Cub prospects in the news

[TruffleShuffle]

that's a pretty embarrassing answer by law

[jersey cubs fan]

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.

 

I see 5, where were the other 3?

[Guest]

Szczur has 5 HR.

[TruffleShuffle]

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.

 

I see 5, where were the other 3?

 

batting practice

[Guest]

BA Prospect Hot Sheet | June 24:

 

IN THE TEAM PHOTO

 

Cubs C Welington Castillo has bided his time with Triple-A Iowa while waiting for playing time in the majors. The 24-year-old had a 15-game hitting streak snapped this week, but, undaunted, he still hit three home runs as part of a .333/.348/.810 (7-for-21) effort.

[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.

 

I see 5, where were the other 3?

 

Meh

[imb]

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.

 

I see 5, where were the other 3?

 

time isn't liner man that's just how we perceive it

[Guest]

abbiet (pit of despair...but at least it's familiar): Hey Kevin! As a Cubs fan I'm used to disappointment...I may even thrive on it. What's happened to Jay Jackson in Iowa? Hopes for a decent #3 starter seem to be fading. Thanks!

 

Kevin Goldstein: He's regressed, no doubt. He's one of those guys I think might be able to turn it around with a bullpen move.

 

Mike (Chicago): How good will the cubs draft be if they sign guys like Maples, Dunston, Gretzky, assuming they sign their top picks?

 

Kevin Goldstein: It will be outstanding, but I can't see it happening.

 

Guancous (Silver Spring, MD): Did you and Jason know there literally was a Rambo cartoon? Please fill in the blank: Justin Bour would need to ______ in order to become a top 100 prospect someday.

 

Kevin Goldstein: "become a way better baseball player"

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/chat/chat.php?chatId=855

[Tryptamine]

Guancous (Silver Spring, MD): Did you and Jason know there literally was a Rambo cartoon? Please fill in the blank: Justin Bour would need to ______ in order to become a top 100 prospect someday.

 

Kevin Goldstein: "become a way better baseball player"

 

 

I laughed really hard

[javy knows my name]

He and K Law can both be really dry sometimes. And very critical.

 

That was funny, though.

[Sammy Sofa]

Nice, our very own Guancous.

[Guancous]

Nice, our very own Guancous.

 

Bour is such an enigma to me. I'm sure I overrate him my mind due to the lack of other 1Bs in the system.

[Guest]

Baseball America[/url]"]Moving from catcher to the outfield, as Ha did after his first trip to instructional league, counted as a minor adjustment. He's far more accurate with his throws from the outfield than he had been on ones from behind the plate, which is one of the reasons why he's become one of the most upwardly mobile players in the organization.

 

The biggest is that, in the words of Fleita, is that "all he's done is hit."

 

Blessed with the bat speed to handle good fastballs, the 20-year-old Ha was hitting .296/.332/.473 with eight homers and 41 RBIs in 260 at-bats between high Class A Daytona and Double-A Tennessee, where he played for two weeks in late May while 2009 first-round pick Brett Jackson was sidelined. He hit .317/.334/.468 with seven homers at low Class A Peoria a year ago.

 

Inexperience is the only weakness in his arsenal.

 

"There are times now he's going to run until he's out, times he's going to swing at the rosin bag," Fleita said. "We'd like to see a little more (plate) discipline. But you can teach a guy to hone in."

[jame.gumb]

Matt Szczur, OF, Cubs (Low-A Peoria): 3-for-6, 2B, R, RBI, K. .322/.374/.451 line in 55 games is impressive, but needs to move up a level (or two) and prove it's for real.

 

http://i.imgur.com/V9L6A.gif

[Guest]

BA Prospect Hot Sheet[/url]"]NOT-SO HOT SHEET

 

• Josh Vitters, 3b, Cubs: Last week was a synopsis of Vitters' struggles at the plate. He put balls in play, striking out twice, but only a lone single dropped in for a hit. His 1-for-3 effort sank Vitters' numbers to .274/.310/.435, still hovering above the Southern League average, but much more is expected of the 2007 third overall pick. Vitters' great hand-eye coordination can cause problems for him, as he makes plenty of contact, but sometimes on pitches that he was better off letting go.

[TruffleShuffle]

Navin (Pasadena, CA): I always have a tough time getting a read on short season prospects: What are your thoughts on the hot starts for 19-year olds Pin-Chieh Chen, Wes Darvill and Reggie Golden at Boise?

 

 

J.J. Cooper: Generally I don't get too excited about a hot start statistically for anyone in short-season ball. Not that it's not notable, but it's easier to dominate rookie ball or short-season ball than it is the upper levels. So my advice is to be a little excited, but don't get too crazy about them yet.

 

Reggie Golden, OF, Cubs (Short-season Boise): 3-for-3, 2B, R, BB, SB. Crazy tools picks from last year is not looking nearly as raw as expected; .326/.420/.535 in 12 games.

[StarlinOnYou]

If Golden can put those tools together and continue to hit and show that patience it would be a huge boost to the farm.

 

I think he is quite forgotten by many around here due to being out of shape last year. But, he looks really good physically & so far this year.

