Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-4-11: Peoria No-Hitter!

[davell]

Awesome for Kirk!!!!!!!!Gotta think this gets him his promotion too.......

[Keener98]

1st no hitter since 1988 for the Chiefs

[Outshined_One]

:good:

 

Go Kirk!

[rawaction]

1st no hitter since 1988 for the Chiefs

 

Technically, Nick Struck threw a no-hitter last year (5 inning rain shortened game)

Also, James Russell, Chris Siegfried, Matt Maradeo, and Jose Ceda combined to throw one in 2007.

Sean Gallagher was in on a combined no-hitter in 2005.

 

But yeah, this is the first 9-inning complete game from a Chiefs pitcher since 88.

[TruffleShuffle]

in other news, tennessee is laying an egg, down 9-0. raley sucked and was removed after a rain delay; caridad came on in relief and also sucked. brett jackson is 0-2 with 2 k's while vitters is not playing.

 

suarez gave up 2 hits, including a hr, in his first outing for daytona.

[Guest]

By my count he threw about 104 pitches.

 

Officially 101. First 9-inning Chiefs no-hitter since '88.

[pitchcs]

I was actually at my first ever Peoria Chiefs game tonight and got to witness Kirk's no hitter (also my first live). He looked very, very good the whole game, continuously getting ahead of the hitter. I really think only one or two balls were even hit hard, one being caught by the left fielder on an over the shoulder dive type of play early in the game.

 

Great game to be at, nice stadium. Congrats to Kirk

[Guest]

I was actually at my first ever Peoria Chiefs game tonight and got to witness Kirk's no hitter (also my first live). He looked very, very good the whole game, continuously getting ahead of the hitter. I really think only one or two balls were even hit hard, one being caught by the left fielder on an over the shoulder dive type of play early in the game.

 

Great game to be at, nice stadium. Congrats to Kirk

 

Did you happen to get any radar readings from the game, and could you tell us what kind of pitches he was throwing tonight?

[craig]

pitch, thanks for game report. One of the things we've wondered about is whether Kirk is all a location guy, or whether he has a capable fastball.

 

Do they have a stadium gun, and if so can you share what kinds of velocity he might have been reaching? If they do and you can share that, thanks in advance.

[UMFan83]

Awesome job Kirk!

[TruffleShuffle]

jin-yeong kim gave up 2 hits (both homers) and 2 walks in his first inning of work. he's been pretty awful so far, though he's just 4 outings into his season.

[davell]

Considering Kim supposedly had pinpoint control, I gotta wonder what's happened to that anyway.......

[Brian]

So this is the highlight for the season for the entire organization, right?

[Keener98]

pitch, thanks for game report. One of the things we've wondered about is whether Kirk is all a location guy, or whether he has a capable fastball.

 

Do they have a stadium gun, and if so can you share what kinds of velocity he might have been reaching? If they do and you can share that, thanks in advance.

 

Im pretty sure the gun hasn't worked at Peoria all year. I know it wasn't working at the 3 games I've been to this year. Here is an article about Kirk's no hitter, and they talk about his "stuff" a little in it.

 

So what kind of stuff does Kirk have? Although he has reached as high as 95 mph, he generally throws between 88-92 mph. His best pitch is his curveball. Physically, he's pretty mature so he doesn't figure to throw a lot harder. Overall his stuff rates as slightly above average, but he has a good feel for pitching and great makeup, so he has a chance to be a solid major league starter when you look at the overall picture.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2011/07/cubs-farmhand-austin-kirk-throws-no-hitter/

[craig]

pitch, thanks for game report. One of the things we've wondered about is whether Kirk is all a location guy, or whether he has a capable fastball.

 

Do they have a stadium gun, and if so can you share what kinds of velocity he might have been reaching? If they do and you can share that, thanks in advance.

 

Im pretty sure the gun hasn't worked at Peoria all year. I know it wasn't working at the 3 games I've been to this year. Here is an article about Kirk's no hitter, and they talk about his "stuff" a little in it.

 

So what kind of stuff does Kirk have? Although he has reached as high as 95 mph, he generally throws between 88-92 mph. His best pitch is his curveball. Physically, he's pretty mature so he doesn't figure to throw a lot harder. Overall his stuff rates as slightly above average, but he has a good feel for pitching and great makeup, so he has a chance to be a solid major league starter when you look at the overall picture.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2011/07/cubs-farmhand-austin-kirk-throws-no-hitter/

 

I wonder how informed whoever's writing that really is? But it certainly seems fair enough. Although how often he's reached 95 since HS, I wonder.

