Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-20-11

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/04/20/cubs-pitchers-loosen-rockies-19-strikeouts

 

Doug Davis and Todd Wellemeyer did well while rehabbing at Fitch but Matt Loosen stole the show with 2.2 scoreless, striking out all 8 batters he retired. Yao-Lin Wang also had a good outing. It sounds like Loosen is the most likely pitcher to get called up to Peoria in case of an injury or promotion.

[Rob]

wsr HATES jr mathes

 

I know every organization has a JR Mathes or 2 or 3 stashed in their AAA affiliate, and we have 3, but It does frustrate me that we have him, Diamond, and B-D in the rotation with an actual prospect in Chris Carpenter in middle relief. And then the Iowa rotation was made even more pointless with the Ortiz signing. Maybe the assumption is that he would be more useful as a reliever if needed for the big league club, but as we found out early this season, you can never have too much starting pitching depth. The only big league ready starters we really had on the farm were Carpenter and Jackson, and Jacksons either injured or working out some kind of issue at Fitch. Have we been given a definitive answer as to why Carpenter is in the pen?

 

Carpenter isn't in the pen because he's blocked by guys like Mathes.

 

He's in the pen because:

 

1.) His stuff plays way up in relief.

2.) His lack of a good third pitch becomes less of a problem in relief.

3.) He's got significant durability concerns.

4.) His control issues were leading to high early pitch counts and therefore an inability to work deep into ballgames.

 

It was the right thing to do to have a good prospect like him start his career in the rotation. Regardless of whether or not the Cubs thought he was going to end up a starter, it wasn't a bad idea to give him extra reps to work on his control and maybe develop a good changeup. But ultimately this was always the most likely outcome.

 

The good news is that the fact the Cubs have bothered to officially convert him to the pen means that they likely see him as being close to major league ready. If they thought he would still need all the extra reps, they wouldn't have made the conversion this soon.

[Rob]

lake and ha had doubles in the bottom of the first for daytona, and burgess hit his fifth home run. now if only burgess would start developing some other tools.

 

I wish that Ha wasn't allergic to taking walks, but if he wants to hit .415 I won't stop him.

 

I'm starting to get behind the idea of aggressive promotions for guys with excellent hit tools and an impatient approach. Either they keep hitting (Castro) or they falter a bit and maybe find themselves in a position where they need to change their approach at the plate to find success. (Vitters?)

 

Sometimes the struggle is necessary.

[CubsWin]

lake and ha had doubles in the bottom of the first for daytona, and burgess hit his fifth home run. now if only burgess would start developing some other tools.

 

I wish that Ha wasn't allergic to taking walks, but if he wants to hit .415 I won't stop him.

 

I'm starting to get behind the idea of aggressive promotions for guys with excellent hit tools and an impatient approach. Either they keep hitting (Castro) or they falter a bit and maybe find themselves in a position where they need to change their approach at the plate to find success. (Vitters?)

 

Sometimes the struggle is necessary.

I agree. It's the only way to makes sense out of the way the Cubs have promoted Vitters. And when you think about it, it's pretty smart.

[nick23]

wsr HATES jr mathes

 

I know every organization has a JR Mathes or 2 or 3 stashed in their AAA affiliate, and we have 3, but It does frustrate me that we have him, Diamond, and B-D in the rotation with an actual prospect in Chris Carpenter in middle relief. And then the Iowa rotation was made even more pointless with the Ortiz signing. Maybe the assumption is that he would be more useful as a reliever if needed for the big league club, but as we found out early this season, you can never have too much starting pitching depth. The only big league ready starters we really had on the farm were Carpenter and Jackson, and Jacksons either injured or working out some kind of issue at Fitch. Have we been given a definitive answer as to why Carpenter is in the pen?

 

Carpenter isn't in the pen because he's blocked by guys like Mathes.

 

He's in the pen because:

 

1.) His stuff plays way up in relief.

2.) His lack of a good third pitch becomes less of a problem in relief.

3.) He's got significant durability concerns.

4.) His control issues were leading to high early pitch counts and therefore an inability to work deep into ballgames.

 

It was the right thing to do to have a good prospect like him start his career in the rotation. Regardless of whether or not the Cubs thought he was going to end up a starter, it wasn't a bad idea to give him extra reps to work on his control and maybe develop a good changeup. But ultimately this was always the most likely outcome.

 

The good news is that the fact the Cubs have bothered to officially convert him to the pen means that they likely see him as being close to major league ready. If they thought he would still need all the extra reps, they wouldn't have made the conversion this soon.

