Cub prospects in the news

[NCCubFan]

Saw BA has a article on Simpson. Anyone with a prescription care to paraphrase?

What ailment would that prescription treat?

[JeffH]

Saw BA has a article on Simpson. Anyone with a prescription care to paraphrase?

What ailment would that prescription treat?

 

Poor drafting?

[toonsterwu]

if that's a barb about Simpson being a reach, it does need to be pointed out again that, while a reach, it was a Colvin-like reach, a half-round to a round at most, not the dramatic 3-4 rounds that some folks claimed. The Angels and Rays were in on Simpson and were looking at him supplemental or 2nd, according to subsequent reporting.

[Guest]

Ballboy (at the laptop): LeMahieu is up w/ the Cubs after batting .358/poco power in AA. How will that translate? Can he stick? Thanks!

 

J.J. Cooper: It depends on what the Cubs are expecting from him. He'll hit for some average, he has some versatility defensively, but he's unlikely to hit for enough power to be a regular. He and Ryan Flaherty should have some interesting battles for big league playing time over the next couple of years.

[JeffH]

Ballboy (at the laptop): LeMahieu is up w/ the Cubs after batting .358/poco power in AA. How will that translate? Can he stick? Thanks!

 

J.J. Cooper: It depends on what the Cubs are expecting from him. He'll hit for some average, he has some versatility defensively, but he's unlikely to hit for enough power to be a regular. He and Ryan Flaherty should have some interesting battles for big league playing time over the next couple of years.

 

True. Only not with each other. With whatever garbage veterans Hendry brings in.

[TruffleShuffle]

http://www.journerdism.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/broken-record.jpg

[Guest]

Being mentioned in BA's Hot Sheet write ups at age 17? Let the hype begin:

 

HELIUM WATCH

 

Jeimer Candelario, 3b, Cubs. July 2 is right around the corner, which means Baseball America's reports on the top international prospects will start next week. Meanwhile the summer leagues in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic are underway, with the majority of last year's international signings making their debuts in those leagues. One of the early standouts has been Cubs third baseman Jeimer Candelario, a $500,000 signing out of the Dominican Republic last summer (although he was born in New York) who has come better than advertised. Candelario, 17, earned praise from scouts for his potential to hit for average and power from both sides of the plate. Even better, his approach at the plate is quite mature for his age, as he's already drawn 12 walks in 34 plate appearances. Sure, it's early, but he's off to a .364/.588/.455 start and leading the DSL in OBP.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/prospect-hot-sheet/2011/2611933.html

[jersey cubs fan]

http://brettkiser.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/candyman.jpg

[soonercub]

Very limited sample size, but they did shell out a nice bonus, so he must have some very nice tools to start with. Definitely will keep an eye on him. I like the fact that he is a switch hitter that has shown power from both sides. When was the last time we had someone like that in the system?

[davell]

This is really something we can keep an eye on, Badler has already mentioned Penalver as being a standout down there as well. And both Baez and Sanchez look like they're showing some nice things as well. It'd be great to see us hit another Castro like jackpot down there.

[Guest]

SMK (Boston): Would you prefer Jeimer Candelario or Estelion Peguero if you had to choose?

 

Ben Badler: Peguero for now, but Candelario could change things by the end of the year.

 

Jeff (Idaho): Matt Szczur...thoughts? He's showing nice skills at the A level, is he a nice power/speed guy down the road?

 

Ben Badler: Becoming a big fan. Tremendous athlete who can hit, get on base and play great defense in CF? Yeah, that's my kind of guy.

[craig]

Ben Badler: Becoming a big fan. Tremendous athlete who can hit, get on base and play great defense in CF? Yeah, that's my kind of guy.

 

The "great defense" stuff is encouraging. Sickels had some favorable comment about his defense too, but I'd wondered if he actually had heard anything favorable.

 

Last year, the word was great athlete and fast, so it was assumed he might play well defensively. But good speed does not make a great center fielder, and I admit when they left Na in center and put Szczur in left I wondered. I hope the favorable talk about his defense is real and is justified.

[Guest]

Dan (Illnois) The Cubs called up Chris Carpenter, what is his potential?

 

Klaw (1:35 PM) Plus reliever - potentially elite.

 

Mike (San Diego) Crasnick wrote an article on the Cubs' new double play combo. Does Darwin Barney have a decent future? I see Castro having staying power, but not so much on Barney.

 

Klaw (1:36 PM) I'm with you. Barney's barely an extra guy.

 

Ty (Baltimore) Agree/disagree with Gammons - Wrigley's a dump?

 

Klaw (1:45 PM) Did he say that? Not my favorite park, certainly. Was there the last three years for the Under Armour game ... it's nothing to do with the fans. It's just not a nice facility. Bad sight lines. Bad concessions. Not easy to get around. If it was for sale the listing would call it "quaint" and talk about its "character" and "charm."

[SouthSideRyan]

Media guys hate Wrigley because the pressbox is a piece of [expletive]. I couldn't care less about their accommodations

[Guest]

Seriously, bad sight lines? Is he just checking to see if people are paying attention to what he's saying?

[jersey cubs fan]

Seriously, bad sight lines? Is he just checking to see if people are paying attention to what he's saying?

