Cub prospects in the news

[treebird]

BA's Player of the Year chat: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2014-minor-league-player-year-chat/

 

Lots of Cubs-related questions, not just Bryant.

 

and the millionth time I've had to read "nope, cubs can't even win the 85 games or whatever it'd take to have a shot at the second wild card next year."

 

very unimpressed with supposedly smart baseball people in general.

[Guest]

BA's Player of the Year chat: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2014-minor-league-player-year-chat/

 

Lots of Cubs-related questions, not just Bryant.

 

and the millionth time I've had to read "nope, cubs can't even win the 85 games or whatever it'd take to have a shot at the second wild card next year."

very unimpressed with supposedly smart baseball people in general.

 

 

i didn't read it that way. earlier on in the chat, he alludes to them taking a big step forward next year. then he just said he thinks it's more likely that they'll contend for the playoffs in 2016, which is probably true (that it's more likely) but isn't saying a whole lot. these guys just aren't gonna go out a limb most of the time. it's much safer to say what he did. but he didn't discount their chances entirely or something.

[rawaction]

Kris Bryant was named the BA Minor League Player of the Year.

 

coming soon to a 2015 baseball america prospect handbook cover near you.

 

#sparkle

[craig]

From that Cooper chat, over the last 35 years, the only two players with higher K-rates than Baez have been Rick Ankiel and JR Phillips.

 

Doug (Cincinnati): Javier Baez has the 14th highest strikeout rate of anyone with 100 PA in a single season since 1970. The top 11 are all starting pitchers. #12 is a former pitcher in Rick Ankiel. 13th was JR Phillips.

[SouthSideRyan]

Kris Bryant was named the BA Minor League Player of the Year.

 

coming soon to a 2015 baseball america prospect handbook cover near you.

 

#sparkle

 

B&?

[davell]

So BA has Daury Torrez listed as our best minor league pitcher......

[rawaction]

So BA has Daury Torrez listed as our best minor league pitcher......

 

Best minor league pitcher of Hispanic descent?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I guess you could argue he had the best season if you look at traditional stats.

[Guest]

mike, ny [via mobile]

How many hitters in minors have a future 70 hit tool, that being said is jp crawford one?

 

Klaw (2:13 PM)

I wouldn't put that on many prospects. Addison Russell would be one. Crawford ... I'd feel more comfortable at 60 or even 65. 70 is pretty rare.

[davell]

http://www.thestate.com/2014/09/13/3679739_cj-edwards-the-legend-of-the-string.html?rh=1

 

The article on CJ.

[Guest]

The Cubs named Kris Bryant their minor league player of the year and Jen-Ho Tseng the minor league pitcher of the year.

[Guest]

The Cubs named Kris Bryant their minor league player of the year and Jen-Ho Tseng the minor league pitcher of the year.

 

it's nice when honest to goodness prospects are winning these things and not some clown minor league filler

[Clem Fandango]

The Cubs named Kris Bryant their minor league player of the year and Jen-Ho Tseng the minor league pitcher of the year.

 

it's nice when honest to goodness prospects are winning these things and not some clown minor league filler

 

Shhhhh. You might make Logan Watkins cry

[Guest]

The Cubs named Kris Bryant their minor league player of the year and Jen-Ho Tseng the minor league pitcher of the year.

 

it's nice when honest to goodness prospects are winning these things and not some clown minor league filler

 

Shhhhh. You might make Logan Watkins cry

 

Jeff Beliveau (a reliever!) and Nick Struck the past few years were even worse.

[Guest]

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Jeff Beliveau, dear god

[imb]

Mash

Shi t

[Guest]

using the smokies jersey (away, no less) is some weak sauce [expletive]

[J.R.]

using the smokies jersey (away, no less) is some weak sauce [expletive]

Much nicer uniform set than Iowa IMO.

[Banedon]

It's a Sullivan article....but nice Schwarber fluff piece.

