2007 Arizona Fall League

[Guest]

Originally, I remember hearing that Sam's spot in the AFL this year was a tryout for the 40 man, but now that he's been put on the 40 man, I wonder what the extra exposure is really for...

 

That is what it was for but w/ Fuld being on the cusp already and EPatt showing up late, I think the Cubs went ahead and made the decision now itself.

 

Fuld *could* be a big league leadoff hitter and starting CF but I think he's more of a fourth OF and I think the Cubs view him as such. I'd be concerned about his lengthy injury history too.

 

I think a full year of training in CF would help EPatt supplant Fuld but I also don't think EPatt will be in the system next year.

[craig]

Originally, I remember hearing that Sam's spot in the AFL this year was a tryout for the 40 man, but now that he's been put on the 40 man, I wonder what the extra exposure is really for...

 

That is what it was for but w/ Fuld being on the cusp already and EPatt showing up late, I think the Cubs went ahead and made the decision now itself.

 

Fuld *could* be a big league leadoff hitter and starting CF but I think he's more of a fourth OF and I think the Cubs view him as such. I'd be concerned about his lengthy injury history too.

 

I think a full year of training in CF would help EPatt supplant Fuld but I also don't think EPatt will be in the system next year.

 

Cal, you mention you "don't think EPatt will be in the system next year." Why is that?

 

I'd certainly be open to trading him. Unless he can play 2B or a premium CF, I don't think his bat looks too hot in LF or as a not-great CF. So if trading him got something valuable, fine. But I'm also thinking that if other teams see him as an outfielder without great CF defense, I'm not sure why anybody would give much of anything for him.

 

My hope would be that he'd do a Soto/Pie with a return to Iowa. Both Soto and Pie were pretty mediocre at Iowa in 2006. But repeating last year both hit much better. If Eric bumped to .330 with fewer K's and more HR's, he might build some value.

 

Fuld is a good outfielder. As a hitter, he's kind of a Theriot. Gets a lot of singles, never K's, decent OBP guy. But with so little power, it's kind of hard.

[Guest]

Just a thought on my part given the Cubs will need to make improvements via trade primarily due to the pending sale limiting finances and I think the Cubs might be souring on him a bit due to the being late issue and maybe even his inability to stick at second base. It's just a guess on my part. I can easily see a few teams seeing a potentialy good top of the order hitter who with some coaching can improve at second or become a plus CF defender (he has the speed, range and arm to play above average defensively at CF).

[illiniguy]

Even though the Cubs paid the Patterson's a ton of money, I get the feeling that fmaily isn't the biggest of Cubs fans.

[Guest]

Mesa won 7-4, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 1/4, 2 R, BB, K

DH J. Lansford 0/4, K

RP M. Avery 1.1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 K/1 BB, 1 GO-3 FO, 19 pitches (11 strikes)

RP S. Gallagher 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 K/0 BB, 2 GO-1 FO, 15 pitches (9 strikes)

RP R. Roquet 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/1 BB, 2 GO-0 FO, 21 pitches (14 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 9/27, 2 2B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 4 K, 4/5 SB, 1 E - .333/.471/.630

Josh Lansford: 4/18, 2B, 1 BB, 4 K - .222/.250/.278

Joe Simokaitis: 2/15, 0 BB, 4 K - .133/.133/.133

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 K/1 BB, 6 GO-2 FO, 2.25 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 4 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/0 BB, 4 GO-3 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/2 BB, 4 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[craig]

Just a thought on my part given the Cubs will need to make improvements via trade primarily due to the pending sale limiting finances and I think the Cubs might be souring on him a bit due to the being late issue and maybe even his inability to stick at second base. It's just a guess on my part. I can easily see a few teams seeing a potentialy good top of the order hitter who with some coaching can improve at second or become a plus CF defender (he has the speed, range and arm to play above average defensively at CF).

 

I don't imagine Eric will have enough trade value to make a trade likely. If you trade Pie, you might get somebody back who might make a difference. Eric, I don't think so. But I suppose he might be included as a fillin to try to level an otherwise imbalanced trade.

