Minor League Discussion & Boxes 5-20-2007

[Guest]

I'm looking forward to watching Sean pitch tomorrow night. Of the pitchers I have seen on both teams, Holliman was the most impressive, followed by Dan Smith and Matt Harrison of the Braves. I'll see Gallagher go tomorrow, but I missed JoJo Reyes of the Braves on Friday, and I hear he's pretty good.

 

JC Holt of the Braves is a Ryan Theriot clone.

 

Oh...and Jake Fox can hit. I think his bat maybe major league ready right now.

 

Do you think that Fox is currently major-league ready at any position in the field though? I would love to have his bat in the lineup, but if Fox can only play 1B/LF then he's pretty well screwed for quite a while unless Soriano moves to RF.

[Laura]

He was taking IF at 3B when I was in TN a while back.

[tfarks]

I'm looking forward to watching Sean pitch tomorrow night. Of the pitchers I have seen on both teams, Holliman was the most impressive, followed by Dan Smith and Matt Harrison of the Braves. I'll see Gallagher go tomorrow, but I missed JoJo Reyes of the Braves on Friday, and I hear he's pretty good.

 

JC Holt of the Braves is a Ryan Theriot clone.

 

Oh...and Jake Fox can hit. I think his bat maybe major league ready right now.

 

Do you think that Fox is currently major-league ready at any position in the field though? I would love to have his bat in the lineup, but if Fox can only play 1B/LF then he's pretty well screwed for quite a while unless Soriano moves to RF.

 

Man do I wish they would move Soriano to RF already. I know he has been playing LF to be more versatile, how has he looked there?

[ChiefsVoice]

Chiefs Defense was horrid, they played a lot worse that the 3 errors they were charged with. Johnston had a particularly rough day, including over running third after he tagged up on a fly ball.

 

Yusuf has a cannon arm, threw a guy out at home.

 

Chiefs and Beloit almost came to blows twice, I'm not quite sure what it was all about.

 

Both Papelbon and Platt looked real good out of the pen.

 

Um Yusuf DH'd today...That was Camp that threw the guy out at the plate...

[Guest]

He was taking IF at 3B when I was in TN a while back.

 

Unfortunately that's just another spot he's blocked at. If he can't stick at catcher (which is seeming more and more likely every day) the only other position he could possibly make it at IMO would be LF if Soriano could handle RF. Handling 1st and 3rd is nice in a backup capacity, but he should be ready before either Ramirez or Lee leave and I don't want to be having to choose between any of them. As inconsistent as our offense has been, I would gladly take all the good bats I can take that are coming as cheaply as Fox's.

[Guest]

If Fox can play LF, he has the arm to play RF. He's not as fast as a prototypical RF'er, but he's definitely got a strong enough arm.

[Guest]

Thanks, Vance. Nice pics!!

[Guest]

IowaCubs.com[/url]"]Moore blasts I-Cubs to victory

May 20, 2007

 

Scott Moore homered twice and drove in a season-high five runs to power visiting Iowa past Oklahoma, 9-7, on Sunday.

Moore, who had one dinger on the year coming into the game, crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning and added a two-run blast in the fifth as the Cubs (24-19) took a 5-1 lead.

 

Iowa's Mike Fontenot lined a run-scoring single in the first to extend his hitting streak to 13 games. Felix Pie went 3-for-5 with an RBI triple in the fourth, and Buck Coats added two hits and three runs scored.

 

Cubs starter Ryan O'Malley (2-3) picked up the win after allowing five runs on nine hits in five innings, striking out three and walking one. Clay Rapada pitched two hitless frames with a strikeout for his fifth save.

 

Jason Botts went 3-for-5 with RBI singles in the first and fifth for the RedHawks (21-21). Desi Relaford delivered a leadoff homer in the seventh, his third, and Marlon Byrd chipped in two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored.

 

Oklahoma starter Alfredo Simon (2-5) surrendered six runs on 10 hits and two walks in four innings. --Marc Jimenez/MLB.com

 

SmokiesBaseball.com[/url]"]Smokies Come From Behind to Win 8-5 over Mississippi Sunday

 

Pearl, MS- The Braves built an early 4-0 lead on the Smokies Sunday afternoon at Trustmark Park.

 

Matt Esquivel singled to drive in a first inning run.

 

Ray Serrano smacked a solo homerun in the second to grow the lead to 2-0. Then Veal wild pitched in a run from third which made it 3-0.

 

Pitcher Dan Smith singled in Josh Burrus in the fourth inning while two were retired.

 

With Tennessee trailing 4-0 in the sixth inning Issmael Salas doubled off the left field fence scoring Josh Kroeger and chasing Braves starter Dan Smith from the game.

 

The seventh started with the Smokies down 4-1. The first three batters of the inning all reached bases despite a hit. Then Kroeger tied the game at 4-4 with a bases clearing triple to right center. Casey McGehee singled him in then later scored on a Jorge Cortes pitch hit single.

 

Jake Fox hit Tennessee’s second triple in as many innings with one out in the eighth. He and Kroeger would later score on a pair of errors giving the Smokies an 8-4 lead.

 

Mike Rozema hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the eighth. The Braves followed with back to back singles sending the potential tying to the plate. Jim Henderson was called on from the bullpen and promptly retired the next five batters to shut the door and record the games save.

 

Tennessee reliever Jerry Blevins was the winning pitcher going one scoreless inning of relief.

