Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-13-2007

[otis89]

Here's the banner at the top of the Memphis Redbirds' website:

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/t235/images/masthead.gif

 

 

What's going on with Stubby Clapp up there?

 

I'm going to guess he's doing a back flip.

[Guest]

Veal: 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 K/0 BB. Tennessee tied 1-1 in the top of the fourth.

 

Atkins: 5 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 6 K/0 BB. Daytona up 1-0 after 5.

 

Hernandez: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/0 BB. Peoria is scoreless after 1.

[Guest]

Wow. Thanks Raisin! I've heard of some of those guys, but there are definitely quite a few I haven't. I'll have to keep my eye on them.

 

And just to add, the guy to look at on the DSL Cubs is 17-year old LHP Jeffry Antigua (signed last summer as a Latin American free agent) who's putting up some good numbers. The Cubs themselves think Antigua is their best prospect in the DSL.

[E.J.]

Nice outing for Atkins. So will he get a callup to AA this year, or will he probably be at Daytona all season?

[craig]

[*]Chris Huseby is a 19-year old RHP with a 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change. He's the guy who got a $1.1 million signing bonus last year in the 11th round - had TJS while in high school.

 

Cal, I can't find it right off, but a few weeks a go I read a linked article about huseby, perhaps from that Boise paper. Had some stuff info from Huseby himself. Often to here guys tell it, they throw harder than they often do, of course. They cite the one pitch that clocked 6 mph above their normal velocity and all that, so from hering guys tell you'd think they were all power pitcher possibilities.

 

So, if anything maybe huseby was inflating his stuff, that's the norm. But, his personal report was much less than 91-95.

 

He claimed that he was back to his sophomore velocity. Said he was happy to be back up working in the upper 80's. And said that he'd touched 90-91 a couple of times.

 

So, for now it would appear that Huseby is something of a soft-tosser. He'll need to have special location, special breaking stuff, special movement. But for now, it would appear that 91-95 is projection hope, not current reality. Kind of like when Sisco was supposedly 91-94, but projected to perhaps throw 100 someday and perhaps project into Randy Johnson type.

 

Huseby's only 19, of course, and like any 19-year-old who's tall, there's the chance that he'll throw significantly harder down the road. But for now, it appears that he's gotten slower, not faster, compared to last spring.

 

Which might also help to explain why he's been pretty hittable in XST and Boise.

 

I'm not trying to rip on the kid. Hope he works out well. But for now, it would appear that both special control, special stuff, and special velocity are all projected possibilities rather than present realities, even relative to his level. Hopefully all those projection hopes will become reality in due time, even if they aren't yet. Often that happens.

[TruffleShuffle]

3-run homer for kroeger... he's already got 6 in 21 games with Iowa. Richie also hit a solo bomb; I-Cobs are up 4-1.

[E.J.]

3-run homer for kroeger... he's already got 6 in 21 games with Iowa. Richie also hit a solo bomb; I-Cobs are up 4-1.

 

Kroeger is having a fine year.

[Guest]

[*]Chris Huseby is a 19-year old RHP with a 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change. He's the guy who got a $1.1 million signing bonus last year in the 11th round - had TJS while in high school.

 

Cal, I can't find it right off, but a few weeks a go I read a linked article about huseby, perhaps from that Boise paper. Had some stuff info from Huseby himself. Often to here guys tell it, they throw harder than they often do, of course. They cite the one pitch that clocked 6 mph above their normal velocity and all that, so from hering guys tell you'd think they were all power pitcher possibilities.

 

So, if anything maybe huseby was inflating his stuff, that's the norm. But, his personal report was much less than 91-95.

 

He claimed that he was back to his sophomore velocity. Said he was happy to be back up working in the upper 80's. And said that he'd touched 90-91 a couple of times.

 

So, for now it would appear that Huseby is something of a soft-tosser. He'll need to have special location, special breaking stuff, special movement. But for now, it would appear that 91-95 is projection hope, not current reality. Kind of like when Sisco was supposedly 91-94, but projected to perhaps throw 100 someday and perhaps project into Randy Johnson type.

