Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-20-11

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa lost 4-3 Box Score

 

RF F. Perez 2/3, BB, 2 R, K, SB (16)

PH B. Snyder 0/0, BB

CF T. Colvin 2/5, R, K

2B B. Scales 1/4, BB, RBI, CS (5)

3B M. Smith 2/3, RBI

1B B. LaHair 0/1

1B/3B S. Moore 0/3, RBI, 2 K

LF T. Wright 1/4

SS J. Mota 1/4, 2B (10), K, E (6, fielding)

C C. Robinson 0/4, K

C W. Castillo 0/1

SP R. Ortiz 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 1 HR, Balk, 10-2 GO-FO

RP M. Mateo 1 perfect, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Daytona lost 3-1 Box Score

 

LF E. Crawford 2/5, K

2B M. Cerda 0/2, 2 BB, E (9, fielding)

CF JH Ha 1/4, RBI, K

1B J. Bour 0/4

C M. Brenly 0/4

DH M. Burgess 0/4, K

RF R. Silva 1/3, BB, K, Assist (Home)

SS L. Watkins 0/1, 3 BB, R, K, SB (8)

SP A. Guzman 1.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2-1 GO-FO

RP O. Martinez 1.1 perfect, 0-3 GO-FO

RP Z. Rosscup 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1-4 GO-FO

RP J. Antigua 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, WP, 2-0 GO-FO

RP J. Latham 1 perfect, 3 K

 

Boise lost 9-4 Box Score

 

CF PC Chen 2/4, R, RBI

2B B. Zapenas 2/5, RBI, 2 2B (2), 2 K

LF B. Klafczynski 0/5

DH P. Hoilman 1/4, BB, R, RBI, HR (1), K

C Y. Cabeza 1/4

3B W. Contreras 0/4, 2 K

RF R. Golden 2/4, R, 3B (1), K, E (2, throw)

SS W. Darvill 1/3, BB, R, E (2, fielding)

SP W. Cruz 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K, WP, 2-1 GO-FO

RP S. Rodriguez 1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, HBP, 1-0 GO-FO

RP H. Mayora 1.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 WP, HBP, 3-0 GO-FO

 

AZL Cubs lost 8-5 Box Score

 

CF O. Zapata 2/5, R, RBI, SB (1)

2B G. Amaya 2/5, R, 2 K

SS M. Hernandez 1/4, BB, RBI, K, SB (1)

3B D. Geiger 2/5, R, 2B (1), 3B (1), K

DH DY Kim 0/4, K

LF E. Gonzalez 3/4, R

SP S. Peralta 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, WP, 3-0 GO-FO

RP F. Pena 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO

RP J. Pugilese 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, Balk, 0-2 GO-FO

 

DSL Cubs 1 lost 4-3 Box Score

 

SS F. Sanchez 1/3, BB, K, SB (3)

CF J. Baez 1/4, R, 2B (4), K, CS (2)

1B X. Batista 2/4, RBI, K, E (1, pickoff)

RP Y. Morel 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 4-3 GO-FO

RP A. Colinas 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO

RP A. Frias 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 2 E (pickoff x 2)

RP Y. De La Cruz 1 perfect, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO

 

DSL Cubs 2 won 8-2 Box Score

 

SS C. Penalver 3/4, 2 BB, R, 2 RBI, 2B (4), E (5, fielding)

3B J. Candelario 1/6, R, 3 RBI

RF D. Arcila 1/3, 2 BB, R, RBI, 2B (4)

DH W. Petit 1/4, HBP

2B A. Gonzalez 0/3, BB, R, K

 

Tennessee and Peoria with the day off

 

OVERALL: 1-5

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Ramon Ortiz (5-2, 4.48 ERA, 82.1 IP, 64 K, 18 BB)

Daytona: TBA

Boise: LHP Willengton Cruz (2010 in the DSL: 4-0, 1.90 ERA, 52 IP, 59 K, 32 BB)

 

No idea on the AZL Cubs.

