Cub prospects in the news

[Guest]

i'm trying to wrap my head around a person being okay with a sober guy who nearly blinding an opposing player, but having no tolerance for a drunk guy who crashed into a house and harmed nobody.

Driving while drunk enough to do what Latham did he committed an act of stupidity greater than throwing a baseball at a single person. The fact that the outcome was more benign does not mean it was a lesser act, just that he got incredibly lucky nobody was seriously hurt. What Latham did could have easily killed multiple people, the fact that only a house was injured doesn't make the act itself less despicable.

 

That said, he's paid his dues. Hopefully he comes back wiser and more mature.

[SouthSideRyan]

i'm trying to wrap my head around a person being okay with a sober guy who nearly blinding an opposing player, but having no tolerance for a drunk guy who crashed into a house and harmed nobody.

 

I'm trying to wrap my head around a person being ok with a sober guy nearly blinding an opposing player, but having no tolerance for somebody who didn't get along with the media.

[TruffleShuffle]

he got incredibly lucky nobody was seriously hurt. What Latham did could have easily killed multiple people, the fact that only a house was injured doesn't make the act itself less despicable.

 

incredibly lucky? the majority of people who drive drunk don't kill anyone. and he crashed into a porch at 3 in the morning; unless there are normally multiple people hanging out on a porch at 3 a.m. then i would say it's extremely unlikely that he would kill someone.

 

that being said, drunk driving is bad.

[CubsWin]

he got incredibly lucky nobody was seriously hurt. What Latham did could have easily killed multiple people, the fact that only a house was injured doesn't make the act itself less despicable.

 

incredibly lucky? the majority of people who drive drunk don't kill anyone. and he crashed into a porch at 3 in the morning; unless there are normally multiple people hanging out on a porch at 3 a.m. then i would say it's extremely unlikely that he would kill someone.

 

that being said, drunk driving is bad.

You're walking a fine line there, Truffle. But I suspect you already know that.

 

It's not so much that it's unusual for people to be on their front porch at 3 in the morning. It's that Latham made the decision to get behind the wheel of a fast moving, very heavy machine while impaired enough to crash into something, anything. I've been really drunk and was still able to remember not to drive. I've also lived in Boise, Idaho for a time. They have cabs.

[Guest]

he got incredibly lucky nobody was seriously hurt. What Latham did could have easily killed multiple people, the fact that only a house was injured doesn't make the act itself less despicable.

 

incredibly lucky? the majority of people who drive drunk don't kill anyone. and he crashed into a porch at 3 in the morning; unless there are normally multiple people hanging out on a porch at 3 a.m. then i would say it's extremely unlikely that he would kill someone.

 

that being said, drunk driving is bad.

Are the majority of those people drunk enough to crash their car into a house and then think that running away on foot is a good idea? I'm looking at conditional probability here. Given the additional knowledge that he was drunk enough to crash into a house, he is incredibly lucky that he did not kill anyone by crashing into something else. Somehow, I don't think we're talking about someone who only had a couple beers and then waited a while before getting behind the wheel.

[toonsterwu]

as a random aside from this conversation (somewhat my fault, as the Latham issue had been bugging me for awhile)

 

I just read up on Dancy's Smokies press conference from a few weeks back. Sure seems like Vitters is headed there. His comments make it seem as if he knows something. Granted, I could be reading too much into it.

[Guest]

as a random aside from this conversation (somewhat my fault, as the Latham issue had been bugging me for awhile)

 

I just read up on Dancy's Smokies press conference from a few weeks back. Sure seems like Vitters is headed there. His comments make it seem as if he knows something. Granted, I could be reading too much into it.

 

Man, I totally misread that the first time I read that. I thought you were talking about Vitters headed towards a DUI.

 

I know Vitters put in time in the AFL and the offseason but I'd love to see him master A+ before heading to AA.

[toonsterwu]

i seriously hope vitters isn't headed towards a dui.

 

More seriously, I'm coming around to the idea of bumping Vitters to AA to start. I still prefer him starting at A+, but ... if they believe in his work ethic and believe that he wouldn't get crushed mentally if he struggled, things that I can't answer, then maybe he does need to get challenged by tougher pitching.