 

Huseby's only 19, of course, and like any 19-year-old who's tall, there's the chance that he'll throw significantly harder down the road. But for now, it appears that he's gotten slower, not faster, compared to last spring.

 

Which might also help to explain why he's been pretty hittable in XST and Boise.

 

I'm not trying to rip on the kid. Hope he works out well. But for now, it would appear that both special control, special stuff, and special velocity are all projected possibilities rather than present realities, even relative to his level. Hopefully all those projection hopes will become reality in due time, even if they aren't yet. Often that happens.

 

My info on the 91-95 was from what the Boise announcer said. It could be a scouting report that the announcer was reading, since he says it at the opening of the broadcast, in which case those could be based on last season and no longer correct. The few times he did read the velocity over the air, Huseby was 90-92. Of course when an announcer reads a velocity, it's going to be one the pitcher's best, so if he's topping out at 92, that's not good.

 

Is this the Idaho Statesman story you were talking about?

 

Huseby said he has recaptured his high 80s to low 90s velocity, is developing a changeup and has done away with a slider that he believes might have contributed to his arm injury.

Edited July 14, 2007 by CaliforniaRaisin

[Guest]

Nice outing for Atkins. So will he get a callup to AA this year, or will he probably be at Daytona all season?

 

I think he's ready for AA. He's had three straight bad starts so this was a nice rebound one for Mitch.

 

Veal's final line: 5 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 4 K/2 BB, HBP. Tennessee down 2-1 in the top of the 6th.

 

Atkins' final line: 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 8 K/1 BB. Daytona up 2-0 in the 9th.

 

Ugh, Hernandez was lit up in the third inning (5 ER, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 HR in the inning). Hernandez: 3 IP, 5 ER, 5 H, 1 K/3 BB. Peoria down 5-0 after 3.

[Guest]

Great, I've got N Sync's "Bye Bye Bye" stuck in my head because I can hear it in the background of the Tennessee game. :x

 

Hernandez gave up 2 more in the 5th. 5 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 1 K/4 BB, 3 HR.

 

Huseby gives up a 2-out solo HR in the first. 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 0 K/0 BB, 1 GO-2 FO.

[the splendid splinter]

[*]Chris Huseby is a 19-year old RHP with a 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change. He's the guy who got a $1.1 million signing bonus last year in the 11th round - had TJS while in high school.

 

Cal, I can't find it right off, but a few weeks a go I read a linked article about huseby, perhaps from that Boise paper. Had some stuff info from Huseby himself. Often to here guys tell it, they throw harder than they often do, of course. They cite the one pitch that clocked 6 mph above their normal velocity and all that, so from hering guys tell you'd think they were all power pitcher possibilities.

 

So, if anything maybe huseby was inflating his stuff, that's the norm. But, his personal report was much less than 91-95.

 

He claimed that he was back to his sophomore velocity. Said he was happy to be back up working in the upper 80's. And said that he'd touched 90-91 a couple of times.

 

So, for now it would appear that Huseby is something of a soft-tosser. He'll need to have special location, special breaking stuff, special movement. But for now, it would appear that 91-95 is projection hope, not current reality. Kind of like when Sisco was supposedly 91-94, but projected to perhaps throw 100 someday and perhaps project into Randy Johnson type.

 

Huseby's only 19, of course, and like any 19-year-old who's tall, there's the chance that he'll throw significantly harder down the road. But for now, it appears that he's gotten slower, not faster, compared to last spring.

 

Which might also help to explain why he's been pretty hittable in XST and Boise.

 

I'm not trying to rip on the kid. Hope he works out well. But for now, it would appear that both special control, special stuff, and special velocity are all projected possibilities rather than present realities, even relative to his level. Hopefully all those projection hopes will become reality in due time, even if they aren't yet. Often that happens.