[craig]

Welington Castillo had gone 12 for 17 with 4 HR, 3 doubles, and 13 RBI over a 5-game stretch before K'ing his last two AB on Saturday. Breaking a totally un-Castillo-like 6-game streak without a strikeout. He sat out yesterday, and is not playing today either. Just an unusual 2-days-off-in-a-row rest? Or an injury? Or has he gotten called up or something? He's been the only reason to check the Iowa box scores for a while. (Although I do check to see how Colvin is doing, and he may be starting to get going a little...)

 

Castillo has a 1.02 OPS at Iowa after 29 games, with 9 HR's.

[BeerHere]

Welington Castillo had gone 12 for 17 with 4 HR, 3 doubles, and 13 RBI over a 5-game stretch before K'ing his last two AB on Saturday. Breaking a totally un-Castillo-like 6-game streak without a strikeout. He sat out yesterday, and is not playing today either. Just an unusual 2-days-off-in-a-row rest? Or an injury? Or has he gotten called up or something? He's been the only reason to check the Iowa box scores for a while. (Although I do check to see how Colvin is doing, and he may be starting to get going a little...)

 

Castillo has a 1.02 OPS at Iowa after 29 games, with 9 HR's.

 

My guess is he has an injury. The organization seems to love Hill. It wouldn't be difficult to convince me to that shopping Soto is the right thing to do considering the disaster this team has become. If he could return a good pitching prospect or two to clear a spot for "Cassie" I'd be all for it.

 

Of course this is the Cubs we're talking about. I wouldn't be surprised if he were demoted to Tennessee on Sunday.

[toonsterwu]

I'm still mildly surprised that Cruz is a starter and Austin Reed is in that piggyback role. Of course, early in Boise's season, so they may just be sorting things out. Cruz definitely is intriguing, so it's more Austin in the piggyback role that is surprising to me.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

What is the perspective on Wellington? Do people see him as a solid defensive MLB catch with plus offensive skills? Maybe a Benjie Molina type? Seems to have solid power, does he have the ability to be a .270/.330/.470 player? Is he worth trying to trade Soto for a key prospect or two?

[davell]

What is the perspective on Wellington? Do people see him as a solid defensive MLB catch with plus offensive skills? Maybe a Benjie Molina type? Seems to have solid power, does he have the ability to be a .270/.330/.470 player? Is he worth trying to trade Soto for a key prospect or two?

 

 

It's kind of the million dollar question really......I'm a big fan of Soto, but I'm not going to delude myself into thinking he's a true longterm answer for us either, because of both his age and his good year-bad year deal he evidently has going on, I kind of hope we DO trade him before he hits FA anyway, because I really don't feel comfortable giving him a 3-4 year deal that takes him into his mid 30's........That said, I'm not sure his trade value is where we think it should be either, so trading him now is certainly a risk, unless we get a damn good return and I'm not holding my breath there......

 

I'm not sure what to think about Castillo though either. I'd put it at 50-50 as to whether he's a starting catcher for a formidable big league club. I've heard "lazy" more than once when talking about his defensive abaility and his pitch calling. Probably not the guy pitchers love to see back there.(different question entirely though, as to whether or not that really matters, but Koyie Hill has stuck around much longer than anyone ever thought he could evidently by being "that guy". My guess is Castillo can be a .250/.300/.420ish type guy that provides adequate defense. Is that worthy of being our starter? I'm not sure, but if it's not him, I don't see anyone else in our system that's going to be ready for 3 years or so(Gibbs) and then I'm not sure he'll even be able to approach THOSE offensive numbers.

[TruffleShuffle]

angel guzman pitched for daytona and gave up 3 hits in 1.2 innings while striking out 2.

[tmicmiller]

Please trade Soto...

 

Tampa, Boston, someone will over pay for Soto. Remember, Chirnos was an important part of the Garza deal because catching is such a premium. Catching just happens to be an area of depth for the Cubs with Castillo and Clevenger close to ready and I think Max Ramirez is still kicking around at Iowa. Long term, it is probably Gibbs.

