Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-30-11

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa lost 7-6 Box Score

 

CF M. Byrd 1/4, HBP, Assist (3B)

RF T. Colvin 1/4, BB, 2 R, RBI

3B DJ LeMahieu 0/5, 2 K

1B B. LaHair 3/4, BB, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2B (23), HR (22)

C W. Castillo 1/4, BB, R

SS M. Gonzalez 2/3, RBI, 2 2B (3)

LF F. Perez 0/4, K

2B J. Mota 1/2, BB, HBP

PH T. Wright 0/1

SP A. Cabrera 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 3 WP, 8-3 GO-FO

RP A. Bibens-Dirkx 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2-2 GO-FO

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

 

Tennessee won 7-5 Box Score

 

CF B. Jackson 2/3, BB, 3 R

SS J. Lake 1/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (3)

2B R. Flaherty 1/3, BB, 2 R, RBI

PH R. Ridling 1/1, R, 2 RBI, 2B (11)

LF M. Spencer 1/4, 2 RBI, K

3B J. Vitters 0/4, 2 K

RF N. Perez 0/3, 2 K

C L. Flores 1/3, E (1, throw)

1B S. Clevenger 0/1

SP N. Struck 6.2 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 11-2 GO-FO

RP J. Stevens 1.1 perfect, 1 K, 1-0 GO-FO

RP K. Rhoderick 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Daytona PPD

 

Peoria lost 4-2 Box Score

 

CF M. Szczur 0/4, 2 K

RF R. Silva 0/4, K

3B G. Rohan 1/4

DH R. Jones 0/2, 2 BB, R, K

C M. Gibbs 1/4, 2 K

1B R. Cuneo 1/2, 2 BB, R

SS A. Alcantara 2/3, RBI, K, 2 PO (1B x 2), E (25, throw)

2B P. LePage 0/3, 2 K

SP E. Jokisch 6.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, HR, 6-4 GO-FO

 

Boise lost 9-3 Box Score

 

CF PC Chen 2/5

2B B. Zapenas 0/4, K

C R. Lopez 0/3, RBI, E (1, missed catch)

1B P. Hoilman 0/3, BB, K

RF R. Golden 1/4, R

DH B. Klafczynski 0/4, K

3B W. Contreras 2/3, BB, RBI

SS W. Darvill 1/4, 2 K

LF KM Na 0/1, 3 BB, 2 R

SP W. Cruz 3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HR, 3-4 GO-FO, E (1, throw)

RP D. Fitzgerald 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, HR, 2 WP, 4-0 GO-FO

 

AZL Cubs won 5-2 Box Score

 

CF O. Zapata 2/4, R, RBI, 3B (1), PO (2B)

2B G. Amaya 2/3, RBI, SB (2), E (3, missed catch)

3B D. Geiger 0/4, 2 K, E (1, fielding)

SS M. Hernandez 3/4, RBI, 2B (2), K, SB (2), CS (3)

RF G. Gonzalez 1/3

SP S. Peralta 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, WP, 6-3 GO-FO

RP A. Jimenez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2-0 GO-FO

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

 

DSL Cubs 1 won 5-4 Box Score

 

SS F. Sanchez 0/4, RBI, K

RF/LF X. Batista 1/4, R, K, SB (3)

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

SP A. Santana 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, WP, HBP, 7-3 GO-FO

RP A. Colinas 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-4 GO-FO

 

DSL Cubs 2 lost 1-0 Box Score

 

SS C. Penalver 0/3, 2 K

PH J. Candelario 0/1

DH D. Arcila 0/3, BB

C W. Petit 0/2, BB, K

RP P. Araujo 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K, WP, 3-2 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 3-4

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Alberto Cabrera (-2, 8.90 ERA, 29.1 IP, 24 K, 20 BB; overall: 7-4, 6.69 ERA, 78 IP, 58 K, 41 BB)

Tennessee: RHP Nick Struck (1-1, 1.59 ERA, 28.1 IP, 22 K, 6 BB; overall: 7-3, 2.76 ERA, 78.1 IP, 69 K, 22 BB)

Daytona: RHP Angel Guzman (0-0, 2.45 ERA, 3.2 IP, 2 K, 0 BB; overall: 0-0, 2.35 ERA, 7.2 IP, 4 K, 1 BB)

Peoria: LHP Eric Jokisch (7-2, 3.92 ERA, 66.2 IP, 51 K, 24 BB)

Boise: LHP Willengton Cruz (0-0, 3.38 ERA, 8 IP, 10 K, 3 BB)

AZL Cubs: RHP Starling Peralta (1-1, 4.50 ERA, 8 IP, 13 K, 1 BB)

[squally1313]

Should we be excited about Struck? His numbers seem decently above average, but nothing special. He'll be 21 the entire year, so putting up good numbers in AA would be pretty impressive, but he was also a 39th round pick.