[Guest]

Mesa won 6-2, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 1/4, R, 3B (1), 2 RBI, SB (5)

DH J. Simokaitis 0/3, 2 R, BB, K, SB (1)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 10/31, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 4 K, 5/6 SB, 1 E - .323/.447/.645

Josh Lansford: 4/18, 2B, 1 BB, 4 K - .222/.250/.278

Joe Simokaitis: 2/18, 1 BB, 5 K - .111/.158/.111

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 4 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 4 K/1 BB, 6 GO-2 FO, 2.25 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 4 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/0 BB, 4 GO-3 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/2 BB, 4 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Guest]

Mesa won 2-0, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 1/4

3B J. Lansford 1/4, RBI

RP J. Berg 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K/0 BB, 4 GO-1 FO, 18 pitches (12 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 11/35, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 4 K, 5/6 SB, 1 E - .314/.429/.600

Josh Lansford: 5/22, 2B, 1 BB, 4 K - .227/.250/.273

Joe Simokaitis: 2/18, 1 BB, 5 K - .111/.158/.111

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K/1 BB, 10 GO-3 FO, 1.50 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 4 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/0 BB, 4 GO-3 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/2 BB, 4 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[CubinNY]

Does anyone know if the players get paid extra for playing in the Winter and Fall leagues or is it an obligation for the minor leaguers?

[karenmac]

Glad to see Justin Berg doing so well in the AFL. I honestly didn't know what to expect from him coming into the fall.

 

Oh, and CubinNY, they definitely get paid for instructs / AFL. They don't make much of anything during the season, and in order to get a decent AFL team, they'd have to get paid something. Otherwise, they'd go to the winter leagues in Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican, etc. In fact, I'd bet that the AFL is a pretty decently paying gig.

[Guest]

Mesa won 9-2, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 2/5, R, RBI, 3 K

SS J. Simokaitis 3/3, 2 R, HR (1), RBI, BB, CS (1)

SP S. Gallagher 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 K/0 BB, 4 GO-1 FO, 15 pitches (12 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 13/40, 2 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 7 K, 5/6 SB, 1 E - .325/.438/.575

Josh Lansford: 5/22, 2B, 1 BB, 4 K - .227/.250/.273

Joe Simokaitis: 5/21, 2 BB, 5 K, 0/1 SB - .238/.304/.381

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K/1 BB, 10 GO-3 FO, 1.50 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 K/0 BB, 8 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 3 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K/2 BB, 4 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Keener98]

Isnt the AFL known for offense? If so, its really nice to see our pitchers doing so well out there.

 

19 IP 1 ER for our pitchers so far

[craig]

Glad to see Justin Berg doing so well in the AFL. I honestly didn't know what to expect from him coming into the fall.

 

Berg is somewhat interesting. I suspect he's a guy whose arm/stuff is better than his results. And could be a candidate to surprise at some point? I'm sure he doesn't throw super hard, normally. But I thought I'd read a note during the season where he was clocked (legitimately, I believe) at 95 or 97 or something like that. So if he can be working at 90-92 on a semi-regular basis, that's not bad for arm.

 

Especially when that fastball is a groundball anti-HR pitch. This year he gave up 4 HR in 140 innings, last year 4 HR in 115 innings. That's really exceptional, and appears to be no fluke. He's consistently had strong GB/FB ratios too; I assume his fastball must have some action on it that makes it hard to elevate for HR's. It may be especially surprising since my understanding is that his control is lousy and his breaking ball isn't too hot either. There are lots of sinker-ball types who give up HR's when the pitch isn't located and gets up a bit in the zone. And a lot of GB types who don't have a great or consistent breaking ball (Berg certainly doesn't), who give up HR's on hanging curves or sliders.

 

So I think the combo of a good arm, seemingly good fastball movement, and anti-HR profile are three components of a potentially good pitcher.

 

Obviously he hasn't been good to date. He had a 4.95 ERA in the pitcher-oriented SL this season, with a 1.61 WHIP. Awful. In 06 he was 4.38 with a 1.56 WHIP. Nothing to get excited about there. And he's got no K's, 69 K's in 140 innings is pretty bad. 69K/69walks, yikes.

 

Still, at 23 he's not exactly a fossil, and he'll be 23 for a good hunk of next year. So if he has the capacity to learn an improved breaking ball or better control (both doubtful, but not impossible...), it's not like his clock has expired. Not sure where he played his baseball, but I know he was born in small-town Wisconsin, not much high-level baseball going on there. And he's only had two full-season seasons. An interesting thing is that the Cubs have pushed him. After getting him from the Yankees late 2005 in short-season ball, he pitched only 6 innings at Peoria, yet they jumped him up to Daytona to open 2006. That seems the kind of thing they'd do with somebody they think has a big-league arm. Then after his blah Daytona, I figured he'd repeat. But no, they pushed him up again. So my guess is they see him as a big-league arm, if he can only put things together.