 

Soto gets hurt too often, is up and down, and is about to get really expensive. Let's trade him now.

[TruffleShuffle]

chirinos was most certainly not an important part of the garza deal.

 

also, soto is not about to get really expensive.

[craig]

I'm still mildly surprised that Cruz is a starter and Austin Reed is in that piggyback role. Of course, early in Boise's season, so they may just be sorting things out. Cruz definitely is intriguing, so it's more Austin in the piggyback role that is surprising to me.

 

I wonder if Reed hasn't been very good. It's seemed he got some buzz last year from Az Phil, and he had a couple of eye-catching games which led to good small-sample numbers. But from Phil's game reports this spring, he's seemed to have pitched poorly in most of the box scores that I've seen. I wonder if he isn't a guy who came in with a good arm and some good stuff but inconsistent wild, and he's been more inconsistent wild than improved this spring. We'll see. Hopefully his stuff is good and his control gets better.

[SouthSideRyan]

chirinos was most certainly not an important part of the garza deal.

 

also, soto is not about to get really expensive.

 

And Max Ramirez is gone.

[tmicmiller]

If I remember correctly, we had discussions with Texas about Chris Davis centered around either Castillo or Chirinos. The rumor was Texas wanted to flip either to Tampa for Garza...of course built around a deal with other more premium prospects like our Archer and Lee. Not saying he was the lynch pin in the deal, but Tampa obviously liked him which is why Texas was after him.

 

Soto is arbitration eligible for the second time....guessing he will be in the 5 million per year range next year. I'd rather have Castillo for 400k. I really don't want Soto locked up on a FA deal. He is good every other year, and gets hurt all the time.

[TruffleShuffle]

lineup for the AZL cubs in their opener:

 

o. zapata, cf (18 years old)

g. amaya, 2b (18)

m. hernandez, ss (18)

d. geiger, 3b (19)

b. inoa, 1b (20)

b. springfield, rf (20)

d. kim, dh (20)

j. dejesus, c (22)

e. gonzalez, lf (19)

 

starling peralta (20 years old) started and got knocked around in the first inning (4 h, 3 r) but was better in the second inning, and has 4 K's against 0 BB.

[Guest]

Please trade Soto...

 

Tampa, Boston, someone will over pay for Soto. Remember, Chirnos was an important part of the Garza deal because catching is such a premium. Catching just happens to be an area of depth for the Cubs with Castillo and Clevenger close to ready and I think Max Ramirez is still kicking around at Iowa. Long term, it is probably Gibbs.

 

Soto gets hurt too often, is up and down, and is about to get really expensive. Let's trade him now.

 

Max Ramirez hasn't been in the Cubs organization for over a month.

[Guest]

lineup for the AZL cubs in their opener:

 

o. zapata, cf (18 years old)

g. amaya, 2b (18)

m. hernandez, ss (18)

d. geiger, 3b (19)

b. inoa, 1b (20)

b. springfield, rf (20)

d. kim, dh (20)

j. dejesus, c (22)

e. gonzalez, lf (19)

 

starling peralta (20 years old) started and got knocked around in the first inning (4 h, 3 r) but was better in the second inning, and has 4 K's against 0 BB.

 

The biggest prospects are Amaya, Hernandez, Geiger, Kim and starting pitcher Peralta.

 

Willengton Cruz: 2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K thus far for Boise.

[TruffleShuffle]

is it accurate that dong-yub kim hasn't played a game besides extended spring training and those ones in the australian academy? seems kind of weird considering that he got a $550k bonus in march 2009 and will turn 21 this summer.

[Guest]

is it accurate that dong-yub kim hasn't played a game besides extended spring training and those ones in the australian academy? seems kind of weird considering that he got a $550k bonus in march 2009 and will turn 21 this summer.

 

Correct. Last year was his first season stateside but it was cut short in extended due to shoulder surgery.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Please trade Soto...

 

Tampa, Boston, someone will over pay for Soto. Remember, Chirnos was an important part of the Garza deal because catching is such a premium. Catching just happens to be an area of depth for the Cubs with Castillo and Clevenger close to ready and I think Max Ramirez is still kicking around at Iowa. Long term, it is probably Gibbs.

