Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-9-2009

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa lost 6-5 Box Score

 

CF S. Fuld 1/4, BB

C S. Clevenger 3/4, R, 3B (1), 2 RBI

1B B. Scales 3/4, 2B (10), RBI, K

SS D. Barney 0/3, R, BB, K

SP E. Caridad 6.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 6-7 GO-FO, 90-64 pitches-strikes

RP V. Perkins 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, WP, 3-1 GO-FO

 

Tennessee lost 6-3 Box Score

 

SS J. Mota 1/4, R, 2B (11)

3B M. Smith 2/4, RBI, SB (3)

DH T. Colvin 1/4, R, K

LF T. Wright 1/4, 3B (2), RBI, K

C W. Castillo 1/4, 2 K

2B N. Samson 0/3, E (2, throw)

SP A. Cashner 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 6-7 GO-FO, 85-50 pitches-strikes

RP C. Lambert 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR, 1-2 GO-FO

RP J. Ruhlman 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, HBP, 2-1 GO-FO

 

Daytona (game one) PPD: Rain

 

Daytona (game two) PPD: Rain

 

Peoria won 4-2 Box Score

 

CF D. Macias 1/4, 2B (6), RBI

2B R. Flaherty 1/4, R, K

1B R. Ridling 1/4, R, 2B (22), K

RF K. Burke 3/3, 2 R, 2 2B (30), 2 RBI, BB

DH D. Fitzgerald 0/4, 4 K

C M. Brenly 2/4, K, CS (1)

SS J. Lake 0/2, R, BB, E (24, throw)

SP A. Shafer 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, HR, 3-7 GO-FO

RP C. Huseby 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 0-1 GO-FO

 

Boise with an off day.

 

AZL Cubs lost 8-5 Box Score

 

CF F. Guzman 2/4, R, RBI, BB, SB (11)

1B J. Bour 1/5, R, RBI, 3 K

C R. Jones 1/4, R, RBI, BB, K, PB (2)

RF-2B J. Morelli 2/4

3B C. Thomas 0/3, RBI, E (2, throw)

LF G. Cook 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K

SP L. Liria 3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 5-2 GO-FO - stateside debut

RP K. McNutt 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, balk, 1-1 GO-FO

RP J. Rosario 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO - stateside debut

 

DSL Cubs 1 lost 4-0 Box Score

 

SS A. Alcantara 0/4, E (17, throw) - age 17

RF X. Batista 1/3, K, E (4, throw) - age 17

DH Y. Fuenmayor 1/3 - age 17

SP D. Estrada 3.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 3-5 GO-FO

RP R. Reyes 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO

 

DSL Cubs 2 won 9-8 with a four run 9th Box Score

 

2B V. Bieneme 1/4, RBI, 2 BB, K, 2 SB (17), E (5, throw)

SS R. Disla 2/5, 2 RBI, BB, K, 2 SB (3) - age 18

3B J. Altagracia 4/5, 3 R, 2 2B (7), HR (1), 3 RBI, 2 E (15, fielding, throw) - age 17

DH J. Gonzalez 2/3, 2 R, 3B (3), HR (3), 2 RBI, BB, HBP - age 18

SP E. Martinez 4 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HR, 6-3 GO-FO

RP A. Robles 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 4-2 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 2-4

 

MLBAAP: Roos tied the Koalas 5-5 Box Score

 

2B PC Chen 0/3, BB, 2 K, E (2, throw)

CF S. Williams 1/4, RBI

 

Overall Stats for Cubs in Australia:

 

IF Pin-Chieh Chen: 8/23, 1 2B, 1 3B, 7 BB, 5 K, 5/6 SB, 2 E - .348/.500/.478/.978

OF Sean Williams: 8/25, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 6 K, 1/3 SB - .320/.452/.520/.972

OF Dong-Yub Kim: 1/4, 0 BB, 2 K - .200/.200/.200/.400

RHP Yao-Lin Wang: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

[Outshined_One]

P Mike Perconte to Daytona

OF Cliff Anderson released

 

Link

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Esmailin Caridad (4-9, 4.18 ERA, 90.1 IP, 70 K/33 BB)

Tennessee: RHP Andrew Cashner (at Tennessee: 0-0, 1.80 ERA, 5 IP, 6 K/0 BB)*

Daytona (game one): LHP James Leverton (5-8, 4.96 ERA, 69 IP, 40 K/36 BB)

Daytona (game two): RHP Dan McDaniel (5-5, 4.24 ERA, 63.2 IP, 55 K/29 BB)

Peoria: RHP Aaron Shafer (5-5, 5.19 ERA, 59 IP, 37 K/18 BB)

AZL Cubs: LHP John Mincone (2-0, 3.12 ERA, 8.2 IP, 7 K/1 BB)

 

*Andrew Cashener at Daytona & Tennessee: 0-0, 1.53 ERA, 47 IP, 40 K/15 BB.

[Brian]

Cashner day is quickly becoming the most exciting day.

[Guest]

Casey Coleman story:

 

Naples Daily News[/url]"]“His biggest tool is he has a fastball that moves and sinks in and out of the zone,” Tollett said.

