Kevin Goldstein on Ronny Cedeno

[Productive Outs]

Kevin Goldstein[/url]"]The Cubs have made a run in the last couple of weeks, taking two of three from Milwaukee over the weekend to move to .500 and second place in the NL Central; they're also just five games out of the wild card. There’s still a pretty big hole on the team however, and that’s at shortstop, where Cesar Izturis has an anemic bat (.250/.301/.311), while Ryan Theriot (.266/.323/.346) hasn’t been much better. Enter Ronny Cedeno. Dispatched to the minors after beginning the year by going 3-for-31, no kind of chaser for an awful 2006 in the starter’s role last year (including a .211 Equivalent Average), but his scouting reports were better than that, and he’s putting everything together since going back to the minors. Currently batting .387/.466/.638 in 45 games as an I-Cub, Cedeno is showing unprecedented power, including five home runs in his last five games. After compiling a miserable strikeout-to-unintentional walk ratio of 109-13 for the Cubs last year, he has more walks (23), than strikeouts (21) in 163 at-bats for Iowa. If the Cubs think they’re in it, and it seems like they do (and are), there’s a free in-house upgrade awaiting them in the Hawkeye State.

 

pretty much what we've been saying for a while.

Edited July 2, 2007 by Productive Outs

[Guest]

Preach it!

[anabiono]

dfa izturis and bring his ass up here!

[YearofDaCubs]

dfa izturis and bring his ass up here!

That makes too much sense for that to happen.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Dump Izturis on someone in need of a SS and call up Cedeno.

[RynoRules]

Ronny is looking Ruthian in Des Moines. My only question is whether anyone else here thinks its an anamoly. I mean, no one expects him to put up those nos at the ML level, but how do we explain this rather incredible turn-around?

[Bruno7481]

Am I the only one who still isn't sold on Cedeno?

 

He's putting up huge numbers and I'm happy to see them, but for some reason there isn't a lot of excitement for me.

[UK1679666180]

Am I the only one who still isn't sold on Cedeno?

 

He's putting up huge numbers and I'm happy to see them, but for some reason there isn't a lot of excitement for me.

 

Theriot or Izturis wetting your noodle at the 6? :)

[Bruno7481]

Am I the only one who still isn't sold on Cedeno?

 

He's putting up huge numbers and I'm happy to see them, but for some reason there isn't a lot of excitement for me.

 

Theriot or Izturis wetting your noodle at the 6? :)

 

Yes, I sleep in my Izturis jersey every night.

 

Viva Izturis!

[Guest]

The K/BB is why I'm "sold" on him (i.e. he'll do better than Izturis or Theriot).

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

The K/BB is why I'm "sold" on him (i.e. he'll do better than Izturis or Theriot).

 

I agree. He's as good as both defensively and looks like he'll be better offensively.

 

It's time to give him another shot.

[don_kessinger_was_good]

Ronny is looking Ruthian in Des Moines. My only question is whether anyone else here thinks its an anamoly. I mean, no one expects him to put up those nos at the ML level, but how do we explain this rather incredible turn-around?

 

Because the pitching in AAA absolutely SUCKS. Seems like most teams anymore put their best pitching prospects in AA, and when they're ready, promote them straight to the bigs. Not an absolute rule, of course, but it's happening much more frequently than in the past. The net effect is that the quality of AAA pitching is significantly diluted.

 

Look at the Cubs recent young pitching promotions as one example. For all practical purposes, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, and Billy Petrick made the jump straight from AA. Only Rich Hill and Mike Wuertz saw significant AAA time in the minors.

 

And look at the Cubs minor league rosters right now. Until Sean Gallagher's recent cup of coffee in Chicago, for which he earned a roundabout promotion from Knoxville to Des Moines, the Iowa staff "featured" the likes of Les Walrond, John Webb, Ryan O'Malley, JR Mathes and Ben Howard; yikes. Meanwhile, AA has had Sean Gallagher, Donnie Veal, Billy Petrick and Mark Holliman, amongst others.

[CubColtPacer]

Ronny is looking Ruthian in Des Moines. My only question is whether anyone else here thinks its an anamoly. I mean, no one expects him to put up those nos at the ML level, but how do we explain this rather incredible turn-around?

 

Because the pitching in AAA absolutely SUCKS. Seems like most teams anymore put their best pitching prospects in AA, and when they're ready, promote them straight to the bigs. Not an absolute rule, of course, but it's happening much more frequently than in the past. The net effect is that the quality of AAA pitching is significantly diluted.

