Cub prospects in the news

[Guest]

McLeod was relatively explicit that Stinnett was not expected to pitch in game action this season, between his innings already logged, being very new to pitching, and the Cubs wanting to work with him outside of competitive play on their 'plan' for him.

[Banedon]

97mph sinker? wtf

Sounds like Shark.

 

http://i.imgur.com/h2N6NB5.gif

[Cubswin11]

i forgot that stinnett exists. when's he supposed to debut?

He had to of racked up a good amount of innings this year and is relatively new to pitching, would it be weird that he doesn't get assigned anywhere until next season with just spending time in AZ and maybe a fall/winter league up until next spring?

[ctcf]

According to BA the Cubs got the #1, #2 and #8 prospects traded before the deadline.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/ranking-trade-deadline-prospects/

[snoodmonger]

the Schwarber writeup was pretty barfy, but seeing a Drew comp slapped on McKinney made me faint on the spot

 

I thought Schwarber's performance behind the plate since he'd been drafted would have led to a more positive assessment of his catching abilities. Hasn't he acquitted himself pretty well?

Edited August 1, 2014 by snoodmonger

[Cubswin11]

the Schwarber writeup was pretty barfy, but seeing a Drew comp slapped on McKinney made me faint on the spot

 

I thought Schwarber's performance behind the plate since he'd been drafted would have led to a more promising assessment of his catching abilities. Hasn't he acquitted himself pretty well?

Gotta give the writers time to catch up in the offseason

[sneakypower]

the Schwarber writeup was pretty barfy, but seeing a Drew comp slapped on McKinney made me faint on the spot

 

I thought Schwarber's performance behind the plate since he'd been drafted would have led to a more positive assessment of his catching abilities. Hasn't he acquitted himself pretty well?

i was equally disturbed by their characterization of him as a dead pull hitter, which is such a death sentence these days, for lefties

[Guest]

Mark Gonzales with a Tribune story on Duane Underwood's improved control this year: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ct-minors-cubs-spt-0801-20140801-story.html

[imb]

For fun, go read the first five pages or so of this thread.

[Cubswin11]

For fun, go read the first five pages or so of this thread.

Good god. Fun fact, Tony Thomas is currently in AA in the Twins org at 27 years he's putting up a .238/.306/.402 line with 31 BB and 108 K in 376 PA.

[sneakypower]

"On a prospect level, he's [Vitters] almost all that the Cubs have"

[hawkeyecub]

For fun, go read the first five pages or so of this thread.

 

So sad

[Productive Outs]

For fun, go read the first five pages or so of this thread.

 

I did the same thing last night. Was fun to see Fox on every single BA hot sheet.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

Well that wasn't fun at all...

[Little Slide Rooter]

However, seeing Vitters turn into this guy at the plate would be quite welcome, especially at 3B.

 

i knew who this was going to be before i clicked on it. that guy had a career IsoD of .060 in the minors, and his ability to hit bad balls is legendary, so vitters has a lot of work to do.

 

Is he there yet?

[imb]

There are a lot more similarities than you would like to admit. Both guys are early count hitters with good contact skills, minimal walks and strikeouts and quality defense. Just because Castro is in AA and succeeding it doesn't change the fact that he can do nothing but hit for an empty batting average and even if he learns to hit for power, he won't be all that good until he looses his aggression. Ronny Cedeno was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Felix Pie was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Corey Patterson was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Just because Cedeno wasn't in AA succeeding like Castro is, it doesn't make the claim invalid. They're VERY similar tool wise and projection wise.

 

Good point!

[illiniguy]

There are a lot more similarities than you would like to admit. Both guys are early count hitters with good contact skills, minimal walks and strikeouts and quality defense. Just because Castro is in AA and succeeding it doesn't change the fact that he can do nothing but hit for an empty batting average and even if he learns to hit for power, he won't be all that good until he looses his aggression. Ronny Cedeno was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Felix Pie was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Corey Patterson was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Just because Cedeno wasn't in AA succeeding like Castro is, it doesn't make the claim invalid. They're VERY similar tool wise and projection wise.

 

Good point!

How does someone that smart mess up looses?

[FloridaCubbie]

There are a lot more similarities than you would like to admit. Both guys are early count hitters with good contact skills, minimal walks and strikeouts and quality defense. Just because Castro is in AA and succeeding it doesn't change the fact that he can do nothing but hit for an empty batting average and even if he learns to hit for power, he won't be all that good until he looses his aggression. Ronny Cedeno was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Felix Pie was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Corey Patterson was the same way. Guess what. He never lost it. Just because Cedeno wasn't in AA succeeding like Castro is, it doesn't make the claim invalid. They're VERY similar tool wise and projection wise.

 

Good point!

How does someone that smart mess up looses?

Just let that bloom a bit.