 

My understanding is that his fast stuff is straight and not that good of a pitch. So even if he could reproduce the occasional 95 that he threw in HS, that he doesn't try much because his 4-seamer isn't worth much.

 

But that instead he lives on his cutter, which has good movement versus both lefties and righties. And his curve.

[Guest]

Kevin Goldstein will have something on Kirk (and Simpson) in BP today but it will be a premium story.

[HossmanGT]

pitch, thanks for game report. One of the things we've wondered about is whether Kirk is all a location guy, or whether he has a capable fastball.

 

Do they have a stadium gun, and if so can you share what kinds of velocity he might have been reaching? If they do and you can share that, thanks in advance.

 

Im pretty sure the gun hasn't worked at Peoria all year. I know it wasn't working at the 3 games I've been to this year. Here is an article about Kirk's no hitter, and they talk about his "stuff" a little in it.

 

So what kind of stuff does Kirk have? Although he has reached as high as 95 mph, he generally throws between 88-92 mph. His best pitch is his curveball. Physically, he's pretty mature so he doesn't figure to throw a lot harder. Overall his stuff rates as slightly above average, but he has a good feel for pitching and great makeup, so he has a chance to be a solid major league starter when you look at the overall picture.

 

http://www.chicagonow.com/cubs-den/2011/07/cubs-farmhand-austin-kirk-throws-no-hitter/

 

 

Does the Kirk description remind anyone else of Ted Lilly? Fastball 88-92mph with good location, very good curveball, good makeup and feel for pitching....I believe his frame and stature is also similar to Lilly's.

[pitchcs]

Just some random notes/thoughts on Kirk and his MPH per requests:

 

- The Peoria gun WAS working and posting the MPH last night, but obviously there's no way of knowing if it was truly accurate.

 

- Watching Kirk warm-up I was actually thinking he looked like Clayton Richard; he has a very strong core and foundation and a slightly "jerky" motion (sorta [expletive] his leg a bit).

 

- He seemed to be sitting around 90 most of the game (88 at the end). I swear I thought it said 96 once but the sun was directly hitting the scoreboard so it very well was probably just a mistake on my part.

 

- He seems to have a VERY good changeup. As I said before, he got ahead of almost every hitter and then got them to swing over or roll over a change. Didn't seem to throw a ton of curves/sliders, but he also probably didn't need to. Looks to be decent though.

 

- The fastball seems to be pretty competent, especially considering he sets it up so well (ala Ted Lilly) with his off-speed stuff. I could see him projecting as a #3 starter, definitely not a reliever.

 

 

Couple other notes:

- Szczur is a tough guy to scout; I feel like you probably need to see him play 8-12 times before really being able to know what he can bring to the table. Pretty much just looked like another guy last night.

 

- Clinton had a guy playing RF (Kalian Sams) that was one of the largest minor leaguers I have ever seen; the dude looked absolutely ridiculous standing next to anyone else on the field. Then I checked the scorebook and realized he was 25 years old.....

[craig]

Just some random notes/thoughts on Kirk and his MPH per requests:

 

- The Peoria gun WAS working and posting the MPH last night, but obviously there's no way of knowing if it was truly accurate. ....He seemed to be sitting around 90 most of the game (88 at the end). I swear I thought it said 96 once but the sun was directly hitting the scoreboard so it very well was probably just a mistake on my part.

 

....he has a very strong core and foundation and a slightly "jerky" motion .... seems to have a VERY good changeup. ....Didn't seem to throw a ton of curves/sliders, but he also probably didn't need to. Looks to be decent though.

 

- The fastball seems to be pretty competent, especially considering he sets it up so well (ala Ted Lilly) with his off-speed stuff. I could see him projecting as a #3 starter, definitely not a reliever.

.....

 

Thanks much, pitch. INteresting that you note many changes and few curves. In the Peoria newspaper (http://www.pjstar.com/sports/chiefs/x1722639758/Chiefs-Kirk-pitches-no-hitter), Kirk said he was better yesterday because his curve was working, unlike the last several games in which he's been poor. Maybe the the off-speed pitch he's calling a curve and you're calling a change, but it's really the same thing? Just wondering, because sometimes guys have slow curve and harder curve.

