Minor League Discussion & Boxes 9-2-2008: Playoffs!

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

After falling behind 4-0, Daytona's playoff game was cancelled (rain) Box Score

 

Boise lost 6-4 Box Score

 

2B D. Macias 2/4, R, RBI

3B J. Vitters 1/3, R, BB, K, E (14, missed catch)

RF K. Burke 0/4, R, 3 K

DH M. Brenly 2/4, K

SS M. Gonzalez 1/4, RBI

SP J. Leverton 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 WP, 3 GO-3 FO

RP M. De Leon 1.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, WP, 3 GO-1 FO

[Guest]

Probable Playoff Starters:

 

Daytona: RHP Jay Jackson (4-2, 2.88 ERA, 50 IP, 72 K/13 BB) vs RHP Tyler Herron (7-7, 4.17 ERA, 138 IP, 102 K/40 BB)

 

FSL stats only - Jackson: 2-0, 1.59 ERA, 17 IP, 21 K/7 BB; Herron: 2-2, 2.70 ERA, 56.2 IP, 43 K/11 BB

 

Probable Regular Season Starter:

 

Boise: LHP James Leverton (1-3, 4.47 ERA, 50.1 IP, 31 K/26 BB)

[Guest]

MiLB.com's preview of the Palm Beach-Daytona series:

 

MiLB.com[/url]"]Palm Beach (75-62) vs. Daytona (73-59)

Best-of-3 series begins Tuesday, Sept. 2

 

Palm Beach won its only league title in 2005, topping Lakeland in a five-game series. The Cards reached the playoffs in 2006 but were swept by St. Lucie. Daytona last reached the playoffs in 2004, the year the Finals were canceled due to Hurricane Ivan. In 2000, the Cubs swept St. Lucie and Dunedin to win the championship.

 

HEAD-TO-HEAD

 

Palm Beach won 11 of the 18 games played, taking two of three during the last meeting in early August. Neither team hit particularly well -- the Cards batted .246 and the Cubs hit .234 -- perhaps a testament to the pitching. Palm Beach used 29 different pitchers in the 18 games, while Daytona trotted out 27.

 

Palm Beach's Tyler Henley hit .349 with two homers and 12 RBIs. He also stole a pair of bases. Antonio DeJesus hit .400 (16-for-40) with eight walks. Daryl Jones batted .324, with half his 12 hits going for extra bases. Marco Gonzalez was the only pitcher to earn more than one victory for the Cards, going 2-0 in three relief outings. Shaun Garceau won his only start, allowing one run on five hits over six innings. ... Daytona's Darwin Barney hit .091 (5-for-55) with 10 strikeouts. Ty Wright batted .350 (21-for-60) with three homers and 12 RBIs. Marquez Smith hit .364 (8-for-22) with two homers and seven RBIs. Hung-Wen Chen won his only start against the Cards, allowing one run on four hits over five innings.

 

PLAYERS TO WATCH

 

Palm Beach: Tyler Henry is batting .280 in 84 games for the Cards. He's hit six homers and driven in 40 runs in 329 at-bats, finishing up the season by hitting .312 with two homers and eight RBIs in his last 10 games. Outfielder Steven Hill hit .285 with nine homers and 34 RBIs in 172 at-bats. Right-hander Francisco Samuel (4-6, 3.04) tied for the league lead with 29 saves. He had 85 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings, allowing only three homers. Right-hander Tyler Herron, who also hails from West Palm Beach, has split the season between the FSL and Double-A Springfield. He's 2-2 with a 2.70 ERA in 12 games (nine starts) for Palm Beach and is 1-2 with 2.43 ERA in five starts since returning in early August.

 

Daytona: Ty Wright hit .300 with eight homers and 72 RBIs. He finished up strong, batting .500 (13-for-26) with 10 RBIs in his last seven games. Outfielder James Adduci hit .290 with 48 RBIs. Catcher Steve Clevenger batted .313 with two homers and 39 RBIs after coming down from the Double-A Southern League. He finished up big, hitting .579 (11-for-19) with a homer and seven RBIs in his last six games. Right-hander Todd Blackford was 7-1 with a 2.40 ERA in 26 games after coming up from the Midwest League. He didn't allow a homer in 45 innings. Right-hander Jeremy Papelbon was 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 38 games (34 starts). Brian Schlitter, a former 16th-rounder who came over to the Cubs from Philadelphia in last month's Scott Eyre deal, is 4-4 with a 2.21 ERA. He pitched eight scoreless innings for Daytona before allowing two runs on Sunday.