 

Golden, Baez*, Vitters, Vogelbach*, etc. Some nice upside bats in the system. I'd be pretty excited if we get those guys signed.

 

And by the looks of things we could be in line to get another impact bat at the top of the 2012 draft.

[TruffleShuffle]

Austin Kirk, LHP, Cubs (Low-A Peoria)

A third-round pick in 2009, Kirk played his high school ball at Owasso High in Oklahoma, which also produced the Cardinals’ first-rounder from 2007, Peter Kozma, and more famously, this year's top high school pitcher in the draft, the Orioles’ Dylan Bundy. While Kirk has been good all year, he made headlines on Monday by firing Peoria’s first nine-inning no-hitter since 1988 while walking two and striking out 10. Though his fastball is just an average pitch, he has the ability to spin a breaking ball and combine it with above-average command and control, which has led to his 2.60 ERA in 17 games while limiting the league to a .189 batting average. His ceiling is a fourth or fifth starter, but on Monday, Kirk was the best pitcher in the minors.

 

Hayden Simpson, RHP, Cubs (AZL Cubs)

Not all news was good over the holiday; Simpson was torched for six runs on Friday—he didn’t escape the second inning—to raise his ERA to 5.72. The surprise pick of the first round last year, Simpson has been nothing close to the pitcher he was last spring; his fastball, which consistently sat in the mid-90s in college, now falls in the 83-88 mph range. He had an ugly bout with mononucleosis last summer, but one year later and 12 mph less on the heater leaves reason to believe there might be something else going on here. Simpson was shipped to the Cubs’ spring training complex over the weekend, where they’ll attempt to figure things out, but he's suddenly in the tall, tall weeds.

[jersey cubs fan]

BA Prospect Hot Sheet[/url]"]NOT-SO HOT SHEET

 

• Josh Vitters, 3b, Cubs: Last week was a synopsis of Vitters' struggles at the plate. He put balls in play, striking out twice, but only a lone single dropped in for a hit. His 1-for-3 effort sank Vitters' numbers to .274/.310/.435, still hovering above the Southern League average, but much more is expected of the 2007 third overall pick. Vitters' great hand-eye coordination can cause problems for him, as he makes plenty of contact, but sometimes on pitches that he was better off letting go.

 

Is something missing here? How does a 1-3 effort sink Vitters' numbers?

[SouthSideRyan]

Well, it dropped his OPS a tiny bit

[nick23]

Keith Law yesterday, tweeted something to the affect of Vitters being a non-prospect at this point.

[Brett]

Keith Law yesterday, tweeted something to the affect of Vitters being a non-prospect at this point.

 

Which is, of course, typical of Law. Vitters is a 21-year-old in AA ball. His stock is down, and he's got a long way to go before he can be considered a "good" prospect again. But to say he's not a prospect is lazily awful.

[sneakypower]

all the defenses of Vitters sound like battered wife syndrome

 

"...but he's young, he can still get better"

"he'll start hitting the ball harder, i know it!"

[SouthSideRyan]

So why should I discount his age now?

[BeerHere]

Lots of Cubs in today's BA chat with Callis:

 

Norman (San Jose): at midseason, have any players moved up significantly in your top 100 prospects?

 

 

Jim Callis: I took a wait-and-see attitude on Cardinals righthander Carlos Martinez on my personal Top 100 coming into the season, but I'm not waiting any longer. He, Brad Peacock (Nationals) and Taijuan Walker (Mariners) are the pitchers who have jumped the most in my estimation. I also was trying to be conservative on Cubs outfielder Matt Szczur, and I've got him No. 44 on my personal Top 50 right now. Also buying into Padres third baseman Jedd Gyorko.

 

Navin (Pasadena, CA): With Brett Jackson scuffling at AA, would you rate Szczur or Baez (when he signs) as the Cubs top prospect? Thank you!

 

 

Jim Callis: Jackson was off to a very good start before he got hurt. I'd still give him the nod over Szczur, but it's close. I'd go Jackson, Szczur, Baez for now.

 

Nils (Stamford): Hi Jim, Austin Kirk's no hitter this week seemed to put his already good season on the radar. Is he this good or are we looking at more a case of smoke and mirrors?

 

 

Jim Callis: Nice accomplishment, but I still see him more as a reliever in the majors. He's 21, which isn't young for low A, he's not very projectable at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, and his stuff is fringy to average. He's lefthanded and throws strikes, which helps.

 

Tom (Chicago): The Cubs have yet to sign any of their top 15 draft picks. What are your thoughts? Are they signing them to overslot bonuses which is holding up the announcements?

 

 

Jim Callis: I don't think it means anything--they'll sign their share of their top picks. Rumors are that Zeke DeVoss (third round) is on the verge of signing. None of the early first-rounder has signed yet, so don't worry about Javier Baez, and second-rounder Dan Vogelbach was seeking $1.65 million. Fourth-rounder Tony Zych fell further than expected, so he'll probably be over-slot too.

 

 

 

So based on the fact that he said he had Szczur at #44 and Jackson slightly ahead of him that implies that he's around#40 or so.