Minor League Discussion & Boxes 5-5-10

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa won 9-5 Box Score

 

CF/LF J. Adduci 1/5, R, K

SS D. Barney 3/5, 2 R, 2B (4), SB (2)

RF B. Snyder 1/5, R, 2 RBI, HR (2), 2 K

1B M. Hoffpauir 1/4, BB, 2 R, RBI, 3B (1), K

2B B. Scales 1/2, 3 BB, 2 R, SB (3)

LF B. LaHair 3/5, R, 6 RBI, 2B (5), HR (2), 2 K

C W. Castillo 1/4, BB, 2 K

3B M. Camp 0/3, BB, SB (4), E (4, fielding)

SP JR Mathes 6 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, WP, 12-3 GO-FO

RP J. Stevens 2 scoreless, 2 H, 4/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO

RP B. Parker 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO

 

Tennessee lost 2-1 Box Score

 

CF T. Campana 1/4, 2B (5)

SS S. Castro 3/5

LF T. Wright 0/4

C R. Chirinos 3/4

RF M. Spencer 2/3, RBI, 2B (2), K

2B T. Thomas 1/4, PO (1B)

3B R. Flaherty 0/2, BB

PH S. Clevenger 0/1

3B J. Opitz 1/2

SP C. Muschko 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 8-7 GO-FO

RP J. Muyco 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO

RP R. Buchter 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB

RP D. Cales 1 perfect, 1-2 GO-FO

 

Daytona won 4-3 Box Score

 

CF B. Jackson 1/3, 2 BB, R, SB (5)

3B M. Gonzalez 1/5, RBI, K

RF K. Burke 0/5, 2 K

1B R. Ridling 1/5, R

DH J. Vitters 2/4, R, 2B (8), K

2B DJ LeMahieu 1/4, RBI, K

LF N. Perez 1/3, R, 2B (4), E (1, throw)

C M. Brenly 3/4, RBI, 2B (1)

SS J. Lake 0/3, BB, 2 K

SP DE Rhee 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, HBP, 10-2 GO-FO

RP C. Rusin 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3/0 K/BB, HR, 5-1 GO-FO

RP L. Sommer 1 perfect, 2-1 GO-FO

 

Peoria won 9-6 Box Score

 

SS HJ Lee 1/4, BB, R, RBI, 2B (5), K, 2 E (6, fielding x 2)

2B L. Watkins 1/4, BB, R, K

3B M. Cerda 1/4, BB, R, 2B (3)

LF G. Rohan 2/5, R, 2 RBI, K

1B J. Bour 1/3, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI

DH DJ Fitzgerald 2/3, BB, R, K

RF R. Jones 1/4, R, RBI, K

CF J. Valdez 2/4, 2 K, SB (17), CS (5), Assist (3B)

SP R. Whitenack 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR, 10-2 GO-FO

RP R. Morla 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/1 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 3-1

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: LHP JR Mathes (2-3, 5.34 ERA, 30.1 IP, 4 BB, 17 K)

Tennessee: RHP Craig Muschko (1-0, 4.13 ERA, 24 IP, 6 BB, 19 K)

Daytona: RHP Dae-Eun Rhee (1-3, 5.31 ERA, 20.1 IP, 4 BB, 13 K)

Peoria: RHP Robert Whitenack (2-1, 4.57 ERA, 21.2 IP, 7 BB, 13 K)

[bannor10]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

[jersey cubs fan]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

 

no

[SouthSideRyan]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

 

Why?

[TruffleShuffle]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

 

Why?

 

because they're both going to hit leadoff for the chicago cubs, duh

[Outshined_One]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

 

Jackson has a good deal more power than his current output has shown. I think he has a pretty good shot of being a 20-25 HR hitter in his prime. He profiles more as a middle of the order type. My guess is the Cubs are batting him at #2 to work on contact and pitch recognition, but I could be wrong.

 

Castro could be a leadoff type, but I'm not a fan of the idea since he's fairly aggressive at the plate, won't draw many walks, and has enough power to make me think he could be a #2 hitter more than anything else.

 

However, this could also be the work of their respective managers who are merely filling out lineup cards the way they think appropriate. It's hard to know without inside information.

[Guest]

Pretty nice night for the farm thus far.

 

Castro 3/5

Jackson 1/3, 2 BB, SB

Vitters 2/4, 2B, K

Lee 1/4, 2B, BB, K

Cerda 1/4, 2B, BB

Rhee 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, HBP, 10-2 GO-FO

[bannor10]

Why are the Cubs batting Castro and Jackson in the 2 hole...Shouldn't they be grooming both of these players to bat leadoff?

 

Why?

 

Great experience...Its the hardest role to file in the majors...teaches them to try to be patient..I just think you put your best hitters at 1 and 3....from there you can bat anywhere...Patterson and Pie might be bad examples but what if Patterson was groomed to be a leadoff hitter from the age of 18 instead of Dusty throwing him in there to learn how on the fly...Just thought

[Guest]

Leadoff is not a position. Corey Patterson failed at every spot in the batting order.