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCIQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chicagotribune.com%2Fsports%2Fbaseball%2Fcubs%2Fct-cubs-schwarber-spt-0917-20140917-story.html&ei=9YwZVOv_Isb2yQSmvYKQBg&usg=AFQjCNGtQguvVyrVo8CJiDvcd_3P7P91Wg&sig2=TrPEQpDaEfnuE-CasYgKfw&bvm=bv.75558745,d.aWw

[Guest]

http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/keith-law/post/_/id/2820&ex_cid=InsiderTwitter_top2014prospects

 

I'll post the Bryant and Schwarber excerpts:

 

Prospect of the Year: Kris Bryant | 3B | Chicago Cubs

 

 

I'd say it was a unanimous vote, but considering I'm the only voter, that was sort of an inevitable outcome. Still, Bryant blew away the field, dominating at two levels, leading the minor leagues in home runs and slugging percentage, finishing second in OBP (behind a 21-year-old in low-A) and ascending the rankings to become baseball's top prospect, all in his first full year in professional baseball. The second overall pick in the 2013 Rule 4 draft, Bryant probably would have appeared in the majors in September if he were already on the 40-man roster, but the current collective bargaining agreement and major league rules gave the Cubs a real disincentive to promote him for a cup of coffee. He will almost certainly be up by May 2015, however, bringing his 30-plus-homer power and outstanding eye at the plate to the heart of the Cubs' lineup.

 

Schwarber got honorable mention for best debut from 2014 class (behind Bobby Bradley)

 

Honorable mentions: Cubs first-rounder Kyle Schwarber finished his first summer with a strong showing in the Florida State League, after overmatching two other leagues (for which he was old/experienced) before the Cubs promoted him to high-A. He's in good shape to start 2015 in Double-A, although his defense behind the plate remains an open question.

[Guest]

http://m.cubs.mlb.com/news/article/99367434/cubs-keeping-catching-prospect-kyle-schwarber-behind-dish

 

"I did have some second thoughts deep inside me if I could [catch], but now I don't," Schwarber said during a break in instructional league earlier this month. "I know I can keep working at it, and hopefully make it work one day."

"Let's cross our fingers that he can do it," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. "To have that left-handed bat and that thunder and those on-base skills behind the plate, that's a game-changer for us."

The fourth player taken overall in the First-Year Player Draft in June, Schwarber, 21, received accelerated catching instruction when he was promoted to Class A Kane County this summer. Cougars manager Mark Johnson, a former big league catcher, and Minor League coordinator Tim Cossins were the instructors, and they overhauled Schwarber's set-up. The three resumed the lessons in instructional league.

"I can't wait for people to see him [in Spring Training]," Cossins said. "We were talking about wanting to keep him in a box and then break him out this spring."

Schwarber, ranked sixth on MLB.com's list of top 20 Cubs prospects, isn't afraid of hard work.

"He would not leave the complex until he got his extra work in," Cossins said. "We made extra work mandatory most of the days, but on the optional days, he came in and found us every day. He would not leave."

 

"His secret weapon is his ability to see the baseball is shockingly good," Cossins said. "He sees the ball much earlier than most people."

Maybe that's why Schwarber is such a good hitter. He pays attention to a pitcher's tendencies both at the plate and when he's behind the plate.

"[As a catcher] you have to think, 'Where is the ball going to be at?'" Schwarber said. "If you're late and drag [the pitch] out of the strike zone, and it's not called a strike, pitchers don't like that from a catcher."

If Schwarber can see the ball earlier than others, and can process it quicker, it gives him an advantage.

"This guy's a three-hole hitter in the big leagues with power and patience," Epstein said. "His bat is going to develop just fine. The real question about him, and the way he changes the face of our lineup, is for him to remain behind the plate."

The Cubs have emphasized more functional things that make it easier for Schwarber to receive the ball.

"It's little things, things that I wouldn't have paid attention to," he said. "Just the way I throw the ball back to the pitcher makes a huge difference and is something [Cossins] gets real excited about. That's a throw you make over 100 times a game, that's muscle memory. Once you do that, it translates to the throw to second."

[Guest]

Jake Seiner ‏@Jake_Seiner 5m5 minutes ago

#Cubs were our #MiLBY choice for System of the Year. I had the writeup, including how Kris Bryant can be even better: http://atmilb.com/1wIbLNL

 

some quotes from jaron madison in there on bryant

 

The numbers are remarkable, but ask around the Cubs' front office, and the sentiment is that the San Diego product could've been even better and the team expects notable improvement going forward. The third baseman actually surprised the Cubs early on in 2014 by giving at-bats away with his passivity. The team was thrilled with his willingness to work counts and take walks, but they've challenged him to be even more aggressive on pitches in the zone, particularly in hitters' counts.

 

"There were times where he wasted some at-bats early where he could've been more aggressive," Cubs director of player development Jaron Madison said. "You think about all the at-bats he gave away this year and think about what his batting line would've been, it's scary how good he is and how good he's going to be in the near future."

[Marco4]

I've been out of the loop for a long time (years) but reading through the last 10-20 pages of this thread has been a treat.

[Guest]

Hey, guess who is going to be on the cover of the BA Prospect Handbook.