 

Soto gets hurt too often, is up and down, and is about to get really expensive. Let's trade him now.

 

Max Ramirez hasn't been in the Cubs organization for over a month.

 

Hes been signed by and released by the Astros since.

[TruffleShuffle]

is it accurate that dong-yub kim hasn't played a game besides extended spring training and those ones in the australian academy? seems kind of weird considering that he got a $550k bonus in march 2009 and will turn 21 this summer.

 

Correct. Last year was his first season stateside but it was cut short in extended due to shoulder surgery.

 

ah ok, didn't realize that... thanks.

 

mixed results for the two starters in short season ball tonight... both nice strikeout rates and good control, but both hittable. so far:

 

s. peralta: 4 ip, 7 h (6 singles, 1 triple), 4 er, 1 bb, 7 k.

w. cruz: 3 ip, 4 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 1 bb, 6 k.

 

peralta has shown good control in the DSL, whereas cruz had 75 bb in 90 ip coming into this year.

[Guest]

is it accurate that dong-yub kim hasn't played a game besides extended spring training and those ones in the australian academy? seems kind of weird considering that he got a $550k bonus in march 2009 and will turn 21 this summer.

 

Correct. Last year was his first season stateside but it was cut short in extended due to shoulder surgery.

 

ah ok, didn't realize that... thanks.

 

mixed results for the two starters in short season ball tonight... both nice strikeout rates and good control, but both hittable. so far:

 

s. peralta: 4 ip, 7 h (6 singles, 1 triple), 4 er, 1 bb, 7 k.

w. cruz: 3 ip, 4 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 1 bb, 6 k.

 

peralta has shown good control in the DSL, whereas cruz had 75 bb in 90 ip coming into this year.

 

To be fair to Willengton Cruz, his control was horrid his first year in the DSL and much improved last season.

[toonsterwu]

I'm still mildly surprised that Cruz is a starter and Austin Reed is in that piggyback role. Of course, early in Boise's season, so they may just be sorting things out. Cruz definitely is intriguing, so it's more Austin in the piggyback role that is surprising to me.

 

I wonder if Reed hasn't been very good. It's seemed he got some buzz last year from Az Phil, and he had a couple of eye-catching games which led to good small-sample numbers. But from Phil's game reports this spring, he's seemed to have pitched poorly in most of the box scores that I've seen. I wonder if he isn't a guy who came in with a good arm and some good stuff but inconsistent wild, and he's been more inconsistent wild than improved this spring. We'll see. Hopefully his stuff is good and his control gets better.

 

I think there was positive pub on Reed from one of the pubs as well. I'm still under the impression, although I don't recall AzPhil noting it this spring, that his mechanics are more a work in progress. That said, kid is projectable, so here's hoping.

[Guest]

Willson Contreras has started off 0/15 at Boise.

 

In Mesa, Dustin Geiger is 2/5 and the 2 hits are a double and a triple. James Pugliese with a stellar pro debut - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

[TruffleShuffle]

Willson Contreras has started off 0/15 at Boise.

 

In Mesa, Dustin Geiger is 2/5 and the 2 hits are a double and a triple. James Pugliese with a stellar pro debut - 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K.

 

each of our decent dominican prospects (the 18 year olds - zapata, amaya, hernandez) got on base twice in 5 PA's. the donger didn't do so well in his debut, going 0-4 with a strikeout.

 

a pair of relievers were wretched for boise so that one has gotten out of hand. golden is 2-4 with a triple but made his second error of the year. darvill is 1-3 with a walk; would be nice to see him start hitting a little bit.

 

speaking of shortstops who are improving (hopefully), logan watkins drew three walks tonight. he's been a lot better in june. he really has no power so hopefully he's gotten the idea that he needs to play the little guy's game and cut down on the strikeouts.

[CubsInNC]

18th rounder James Pugliese made his debut with the AZL Cubs, pitching on schedule 2 innings and striking out 4.