Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-13-11

[Northside Blues]

I wish they would just stick him at third and quit moving him between the corners just so LeMahieu and Flaherty can get some action at third. Vitters needs all the reps he can get at 3B.

 

My hunch is that they are fairly set on Vitters going to first base, provided that someone can emerge at 3rd (namely, LeMahieu). If LeMahieu's power stroke develops, it wouldn't surprise me if they made third his, and just shifted Vitters to first full-time.

 

So they're going to shift Pujols back to 3B then?

Pujols at 3B, Fielder at 1B, and trade the farm for Ichiro and King Felix. Now THAT'S what I call all in.

 

Of course, Cubs do that. Felix gets hurt. Ichiro runs into a wall and Fielder goes vegan.

 

And Pujols stops hitting because he's secretly 45.

[Guest]

4/13 at Fitch: http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/04/13/davis-debut-spoiled-cutspec

 

Doug Davis is bad in his debut. Starling Peralta, the top Cubs pitching prospect in the DSL last year, made his 2011 US debut and did well. But the interesting stuff is in the comments:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]TIM: As of right now I would say RHP Matt Loosen, LHP Casey Harman, and RHP Luis Liria would be the pitchers most-likely to get moved-up to Peoria if and when there is an opening there. Both Loosen and Liria can either start or relieve (or "piggyback"), while Harman has been primed strictly as a lefty reliever going back to AZ Instructs last fall (when he made his pro debut).

 

Kyung-Min Na and Jesus Morelli are probably the only two OF now at EXST who might get moved up to Peoria. Na is the most improved player at Fitch Park (he's another Tony Campana), and he actually was with the Peoria squad right up until the last day of Minor League Camp, until he got bumped so that Smaily Borges could mentor fellow Cuban defectors Silva and Serrano.

 

Morelli was with the Daytona squad for most of Minor League Camp, but he was bumped by Ha, Crawford, Burgess and N. Perez at Daytona and then by Silva, Szczur, Borges, and Fitzgerald at Peoria, and was ultimately left at EXST as a potential injury replacement for Peoria or Daytona. Morelli is a good hitter and can play all three OF positions, but if he doesn't develop some HR power he probably has little future in pro ball, because he doesn't have much plate discipline, and he isn't particularly fast either.

 

Blair Springfield has been a bust so far and will be lucky to make it to Boise. The Cubs may try moving him back to the infield (he was a SS-CF in HS) before they give up on him, with 2B the most-likely position.

 

Also, 2010 #2 draft pick Reggie Golden is fat and out of shape, and it is a foregone conclusion that he will probably play with a short season team this summer, the only question being whether it will be AZL Cubs (Mesa) or Boise. He really needs to lose some weight.

 

As far as the infielders are concerned, both Pin-Chieh Chen and Wes Darvill spent most of Minor League Camp with the Peoria squad, and so either could get moved up to Peoria if needed. Darvill can play SS-2B and Chen can play 2B-LF-CF.

 

I took out about 6 paragraphs from that comment which would provide interesting too so I'd recommend the link.

[craig]

Interesting that he perceives "Campana" Na as having progressed.

 

Not an effective outing for Kim, 7 hits in 3 innings.

 

Interesting to get the info no Harman, I'd figured he'd be starting at daytona. That he's straight Loogy and he couldn't make a full-season squad probably isn't inspiring in terms of how good he (didn't) look in fall and spring. but I'm still hopeful.

 

A month ago there was an article in which Wilken was optimistic about Geiger and Darvill, and of course Darvill was so highly projected that they brought him to Camp Colvin. Unfortunately from Phil's ST boxes and these early XST boxes, neither of those guys seems to have improved any. And Darvill seems like he makes an error every time he plays.

 

Also kind of disappointing that a month after getting to camp, that Golden is still so fat. I'd have guessed that a month of hard work in the hot sun might have made a difference already.

[Rob]

Interesting that he perceives "Campana" Na as having progressed.

 

Not an effective outing for Kim, 7 hits in 3 innings.

 

Interesting to get the info no Harman, I'd figured he'd be starting at daytona. That he's straight Loogy and he couldn't make a full-season squad probably isn't inspiring in terms of how good he (didn't) look in fall and spring. but I'm still hopeful.

 

A month ago there was an article in which Wilken was optimistic about Geiger and Darvill, and of course Darvill was so highly projected that they brought him to Camp Colvin. Unfortunately from Phil's ST boxes and these early XST boxes, neither of those guys seems to have improved any. And Darvill seems like he makes an error every time he plays.

 

Also kind of disappointing that a month after getting to camp, that Golden is still so fat. I'd have guessed that a month of hard work in the hot sun might have made a difference already.

 

The thing is, there's a right way and a wrong way to lose weight. If you're trying to take too much off too fast, you'll just end up losing a lot of muscle mass. Aside from the first ten pounds or so which is mostly water weight, trying to lose any more than about 1-2 pounds a week is going to hurt more than it helps.