 

My info on the 91-95 was from what the Boise announcer said. It could be a scouting report that the announcer was reading, since he says it at the opening of the broadcast, in which case those could be based on last season and no longer correct. The few times he did read the velocity over the air, Huseby was 90-92. Of course when an announcer reads a velocity, it's going to be one the pitcher's best, so if he's topping out at 92, that's not good.

 

Is this the Idaho Statesman story you were talking about?

 

Huseby said he has recaptured his high 80s to low 90s velocity, is developing a changeup and has done away with a slider that he believes might have contributed to his arm injury.

Raisin I also heard some of that game and thee anouncer from Boise did say 91-95 and he went on to say that he received the readings from thee next night starter from the opposing club, also the Boise starter for the next night had similar readings and also said he( announcer) was getting them from some scout in the stands.

[Guest]

Good to hear! He mentioned his reportoire today too - 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change.

[craig]

Good to hear! He mentioned his reportoire today too - 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change.

 

Thanks for the super news, guys! If he's getting into the 91-95 range, at his age, that's very encouraging.

 

Cal, you mentioned Antigua, the DSL lefty. What have you heard about him, and if I may ask, where do you get info about DSL guys? I follow the stats, check the age/size info, and check the games fairly often. But it would be fun to know which if any guys the Cubs paid money for, or think have good potential, versus the guys that don't have anything now but who knows, maybe they'll add 8 mph over the next five years.

 

One name that I've been interested in is Junior Lake. He turned 17 only in March, so like Antigua he's very young. He lists at 6'3", pretty tall for a SS and probably won't stick there, but 6'3" is tall enough to perhaps project some power. In fact, he's already hit 3 HR's, hardly a ton, but it's been years since I recall a DSL Cub getting even 6 HR's. His HR/XBH ratio has been pretty good. His K/walk ratio is weak but not awful. I don't actually recall any actual 17-year-olds in DSL who have hit with any authority there. Would be cool if Lake would actually be a prospect.

[Guest]

Good to hear! He mentioned his reportoire today too - 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change.

 

Thanks for the super news, guys! If he's getting into the 91-95 range, at his age, that's very encouraging.

 

Cal, you mentioned Antigua, the DSL lefty. What have you heard about him, and if I may ask, where do you get info about DSL guys? I follow the stats, check the age/size info, and check the games fairly often. But it would be fun to know which if any guys the Cubs paid money for, or think have good potential, versus the guys that don't have anything now but who knows, maybe they'll add 8 mph over the next five years.

 

One name that I've been interested in is Junior Lake. He turned 17 only in March, so like Antigua he's very young. He lists at 6'3", pretty tall for a SS and probably won't stick there, but 6'3" is tall enough to perhaps project some power. In fact, he's already hit 3 HR's, hardly a ton, but it's been years since I recall a DSL Cub getting even 6 HR's. His HR/XBH ratio has been pretty good. His K/walk ratio is weak but not awful. I don't actually recall any actual 17-year-olds in DSL who have hit with any authority there. Would be cool if Lake would actually be a prospect.

 

I don't know any more info than you do about the DSL guys (except for Wily Garcia, Andres Quezada and Edgar Herera because those three were at Fitch even past the start of the DSL Cubs season). AZ Phil mentioned that he talked to a guy with thet Cubs who said that Jeffry Antigua was the Cubs best prospect in the DSL.

 

From what AZ Phil said, it sounds like Lake could end up at second base. I don't know much else about him.

[jjgman21]

Boise now in sole possession of first...with a 10-14 record.

[illiniguy]

Here's the banner at the top of the Memphis Redbirds' website:

 

http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/clubs/t235/images/masthead.gif

 

 

What's going on with Stubby Clapp up there?

 

I just find it amusing that Pujols is keeping company with Stubby Clapp and Joe McEwing.

Isn't that Wilfredo?

[Guest]

IowaCubs.com[/url]"]Royals Edge Cubs 6-5

Omaha wins second straight one-run game in Rosenblatt

http://www.iowacubs.com

 

Omaha scored an unearned run in the 7th inning without getting a hit to snap a tie and take a 6-5 win over the Iowa Cubs Friday night at Rosenblatt Stadium. Shane Costa was hit by a Brett Prinz pitch with one out in the 7th, stole second and continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Tony Richie. After Mike Aviles walked, Craig Brazell drove in Costa with a sacrifice fly. The Royals also scored an unearned run in the second inning.