[frankthatank]

Top Fantasy Prospects List

 

52. Starlin Castro, SS, Cubs

Cubs manager Lou Piniella has already said that if Ryan Theriot is out for a good amount of time this year due to injury, Castro would get the call. Likewise, if the Jeff Baker/Mike Fontenot platoon doesn't work out at second base this season, Castro could be asked to step in at short and slide Theriot to second. Either way, Castro, who turns 20 later this month, is firmly on the Cubs' radar screen this season. He reached Double-A late last year, and was impressive in the Arizona Fall League. He has hit .301 in his three-year career in the minors but has remained a bit under the radar because he has slugged just .393. Don't be fooled, though; he's still maturing physically, and his strong hands and wrists will eventually allow him to drive the ball with authority once he fully develops. Castro has an advanced bat and approach for his age, and plenty of bat speed. He's also a 60 defender on the 20-80 scouting scale with a 70 arm, which would give him some value to the Cubs right away in that capacity.

 

We'll have to wait a bit for the full package to develop with Castro, but get in on the ground floor. Despite 28 steals last season, his speed is average at best, meaning the stolen bases might not follow him to the majors. Still, he's one to watch this season to see how quickly his offensive game develops.

 

 

54. Jay Jackson, SP, Cubs

This 22-year-old right-hander will compete for a spot in the back of the Cubs' rotation. He features four pitches, primarily a low-90s fastball with movement and a slider with short strike-zone bite. His curve is a solid pitch with a distinctly different break, and the key is developing his changeup to give him something to stay off the barrel against lefties. When he's on, he can make batters miss, and he keeps his mistakes down in the zone. Even if he starts at Triple-A, he has a chance to get a long look for the Cubs this season, given some of the question marks they have regarding their rotation.

 

 

69. Blake Parker, RP, Cubs

There was some offseason buzz that should Carlos Marmol falter, Parker might be able to put himself in the mix for saves in Wrigley later this season. The converted catcher has been pitching full-time for less than three pro seasons, but he advanced all the way to Triple-A last year, registering 22 saves and 58 strikeouts in 51 innings for Iowa. His bread and butter is the natural sink on his fastball, which he uses to rack up a ton of ground balls and keep the ball in the park, and he'll touch 95 mph at times. Parker's other two pitches, a slider and a changeup, are still works in progress. His slider still slurves a bit too much and is inconsistent at this point. Also, there's a good amount of effort in his delivery, and he doesn't always finish it well, with a tendency to overthrow. His overall command is still a work in progress, but he's someone to keep an eye on thanks to that heavy ball and how far he has managed to progress in such a short time pitching.

[sneakypower]

Sickels' all questions answered thread:

 

Andrew Ca$hner – What type of career do you see for him now?

Sickels: I still see him as a future closer.

Upsides – Please give upside comparables (offensively, only) for the following:

Hak-Ju Lee

Jiovanni Mier

Edward Salcedo

 

Sickels: It is very hard to make comparisons for guys who are just in short-season ball, for me anyway. Salcedo I’m going to pass on…scouting reports aren’t enough for me to make a comp.

 

Lee….someone who hits .275-.290 with 30 steals and decent plate discipline. Who does that sound like?

Mier….similar actually, but with less speed and more power than Lee.

Brett Jackson – He’s shown great discipline early this season (goes beyond the BB/K, as there have been positive reports on his eye and laying off close pitches), continuing off the positive reports last year? Granted, SSS, but does it lessen any of your concerns?

 

Sickels:Yeah, I talked about this on the radio show earlier this week about Jackson…good to see this in the early going, but need more data as you point out. But a good start is always better than a slow one!!

 

My guess is that he’ll do well in A-ball, but when he moves up to Double-A (probably later this year) he’ll have to make more adjustments.

[TruffleShuffle]

Running Like Wild

 

Hak-Ju Lee, SS, Cubs (Low-A Peoria)

 

Monday's stats: 1-for-3, BB, R, RBI, 4 SB

 

The Cubs are baseball's leader when it comes to identifying and signing talent from the Pacific Rim, and Lee is their biggest prize so far. A outstanding defensive shortstop with an outstanding arm and plus-plus speed, one scout called him “The Korean Jose Reyes,” and that speed was on display Monday night as he fell one short of the team record for stolen bases in a game. The 19-year-old is still years away, but there's already whispers that if everything works out, he's good enough to force uber-prospect Starlin Castro to slide over to second base.

 

lots of stuff to like in there.

