Minor League Discussion & Boxes 8-3-2009

[Tony Thomas]

Tony Thomas out stealing at second base without being tagged. Kudos to someone not listening to the broadcast who can tell me why. :)

Ran out of the baseline?

[Guest]

Josh Vitters is out for the 7th consecutive game.

Is he hurt? Or is it because he is sucking so bad?

"slightly" injured hand

[Guest]

huh, in the current at bat, maestri threw a changeup that fooled the batter so badly he almost fell down.

[Guest]

two perfect innings with three k's for Maestri.

[Guest]

And you guys don't want to add Maestri to the 40-man.

[Guest]

Tony Thomas out stealing at second base without being tagged. Kudos to someone not listening to the broadcast who can tell me why. :)

Ran out of the baseline?

Nope

[Guest]

huh. I was not aware that the smokies played "go cubs go" after home victories.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Fun fact: For his career, Blake Parker is giving up a home run every 47+ innings.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I wonder how close Cashner is to major league ready. I could see him coming up and doing what Samardzjia did when he first came up last year.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My big concern for Cashner is how they transition his workload in the next year plus. If he's going to dominate people for 6 innings at a time, he's obviously got more value as a starter. But with so few innings this year, I don't want him with a starter's workload quite yet. Hopefully there will be sufficient depth in the rotation next year and Cashner can spend a full season shouldering the load of a SP before he gets thrust onto a major league team that can't afford to go easy with him if he's doing well.

[chopsx9]

Tony Thomas out stealing at second base without being tagged. Kudos to someone not listening to the broadcast who can tell me why. :)

Ran out of the baseline?

Nope

 

Batter interference?

[Guest]

BJ Ryan: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 18-7 pitches-strikes.

[Guest]

Tony Thomas out stealing at second base without being tagged. Kudos to someone not listening to the broadcast who can tell me why. :)

Ran out of the baseline?

Nope

 

Batter interference?

Ding!

[toonsterwu]

Mick's talking to Hendry on the Radio right now with Cashner pitching.

 

Talking through how the Pirates deal happened. Nothing real groundbreaking, but interesting that Hendry is there watching Cashner.

 

With the way our big league pen is, if we are in the race come late August/early September (as we should be), I really wouldn't rule anything out of the playbook. I don't think it should happen, but it wouldn't surprise me if they call up Cashner/Carpenter/Jackson, whomever, to give a twirl if the pen can't find a rhythm.

[Guest]

Mick's talking to Hendry on the Radio right now with Cashner pitching.

 

Talking through how the Pirates deal happened. Nothing real groundbreaking, but interesting that Hendry is there watching Cashner.

 

With the way our big league pen is, if we are in the race come late August/early September (as we should be), I really wouldn't rule anything out of the playbook. I don't think it should happen, but it wouldn't surprise me if they call up Cashner/Carpenter/Jackson, whomever, to give a twirl if the pen can't find a rhythm.

You'd think they'd turn to the college closer for that, most likely.

[Keener98]

Id be really tempted to see what Cashner could do out of the pen for the rest of the year.

[Keener98]

BJ Ryan: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 2 BB, 0 K, 18-7 pitches-strikes.

 

 

2 walks isnt pretty, but minor league umpires its hard telling. Im guessing he still didnt break 90 though.

[toonsterwu]

Another solid start, on paper, for Justin Bristow. I'd be curious if Nate had anything to add in regards to how Bristow has looked. 5 ip, 4 h, 2 r, 6 k's, 1 HR, 5 ground balls, 4 flyouts. Last year's draft class feels like one of those classes that Tim Wilken might be able to hang his out on, like the 03 (?) Rays draft.

[toonsterwu]

Solid enough start for James Leverton as well. 6 ip, 4 h, 1 bb, 3 K's, 2 r (1 unearned), 1 WP. 7/8 GO/FO.

 

I really wish I had an answer for what happened to Dan McDaniel. So intrigued by the kid. Best guess would be a workload issue, which might not be a bad guess. He looked so tantalizing earlier this year.

 

At the very least, I'll say this - they gave the most intriguing guys a shot at the rotation, a guy like Russell, a guy like McDaniel, a guy like Mateo. So far, none of those three have established themselves, but props to the Cubs for giving them that rotation look.

 

I'm hoping Dan gets another rotation look next year ... the potential is just so tantalizingly intriguing.