 

The Cubs led early 4-1 as Josh Kroeger hit a 3 run homer in the second inning and Tony Richie added a solo homerun, also in the second. The Cubs managed only 2 hits after the second inning. Brett Prinz, now 1-1, took the loss. The winner for Omaha was Nate Hoelscher, now 3-1. Ryan Braun pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 7th save.

 

Buddy Bailey on the loss, "We gave them the run that decided the ballgame. It's tough when you give it away." On Kevin Hart's first game with Iowa, Bailey says "The bright spot for me was how Hart was able to bounce back, hang in there and get it through the 6th inning."

 

Felix Pie was 0 for 4 in his first game back from Chicago while Buck Coats went one for 4 to extend his hitting streak to 18 games.

 

SmokiesBaseball.com[/url]"] Walks and errors spell doom for Smokies in 4-1 loss

 

Sevierville, TN – Even with an enthusiastic crowd of 5,512 fans cheering them on, the Tennessee Smokies could not overcome a few early and late game mistakes as they fell to the visiting Mobile BayBears by a score of 4-1 on Friday night. The Smokies fell to 11-12 for the second half of the season with the loss.

 

The BayBears jumped out to the early lead for the second night in a row, scoring a run in the first inning. Emilio Bonafacio led off the game with a single back up the middle off Smokies starter Donnie Veal (5-7). Bonafacio then proceeded to steal second base, and then stole third after a Wilken Castillo strikeout. On the steal to third, Veal threw wildly over the head of third baseman Issmael Salas, which allowed Bonafacio to score.

 

The Smokies got on the board to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom half of the second inning. Tyler Colvin reached first base after Jake Fox was hit by a pitch but thrown out at second on a Colvin groundout. Salas moved Colvin to third on an infield groundout. With two out, Jorge Cortes ripped a single into left center field off of Mobile pitcher Esmerling Vasquez (7-4) to score Colvin and tie the game.

 

The game would remain tied until the top of the fourth inning. An error by Joe Simokaitis allowed Justin Upton to reach first base, and then Veal ran into some control problems. Veal walked the next two batters to load the bases with only one out in the inning. Cesar Nicolas then blooped a weak fly ball that was fielded by Gary Cates for the 2nd out. Cates fired home to try and get Upton out, but Fox could not field the throw in the dirt, and the BayBears took a 2-1 lead.

 

Tennessee threatened to tie the game several times in the game but could not come up with the big timely hit they needed. Mobile extended their lead to 3-1 in the eighth inning on a mammoth home run off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez, his third in the last two games. The BayBears added another run in the ninth inning after Jerry Blevins came on in relief. Three walks issued by Blevins spelled doom for the Smokies, as Mobile took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Smokies had the tying run at the plate in Salas with two outs, but he grounded out to third to end the threat and the game.

 

DaytonaCubs.com[/url]"]Atkins, Koerber Shut Down Lakeland, 4-0

Carter's Two RBIs Key Daytona Offense

 

By: Dan Watson

 

[LAKELAND, FL] Mitch Atkins was back to his old self Friday at Joker Marchant Stadium. The Daytona right-hander went seven scoreless innings and tied a season high in strikeouts to lead the Cubs to a 4-0 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

 

Atkins, who started on Opening Day and at the Florida State League All-Star Game, had gone 1-2 over his last three starts. He bounced back with a dominant performance against the Flying Tigers. Atkins went seven innings, tied a season high with eight strikeouts, allowed four hits and walked one. He upped his record to 7-6 and lowered his ERA to 2.88. Scott Koerber worked a scoreless two innings to notch his third save of the season.

 

Yusuf Carter led the offense, knocking in two of Daytona's three runs. Carter went 2-for-4 with a home run and a single.