 

Well, there are a good number of seats where you can't see the whole field. Everything back up under the grandstand sucks.

[Guest]

Seriously, bad sight lines? Is he just checking to see if people are paying attention to what he's saying?

 

Well, there are a good number of seats where you can't see the whole field. Everything back up under the grandstand sucks.

 

Well yeah, there's obstructed view seats, but those are there so that the 20 thousand people in the upper deck have the best upper deck view in baseball.

[javy knows my name]

Seriously, bad sight lines? Is he just checking to see if people are paying attention to what he's saying?

 

Well, there are a good number of seats where you can't see the whole field. Everything back up under the grandstand sucks.

 

Well yeah, there's obstructed view seats, but those are there so that the 20 thousand people in the upper deck have the best upper deck view in baseball.

 

Sigh. Thank you.

 

And it's easy to get under the grandstands and not be obstructed. Section 218-222ish are all pretty close to home plate and are unobstructed with few exceptions.

[jersey cubs fan]

Seriously, bad sight lines? Is he just checking to see if people are paying attention to what he's saying?

 

Well, there are a good number of seats where you can't see the whole field. Everything back up under the grandstand sucks.

 

Well yeah, there's obstructed view seats, but those are there so that the 20 thousand people in the upper deck have the best upper deck view in baseball.

 

Sigh. Thank you.

 

And it's easy to get under the grandstands and not be obstructed. Section 218-222ish are all pretty close to home plate and are unobstructed with few exceptions.

 

Yeah, there are good seats. But there are far too many really terrible seats. I don't see how people have a hard time agreeing with that sentiment. The best stadiums have very few bad seats. Wrigley has a lot.

[Guest]

Ask BA[/url]"]I was having an email exchange about third-base prospect Josh Vitters with Mark Peel, who knows more about Cubs prospects than anyone this side of the Cubs, when something crystallized for me: Projecting plate discipline and patience for a high school hitter may be the most difficult job in scouting.

 

While the proliferation of high school showcases—such as the Perfect Game National, from where Conor Glassey filed several fine reports on 2012 prospects over the weekend—allows scouts to see prep hitters against better competition, it's still not enough to know how they'll fare when they face pitchers who can command multiple pitches in and out of the strike zone.

 

Chicago drafted Vitters third overall in 2007 because of his ability to hit for both average and power, and he's doing a solid job of both in Double-A this year, batting .291/.326/.464. But he hasn't torn up the minor leagues as expected because minor league pitchers know he's looking to put the ball in play. He has walked eight times in 64 games this season, in line with his career rate, and big leaguers will further exploit his impatience when he faces them. Provided he improves his defense at third base, I think Vitters is talented enough to be a solid regular, but he may never have the impact with the bat that the Cubs and many other teams expected he would.

[jumbo]

Ask BA[/url]"]I was having an email exchange about third-base prospect Josh Vitters with Mark Peel, who knows more about Cubs prospects than anyone this side of the Cubs, when something crystallized for me: Projecting plate discipline and patience for a high school hitter may be the most difficult job in scouting.

 

While the proliferation of high school showcases—such as the Perfect Game National, from where Conor Glassey filed several fine reports on 2012 prospects over the weekend—allows scouts to see prep hitters against better competition, it's still not enough to know how they'll fare when they face pitchers who can command multiple pitches in and out of the strike zone.

 

Chicago drafted Vitters third overall in 2007 because of his ability to hit for both average and power, and he's doing a solid job of both in Double-A this year, batting .291/.326/.464. But he hasn't torn up the minor leagues as expected because minor league pitchers know he's looking to put the ball in play. He has walked eight times in 64 games this season, in line with his career rate, and big leaguers will further exploit his impatience when he faces them. Provided he improves his defense at third base, I think Vitters is talented enough to be a solid regular, but he may never have the impact with the bat that the Cubs and many other teams expected he would.

 

I just read this earlier today. Made me think that Vitters needs to spend all this season in AA and at least another year in the minors so he can focus on pitch selection. I wouldn't mind if he never walks a lot, but he needs to focus on swinging at hitter's pitches instead of anything he can get his bat on. I'm sure this has been said before, but it is nice to see someone in the scouting profession believe at least somewhat in Vitters. It's hard to be patient waiting for these young guys to develop when the big league team is so hard to watch.

[Bruno7481]

From Keith Law chat today

 

Thoughts on Szczur? Seems like he is playing pretty well at Class A Peoria.

Klaw (2:13 PM)

 

Not really. Old/experienced for the league, slappy swing, no power.

 

Keith, your opinions on Cub position prospects (Szczur, Jackson, Vitters) is not extremely high. Can we surmise then that any progress the team makes in the next 3-4 years is not going to be driven by any of them?

Klaw (2:33 PM)

 

If you're playing the odds, one of those guys will exceed my expectations. Vitters has a fatal flaw (zero patience) but I still love the swing.

[javy knows my name]

What in the? He's hit 8 HR. Is Law just being contrarian right now? He's the only person I've seen that wasn't high on Szczur.

[Guest]

Szczur is a 21 year old that used to play college football at a high level and has about a .165 ISO and 5 HR since he started hitting better in may. Keith Law is not correct.

[Guest]

I was wondering if Keith Law's stance on Szczur would be softening given his play the last few months. Guess not. Geez.