 

Coleman hasn’t hit 94 mph with the Smokies. In fact, he was hovering at 88 before hitting 93 recently.

 

“If I hit 94, it’s usually straight, so I’ve just been going around 89, 90, 91 with a lot of movement,” Coleman said. “If you’re straight in pro ball ... you can’t throw it by these guys at 94 or 95 because they see that every day. You have to keep it moving, and once you get ahead of them, you can reach back a little bit.”

 

Although he has quickly caught on, Coleman has had to make adjustments every step of the way.

 

“In college, scouts are watching you, and to get drafted pretty good, you have to show them velocity,” Coleman said. “I was out there sometimes and I just threw instead of actually pitching. Going up to Double-A, the big thing is getting ahead of hitters. They’re much more patient in Double-A and the hitters are a lot better. If it’s 2-0, it’s got to be a strike because they’re going to take a ball on you. It has to be a good pitch even on 3-0 out here, the guys swing up here. So you can’t take any count lightly.”

 

Jeff Beliveau story:

 

Peoria Journal-Star[/url]"]"There comes a point where you have walk that fine line between throwing as hard as you can and having control," Beliveau said. "It's a learning experience."

 

Beliveau impressed Chiefs manager Marty Pevey with his one appearance with the low-A Cubs in spring training.

 

"I saw him one time in the spring and in my mind I said that's our closer," Pevey said. "I caught him on a really good day. He was downhill and everything was for a strike. He got lots of swings and misses with good hitters."

 

...

 

But it wasn't until he was used as the back half of a tandem with Aaron Shafer that Beliveau started to excel. His ERA has dropped by 1.68 in seven appearances to 3.10. He's also earned the win in the last two games he's taken the mound.

 

In the wake of Chris Carpenter's promotion to Daytona, and Shafer no longer shackled by extreme pitch counts, Beliveau has moved to the rotation. He'll start for the second time in the rotation on Wednesday against Beloit.

 

"It's tough but I like it better because you know when you are going to pitch every day," Beliveau said. "You get on a schedule. You know when you are going to lift, when you are going to run so you can put yourself in the best possible position to pitch every fifth day."

[craig]

Thanks for the info, cal. Including the very interesting Huseby scouting report in the other thread.

 

The Coleman article had some good info in it. The info about good movement on his fastball was encouraging. The info that he maxed with maybe hitting only 94 last year, and that maybe only once, and perhaps only recently maxing at 93 this year, that his working velocity is below-average for a RH prospect. The article said 88, he said 88-89-91, that's usable if the movement is good and the location is good. But you aren't going to be a dominant righty when you're working at 88-91. He's going to really need to pitch, movement, command, etc.. I love how successful he's been, for a kid so young and so new. So I think he certainly has a chance to blossom into a Randy wells-type starter.

 

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=488787 It's interesting that minor league splits estimates that his fielding independent ERA could/should be 4.05 rather than 2.56. Is it all luck that a guy with so modest a K-rate, but still without an incredible GB rate, has allowed as few hits and runs and HR's as he has? I don't know. But I think his ERA may be a little deceptive. Still even if he was nearer 4 than 2.5, that would still be pretty decent for a 21-year-old in AA. So don't read this as a put-down, anybody. I just don't think he's as "dominant" or projects quite as excitingly as might be anticipated based on ERA and age alone.

 

I think about him as a Randy Wells-type possibility. But that may be a bit generous, since Wells K's a lot and always did in the minors, whereas Coleman doesn't seem to get many swings-and-misses yet. However, he just turned 22 last weekend. So perhaps his breaking ball will get better over the next coupe of years and by the time he's Wells's age, he'll have just as many K's as Randy.

 

The Belliveau article didn't have tons of scouting details, but it's interesting to read that he only started pitching before his HS senior year. The talk about high-80's-low-90's suggests he isn't overpoweringly fast, at last on his good days. The comment about trying to throw as hard as possible and having that compromise control, that might jive with the poor control he had in draft year, both in college while trying to show off for scouts, and with Cubs in trying to impress the organization. Perhaps if he's now taking a little bit off to have more control, perhaps the K's and hits allowed will become more normal. Either way, though, he must have some pretty good movement on his fastball or else have some breaking pitch that wasn't discussed to have so many K's seemingly without exceptional velocity.

 

Huseby, the report that he's been seen to touch 93, at his high end, suggests that he too isn't overpoweringly fast. But the comments on his cutter, that was great to hear. If he can be throwing a "dominant" cutter for strikes, and doing that up around 90, that's awesome. If as the scout(s) suggested both his cutter and slider are big-league pitches, and he's throwing them for strikes, that's terrific.

[Tony Thomas]

Chris Rusin is on the AZL Cubs roster. And by his age he should skip boise after he does his couple innings in AZ.

[Guest]

Rain delay to start the Daytona game.

[Outshined_One]

Thanks for the info, cal. Including the very interesting Huseby scouting report in the other thread.