 

DaytonaCubs.com[/url]"]Cubs Falter in First of Four with Sarasota

First Place Reds Rattle Off 14 Hits in 6-1 Win

 

By: Matt Martinez

 

[sARASOTA, FL] After an electric win in Daytona on Saturday night, the Cubs (21-21) fell to the Sarasota Reds (29-14) at Ed Smith Stadium, 6-1. With the win, the Reds extended their lead in the West to five games as the Cubs sit five and half back in the East.

 

The Daytona Cubs sent Mitch Atkins to the hill to face the best in the West but Atkins allowed three runs on 11 hits in six innings of work for the Cubs. When Atkins left the game, Sarasota was clinging to a 3-1 lead. John Mueller came on in relief of Atkins in the seventh and allowed three runs in one inning on three base hits. Tim Layden threw a scoreless eighth where he struck out two, but the Cub's couldn't overcome the five-run deficit.

 

Meanwhile, Sarasota's Daryl Thompson was almost untouchable. In his six innings, he gave up one run on three base hits while striking out eight. Major League re-haber Bill Bray relieved Thompson in the seventh and faced the minimum. Ruben Medina threw a scoreless eighth and ninth to close the books on Daytona for the 6-1 win.

 

Daytona's lone run came off the bat of Kyle Reynolds as he turned on a Thompson fastball for a solo home run in the fifth.

 

Jesus Valdez continued his hitting streak to 14 games with a single in the fifth.

 

PeoriaChiefs.com[/url]"]Chiefs Under .500 with 4-2 Loss

 

Beloit, WI – Two costly unearned runs in the fourth inning sent the Peoria Chiefs to their 5th straight loss 4-2 at Beloit on Sunday afternoon. The loss drops the Chiefs to 20-21 as they go under the .500 mark for the first time since they were 4-5 on April 17th.

 

For the second straight game, the Snappers scored in the bottom of the first as they scored first for the fifth straight game. Chiefs starter Alex Maestri walked Brian Dinkleman in a 10 pitch at bat to start the inning. Dinkleman stole second and went to third on a wild pitch as Maestri recorded back to back strikeouts. Johnny Woodard put Beloit on top 1-0 with a 2-out single to center. Chris Parmelee doubled the lead in the second with a lead-off solo homer to right off Maestri.

 

The Chiefs got on the board in the third against Adam Hawes. Matt Camp led off with a bunt single and stole second with one out. Josh Lansford, who has been red-hot against Beloit doubled to right as Camp scored. Peoria failed to tie the game as the next two batters both grounded out to shortstop.

 

The Chiefs defense let Beloit score twice in the fourth. Maestri hit Joe Benson to start the inning and Parmelee flew out to center. Camp tried to double Benson off first and his throw skipped into the Chiefs dugout moving Benson to third. Danny Santiesteban followed with a grounder to short that Dylan Johnston booted for an error allowing Benson to score. After a strikeout and with Santiesteban at second, Craig Yersich hit another grounder to short but Johnston threw it away as the run scored for a 4-1 Beloit lead.

 

In the eighth, Blake Lalli reached on an error by shortstop Steve Singleton and Dylan Johnston doubled. Camp gave the Chiefs another run on a sac fly to left knocking starter Adam Hawes out of the game. Now trailing 4-2, the Chiefs ran themselves out of the inning when Ryne Malone lined to left and Dylan Johnston failed to slide and overran third base trying to advance and was easily tagged out to end the inning.

 

Maestri allowed four runs, two earned on three hits over 3 2/3 innings in his second start. The Italian native struck out three, walked one and hit one. Jeremy Papelbon allowed three hits and struck out three in 2 1/3 shutout innings. Platt struck out two and walked one in his two innings of work.

 

Gorman’s Pub Player of the Game: Matt Camp (CF) – Camp was 1-for-3 with a stolen base and he scored the Chiefs first run and drove in their other run. He also threw out a runner at the plate to end the sixth inning.

 

Notes… The Chiefs were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position tonight and are a measly 5-for-39 over the last six games and only three of the hits have left the infield, all by Josh Lansford…Matt Camp picked up his first outfield assist of the season when he threw out Santiesteban at the plate to end the sixth…The Chiefs have played eight straight games under 2:30…The Chiefs now return home for an eight game homestand with four against Lansing and four against Wisconsin…University of Illinois football head coach Ron Zook will throw out a first pitch Monday and all tickets are Half-Price courtesy of Mountain Dew…

[CubinNY]

The jump to AA is not going well for Veal.

 

That sucks.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I'm looking forward to watching Sean pitch tomorrow night. Of the pitchers I have seen on both teams, Holliman was the most impressive, followed by Dan Smith and Matt Harrison of the Braves. I'll see Gallagher go tomorrow, but I missed JoJo Reyes of the Braves on Friday, and I hear he's pretty good.

 

JC Holt of the Braves is a Ryan Theriot clone.

 

Oh...and Jake Fox can hit. I think his bat maybe major league ready right now.

 

Do you think that Fox is currently major-league ready at any position in the field though? I would love to have his bat in the lineup, but if Fox can only play 1B/LF then he's pretty well screwed for quite a while unless Soriano moves to RF.

 

He could play LF there right now. I know that much. There's obviously no room for Fox as a starter right now, but I think he might could be a bat on the bench for us. He could handle any of those positions in a pinch and having him would essientially give us three catchers.

 

I will say this, when Fox hits the ball on the screws, he hits it hard. Even most of his outs were hard hit balls and he had some good hits against two pretty good pitchers in the games I saw.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The jump to AA is not going well for Veal.

 

That sucks.

 

The stuff is still there. He just has some adjustments to make. I think he'll make them.

[C.C.]

Pie is batting .415. Wow! He's tearing up AAA. That is great to see...