 

A couple things of note with that preview - first off, Papelbon is a lefty and secondly, he'll miss the series with a blister.

[Guest]

The unbiased local Daytona paper predicts the D-Cubs will win the series:

 

Daytona News-Journal[/url]"]Playoff breakdown:

 

TEAMS: Palm Beach Cardinals vs. Daytona Cubs.

 

SCHEDULE: Game 1 at 7:05 tonight at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3 on Wednesday and Thursday, 7:05 p.m. at Roger Dean Stadium, Jupiter.

 

STARTING PITCHING: Palm Beach has its rotation set up the way it wanted for this series because the Cardinals won the first half and also had their last three games of the season rained out. Tyler Herron (2-2, 2.70 ERA), Nick Additon (2-0, 0.50) and Shaun Garceau (8-4, 3.42) get a slight edge over Daytona's Jay Jackson (2-0, 1.59), James Russell (2-2, 3.51) and Marcos Mateo (4-3, 3.57) only because the Cardinal hurlers have shown they can go deeper into games. Edge: Cardinals.

 

MIDDLE RELIEF: Daytona's Todd Blackford (7-1, 2.40) and Jayson Ruhlman (8-6, 2.84) have been terrific, and newcomer Casey Coleman (1-0, 0.00) is another strong addition to the bullpen. Edge: Cubs.

 

CLOSER: Palm Beach's Francisco Samuel (4-6, 3.04, 29 saves) provides a big advantage, especially with the success (five saves in as many attempts and a 1.13 ERA) he's had against Daytona. Edge: Cardinals.

 

BATTING: Cubs hitters are more than capable of nullifying any advantage of the Cardinals starters. Ty Wright (.300), Jim Adduci (.290), Steve Clevenger (.314) and Blake Lalli (.343) helped lead Daytona to the team batting title in FSL. Edge: Cubs.

 

PREDICTION: Cubs in three games.

 

NEXT: The Cardinals-Cubs winner advances to the best-of-five FSL Championship Series beginning Thursday or Friday at the West Division champion -- the winner of the Fort Myers Twins and the Dunedin Blue Jays West series.

[Guest]

Ask BA[/url]"]The Cubs have two prospects at Triple-A Iowa who are having great years. First baseman/outfielder Micah Hoffpauir is hitting .362/.393/.752 with 25 homers and 100 RBIs in 71 games. Outfielder/first baseman Jason Dubois is batting .309/.442/.661 with 24 homers and 52 RBIs in 75 games. Also, counting his time in Double-A, righthander Mitch Atkins has gone a combined 17-7, 4.00 with a 132-50 K-BB ratio in 164 innings. Are they legitimate prospects or flashes in the pan? Trade bait or future Cubs? Also, considering that none of these made BA's last Cubs Top 10 Prospects list, what does this say about the strength of their system?

 

Tim Miller

Las Vegas

 

Despite the big years that Hoffpauir, Dubois and Atkins are enjoying, they're more role players than future regulars for the Cubs. Hoffpauir is 28 and in his third tour of Iowa, while Dubois is 29 and first reached Triple-A in 2004. They're best off as first basemen or left fielders, and they're not going to push Derrek Lee or Alfonso Soriano out of a job in Chicago. Hoffpauir does bat lefthanded, so maybe he can claim Daryle Ward's role on the Cubs' bench next year.

 

Unlike the two hitters, Atkins does have age (22) and a decent draft pedigree (seventh round) on his side. His 88-92 mph sinker is his best pitch, though he has been tagged for 25 homers this year, and his secondary stuff is fringy. He does throw strikes, and he projects as a fifth starter or middle reliever. Atkins probably won't be able to crack Chicago's rotation, and their bullpen is pretty set for the near future as well.

 

None of them is really Top 10 prospect-caliber. Their emergence this year gives the Cubs added depth but doesn't significantly bolster the strength of their farm system.

[rawaction]

I agree with everything he said. I do wonder if Dubois will get a callup after the Iowa playoffs, because the Cubs have no RH power off the bench.

[Guest]

Palm Beach Cardinals at Daytona Cubs (Game 1) at Daytona Beach, FL

Weather: 85 degrees, partly cloudy.