 

Is he another one of those guys who's ceiling is a 3rd-4th starter? Or is there hope he could be more than that?

[TruffleShuffle]

struck pitched pretty well through the 6th but then fell apart a bit in the 7th. final line 6.2 ip, 12 h, 5 r, 4 er, 0 bb, 4 k, 11 go/2 fo, 84 pitches/62 strikes.

 

he probably profiles as a back of the rotation strike thrower, but those guys do have value (a la randy wells), rather than shelling out a few mill for the jason marquis' of the world.

 

brett jackson is 1-2 with a walk in that game. junior lake has homered.... vitters is 0-3 with 2 K's.

 

daytona got rained out... only FSL game to be rained out today :x

 

jokisch has been good - 6 ip, 2 h, 0 r, 0 bb, 7 k.

[THISisTHEyear09]

great outing so far from jokisch. he has quietly putting a pretty decent year together.

[Little Slide Rooter]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

[toonsterwu]

I'm probably much higher on Struck than most. I think he has the potential to be a mid-rotation starter. If we wanted to use numbers to designate his ceiling, I think his ceiling might be number 2 starter potential (just to be clear, I think that's a possible ceiling for him). Only 21, but more importantly, only became a full-time pitcher after joining us. He was an expensive overslot (Raisin has the number, I don't recall right now, 135K? or 125?, more than McNutt). Athletic kid, hearing that he's hitting mid-90's more this season. That said, he goes to his 2-seamer/sinker quite a bit (better pitch than reaching back and ripping with the high heat), so his average fastball velo is typically more low 90's. Solid control. Has to improve the secondary pitches, but have heard a couple times this year that the pitches, which were inconsistent last year, look sharper this year and are at least average pitches with the chance to be better (and the curve is probably above average).

[davearm2]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

[Guest]

Struck got $125,000 (McNutt got $115,000).

 

I think Struck definitely has the ceiling to be #3 starter, not just a back-end guy.

[Guest]

Only 1 strikeout per inning for Peralta tonight. :(

[TruffleShuffle]

Only 1 strikeout per inning for Peralta tonight. :(

 

6 ip, 3 h, 1 er, 1 bb, 7 k. i'll take it... seems like an obvious candidate to move up given his K/BB rate and strong performance in the DSL last year. one would think he'd be at full-season ball next year since he'll be 21.

[MWV]

And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

 

Is WSR clutching a pen in his right hand as he writes this?

[SouthSideRyan]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

 

You're right, LaHair would probably put up an OPS just under 600.

[Guest]

Only 1 strikeout per inning for Peralta tonight. :(

 

6 ip, 3 h, 1 er, 1 bb, 7 k. i'll take it... seems like an obvious candidate to move up given his K/BB rate and strong performance in the DSL last year. one would think he'd be at full-season ball next year since he'll be 21.

 

Huh, I thought there was a 5 inning cutoff for pitchers in the AZL.

 

ETA: Yep. They switched it back to 5 IP (3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K).

[davearm2]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

 

You're right, LaHair would probably put up an OPS just under 600.

McGehee OPSed .859 for MIL the year after the Cubs let him go.

 

But I bet you knew that already.

[videographer]

LaHair's problem has always been that he gets himself out on inside pitching. Also, his swing is a bit long to catch up with consistently good ML FBs. There is a reason he is still in AAA at such an advanced age and I don't think he will go farther than a AAAA player. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in Japan.

 

I hate to put a damper on the positive posts for Nick Struck, but here it goes . . . I don't think he will amount to more than a middle reliever. There is a reason why scouts shy away from RH pitchers under 6' - stamina and durability. Struck has good stuff. He also gets hit the second or third time around the order. Results in his short career suggest hitters fair poorly if they only see him for one AB. With these small nuggets of information, I suspect Struck's top end will be a go-to middle reliever with the possibility of being a set up man.

[Little Slide Rooter]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

 

You're right, LaHair would probably put up an OPS just under 600.

McGehee OPSed .859 for MIL the year after the Cubs let him go.

 

But I bet you knew that already.

It seems too me that whenever guys have somewhat of a breakout at an older age, the success is short lived. Ryan Ludwick is another example. I'm sure there are others I'm forgettiing. In fact, the only guy I can think of who made the bigs at an older age who went on to a longer, successful career is Melvin Mora, and I think he was 27 or 28.

[SouthSideRyan]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

 

You're right, LaHair would probably put up an OPS just under 600.