 

Probable? No. But if he does start to string together some actual success, I'd think we can take him seriously. Not just view him as a no-stuff guy.

 

I don't have his season splits, but my impression was that during the last two months that he was pitching somewhat better, a little more consistent. Maybe that's a reflection of some progress?

 

My hope is that they repeat him in AA this year. He'll be 23, so hardly too old for the league. I sometimes like to see repeats; that way you can be sure whether a guy is progressing or not. If he goes to AAA and has a 5.1 ERA, we might say that league considered, that he's progressing. But if he repeats at AA and we see him at 3.4 in June, we'll know that he's improved. He's at 351 career innings now; sometimes when a raw guy is hitting the 300-400 range, sometimes that's a time when some things start to settle in. Maybe a breaking ball starts to be semi-consistent. Maybe they reach the point where they quit experimenting with a pitch that just isn't going to work, and settle on the 2 or 3 that they're going to live or die with.

 

That they sent him to AFL, after 140 innings already, is also unusual. That may also jive with a guy they want to get as much coaching as possible. Or perhaps get an additional chance to scout themselves. I'm thinking he'll be Rule 5 eligible, is that right? If they knew they weren't going to roster him, probably dumb to send him to AFL, where if he does impress lots of scouts will see it.

 

So I think that if Berg is Rule 5 eligible, there is a reasonable chance that despite his lousy stats, that he's a guy who might show up on the 40-man.

 

In some ways he may have some Samardz analogy, groundball no-K poor-stats guy who the scouts like anyway. Obviously the draft and $$$ are totally opposite, extremes.

[Guest]

Monday:

 

Mesa tied Phoenix 3-3 (11 innings), box:

 

RF S. Fuld 3/5, 2 R, 2B (3), BB, K, SB (6)

PR-1B J. Simokaitis 0/1

SP R. Roquet 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/1 BB, 2 GO-0 FO, 16 pitches (8 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 16/45, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 8 K, 6/7 SB, 1 E - .356/.453/.600

Josh Lansford: 5/22, 2B, 1 BB, 4 K - .227/.250/.273

Joe Simokaitis: 5/22, 1 HR, 2 BB, 5 K, 0/1 SB - .227/.292/.364

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K/1 BB, 10 GO-3 FO, 1.50 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 K/0 BB, 8 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K/3 BB, 6 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Guest]

Tuesday:

 

box:

 

CF S. Fuld 0/3, K

3B J. Lansford 2/3, 2B (2), BB

1B-SS J. Simokaitis 0/4, K, E (1, fielding)

 

Overall:

 

Sam Fuld: 16/48, 3 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 8 K, 6/7 SB, 1 E - .333/.429/.563

Josh Lansford: 7/25, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 K - .280/.321/.360

Joe Simokaitis: 5/26, 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 0/1 SB, 1 E - .192/.250/.308

Matt Avery: 4.1 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 3 K/3 BB, 4 GO-5 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 6 K/1 BB, 10 GO-3 FO, 1.50 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 K/0 BB, 8 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 4 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K/3 BB, 6 GO-0 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Guest]

Wednesday:

 

Mesa won 9-8, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 2/5, R, 2B (4), 3B (2)

PR-DH J. Simokaitis 0/0, R

C S. Clevenger 0/4, PB (1)

RP J. Berg 1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 H, 0 K/0 BB, 3 GO-0 FO, 21 pitches (11 strikes)

RP M. Avery 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 2 K/1 BB, 0 GO-1 FO, 27 pitches (14 strikes)

RP R. Roquet 0.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 2 K/1 BB, 0 GO-1 FO, 17 pitches (10 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Steve Clevenger: 0/4, 1 PB

Sam Fuld: 18/53, 4 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 8 BB, 8 K, 6/7 SB, 1 E - .340/.426/.604

Josh Lansford: 7/25, 2 2B, 2 BB, 4 K - .280/.321/.360

Joe Simokaitis: 5/26, 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 0/1 SB, 1 E - .192/.250/.308

Matt Avery: 5.1 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K/4 BB, 4 GO-6 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg: 7 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 6 K/1 BB, 13 GO-3 FO, 5.14 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 K/0 BB, 8 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 7 K/4 BB, 6 GO-1 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Guest]

Thursday:

 

Mesa beat Team China 6-0, box:

 

RF S. Fuld 2/2, 2B (5), 3 RBI, 2 BB, PO

3B J. Lansford 0/4, K

 

Team USA lost 8-6, box:

 

PH-DH T. Colvin 1/2, RBI, K

 

Overall:

 

Tyler Colvin (Team USA): 1/2, 1 K

Steve Clevenger: 0/4, 1 PB

Sam Fuld: 20/55, 5 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 10 BB, 8 K, 6/7 SB, 1 E - .364/.462/.636

Josh Lansford: 7/29, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 K - .241/.290/.310

Joe Simokaitis: 5/26, 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 0/1 SB, 1 E - .192/.250/.308

Matt Avery: 5.1 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K/4 BB, 4 GO-6 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg: 7 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 6 K/1 BB, 13 GO-3 FO, 5.14 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 5 K/0 BB, 8 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 7 K/4 BB, 6 GO-1 FO, 0.00 ERA

[Guest]

Tyler Colvin didn't start for Team USA because he's hurt:

 

But with outfielders Delwyn Young (Dodgers) and Tyler Colvin (Cubs) unavailable, Johnson wasn't kidding.

 

"I said, 'OK, all right,'" Hollimon said. "[Young and Colvin] can still swing, but their arms are just a little bit sore. I felt like a Little Leaguer out there again. It was pretty cool."

[badnews]

What scouts like Justin Berg? He gets groundballs but everything else looks blah.

[Guest]

What scouts like Justin Berg? He gets groundballs but everything else looks blah.

 

Most scouts love his 91-95 mph sinking FB. But he doesn't bring anything else to the table.

[Guest]

East Rising Stars beat the West in the AFL All-Star Game 3-2 (10 innings), box:

 

CF S. Fuld 0/3

[Athletics36]

Will be in AZ next week to watch some baseball and if anybody else in the area please get in touch......

[Guest]

Saturday:

 

Team USA won 3-2, box:

 

CF T. Colvin 0/1

 

Mesa lost 7-0, box:

 

CF S. Fuld 3/4, 2 2B (7), BB, K

SS J. Simokaitis 0/2

RP S. Gallagher 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/1 BB, 2 GO-0 FO, 20 pitches (14 strikes)

 

Overall:

 

Tyler Colvin (Team USA): 1/3, 1 K

Steve Clevenger: 0/4, 1 PB

Sam Fuld: 23/59, 7 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 11 BB, 9 K, 6/7 SB, 1 E - .390/.486/.678 - 1.164 OPS!

Josh Lansford: 7/29, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 K - .241/.290/.310

Joe Simokaitis: 5/28, 1 HR, 2 BB, 6 K, 0/1 SB, 1 E - .179/.233/.286

Matt Avery: 5.1 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 5 K/4 BB, 4 GO-6 FO, 0.00 ERA

Justin Berg: 7 IP, 4 ER, 8 H, 6 K/1 BB, 13 GO-3 FO, 5.14 ERA

Sean Gallagher: 7 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 6 K/1 BB, 10 GO-4 FO, 0.00 ERA

Rocky Roquet: 4.2 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 7 K/4 BB, 6 GO-1 FO, 0.00 ERA

[wvcbxl]

Sam Fuld is having a good autumn. I wonder what the organization has planned for him.

[UK1679666180]

From BA:

 

More Fuld

 

Not to get all Peter Gammons on everyone, but Cubs outfielder Sam Fuld–a Gammons favorite seemingly forever–is tearing up the AFL as the season closes in on the end of the first half.

 

Tuesday marked the first time the 2004 10th-rounder failed to reach base in 13 AFL games after he went 0-for-3 in Mesa’s 9-3 loss to the Peoria Saguaros.

 

But other than that, Fuld has more than opened the eyes of every scout and front-office executive he’s played in front of.

 

In 53 at-bats, Fuld is hitting .353/.435/.604 with a pair of home runs, a pair of triples and four doubles. He can play any outfield spot and serves as the Solar Sox’ leadoff man to set the tone in the lineup for the big bats–like Brewers’ outfielder Matt LaPorta.

 

“The guy’s unbelievable,” LaPorta said. “Just the way he goes about it every day I think everyone learns something from his mental approach. He’s a guy you want on your team.”

 

After reaching the big leagues in September for the first time in his pro career, Clark said it was only a matter of time before he sticks in Chicago . . . or anywhere else.

 

“There’s no doubt about how valuable he is,” the Solar Sox manager said. “He can hit, he can run, he can throw, he can steal a base, he plays great defense. You talk about a five-tool guy–there he is. He’s a leadoff lefthanded hitter. He’s a catalyst. He does so many things well. Everything I’ve seen is above average and he can help any major league ballclub right now.

 

“And there a lot of them watching right now.