 

Andrew Cashner, RHP, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): Seven more dominant innings; now 25 Ks in 17.1 innings against just seven hits and four walks.

 

As a Cubs fan, it's sometimes painful to watch Jeff Samardzija pitch for the big club. There seems to be a common feeling that his development path hasn't been a good one, and that the Cubs have rushed him because of the contract he signed. What is the track record of players who sign major league deals out of the draft? Is it really worth it to the player/agent to sign a big league deal and effectively start a clock ticking on his development timeline?

 

Tasha Kauffman

Lancaster, Pa.

 

The $10 million major league contract that the Cubs gave Samardzija to entice him away from an NFL career as a wide receiver really isn't the problem. Samardzija signed that deal in January 2007, and the Cubs could have optioned him to the minors through this season if they wanted to. When Chicago promoted Samardzija to the majors in July 2008, they did so because he was pitching well in Triple-A and they needed help for the stretch drive—not because his contract compelled a callup.

 

In the history of the draft, 43 players have received major league contracts. Thirty-six of those deals went to college players who were expected to reach the big leagues before they ran out of options, so the contracts weren't a development issue. The first high schoolers to get a major league deal, Todd Van Poppel, was a victim of a rushed timetable, but Alex Rodriguez, Josh Beckett and Rick Porcello have survived just fine.

 

There are two main issues with Samardzija. The biggest is that he's still more of an arm-strength guy than a true pitcher. Even when he was throwing in the mid-90s at Notre Dame, he didn't miss a lot of bats. His fastball straightens out when he overthrows, and while his slider and splitter have their moments, neither is a consistent weapon. His command also isn't as strong as it needs to be.

 

The other problem is that in the last three years, the Cubs have moved him from a starter in Triple-A to a reliever in the majors, and back and forth again . . . again . . . and again. That's tough on any pitcher, especially one who's as raw and relatively inexperienced as Samardzija. I don't ever seeing him becoming a starter, so I'd commit to making him a full-time reliever going forward. Have him focus on two pitches and not worry about pacing himself would be the best way to get value out of Samardzija.

 

 

also, BA is supposed to have more on andrew cashner tomorrow.

[Keener98]

Man, I know its years away from actually being a possibility, but the thought of a Castro/Lee/B. Jackson middle of the field is pretty damn intriguing. Of course we have said this before, but we can dream damnit.

[TruffleShuffle]

anyone have a BA subscription? there's an article on cashner today.

[Guest]

anyone have a BA subscription? there's an article on cashner today.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/prospect-bulletin/2010/269850.html

 

I'll try to summarize when I get a chance.

[Outshined_One]

anyone have a BA subscription? there's an article on cashner today.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/prospects/prospect-bulletin/2010/269850.html

 

I'll try to summarize when I get a chance.

 

The key points:

 

So what's the explanation for the increase in Cashner's strikeout rate? There are two main reasons why it's up this year:

 

1. In his final spring training start, Cashner moved to the third base side of the rubber, which has helped him get better angle toward the plate with his slider.

 

2. As a closer at TCU, Cashner had little need for a changeup. Now, it's developed into a legitimate pitch that he's able to throw for strikes and get the occasional whiff.

 

...

 

Against Carolina, Cashner's fastball sat at 90-94 mph. He touched 96 five times—all for strikes—and he's been clocked as high as 98 last year. Cashner's bread and butter is his power four-seam fastball, but he also mixed in about eight two-seam fastballs on Monday.

 

...

 

One more promising sign for Cashner was his ability to hold his velocity deep into his start, as he hit 96 twice in the sixth inning. The Cubs put Cashner on a tight pitch count last year, and he made only one start of at least five innings for Daytona before getting a longer leash upon his promotion to Double-A in July.

 

"At the beginning of the year last year, it was very frustrating for me because I was on such a low pitch count," Cashner said. "I just had to grind through it. It's not too big of an adjustment for me because my first two years of junior college I was a starter. My pitch count's gone up this year, so whenever you know you have a higher pitch count, it's easier to go out there and throw strikes."

[RammyFanny]

Muchos Gracias.

[pccubfan]

Have the Cubs ever had three prospects on the Hot Sheet before?