 

If he was mostly around 90, that's not overpowering of course but that seems decent. Granted, this was the best night of his life. So maybe on an ordinary day what was 90 yesterday is 87... Perhaps the 96 was sun, perhaps it was a flukey radar mistake. But I wonder if it's also possible that he does let rip a fast 4-seamer once in a while, but because it just isn't a very useful pitch he just ends up working with the 90-mph cutter instead, which locates and moves much better?

 

Anyway, thanks a ton for the report.

[Guest]

jimcallisBA Despite the no-hitter, stuff is fringy to average. Projects more as RP, though still young. @jaypers413: Brief rundown of Austin Kirk? #Cubs

[pitchcs]

No problem.

 

Don't call me a junior scout apparently....but I dunno, I just don't really see Kirk as a reliever. Sure, maybe a #3 starter was too high, as I did see his best game ever, but he just doesn't seem to have 1-2 really good pitches to be an effective reliever. I don't think long relief should be his goal obviously...

 

Regarding his curve/change, it's totally possible he was throwing the curve and not a change. I had OK seats but not good enough to tell the difference between every curve and change. And the glaring sun didn't help the radar gun deciphering much.

[thefranchise]

Could he be comparable to Sean Marshall? I know Marshall is a lot taller but apparently both have a good curve.

[Guest]

Peoria Journal-Star[/url]"]It wasn’t the text count but the pitch count that was of concern during the no-hitter.

 

The general limit for starting pitchers in the Chicago Cubs system is 85-90 pitches. Even if Peralta had kept his no-hitter intact, he wouldn’t have gone much past the fifth inning and his 77 pitches.

 

Had Cubs pitching coordinator Dennis Lewallyn not been in Peoria for Monday’s game, it’s possible Kirk might not have finished all nine innings, Kopitzke said. Kirk was at 94 pitches after eight innings and finished with 101.

 

Lewallyn gave his blessing for Kirk to pitch the ninth.

 

“He wasn’t laboring in the least bit,” Lewallyn said Tuesday. “ I told Casey and (pitching coach Jeff Fassero) to let him go until they get a hit. If they don’t get a hit, he gets a no-hitter.”

 

Peoria Journal-Star[/url]"]“I never thought about it until the seventh and I looked up and saw they didn’t have any hits,” Kirk said. “I thought maybe if I kept my pitch count down I could finish this.”

 

Kirk wasn’t the only one in the Chiefs dugout with that thought. After the seventh inning Kirk had thrown 79 pitches, which is starting to get close to the limit.

 

“We talked about it in the dugout,” Kopitzke said. “We were going to give him every chance to finish that one.”

 

In the eighth and ninth innings, Kirk used some of the more recent lessons from pitching coach Jeff Fassero. Although no Chiefs pitcher has thrown a complete game since July 27, 2009 — when Austin Bibens-Dirkx beat Wisconsin — the subject came up.

 

“Jeff was just talking to us the other day that if you ever go a complete game you have to get that mentality of a closer for that eighth and ninth,” Kirk said. “I just went out there to throw strikes.”

 

http://www.pjstar.com/photos_graphics/x1722640232/LMW-chiefs-nohitter2-jpg/g2e22e200000000000001365f2f4b6b3eb6e37cccc4c97e0b6cdde7875e.jpg

[Guest]

Could he be comparable to Sean Marshall? I know Marshall is a lot taller but apparently both have a good curve.

 

No. Coming up, Marshall had a better FB with much more sink than Kirk's. Also, Marshall's curve is a bit ahead of Kirk's (though Kirk has a very good curve). And Marshall was more advanced with better control (not shocking since he was coming out of college).

[Guest]

Video highlights of Austin Kirk's no-hitter:

 

 

 

Camera angles aren't that great.

 

John Sickels:

 

**Chicago Cubs prospect Austin Kirk threw a nine-inning no-hitter on July 4th for Low-A Peoria in the Midwest League, walking two and fanning 10. On the season, he's 5-5, 2.60 in 93 innings, with an 82/22 K/BB and 63 hits allowed. A third-round pick out of Owasso, Oklahoma, in 2009, Kirk was on my pre-season Sleeper Alert! list and it looks like he's waking up. His best pitch is his curveball. I have conflicting reports on his fastball velocity. One source says 86-89, like last year, another source reports a vague velocity increase but with few details. I am working to get that conflict resolved one way or another. In any event, he's having a great year.