 

Daytona took the first lead of the game in the top of the third. With two out, Chris Walker lined a base hit into left field. Robinson Chirinos walked to put runners at first and second, and Chris Amador capped the two-out rally with an RBI single to left which plated Walker.

 

The Cubs extended their lead in the top of the seventh with more two-out hitting. Yusuf Carter belted a 2-1 pitch over the wall in left to give Daytona a 2-0 edge. It was Carter's second homer of the season.

 

Daytona cashed in on a Lakeland mistake in the ninth. Ryan Harvey reached on a two-base error to start the inning. Pinch-runner Mark Reed went to third on a single by Kyle Reynolds and scored on Carter's RBI knock to left field. The Flying Tigers intentionally walked Chris Walker to load the bases with two out, and Robinson Chirinos worked another walk to bring home a run. At that point, Lakeland brought Brendan Wise into the game, and he induced an inning-ending pop-up.

 

Daytona is now 10-12 in the second half. The Cubs secured a winning road trip with the victory. They are now 4-2 on the seven-game swing, with the series finale on tap for Saturday at 6:00 p.m.

 

Lakeland fell to 8-10. Luke French (4-7) was the hard-luck loser on the mound. He went six innings and allowed just one run on three hits, walked two and struck out three.

 

PeoriaChiefs.com[/url]"]Chiefs Lose 2nd Straight

 

Davenport , IA – The Peoria Chiefs fell behind early and never caught up Friday night in an 8-3 road loss to the Swing of the Quad Cities. The loss drops the Chiefs to 12-9 on the half and cuts their first place lead to just one half game over Quad Cities.

 

The Swing broke open a scoreless game in the third when they hit Chiefs starter Robert Hernandez hard and often. After getting the first out, Hernandez issued back to back walks to #9 hitter Christian Lopez and leadoff man Daryl Jones. Jared Schweitzer, who had four hits on Thursday, singled home Lopez for a 1-0 Swing lead. Tony Cruz, who joined the Swing roster on Friday, followed with a long three-run homer that cleared the left-field berm for a 4-0 Swing lead. Steven Hill connected on a solo shot to right-center to give Quad Cities back to back homers and a 5-0 lead. Hernandez then gave up a single and a walk before getting back to back groundouts to end the inning.

 

The Swing kept the home run derby going on the fifth inning against Hernandez. Steven Hill led off with an opposite field single before Christian Reyes flew out to the warning track in left. Nick Derba, who also joined the Swing on Friday, connected for his first home of the season into the left-field berm for a 7-0 Quad Cities lead.

 

Peoria finally got on the board against Swing starter Brad Furnish in the sixth inning. With one out, Matt Camp drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch. Camp moved to third on a flyout to right and scored on a single by Alfred Joseph to get the Chiefs on the board.

 

The Chiefs picked up a pair of runs against Swing reliever Mike Schellinger in the seventh inning. With one out, Blake Lalli singled to right and Derek Schermerhorn followed with a basehit to right-center. After a pop-up, Nate Samson drove home Lalli with a single and an error by leftfielder Jaime Landin allowed Schermerhorn to scored from first on the play. Quad Cities added a final run in the eighth on an error by Chiefs right fielder Alfred Joseph.

 

Hernandez threw five innings for the fifth straight start allowing a season worst seven runs on seven hits and three homers. He walked a season high four batters and struck out a season low one. Jose Pina, not scheduled to start until Tuesday in South Bend , threw two shutout innings allowing one hit and walking three. Jayson Ruhlman allowed one run on three hits and a walk in his one inning of work.

 

Gorman’s Pub Player of the Game: Nate Samson (SS) – Samson was 1-for-2 with a walk and one of the Chiefs two RBI.

 

BoiseHawks.com[/url]"]Hawks Finish Sweep of Bears with 11-9 Win

 

The Boise Hawks beat the Yakima Bears Friday night, 11-9, completing a three game sweep of their division rivals and assuring that they will remain in first place in the Eastern Division of the Northwest League.