[TruffleShuffle]

Well, You Certainly Can't Call Him Inconsistent

 

Starlin Castro, SS, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee)

 

Thursday's stats: 2-for-4, 2B, R, CS; 2-for-3, 2B, 2 R, BB, CS

 

The Smokies played two yesterday, and Castro had two hits in both games. That's not a surprise, as he had two hits on Wednesday as well. Oh yeah, Tuesday too. Monday? Yup, two hits. With six straight two-hit games and nine overall in 13 contests, the 20-year-old is up to .404/.426/.649, and the Cubs are this much closer to making a mistake and calling him up to the big leagues before he is ready and hoping he can salvage what looks to be an already sinking ship.

 

 

Josh Vitters, 3B, Cubs (High-A Daytona): 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs last night raises OPS by 154 points in the span of a few hours.

 

Starlin Castro, SS, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee)

 

Castro is already a household name on the north side of Chicago. Last year's showing created plenty of hype, and he was arguably their top hitter this spring before getting reassigned to minor-league camp. Now, with the Cubs two games under .500 against an easy schedule and Ryan Theriot hitting just .235 as the team's shortstop and leadoff man, there are a lot of calls for Castro to get the call, despite the fact that he just turned 20 last month. Back at Double-A to begin the year, Castro is keeping the pressure on management with six multi-hit games in nine contests, and overall averages of .357/.378/.548 to begin the year. While the frustration of Cubs fans is certainly understandable, Castro still has some holes in his game, the biggest one being plate discipline. Castro has drawn just two walks this year, and since the beginning of last season, has worked just 31 walks in 136 games. He's a free swinger who needs to learn how to work the count against more advanced pitching. This was the problem with previous top prospects like Corey Patterson and the Cubs inability to control their excitement and avoid rushing their shiny new toy turned out to be that player's undoing. With or without Starlin Castro, the Cubs aren't in the playoffs this year, so there's no reason to harm the development of a top prospect in the process.

[toonsterwu]

AzPhil's latest report has bad news on Chris Huseby. I hope the kid can turn it around, and I root for him. Seems like Huseby's lost it again. That said, if he can't turn it around soon, I really don't know if we should keep him around in the lower levels and send him to Boise or Peoria again. He's still young enough that I wouldn't be completely against keeping him around ... but I'm not sure I would care that much if he was released.

 

Shame - I remember how exciting it sounded when I heard that we had added him as an over-slot guy that year.

 

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2010/04/28/extended-spring-training-bullpen-collapse-diablo

[CubColtPacer]

Pretty much a puff piece on Castro but a couple interesting quotes. I also like to see that he apparently is over 190 pounds at this point:

 

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100504&content_id=9783724&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

[toonsterwu]

Most reports/indications last year suggested that Castro was far bigger than the 160 number that he weighed when he signed. I had heard 180 last year, so it's good to see that he's growing and not struggling defensively.

[JGalt73]

From BP's Kevin Goldstein:

 

While a good start from Ryan Theriot has calmed the movement for the Cubs to bring shortstop Starlin Castro to the big leagues, Castro continues to be lights-out at Double-A Tennessee, batting .356/.407/.545 heading into Thursday night's action. One scout who recently saw him is very high on him, but wonders if there are some misconceptions about what kind of player he is.

 

"If people are expecting some lively, athletic middle infielder, he's not that," explained the scout. "He's an average runner, and his body is thickening up, so for me it ultimately comes down to his bat."

 

The scout went on to praise Castro's defensive instincts and plus arm, and did find some room for improvement offensively, while still projecting a star-level offensive play.

 

"Right now, he steps in the bucket and he can be vulnerable to off-speed stuff," the scout said, "but he'll make adjustments. He has great hand-eye coordination and squares so many balls up. He's going to get stronger, and there's a chances you could end up with a 70 hitter (on the 20-80 scouting scale) with 50 power."

[javy knows my name]

See? He's just wastin' away down in them minors

[TruffleShuffle]

* Darwin Barney, SS, Cubs (Triple-A Iowa): 3-for-5, 2B, K, SB. Fifth straight multi-hit game for personal favorite; ceiling ends at utility player but he's hard not to like.

 

#Starlin Castro, SS, Cubs (Double-A Tennessee): 3-for-5. 7-for-14 in last three games, .368/.415/.547 overall; just keeps hitting.

[Guest]

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/05/10/full-scouting-report-cubs-prospect-hak-ju-lee/?sms_ss=twitter

 

Lots of praise for Hak-Ju Lee there.