Also weren't there reports of him consistently pitching in the upper 90's out of the pen in the AFL?

[Rob]

wsr HATES jr mathes

 

I know every organization has a JR Mathes or 2 or 3 stashed in their AAA affiliate, and we have 3, but It does frustrate me that we have him, Diamond, and B-D in the rotation with an actual prospect in Chris Carpenter in middle relief. And then the Iowa rotation was made even more pointless with the Ortiz signing. Maybe the assumption is that he would be more useful as a reliever if needed for the big league club, but as we found out early this season, you can never have too much starting pitching depth. The only big league ready starters we really had on the farm were Carpenter and Jackson, and Jacksons either injured or working out some kind of issue at Fitch. Have we been given a definitive answer as to why Carpenter is in the pen?

 

Carpenter isn't in the pen because he's blocked by guys like Mathes.

 

He's in the pen because:

 

1.) His stuff plays way up in relief.

2.) His lack of a good third pitch becomes less of a problem in relief.

3.) He's got significant durability concerns.

4.) His control issues were leading to high early pitch counts and therefore an inability to work deep into ballgames.

 

It was the right thing to do to have a good prospect like him start his career in the rotation. Regardless of whether or not the Cubs thought he was going to end up a starter, it wasn't a bad idea to give him extra reps to work on his control and maybe develop a good changeup. But ultimately this was always the most likely outcome.

 

The good news is that the fact the Cubs have bothered to officially convert him to the pen means that they likely see him as being close to major league ready. If they thought he would still need all the extra reps, they wouldn't have made the conversion this soon.

Also weren't there reports of him consistently pitching in the upper 90's out of the pen in the AFL?

 

I was trying to say that with bullet point #1. But yeah, in relief he's hit the upper 90s on his fastball. BA's prospect handbook even has him hitting 100.

[Guest]

Carpenter hit 100 in a regular season game last year so I don't doubt he could repeat that coming out of the pen.

 

I'd gladly push Carpenter to the pen if it means Cashner can start.

[craig]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/04/20/cubs-pitchers-loosen-rockies-19-strikeouts

 

Doug Davis and Todd Wellemeyer did well while rehabbing at Fitch but Matt Loosen stole the show with 2.2 scoreless, striking out all 8 batters he retired. Yao-Lin Wang also had a good outing. It sounds like Loosen is the most likely pitcher to get called up to Peoria in case of an injury or promotion.

 

Cal or anybody else, What do we know about Loosen from his draft reports? Was he a slot guy or an overslot with potential and a supposedly good arm? Just curious whether he might be serious, or just a college pitcher taking advantage of teenagers.

 

Cal, do you recall seeing Austin Reed's name in any of Phil's reports? I'm assuming he's hurt or something?

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/04/20/cubs-pitchers-loosen-rockies-19-strikeouts

 

Doug Davis and Todd Wellemeyer did well while rehabbing at Fitch but Matt Loosen stole the show with 2.2 scoreless, striking out all 8 batters he retired. Yao-Lin Wang also had a good outing. It sounds like Loosen is the most likely pitcher to get called up to Peoria in case of an injury or promotion.

 

Cal or anybody else, What do we know about Loosen from his draft reports? Was he a slot guy or an overslot with potential and a supposedly good arm? Just curious whether he might be serious, or just a college pitcher taking advantage of teenagers.

 

Cal, do you recall seeing Austin Reed's name in any of Phil's reports? I'm assuming he's hurt or something?

 

I vaguely remember reading a report a couple of weeks ago where Reed got in a few innings. I can't find it now though.

 

I don't know anything about Loosen. He didn't get overslot since MLB would have listed that.

[Guest]

Even before last night, Cubs center fielder Brett Jackson had been one of the best hitters in the minor leagues this season.

 

Last night's performance for Double-A Tennessee only padded Jackson's stats, as he was just a single short of the cycle, though he did trot down to first base once thanks to a walk. The Cubs' top prospect, Jackson has reached base in all 13 games he's played in this year, hitting .419/.544/.721 with six steals in eight attempts.

 

Pitchers have attacked the 22-year-old Jackson with breaking balls to get him to swing and miss, but while he'll never be a pure contact hitter, Jackson does a good job of not expanding his strike zone. He recognizes ball and strikes and lays off pitches outsize of the zone, which is why he drew 73 walks last year and already has 12 this year.

 

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2011/04/thursday-dish-jackson-nearly-hits-for-cycle/