Cub prospects in the news

[Guest]

RF Billy McKinney • Cubs

High Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina)

 

McKinney batted 543 times at the high Class A level last season (plus 25 more times in the playoffs) and produced respectable results given his age, but that served only as prologue for his bust-out at Myrtle Beach in 2015, which earned him a quick ticket to Double-A Tennessee in May. At the time the Cubs promoted him, the 20-year-old McKinney led the Carolina League in average (.340), on-base percentage (.432) and slugging (.544), which is a testament to his pitch recognition skills as well as improved contact ability (10.4 percent strikeouts) and enhanced power production (.196 isolated slugging).

.544 - .340 = .196 ? :-k

[George Hayduke]

RF Billy McKinney • Cubs

High Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina)

 

McKinney batted 543 times at the high Class A level last season (plus 25 more times in the playoffs) and produced respectable results given his age, but that served only as prologue for his bust-out at Myrtle Beach in 2015, which earned him a quick ticket to Double-A Tennessee in May. At the time the Cubs promoted him, the 20-year-old McKinney led the Carolina League in average (.340), on-base percentage (.432) and slugging (.544), which is a testament to his pitch recognition skills as well as improved contact ability (10.4 percent strikeouts) and enhanced power production (.196 isolated slugging).

.544 - .340 = .196 ? :-k

I think the OBP/SLG he's referring to are at the time of his promotion, whereas the K% and Iso are current. Dumb phrasing.

[Guest]

Did a mod edit my post by accident? I wasn't questioning the math there, and there used to be a mention of Torres too.

[Guest]

Hot Sheet:

 

9. Kyle Schwarber, c, Cubs

 

Team: Double-A Tennessee (Southern)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .250/.464/.750 (5-for-20) 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBIs, 8 BB, 5 SO

 

Schwarber is not ready to be a big league catcher because he still needs more refinement defensively—but his bat is proving to be every bit as advanced as promised. He may not be Kris Bryant’s equal as a slugger, but his start this season matches Bryant’s start last year. Schwarber is hitting .305/.436/.602 with nine home runs, giving him a near-identical OPS to Bryant to this point in 2014. What’s more, Schwarber strikes out much less (21 percent) and walks much more frequently (19 percent) than Bryant did. In other words, the Cubs’ bounty of young hitters is about to get even better

 

14. Mark Zagunis, rf, Cubs

 

Team: high Class A Myrtle Beach (Carolina)

Age: 22

Why He’s Here: .462/.548/.577 (12-for-26) 1 2B, 1 3B, 3 RBIs, 4 BB, 3 SO, 0-for-1 SB

 

Ideally, Zagunis would be trying to figure out how to sand off the rough edges behind the plate, much like Kyle Schwarber is at Double-A Tennessee, but the Cubs decided he was in over his head at catcher. Playing all three outfield posts at Myrtle Beach, including a few surprising stints in center field, Zagunis has shown no problems adjusting to Carolina League pitchers. Like recently-promoted outfielder Billy McKinney, Zagunis is stating a case with more walks (29) than strikeouts (21).

[toonsterwu]

That wording on Zagunis being "in over his head" seems oddly ... specific. Didn't realize he looked that bad in less than a year to make that decision. Guess if he was that bad, then it was definitely prudent to shift him out and try to get offensive development going faster.

[craig]

That wording on Zagunis being "in over his head" seems oddly ... specific. Didn't realize he looked that bad in less than a year to make that decision. Guess if he was that bad, then it was definitely prudent to shift him out and try to get offensive development going faster.

 

BA's been fairly negative about his defense for a while. Also suggested that he may not really want to catch, unlike Schwarber who has seemed to want to be able to. I think it's possible that perhaps they wanted to let Zagunis establish his offensive game, and use this year to see what he can do, and see how things go with the other catchers. Will Schwarber still be a catcher after this season, or not? Will Caratini be anything, or will he be a forgotten roster-fill? Will Contreras look like a real factor, defensively and offensively? Amaya doesn't sound like his hitting is going to be enough to be a factor in the conversation.