 

The Coleman article had some good info in it. The info about good movement on his fastball was encouraging. The info that he maxed with maybe hitting only 94 last year, and that maybe only once, and perhaps only recently maxing at 93 this year, that his working velocity is below-average for a RH prospect. The article said 88, he said 88-89-91, that's usable if the movement is good and the location is good. But you aren't going to be a dominant righty when you're working at 88-91. He's going to really need to pitch, movement, command, etc.. I love how successful he's been, for a kid so young and so new. So I think he certainly has a chance to blossom into a Randy wells-type starter.

 

http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=488787 It's interesting that minor league splits estimates that his fielding independent ERA could/should be 4.05 rather than 2.56. Is it all luck that a guy with so modest a K-rate, but still without an incredible GB rate, has allowed as few hits and runs and HR's as he has? I don't know. But I think his ERA may be a little deceptive. Still even if he was nearer 4 than 2.5, that would still be pretty decent for a 21-year-old in AA. So don't read this as a put-down, anybody. I just don't think he's as "dominant" or projects quite as excitingly as might be anticipated based on ERA and age alone.

 

I think about him as a Randy Wells-type possibility. But that may be a bit generous, since Wells K's a lot and always did in the minors, whereas Coleman doesn't seem to get many swings-and-misses yet. However, he just turned 22 last weekend. So perhaps his breaking ball will get better over the next coupe of years and by the time he's Wells's age, he'll have just as many K's as Randy.

 

That's pretty much my read on him. There was a lot about him that I liked when I saw him (poise, movement, etc.), but nothing stuck out and made me think he could be much more than a decent middle of the rotation starter. The number of guys in MLB who are able to have great amounts of success despite throwing in the 88-92 range with their fastball is pretty minimal. You either need to have excellent secondary stuff, otherworldly movement, or fantastic command/control in order to break through that barrier. I didn't think Coleman had any of those things. Moreover, he looked like someone who had already filled out his frame. It's possible he could end up adding a tick or two to his fastball (ala Sean Gallagher), but I don't see it.

 

That's not to say he's a bad prospect, though. He's having terrific success at AA for someone who just turned 22. Sometimes these guys pan out surprisingly well and it's nice to have some more pitching depth in the Cubs system. However, because of his lack of stuff, he's going to have to prove himself at every level. He's not going to get any free passes if he struggles in AAA or the majors.

[Guest]

4 IP,3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K for Cashner on 59 pitches. Kind of odd to see the strikeouts disappear after he went 5 with 0 BB and 6 K last time out.

[Tony Thomas]

Cashner's final line 4.2 innnings. And 3 unearned runs because of a throwing error by Nate Samson that would have ended the inning.

[CubColtPacer]

Cashner tired out in the 5th but still got unlucky:

 

4 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 85 pitches, 50 strikes

 

Cashner was going to get out of his outing with no runs scored, but a throwing error on the second baseman let the 1st run score with 2 outs. Then he was replaced and Lambert let the two other runners score. So the runs column is really deceiving this time.

[Guest]

I have to say, MiLB.com's Gameday is really slow at the AA level. It just updates every 5 minutes or so.

 

The 85 pitches are a professional high for Cashner.

[Tony Thomas]

I have to say, MiLB.com's Gameday is really slow at the AA level. It just updates every 5 minutes or so.

 

The 85 pitches are a professional high for Cashner.

For the past week it hasn't worked for me.

[Little Slide Rooter]

 

 

Box Scores

 

Daytona (game one) PPD: Rain

 

Daytona (game two) PPD: Rain

 

 

Maybe sending our top prospect to a team who seems to get in a game a week wasnt a great idea.

[Tony Thomas]

Does anybody know where Brooks Raley is playing for summer because i just looked through all the Cape Cod League rosters and he wasn't there.

[Guest]

19-year old righty Luis Liria must have gotten his visa paperwork in order because he got bumped up from the DSL and is making his U.S. debut by starting for Mesa today.

[TruffleShuffle]

kyler burke is 3-3 with 2 doubles. he's got 30 doubles in 80 games this year. i still think he's an intriguing prospect.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Marquez Smith is really thriving in Tenesee, and Clevengers starting to get the hang of AAA.

[TruffleShuffle]

yeah i don't think either guy projects as a starter, but they could be acceptable backups at the big league level so that hendry might stop wasting money on the henry blancos and aaron miles of the world.

[Wrigley Rat]

Hank Williamson promoted to Iowa.

[Guest]

Does anybody know where Brooks Raley is playing for summer because i just looked through all the Cape Cod League rosters and he wasn't there.

 

I'm trying to find out. He was with the USA baseball national team trials roster but didn't make Team USA.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Hank Williamson promoted to Iowa.

 

who?

[Little Slide Rooter]

yeah i don't think either guy projects as a starter, but they could be acceptable backups at the big league level so that hendry might stop wasting money on the henry blancos and aaron miles of the world.

 

yeah, the fact is, theres no reason to sign role players like that when you have similar or better players in the minors, IE Blanco>Miles, Fuld>Gathright, Hill>Bako, and if they dont pan out, you can easily trade for those kind of players, or else dip back into the minors for the next guy.

[Outshined_One]

Hank Williamson promoted to Iowa.

 

who?

 

Relief pitcher down in Daytona; acquired in the Felix Pie trade.