 

League-leading hitter Steve Clevenger and first baseman Mark Sawyer each had four hits to pace a 14 hit attack. Clevenger had three doubles and two RBI's. Sawyer's bases loaded double in the fourth inning proved to be the game winning hit as the Hawk's offense was shut down over the last four innings.

 

Marquez Smith started the scoring for the Hawks with his first home run of the season, a three run shot in the first inning. Smith collected four RBI's on the night and once again leads the league. He has 21 RBI's with just 20 hits on the season.

 

Starter Chris Huseby went five innings for the win, his first of the season. Chris Siegfried pitched a perfect ninth inning to collect his second save of the season.

[NCCubFan]

Boise now in sole possession of first...with a 10-14 record.

In 1994, at the time the season ended prematurely due to the strike that wiped out postseason, Texas was in first place in the AL West with a 52-62 record. We'll never know if the division champion would have been below .500 had the season been finished, but given how far below .500 the leader was it's quite possible it would have happened.

[TruffleShuffle]

If you're going to outspend every team on signing draft picks, you sure as hell should do better than Colvin, Samardzija, Huseby, Rundle and Anderson. $825k for Lars Anderson in the 18th round would be looking pretty nice right now.

[TruffleShuffle]

btw, congrats to dylan johnston on his 14th error last night. And speaking of busted picks, kudos to Mark Reed for his 173/223/192/415 line on the year.

[illiniguy]

btw, congrats to dylan johnston on his 14th error last night. And speaking of busted picks, kudos to Mark Reed for his 173/223/192/415 line on the year.

Wow, that can't be easy to do.

[rabidawg900]

Friday the 13th was unlucky for most:

 

Ronny Cedeno 0 for 4, 1 SO

E-Patt 0 for 4, 1 SO

Felix Pie 0 for 4, 1 SO

 

And in his first ML game:

 

Geovany Soto: 0 for 5, 2 SO

[chattbaseball]

Raisin,

 

Who are some guys we should keep our eye on in Boise and Mesa?

 

Hope this helps, EJ:

 

Boise -

 

• Alberto Cabrera is an 18-year old RHP who skipped Mesa. He had a good season last year in the DSL and he has a low 90s FB, good change and and a developing slider.
   
  
• Chris Huseby is a 19-year old RHP with a 91-95 mph FB, plus curve and a change. He's the guy who got a $1.1 million signing bonus last year in the 11th round - had TJS while in high school.
   
  
• LHP Arik Hempy might be someone to look for. He's a 17th rounder from South Carolina. He's big and used to throw hard before TJS (topped out at 95) and if he gets his velocity back, that'd be great.
   
  
• RHP Al Alburquerque had a great season in the DSL about 4 years ago but has bounced around with surgeries. He's putting up nice numbers at age 21 in Boise so he's someone to pay attention to.
   
  
• The catchers: Josh Donaldson is the big name, obviously. Steve Clevenger is a solid bat who's converting from second base to catcher, he's an advanced hitter. If Clevenger had stuck at 2B, he'd probably be at Daytona. Mario Mercedes is having his second straight good season with the bat at Boise.
   
  
• Ty Wright has posted good numbers and was thought of as a good hitter from Oklahoma St.
   
  
• Drew Rundle was a 14th round pick last year who got $500,000. He's raw and has had some contact problems but has a high ceiling. He started slow but has come on strong with Boise. While he has contact problems, he goes deep into counts so hopefully he can build on that.
   
  
• Kyler Wright came in the Barrett trade. Was a supplemental first round pick last year.

 

 

Kyler Burke not Kyler Wright.

[Guest]

Oops, right you are!

[the splendid splinter]

btw, congrats to dylan johnston on his 14th error last night. And speaking of busted picks, kudos to Mark Reed for his 17 3/223/192/415 line on the year.

Wondering who pissed on Truffle's wheaties?? Also kudos to our leagues batting leaders Leon Johnson and Steve Clevenger ( yes truffy we know Leon is 22 and he spent the last 2 years in Siberia and Clevenger is a repeat offender) also kudos to Marquez Smith for leading the Northwest league in rbi's.