 

Look at the Cubs recent young pitching promotions as one example. For all practical purposes, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, and Billy Petrick made the jump straight from AA. Only Rich Hill and Mike Wuertz saw significant AAA time in the minors.

 

And look at the Cubs minor league rosters right now. Until Sean Gallagher's recent cup of coffee in Chicago, for which he earned a roundabout promotion from Knoxville to Des Moines, the Iowa staff "featured" the likes of Les Walrond, John Webb, Ryan O'Malley, JR Mathes and Ben Howard; yikes. Meanwhile, AA has had Sean Gallagher, Donnie Veal, Billy Petrick and Mark Holliman, amongst others.

 

This is a good point. The PCL has been a huge hitters league this season (the 8th best hitting team in the PCL has a better OPS than the 2nd best team in the majors, and that is with only 16 teams to choose from rather than 30 like MLB). Cedeno absolutely kills bad pitching-he has the swing to hit mistakes very hard. It's just the good pitchers who know how to pitch to his weaknesses that can get him out consistently.

 

I still think he should get a shot, but that's a big warning sign to me.

[Skyballer]

Ronny is looking Ruthian in Des Moines. My only question is whether anyone else here thinks its an anamoly. I mean, no one expects him to put up those nos at the ML level, but how do we explain this rather incredible turn-around?

 

Because the pitching in AAA absolutely SUCKS. Seems like most teams anymore put their best pitching prospects in AA, and when they're ready, promote them straight to the bigs. Not an absolute rule, of course, but it's happening much more frequently than in the past. The net effect is that the quality of AAA pitching is significantly diluted.

 

Look at the Cubs recent young pitching promotions as one example. For all practical purposes, Sean Marshall, Carlos Marmol, and Billy Petrick made the jump straight from AA. Only Rich Hill and Mike Wuertz saw significant AAA time in the minors.

 

And look at the Cubs minor league rosters right now. Until Sean Gallagher's recent cup of coffee in Chicago, for which he earned a roundabout promotion from Knoxville to Des Moines, the Iowa staff "featured" the likes of Les Walrond, John Webb, Ryan O'Malley, JR Mathes and Ben Howard; yikes. Meanwhile, AA has had Sean Gallagher, Donnie Veal, Billy Petrick and Mark Holliman, amongst others.

 

This is a good point. The PCL has been a huge hitters league this season (the 8th best hitting team in the PCL has a better OPS than the 2nd best team in the majors, and that is with only 16 teams to choose from rather than 30 like MLB). Cedeno absolutely kills bad pitching-he has the swing to hit mistakes very hard. It's just the good pitchers who know how to pitch to his weaknesses that can get him out consistently.

 

I still think he should get a shot, but that's a big warning sign to me.

Good point, I think he should get a shot but I don't anticipate him being a star.

[Mephistopheles]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

[RynoRules]

Oh boy.

[TruffleShuffle]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

 

i'm not even sure what the point of 80% of your posts is, except to annoy people

[UBlink]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

 

Good gosh almighty he was almost as bad as DeRosa in 2004. And DeRo has clearly shown it's impossible to improve. Ever a bum, always a bum.

[CubsWin]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

 

Good gosh almighty he was almost as bad as DeRosa in 2004. And DeRo has clearly shown it's impossible to improve. Ever a bum, always a bum.

I know. He's already 24, way to old to get better. Plus, the numbers he put up in '05 in AAA and the majors are clearly wrong. Someone should call whoever compiles the stats and get those corrected.

[RynoHawk]

`I for one am not a big fan of Ronny but I am willing to give him another chance and let him and theriot platoon. If he can't hit in a couple weeks DFA him.

[Magnetic Curses]

`I for one am not a big fan of Ronny but I am willing to give him another chance and let him and theriot platoon. If he can't hit in a couple weeks DFA him.

 

that wouldn't really be a platoon.

[Donzo1679666396]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

Yep, no doubt!

 

The worst pitcher in the majors 20 years ago was some bum named Greg Maddux- I wonder what ever happened to him?!? Probably selling shoes in Chicago with Al Bundy.

[NCCubFan]

CEDENO SUCK. DID YOU SEE THAT SACK OF SH--- LAST YEAR?!

Yep, no doubt!

 

The worst pitcher in the majors 20 years ago was some bum named Greg Maddux- I wonder what ever happened to him?!? Probably selling shoes in Chicago with Al Bundy.

Or how about the player that hit .196 as a rookie? Yeah, that Mike Schmidt guy sure turned out to be worthless.