[Guest]

btw - I'm about 95% against the move of bringing up Cashner this season, even if he keeps pitching like this. First off, we'll have a bit of a 40 man crunch anyway, so adding Cashner to the 40 man now would likely cost us a player this winter.

 

Second, it's his first full season of ball, so I don't relish the thought of extending him too far. The Cubs have been very careful in upping his workload from reliever to starter (kudos on that to the team, btw). I'd hate to see him called up into an important role in the pen where he may be called upon several days in a row in the heat of a pennant race.

 

Third, I'd hate to see the Cubs start to bounce him between roles like they have with Shark. He's looking fabulous as a starter, let's leave him there.

 

 

And still I acknowledge that if they are in the playoff race with bullpen issues, they may be willing to take the risks associated with bringing him up and justifying it with the fact that you only get so many shots at the ring.

[Little Slide Rooter]

btw - I'm about 95% against the move of bringing up Cashner this season, even if he keeps pitching like this. First off, we'll have a bit of a 40 man crunch anyway, so adding Cashner to the 40 man now would likely cost us a player this winter.

 

Second, it's his first full season of ball, so I don't relish the thought of extending him too far. The Cubs have been very careful in upping his workload from reliever to starter (kudos on that to the team, btw). I'd hate to see him called up into an important role in the pen where he may be called upon several days in a row in the heat of a pennant race.

 

Third, I'd hate to see the Cubs start to bounce him between roles like they have with Shark. He's looking fabulous as a starter, let's leave him there.

 

 

And still I acknowledge that if they are in the playoff race with bullpen issues, they may be willing to take the risks associated with bringing him up and justifying it with the fact that you only get so many shots at the ring.

 

I think I agree with you. When you have some really good looking relievers down on the farm, thats who should be brought up to fill the role if relief is what you need. Thats why I dont understand why Shark is even up here when Gaub, Parker, Berg, and Ryan should all be in line for that job.

[toonsterwu]

I really hate how we've moved Shark around this year. Heck, I hated how he was rushed, although I quieted a bit when he had some early success last year. All along, I've thought he was a guy who could flash mid-rotation potential, but would he have the consistency, and might he be more valuable in the pen? Personally, I'd say yes to that, but I didn't disagree with working him as a starter. But jerking him up earlier, and then calling him up again, for essentially, junk time? Heck ... I'd rather see David Patton in there for junk time and really try to develop Samardzija as a starter, and if not, work on his secondary pitches in respect to developing it enough for him to be a pen arm (certainly, a similar effort to right now, but a different grade in focus is what I'm getting at).

[YearofDaCubs]

Cashner's updated line:

 

Player      IP  H  R  ER BB SO HR  ERA
Cashner    6.0  2  1  0  1  8  0  0.88

Cash has been ridiculously good.

[StylesClash]

Mr.Cashner is making me feel more and more confident ranking him above Starlin Castro a few days ago. And quite frankly with the way Josh Vitters continues to struggle with his K/BB ratio I'm contemplating putting Cashner ahead of him as well.

 

We can all agree on one thing: the Cubs are not among the elite organizations when it comes to improving the plate discipline of aggressive young power hitters. If Vitters were an Athletic I'd have much more confidence in his long term future. Bare minimum barring injuries Cashner will be a dominant late inning reliever. Best case scenario with continued offspeed pitch improvement he'll be a top of the rotation starter. If Vitters continues to flail away at pitchers pitches his long term future looks a lot less bright.

[Guest]

btw - I'm about 95% against the move of bringing up Cashner this season, even if he keeps pitching like this. First off, we'll have a bit of a 40 man crunch anyway, so adding Cashner to the 40 man now would likely cost us a player this winter.

 

Second, it's his first full season of ball, so I don't relish the thought of extending him too far. The Cubs have been very careful in upping his workload from reliever to starter (kudos on that to the team, btw). I'd hate to see him called up into an important role in the pen where he may be called upon several days in a row in the heat of a pennant race.

 

Third, I'd hate to see the Cubs start to bounce him between roles like they have with Shark. He's looking fabulous as a starter, let's leave him there.

 

 

And still I acknowledge that if they are in the playoff race with bullpen issues, they may be willing to take the risks associated with bringing him up and justifying it with the fact that you only get so many shots at the ring.

 

I completely agree.