Daytona. Samardzija ended up with another no decision as he struck out three and walked two in five and a third.

 

PeoriaChiefs.com[/url]"]Chiefs Blank Whitecaps 4-0

 

Peoria, IL- The Peoria Chiefs took the final game of a four game series with the West Michigan Whitecaps 4-0 at O’Brien Field. The Chiefs took three out of the four games in the series including two shutouts. The win improves to the Chiefs to 12-8 on the year.

 

The Chiefs jumped out to a first inning lead for second consecutive game on an Alfred Joseph single that scored Jonathon Mota who reached on a walk. Joseph drove in five runs in the four games against West Michigan.

 

The newest member of the Chiefs Jim Adduci picked up his first hit on a single to center and eventually scored on Matt Camp’s RBI single off Caps starter Lauren Gagnier to extend the lead to 2-0 in the second inning.

 

Russ Canzler connected on his first home run of the season in the sixth inning, a two run blast to left field off Gagnier to push the lead to 4-0 in favor of the Chiefs. With only four starters available the Chiefs turned to the bullpen combination of Marco Carrillo, Chuckie Platt and Oscar Bernard who shutout the Whitecaps on nine hits. Platt worked three innings to pick up his second win since joining the Chiefs last week.

 

Gorman’s Pub Player of the Game: Russ Canzler (1B) - Russ hit his first home run of 2007, a two run shot to left field in the sixth inning to extend the Chiefs lead to 4-0. Russ finished the game 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored.

 

Notes… The Chiefs have gone a season high three straight games without an error…After giving up 11 runs in the opener the Chiefs allowed just two earned runs over the last 27 innings of the series.

[Chris]

Get 'em, Don

[don_kessinger_was_good]

So much for the "Les Walrond could maybe be a serviceable LOOGY if the Cubs trade Ohman" idea.

 

Brian Dopirak==finished.

 

Nice to see Veal have a better outing though.

[VVMattVV]

I think I'd rather have Rapada as a LOOGY over Walrond, even if he has struggled to start the year.

[Andy]

I was hoping Shark would K more people, but the name of the game is keeping runs off the board, and he's been good in that department so far.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I think I'd rather have Rapada as a LOOGY over Walrond, even if he has struggled to start the year.

 

Just like Ohman at the big leagues vs. righties, Rapada's early season AAA performance has shown that he's only a LOOGY - he's faced too many righties at AAA (and obviously struggled).

[Flames24Rulz]

So much for the "Les Walrond could maybe be a serviceable LOOGY if the Cubs trade Ohman" idea.

 

Brian Dopirak==finished.

 

Nice to see Veal have a better outing though.

 

I probably wouldn't say that Dope is finished, but I highly doubt he'll ever have a place on the big league club. He is starting to develop a history of injuries though.

[NCCubFan]

Anyone think Veal could be in line for demotion?

Not after today's outing. It looks like he's coming around.

[Outshined_One]

I was hoping Shark would K more people, but the name of the game is keeping runs off the board, and he's been good in that department so far.

 

The strangest part of Samardzija's outing today was that none of the hits he gave up were for extra bases. He also had no double plays.

 

What that means is anyone's guess, but still, weird.

[abuck1220]

So much for the "Les Walrond could maybe be a serviceable LOOGY if the Cubs trade Ohman" idea.

 

 

yes, thankfully we can finally put an end to that debate, which has consumed the board for weeks.

[imb]

So much for the "Les Walrond could maybe be a serviceable LOOGY if the Cubs trade Ohman" idea.

 

 

yes, thankfully we can finally put an end to that debate, which has consumed the board for weeks.

 

Thank god, tensions have been at an all time high around here, mostly due to that 50 page monstrosity of a thread.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I was hoping Shark would K more people, but the name of the game is keeping runs off the board, and he's been good in that department so far.

 

The strangest part of Samardzija's outing today was that none of the hits he gave up were for extra bases. He also had no double plays.

 

What that means is anyone's guess, but still, weird.

 

Well, he's only given up 3 XBHs all season.

[TruffleShuffle]

I was hoping Shark would K more people, but the name of the game is keeping runs off the board, and he's been good in that department so far.