[TruffleShuffle]

Albert Almora, OF, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee)

Almora burst onto the scene in 2013 with a solid campaign in the Midwest League, showing strong hitting ability and potential as a front-half-of-the-lineup type. At the forefront of the 20-year-old’s strengths are outstanding bat control, driven by innate hand-to-eye coordination and elite makeup. The outfielder has the type of loose hands to stay inside of the baseball and barrel up a lot of offerings. It’s not hard to envision a future gap-to-gap hitter who can develop some power as he learns to muscle up and take more chances with his swing. This season has shown that Almora needs to tighten up his strike zone. He’s an aggressive hitter. A positive sign is that the prospect has a knack for getting the bat on the ball. This isn’t a wild swinger with big holes. It’s more a case of slowing plate appearances down and learning more about himself as a hitter. The latter takes some time. Short-term resistance can often be the trigger for long-term growth. There’s a chance that Almora never gets it and never takes enough steps forward, but the makeup makes him a strong bet to show large gains over the next couple of seasons. —Chris Mellen

Victor Caratini, C/3B, Chicago Cubs (Low-A Kane County)

The Puerto Rican catcher/third baseman was acquired from Atlanta at the deadline for Emilio Bonifacio and James Russell. At the plate the switch-hitting Caratini sets up with a slightly open stance, hands held at shoulder length with his feet slightly wider than his shoulder width. Caratini has a simple load and a low leg kick. The bat is quick but there isn’t much loft in the swing. The swing is easy and he replicated it from both sides of the plate. I didn’t see a ton of power projection in the bat, but I did see bat-to-ball skills and a line-drive power profile. I want to see him behind the plate more but I’ve heard that he’s very quiet behind the dish and has good catch-and-throw skills. You mix that with what I think can be an okay bat and there’s likely something more than just catcher depth here. –Mauricio Rubio

[TruffleShuffle]

also,

 

Javier Baez, SS, Cubs (Iowa, AAA): 2-3, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, K. We know about the power, but the walks are a great sign. Players draw walks in one of two ways—they lay off of pitches that are out of the zone that aren’t meant to be, or they lay off of pitches that were never intended for the strike zone in the first place. As soon as Baez realizes that half the pitchers he faces want no part of throwing him a strike, he’ll be a significantly better hitter. Triple-A pitchers weren’t afraid of him early in the season, and he chased their junk and struggled. Then he adjusted, hit a bunch of home runs and scared the crap out of them. Now they pitch to him more carefully and he’s back to normal. The same thing will happen when he gets to the majors, though the swings of the pendulum could be even more extreme.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

he chased their junk

http://i.imgur.com/oAblBDo.gif

[Guest]

@MRubio52: I didn't file anything on Jeimer Candelario. A few quick thoughts: swing is different from 2013, adding loft hoping to generate power.

 

@MRubio52: It's a bad look, instead of hitting more homeruns he's hitting soft grounders and missing more. Looks passive at plate as well.

 

@MRubio52: He's not a 3B long term either, slow feet bad instincts, statue esque over there. It's a bad time. Wish he'd go back to hitting liners.

[Guest]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/jorge-soler-tyler-anderson-pipelines-july-standouts?ymd=20140801&content_id=87520822&vkey=news_mlb

 

Pipeline Hitting Prospect of the Month: Jorge Soler, Iowa Cubs

Cubs' No. 6 prospect, 27 G, .378/.473/.811, 1.283, 8 HR, 21 RBI, 15 R

 

Soler, ranked No. 54 on MLBPipeline.com's Top 100 Prospects list, spent most of the first half of the season on the disabled list due to hamstring injuries, but he put those concerns behind him in July. The outfielder began the month on a rehab assignment in the Arizona League and hit well enough upon returning to Double-A Tennessee to merit a promotion to Triple-A Iowa.

 

Soler's powerful bat was on display across all three levels. He hit eight home runs, six doubles and a triple, driving in 21 runs.

 

Perhaps most importantly, Soler has joined Kris Bryant and Javier Baez, the Cubs' top two prospects, in Iowa, where they're just a step away from the big leagues. It is the first time three members of the so-called "Core Four" prospects have played on the same team (outfielder Albert Almora is the last member). Soler typically hits fifth in Iowa's lineup, following Baez and Bryant.

 

Honorable mention

Javier Baez, SS, Iowa Cubs: Cubs' No. 2 prospect, 29 G, .300/.344/.655, .999 OPS, 10 HR, 32 RBI, 21 R, 2 SB

[Guest]

Yikes, how did this almost get knocked off the first page

 

Sharma did a long and interesting piece on Olt and the adjustments he's making at Iowa: http://thegamechicago.com/2014/08/19/sahadev-sharma-mike-olt-adjusting-in-minors/#axzz3ArqVpWVv

 

It's quite likely futile coverage in the sense that I'm pessimistic he'll be able to sort things out(at least in time to materially matter to the Cubs, but it's full of great details on the exact adjustments Olt is making that are worth the read.

[TruffleShuffle]

Jorge Soler, OF, Cubs (Iowa, AAA): 5-5, 3 R, 2B, 3B, BB. Everyone is wondering when or if Kris Bryant will get a call-up this September, but there’s probably a better chance that Soler will get a taste of the big leagues this season. With a major-league contract that’s already in effect regardless of service time, there’s no reason for the Cubs to hold him off for anything other than baseball-related reasons, and he’s quickly eliminating those from their minds. It’s more than just the prodigious power; he’s showing a good all-around feel for hitting.

 

 

Kyle Schwarber, OF, Cubs (Daytona, A+): 2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, BB. It was a hell of a weekend for Schwarber, who had homered in four straight games before going off for two on Sunday and raising his batting average 31 points over that stretch. The Cubs finally found a level that could challenge Schwarber for a few weeks after watching him terrorize the low minors like Godzilla roaming the streets of Japan, but like a true prospect, he made the necessary adjustments and figured things out. He drives the ball with authority and controls the strike zone well, two things that are difficult to teach. He can even catch in a pinch, though he’s playing more left field than anywhere else, which is a testament to how quickly the Cubs believe his bat will move. He’s a legitimate middle-of-the-order hitter.