 

In April, Zagunis had a non-trivial K-rate, for a no-power contact hitter in A-ball. That's improved this month. I'd like more power, but .900-OPS guys, with .450-OBP, those aren't easy to find.

 

I think it will be curious to see how he holds up for the duration of the season, and once he's gotten a full year in, what they decide to do with him going forward. Basically develop him as a utility 4th outfielder? Perhaps get him more CF work? He's supposed to be kinda fast, and certainly he's faster than Almora. But, I wonder if he has any instincts or jumps that make Almora excellent defensively? In the unlikely event that Zagunis was actually *good* defensively in center, he'd obviously look like an interesting offensive option and top-of-the-order hitter compared to Almora. Not sure how much sense it makes, given the alternatives, but my understanding is that they have had conversations internally about putting him at 2B. Not sure that's obviously that strategic as long as we're still interested in Castro/Baez/Torres, but a Biggio-esque sort of guy could be useful.

[Guest]

How soon will Iowans get to see Schwarber?: "That's still up for debate. Obviously what he's doing at the plate is special and he's making us think about that and putting us in a position where ... we want guys to make us move them and he's doing everything offensively to do that. Defensively he's continuing to work and continuing to get better, and for his development I think he's in a good spot right now. But, we'll see. We'll re-evaluate at the midpoint of the year and kind of see where everything is. But we have three catchers here who are all good catchers and doing a good job, so there's no push right now but everything Kyle's doing, he's going to make it interesting."

 

Is the plan to keep Schwarber at catcher?: "Yeah. With all the work he's done in the offseason and spring training and big league camp, and going into this year and what he's done so far this year, we're more certain than ever that he's going to stay behind the plate long-term. We're committed to that right now."

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/baseball/iowa-cubs/2015/05/24/chicago-cubs-top-prospects-jaron-madison/27874129/

[Guest]

#Cubs Jen-Ho Tseng says he’s picked up 2-3 mph on his fastball this year. Could be a difference-maker for him: http://t.co/Vcuoa3NOiB

[jersey cubs fan]

How soon will Iowans get to see Schwarber?: "That's still up for debate. Obviously what he's doing at the plate is special and he's making us think about that and putting us in a position where ... we want guys to make us move them and he's doing everything offensively to do that. Defensively he's continuing to work and continuing to get better, and for his development I think he's in a good spot right now. But, we'll see. We'll re-evaluate at the midpoint of the year and kind of see where everything is. But we have three catchers here who are all good catchers and doing a good job, so there's no push right now but everything Kyle's doing, he's going to make it interesting."

 

Is the plan to keep Schwarber at catcher?: "Yeah. With all the work he's done in the offseason and spring training and big league camp, and going into this year and what he's done so far this year, we're more certain than ever that he's going to stay behind the plate long-term. We're committed to that right now."

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/baseball/iowa-cubs/2015/05/24/chicago-cubs-top-prospects-jaron-madison/27874129/

 

Hedging.

[weis21]

#Cubs Jen-Ho Tseng says he’s picked up 2-3 mph on his fastball this year. Could be a difference-maker for him: http://t.co/Vcuoa3NOiB

Awesome!

[Guest]

How soon will Iowans get to see Schwarber?: "That's still up for debate. Obviously what he's doing at the plate is special and he's making us think about that and putting us in a position where ... we want guys to make us move them and he's doing everything offensively to do that. Defensively he's continuing to work and continuing to get better, and for his development I think he's in a good spot right now. But, we'll see. We'll re-evaluate at the midpoint of the year and kind of see where everything is. But we have three catchers here who are all good catchers and doing a good job, so there's no push right now but everything Kyle's doing, he's going to make it interesting."

 

Is the plan to keep Schwarber at catcher?: "Yeah. With all the work he's done in the offseason and spring training and big league camp, and going into this year and what he's done so far this year, we're more certain than ever that he's going to stay behind the plate long-term. We're committed to that right now."

 

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/baseball/iowa-cubs/2015/05/24/chicago-cubs-top-prospects-jaron-madison/27874129/

 

Hedging.