 

In the long run it is, but in terms of projecting a guy as a major-league talent, you like to see good peripherals. It's very early for him, but 11K/10BB and 30H in 25 innings is not impressive.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Apparently the run the Smokies scored to win it on an RBI groundball was actually a busted suicide squeeze. Donnie Veal on his best outing of the season:

 

Knoxville News Sentinel[/url]"]The Smokies finally got the kind of start they've been expecting from Donnie Veal. The left-hander, who started 0-4, wasn't involved in the decision but looked more like the Chicago Cubs' top pitching prospect.

 

The left-hander worked six-plus innings and allowed three runs on three hits. Veal struck out nine and walked two - the last two Mudcats he faced.

 

"I was throwing more strikes," Veal said. "I didn't try to nibble as much and tried to find my zone early."

 

Carolina's Brett Carroll, the former Bearden High standout, laid off a 3-2 pitch just below the knees to draw the first walk in the seventh.

 

"It was close,' Veal said. "It could have gone either way."

 

That wasn't the case with Ryan Bear.

 

"I was getting a little tired," Veal admitted.

 

Listach removed Veal after 97 pitches and called upon Adalberto Mendez to preserve Tennessee's 3-1 lead.

 

Mendez got the first two outs but Carolina pinch hitter Frank Moore blasted a three-run homer to put the Mudcats (9-15) in front 4-3.

 

"Mendy came in and threw a bad slider," Listach said. "He probably got beat by his third-best pitch. His fastball is 93-95 miles per hour. You can't get beat by trying to trick somebody with your third-best pitch."

 

Nobody has been more frustrated by his lack of success this season than Veal, who came into the game with a 10.57 earned-run average largely because he had walked 18 in 151/3 innings.

 

"It was very difficult because I've never struggled like that ever," Veal said. "I've been a slow starter almost every year but nothing like that - four in a row, just horrible."

 

Peoria Journal Star[/url]"]"On (the 3-2 count) I was trying to keep it simple and he threw me fastballs that I kept fouling off. I was ready for the fastball but I was able to react to the curve and he threw it right where I like it." - Chiefs first baseman Russ Canzler on his home run.

 

Also:

 

The Chiefs announced that Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould and defensive end Mark Anderson will sign autographs at the May 16 game against the Beloit Snappers.

[Guest]

Apparently the run the Smokies scored to win it on an RBI groundball was actually a busted suicide squeeze. Donnie Veal on his best outing of the season:

 

Knoxville News Sentinel[/url]"]The Smokies finally got the kind of start they've been expecting from Donnie Veal. The left-hander, who started 0-4, wasn't involved in the decision but looked more like the Chicago Cubs' top pitching prospect.

 

The left-hander worked six-plus innings and allowed three runs on three hits. Veal struck out nine and walked two - the last two Mudcats he faced.

 

"I was throwing more strikes," Veal said. "I didn't try to nibble as much and tried to find my zone early."

 

Carolina's Brett Carroll, the former Bearden High standout, laid off a 3-2 pitch just below the knees to draw the first walk in the seventh.

 

"It was close,' Veal said. "It could have gone either way."

 

That wasn't the case with Ryan Bear.

 

"I was getting a little tired," Veal admitted.

 

Listach removed Veal after 97 pitches and called upon Adalberto Mendez to preserve Tennessee's 3-1 lead.

 

Mendez got the first two outs but Carolina pinch hitter Frank Moore blasted a three-run homer to put the Mudcats (9-15) in front 4-3.

 

"Mendy came in and threw a bad slider," Listach said. "He probably got beat by his third-best pitch. His fastball is 93-95 miles per hour. You can't get beat by trying to trick somebody with your third-best pitch."

 

Nobody has been more frustrated by his lack of success this season than Veal, who came into the game with a 10.57 earned-run average largely because he had walked 18 in 151/3 innings.

 

"It was very difficult because I've never struggled like that ever," Veal said. "I've been a slow starter almost every year but nothing like that - four in a row, just horrible."

 

Peoria Journal Star[/url]"]"On (the 3-2 count) I was trying to keep it simple and he threw me fastballs that I kept fouling off. I was ready for the fastball but I was able to react to the curve and he threw it right where I like it." - Chiefs first baseman Russ Canzler on his home run.

 

Also:

 

The Chiefs announced that Chicago Bears kicker Robbie Gould and defensive end Mark Anderson will sign autographs at the May 16 game against the Beloit Snappers.

That bolded part really bothers me to see. Mendez is a possible reliever for the Cubs in the future. If he's going to make it, he's got to develop that slider at some point. I'd rather have him working on it now than later.