McGehee OPSed .859 for MIL the year after the Cubs let him go.

 

But I bet you knew that already.

 

Oh, is that what he's doing now?

[iowahawkeyes89]

If Golden keeps hitting, what are the chances he gets called up to Peoria?

[davearm2]

With home run number 22, Brian LaHair is now 2nd in HRs in all of minor league baseball behind a tax attorney by the name of Paul Goldschmidt who moonlights with the D Backs AA Club. Hes also tied with Jose Bautista for 3rd in all of baseball between, Goldschmidt and Mark Teixeira. I know that PCL numbers dont tend to translate to big league success, but I refuse to believe that this guy wouldnt be able to do something in the big leagues. If nothing else, he could probably do what Fox and Colvin did when they 1st came up. Maybe we'll find out in a few weeks when we trade Pena. And no, WSR isnt getting a boner of another almost 30 AAAA player, and no WSR doesnt think that hed be an alterntive to Pujols or Fielder. Just curious to see what he could do.

I'm sure we'll find out next year when he's raking for the Brewers as Prince Fielder's replacement, a la Casey McGehee.

 

You're right, LaHair would probably put up an OPS just under 600.

McGehee OPSed .859 for MIL the year after the Cubs let him go.

 

But I bet you knew that already.

 

Oh, is that what he's doing now?

Are you truly this incapable of following the discussion? Or are you just being an [expletive] because you think it's fun?

 

The question was asked, "just curious to see what he (LaHair) could do" in the bigleagues.

 

Well the same question was once asked about McGehee. It was answered in 2009, when he finally got a chance... with the Brewers.

 

I get that you derive some perverse amusement out of stalking and harassing me. The least you could do is be clever or funny about it. This is just pathetic... again. Not to mention, it detracts from an otherwise interesting discussion amongst mature adults. The regulars in this forum deserve better than to have this manure dumped on their threads.

[SouthSideRyan]

What exactly is your point here? That because one really really shitty baseball player had a good season, that every really shitty baseball player can do it? The fact that McGehee lucked into a good season should have zero effect on what we do with similar non-prospects. Edited July 1, 2011 by SouthSideRyan

[Guest]

If Golden keeps hitting, what are the chances he gets called up to Peoria?

 

I think he'd be better off staying at Boise all season except maybe a week tune up at Peoria to end the season. Remember, he's had less than 50 AB at Boise.

[Guest]

That said, the four 19-year old regulars at Boise are off to a nice start:

 

Pin-Chieh Chen: .385/.421/.500/.921 - 4 BB, 8 K

Reggie Golden: .319/.407/.511/.918 - 7 BB, 13 K

Wes Darvill: .308/.426/.385/.810 - 8 BB, 10 K

Willson Contreras: .277/.393/.340/.733 - 8 BB, 9 K

[Cubswin11]

Anyone know if Golden dropped some weight from where he was in spring?

[toonsterwu]

LaHair's problem has always been that he gets himself out on inside pitching. Also, his swing is a bit long to catch up with consistently good ML FBs. There is a reason he is still in AAA at such an advanced age and I don't think he will go farther than a AAAA player. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up in Japan.

 

I hate to put a damper on the positive posts for Nick Struck, but here it goes . . . I don't think he will amount to more than a middle reliever. There is a reason why scouts shy away from RH pitchers under 6' - stamina and durability. Struck has good stuff. He also gets hit the second or third time around the order. Results in his short career suggest hitters fair poorly if they only see him for one AB. With these small nuggets of information, I suspect Struck's top end will be a go-to middle reliever with the possibility of being a set up man.

 

Well, my reply would go something like this -

 

Outside of the truly elite arms in the minors, a lot of guys get hit the 3rd time through and still develop into starters. The keyword would be develop. Struck's 21, and only a full-time pitcher for 3 years. He's athletic, the secondary stuff is improving. He has a good sinker, but the secondary stuff, while showing potential, still needs work. It's certainly possible that he ends up in the pen, but if the change-up becomes more consistent and either the change-up or curveball improve a bit more (as a side note, I know some reports have tagged him with a slider, which makes sense for our system, but I've had others still say curve), he certainly would have the stuff to stay as a starter. After all, takes kids some time to learn a pitch like the change when they don't use it much. He's certainly young enough that it's hard to think that his pitches can't develop anymore. Certainly, there have been guys who have failed to develop their pitches (Jay Jackson comes to mind), so again, not discounting the possibility of the pen, but considering his age, athleticism, and improvement, I'm willing to buy on Struck. Physically, I haven't heard any real concerns about his ability to work late into games, so for now, I think it's an issue of pitch development.