Minor League Discussion & Boxes 5-18-10

[TruffleShuffle]

great start for archer. whitenack was terrible. burke seems to be a mess right now.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2010/05/18/giants-take-two-cubs-scottsdale

 

Chris Huseby DHed again. Wes Darvill made his 9th and 10th errors in 20 ExST games (6 games at 2B, 14 games at SS). Solid 3-inning outing for Austin Kirk.

 

DH? Wasnt Huseby a pretty good closer for 1 of the A teams last year? Why are they trying to convert him? And wasnt Wes Darvill a pitcher as well?

 

Not necessarily sure Huseby will be converted. This was his second game down in Arizona DHing. He was a really good closer last season for Peoria, but had Steve Blass disease the year before and reacquired it this season.

 

Darvill was drafted as a shortstop out of Canada last year though given his size, he's likely to move to 2B or 3B.

[scarey]

Does anyone know what pitches Hung-Wen Chen throws? I was pretty excited about him going into last year, then he crapped the bed and I lost interest quickly. He rebounded for a pretty decent second half and has started out well this year. I just still worry that he doesn't get a whole lot of strikeouts. If he has a good change up or sinker though, there's hope he could be a Randy Wells type.

[Guest]

Does anyone know what pitches Hung-Wen Chen throws? I was pretty excited about him going into last year, then he crapped the bed and I lost interest quickly. He rebounded for a pretty decent second half and has started out well this year. I just still worry that he doesn't get a whole lot of strikeouts. If he has a good change up or sinker though, there's hope he could be a Randy Wells type.

 

When he signed with the Cubs in 2007, Steve Wilson said this about him:

 

Taiwan Baseball Blogspot[/url]"]Chen Hung-Wen: He's the equivalent of a college junior sign in the States. Very polished pitcher, he has the ablility to throw 5 pitches, and has pretty good command of all of them. Pitches comfortably at 89, but will get it up to 91-94 in a closer situation. Has a usable curve, and slider which can be tightened up, but his split can be an out pitch vs. lefties in the big leagues I feel. He can move his fb around, and has a feel for pitching. He's a good athlete, fields his position well, and is tough on the mound.

 

Some eyewitness reports last year had his FB in the mid-80s so hopefully his velocity has jumped back up (of course Wilson could have been pumping up his signing and Chen could always have been a mid-80s guy).

[davell]

Archer's last 4 starts: 20.2 IP 7H 0ER 7W 24K

 

Not exactly shabby, huh? :D

[biittner77]

great start for archer. whitenack was terrible. burke seems to be a mess right now.

 

How soon before he gets promoted to Daytona? Didn't he spend all of last year in high A?

 

As far as Jackson to the pen, I think he's one more Caridad ineffective inning away from a callup.

[KingCubsFan]

Good to see Larry Suarez finding a role, although it's strange he basically pitches 2 innings every appearance. If they were stretching him out to be in the starting rotation, you'd think his outings would be longer by now.

[Guest]

great start for archer. whitenack was terrible. burke seems to be a mess right now.

 

How soon before he gets promoted to Daytona? Didn't he spend all of last year in high A?

 

I assume you're referring to Archer, right? He was at Peoria all of last season and he's at Daytona now.

 

Good to see Larry Suarez finding a role, although it's strange he basically pitches 2 innings every appearance. If they were stretching him out to be in the starting rotation, you'd think his outings would be longer by now.

 

I don't think there's any plan to stretch him out at least for a while. He was doing 2 inning outings at extended before he was promoted and there are a few starters already at Peoria ahead of him (Whitenack, Searle, Struck, Antigua, Jung, McNutt and Nagel is piggybacking). Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see him start.

[Guest]

Daytona News-Journal[/url]"]"(The homer) didn't bother me to the extent where I thought about it," said Archer, whose Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak. "I left the ball up and he hit it out. That happens. I knew if I executed pitches I'd be fine."

 

The execution from that point on was nearly perfect.

 

The 21-year-old right-hander from Clayton, N.C., retired the last 16 batters he faced, including one stretch in which he struck out five consecutive batters.

 

In six full innings, he registered a season-high 10 strikeouts and no walks against a St. Lucie team that ranks first in the Florida State League in batting.

 

"I've been working on my mechanics, and (Tuesday) it all came together and I was in that zone," Archer said. "I understand that I'm not going to be there every game, but I was happy to get there and be able to harness all of it (Tuesday)."

[NCCubFan]

Daytona News-Journal[/url]"]"(The homer) didn't bother me to the extent where I thought about it," said Archer, whose Cubs snapped a three-game losing streak. "I left the ball up and he hit it out. That happens. I knew if I executed pitches I'd be fine."

 

The execution from that point on was nearly perfect.

 

The 21-year-old right-hander from Clayton, N.C., retired the last 16 batters he faced, including one stretch in which he struck out five consecutive batters.

 

In six full innings, he registered a season-high 10 strikeouts and no walks against a St. Lucie team that ranks first in the Florida State League in batting.

 

"I've been working on my mechanics, and (Tuesday) it all came together and I was in that zone," Archer said. "I understand that I'm not going to be there every game, but I was happy to get there and be able to harness all of it (Tuesday)."

I didn't realize he's from Clayton, NC. That's only about half an hour from where I live. He should feel right at home whenever he gets promoted to Tennessee and comes to Carolina to play.

[questionmarkgrace]

I think the main reason why Jay is pitching in the bullpen in AAA is because of Shark. The Cubs brought Shark up to the bullpen after only being a starter in the minors, and has pretty much sucked, and has said its hard getting used to being a reliever when you have always been a starter. So the Cubs hear this, and think "hey we plan on calling Jay up to the major league bullpen soon, so we better get him some outings in AAA out of the pen, so its easier for him". Not saying its right or wrong, but thats exactly what I think the Cubs are thinking regarding Jackson

 

 

You know, its sad but that is exactly how cubs management thinks.