 

I just think he likes to say "right now" a lot.

[Little Slide Rooter]

With Theo (and I think Jed as well,) being an attorney in his past life, one thing he excels at is giving a straight answer that's not straight, and he's likely coached his guys on doing the same. IE:

 

we're more certain than ever that he's going to stay behind the plate long-term.

 

And you were how certain before?

 

These are the same guys who draw up every medical consent form that states, in a nutshell that nothing ever goes wrong, except for when it does, which is rare, but very possible, but if it does, we can in no way be held responsible and are still entitled to payment in full.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

Really? You really think Theo is coaching Jason Madison on how to talk to reporters? Really?

 

Cause I don't. And I think you're reading way too much in a quote.

[BeerHere]

Jacob Turner had his first action in AZ

 

Jacob Turner got the start for the Cubs and was masterful, working three shutout innings (37 pitches - 29 strikes) and easily retiring the first eight men he faced (3-U, 4-3, 6-3, K, F-8, F-8, K, 3-1) on just 32 pitches, before surrendering a two-out bouncing double down the LF line (just out of the reach of a diving Adonis Paula) in the bottom of the 3rd inning. He then got the final out on a 3-1 GO to complete his outing.

[BrockLanders]

Rob Neyer wrote a bad article about Schwarber.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/chicago-cubs-left-field-hole-kyle-schwarber-minor-league-catcher-could-be-answer-060115

 

Also, this.

 

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[Guest]

I really wasn't sure what the point of that article was.

 

Either Schwarber will come up this year or he won't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Smack]

I really wasn't sure what the point of that article was.

 

Either Schwarber will come up this year or he won't. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

How didn't he know Schwarber was not playing LF in the minors this year? How didn't he know Rizzo was signed long term? Why even write the article if you're not going to do any research. Everyone knows he's hitting. A lot.

[toonsterwu]

I found that article interesting because of the Gillespie quote on how his pitch framing is amazing.

 

If the Cubs feel like he has the athleticism to stick behind there, plus the work ethic to want to improve, and his pitch framing is advanced, then what he basically needs is time to learn the finer points. I still have doubts, and at some point, the value of his bat may be too much, but that was an interesting quote to ponder on his long term viability at catcher.

[imb]

rob neyer is garbage. He wrote a bryce harper hit piece about "why is harper only a one tool player?" right before Harper began donkey punching the league.

[BrockLanders]

Neyer has taken enough criticism for his original piece that he wrote a follow-up. Oh vey.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/baseball-joe/blog/yes-the-cubs-might-trade-anthony-rizzo-060215

[Guest]

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[Rob]

rob neyer is garbage. He wrote a bryce harper hit piece about "why is harper only a one tool player?" right before Harper began donkey punching the league.

 

I can't help but give Neyer a partial pass. He's outshined completely by better writers when trying to write about current events. But he does a good job with historical stuff, and it was a lot of his work that provided a base for me to move into trying to really and truly understand the statistics behind the game of baseball.

 

I wont ever hate the guy, but I'll roll my eyes and wish he was working on a book instead of writing articles for his website.

[Guest]

rob neyer is garbage. He wrote a bryce harper hit piece about "why is harper only a one tool player?" right before Harper began donkey punching the league.

 

he finally jumped the shark for me when went full meatball and said ricketts was ruining wrigley earlier this year.

[jersey cubs fan]

Neyer has taken enough criticism for his original piece that he wrote a follow-up. Oh vey.

 

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/baseball-joe/blog/yes-the-cubs-might-trade-anthony-rizzo-060215

 

Major League Baseball is an incredibly dynamic enterprise. Did you imagine, two years ago, that Josh Hamilton would today be the TEXAS RANGERS' every-day left fielder? No, you did not. None of us did. And if you couldn't have imagined that, how can you know where Anthony Rizzo will be in three years?

[Guest]

I don't have a particular opinion on Neyer, but he's really slitting his wrists with Occam's razor here. Just quit while you're behind, you don't have to double down to try (and fail) to hide the fact you were way off about Rizzo's current status, both performance and contract-wise.