[lumafia]

Ideally, you would want a player in the leadoff spot that goes deep in the count (so the 2, 3 and 4 hitters can get a good look at what he is throwing), takes walks (to ge on base in front of 2, 3 and 4 hitters), hits for a high average (see: takes walks), and doesn't have much much extra base power (Otherwise he would be hitting down in the order so he can drive in runs, as opposed to simply scoring them).

 

Neither Jackson or Castro fit this mold, as both project decent extra base power. Putting these guys in the leadoff spot would be a waste of decent RBI guys.

[TruffleShuffle]

Ideally, you would want a player in the leadoff spot that goes deep in the count (so the 2, 3 and 4 hitters can get a good look at what he is throwing), takes walks (to ge on base in front of 2, 3 and 4 hitters), hits for a high average (see: takes walks), and doesn't have much much extra base power (Otherwise he would be hitting down in the order so he can drive in runs, as opposed to simply scoring them).

 

Neither Jackson or Castro fit this mold, as both project decent extra base power. Putting these guys in the leadoff spot would be a waste of decent RBI guys.

 

obviously you want rickey henderson in the leadoff spot, but unless your leadoff hitter is remarkably gifted, he's not going to hit for a high average, take walks and hit for very little power. the walks will generally start to dry up one pitchers realize you can't hurt them with extra base hits. take theriot for example - he walked a lot in 2008 but his walks were down in 2009 and down again this year. it's not that he stopped having a good eye; pitchers just attack him in the strike zone more than they did.

[jersey cubs fan]

Ideally, you would want a player in the leadoff spot that goes deep in the count (so the 2, 3 and 4 hitters can get a good look at what he is throwing), takes walks (to ge on base in front of 2, 3 and 4 hitters), hits for a high average (see: takes walks), and doesn't have much much extra base power (Otherwise he would be hitting down in the order so he can drive in runs, as opposed to simply scoring them).

 

Neither Jackson or Castro fit this mold, as both project decent extra base power. Putting these guys in the leadoff spot would be a waste of decent RBI guys.

 

It's absolutely pointless to talk about what type of player you would ideally have at the leadoff spot. You want the 8 best hitters you can put at the respective positions on the field. The Yankees have no had an ideal leadoff man during their 15 year run of dominance, but they have great hitters every season. If you have enough good hitters, one of them is going to bat leadoff and by default will do a good job there, since he's a good hitter.

[rawaction]

I don't know why you'd want anyone that "doesn't have much extra base power". Extra base hits are good. Not just in the middle of the order, but at all times. The only thing better than getting on base in front of your 2-3-4 hitters with a walk or a single is getting on with a double, triple, or having them hit with the bases empty and 1 run already on the board.

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't know why you'd want anyone that "doesn't have much extra base power". Extra base hits are good. Not just in the middle of the order, but at all times. The only thing better than getting on base in front of your 2-3-4 hitters with a walk or a single is getting on with a double, triple, or having them hit with the bases empty and 1 run already on the board.

 

But that HR would kill the rally.

[TruffleShuffle]

I don't know why you'd want anyone that "doesn't have much extra base power". Extra base hits are good. Not just in the middle of the order, but at all times. The only thing better than getting on base in front of your 2-3-4 hitters with a walk or a single is getting on with a double, triple, or having them hit with the bases empty and 1 run already on the board.

 

yeah as i mentioned above, unless you've got a phenomenal eye and great ability to foul off pitches, your walks will evaporate if you can't punish easy pitches beyond smacking them for a single. jackson and castro don't profile as prolific power guys but if you can have jeter-type power - he's averaged 33 2B, 4 3B, and 17 HR per year - you can draw a good amount of walks. if you hit like orlando cabrera then nobody will want to walk you.

[SouthSideRyan]

Ideally, you would want a player in the leadoff spot that goes deep in the count (so the 2, 3 and 4 hitters can get a good look at what he is throwing), takes walks (to ge on base in front of 2, 3 and 4 hitters), hits for a high average (see: takes walks), and doesn't have much much extra base power (Otherwise he would be hitting down in the order so he can drive in runs, as opposed to simply scoring them).

 

Neither Jackson or Castro fit this mold, as both project decent extra base power. Putting these guys in the leadoff spot would be a waste of decent RBI guys.

 

obviously you want rickey henderson in the leadoff spot, but unless your leadoff hitter is remarkably gifted, he's not going to hit for a high average, take walks and hit for very little power.

 

Including Rickey Henderson.

 

Re: Corey Patterson, grooming him to "become a leadoff hitter" was the worst thing that could've happened to him on the major league level. Same with Pie. They were obsessed with making them into slap hitting Juan Pierres, rather than letting them actually drive the ball. I mean after all they were fast black CFs, who needs power out of them. [expletive] Willie Mays, I want Willie Wilson

[biittner77]

The problem with Pie and Patterson is that neither were going to hit for the type of power you'd ideally want from a middle of the order hitter and neither showed the patience to bat at the top of the order. So the lumbering dinosaurs of the Cubs organization were faced with 2 choices: bat them near the top of the order to use their speed or "waste" their speed batting them 7th.

 

It's really a shame that the Cubs don't seem to value CF defense very much. At least not enough to let them contribute what they could from the 7th spot and play very good defense at a very important defensive spot.