 

Palm Beach

 

Antonio DeJesus CF

Peter Kozma SS

Steven Hill DH

Tyler Henley LF

Brian Cartie 3B

Charles Kingrey RF

Matthew Arburr 1B

Nick Derba C

Mike Folli 2B

Herron P

 

Daytona

 

Tony Thomas 2B

Jim Adduci CF

Ty Wright LF

Blake Lalli DH

Russ Canzler 1B

Steve Clevenger C

Ryan Harvey RF

Jonathan Mota 3B

Darwin Barney SS

Jay Jackson P

[Guest]

Ugh, Jay Jackson had his worst pro outing. Was touched for 4 runs, 3 of them on 2 different home runs by Steven Hill.

 

Jackson's final line: 2.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR.

 

It's 4-0 in the 3rd. Daytona hasn't managed a hit yet.

[Guest]

Palm Beach still leads 4-0 after 4.

 

Daytona loaded the bases in the 3rd with 1 out (Mota walk, Barney single and Thomas single) but couldn't get in a run (Adduci struck out and Wright popped up).

[Guest]

HUGE rain storm just hit Daytona out of nowhere ("it was completely sunny and clear just 30 seconds ago"). The players just ran off the field (I'm imagining the Cardinals ran off Lance Berkman style). The tarp is out and there's a rain delay with the score 4-0 in favor of Palm Beach; Ryan Harvey is up to bat with a 1-1 count to lead off the bottom of the 5th.

 

http://radblast-mi.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/radar/WUNIDS_map?station=MLB&brand=wui&num=6&delay=15&type=N0R&frame=0&scale=1.000&noclutter=0&t=1220401353&lat=29.19966125&lon=-81.04372406&label=Daytona+Beach%2C+FL&showstorms=0&map.x=400&map.y=240&centerx=400&centery=240&transx=0&transy=0&showlabels=1&severe=0&rainsnow=0&lightning=0&smooth=0

[Guest]

Still delayed in Daytona.

 

Boise tied 1-1 after 2. Vitters is 0 for 1 with a walk.

[Guest]

The Daytona game has been cancelled. Not suspended. Cancelled.

 

So they'll do game one again tomorrow, starting from 0-0.

[Outshined_One]

The Daytona game has been cancelled. Not suspended. Cancelled.

 

So they'll do game one again tomorrow, starting from 0-0.

 

Well...that works.

[Guest]

Daytona News-Journal[/url]"]Palm Beach was the unlucky loser of its 4-0 lead because rules dictate a playoff game that has not reached regulation (at least five innings if the visiting team is ahead or four and a half innings if the home team leads) must begin all over.

 

"I feel real sorry for Palm Beach, because they had a lead through four and a half innings, but I don't want any players on this field getting hurt," FSL President Chuck Murphy said. "I commend the Daytona staff and grounds crew for the work they did. It's not their fault the field is unplayable."

 

The Cubs obviously caught a break from Mother Nature.

 

"We've caught some breaks the second half and this is another one," Cubs manager Jody Davis said. "Now we have to go make it work for us."

[craig]

Leverton had a 7K game yesterday. IIRC, he was scouted as having a pretty good arm, but he was a position player who switched to pitching fairly late, and was used only in relief. As with any lefty drafted later than the first round or two, he's more likely to make it as a lefty reliever than as a rotation guy.

 

His overall numbers are pretty blah: ERA is mid/upper 4's, K rate is low, walk rate is high. But I'm somewhat interested and encouraged.

1. He's got an extreme G/A ratio of like 2.8. That's a good sign, and suggests a fastball with desirable movement. If you've got a hard sinker, you can make a career without necessarily needing to be great in your support pitches.

2. He's improve a bit, and had a 7K/1BB yesterday after 4 innings or so. That may be a sneak peak that perhaps in time, he will come up with a breaking pitch. If he's got a hard sinker and developed a K-quality breaking pitch besides, you could have a pretty good value.

3. I think he's had several games in which he pitched OK for a while and then gave up damage in his final inning. So his overall numbers may be overly influenced by his bad last innings. That may reflect his past as a reliever, and if he continues to start, perhaps he'll be better built up by next year. More likely his eventual role will be relief, in which case how he does in the 4th or 5th inning won't matter much.

 

Obviously he's nothing great now, and he'll need to put some things together to become a useful major-league pitcher. But it's possible that some of the components are there that if he can improve his breaking ball, and/or his control, and/or his endurance, he could become interesting.

 

He's 22, so may be that he doesn't have much improving left, and what you see is what you get. But maybe he's got a lot of untapped potential and has a higher ceiling that we'd expect.