Minor League Discussion & Boxes 8-8-11

[Guest]

Bah, Wells gave up a run in the 6th. 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 11-2 GO-FO. 4 of the 5 hits were extra base hits.

[Rob]

I was under the impression Rusin was a pretty heavy groundball pitcher, which would make him a bit more intriguing for me than otherwise. I could be mistaken on that one though.

 

Anybody feel a Paul Maholm comp is off the mark?

 

2.11 GO-AO this season. 2.47 last year.

 

Lefty groundball pitchers... that's not a huge list. Paul Maholm and John Lannan are probably the best comps... maybe Jonathan Niese if things go very well. If everything goes absolutely perfectly for him, maybe Ricky Romero or Jaime Garcia. Of that group, only Romero's average fastball is higher than about 90.5.

[CubColtPacer]

Rusin sure is cleaning up tonight: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 8/0 K/BB

 

Jackson is 1 for 3 with a K as the DH.

 

Abreu is 3 for 4 with a 3B and K, bringing his Daytona line to .343/.400/.594

 

Was Abreu anything special at any point? There must be some reason they chose him in the Kosuke trade.

 

They picked Abreu IMO because of his athleticism. He was rated to have the best outfield arm in the Indians organization last year. He has 6 triples and 19 SB already this year so his speed must be plus. He has some pop in his bat (13 HR this year). He's got some tools-the problem is that he either has to improve his strikeout rate or improve his power significantly to be successful at higher levels (and it will probably have to be the strikeout rate first).

[Little Slide Rooter]

Rusin sure is cleaning up tonight: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 8/0 K/BB

 

Jackson is 1 for 3 with a K as the DH.

 

Abreu is 3 for 4 with a 3B and K, bringing his Daytona line to .343/.400/.594

 

Was Abreu anything special at any point? There must be some reason they chose him in the Kosuke trade.

 

They picked Abreu IMO because of his athleticism. He was rated to have the best outfield arm in the Indians organization last year. He has 6 triples and 19 SB already this year so his speed must be plus. He has some pop in his bat (13 HR this year). He's got some tools-the problem is that he either has to improve his strikeout rate or improve his power significantly to be successful at higher levels (and it will probably have to be the strikeout rate first).

 

So I take it he's not some super high ceiling guy that the Indians gave up on early like Archer?

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/08/08/hernandez-extends-hit-streak-15-kim-throws-blanks

 

Arizona Phil on Hernandez, Amaya, JY Kim, Pugliese and Yilver Sanchez in yesterday's Mesa game.

[jersey cubs fan]

Lilly is a good match for style, but he's a bit of an outlier to begin with. The big thing about comparing him to Lilly or Marshall is both those guys had very good curves. Rusin has better control than either, and it's a good thing since he has a slimmer margin for error with his stuff being unable to compare with two others who are more exception to the rule.

 

Isn't the thing with Lilly that he absolutely achieved his ceiling? It's not crazy to compare a minor leaguer to him for ceiling purposes, it's the likelihood of reaching it that may be a stretch.

[Guest]

Lilly is a good match for style, but he's a bit of an outlier to begin with. The big thing about comparing him to Lilly or Marshall is both those guys had very good curves. Rusin has better control than either, and it's a good thing since he has a slimmer margin for error with his stuff being unable to compare with two others who are more exception to the rule.

 

Isn't the thing with Lilly that he absolutely achieved his ceiling? It's not crazy to compare a minor leaguer to him for ceiling purposes, it's the likelihood of reaching it that may be a stretch.

 

Yeah, that's what I was trying to get at. LHP with loopy curveballs and not much velocity are pretty common, and Lilly broke the mold by becoming a very effective starter with that repertoire.

[chattbaseball]

Bah, Wells gave up a run in the 6th. 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 11-2 GO-FO. 4 of the 5 hits were extra base hits.

 

Burke flying under the radar a little, which is good, with another solid outing in Boise: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

 

For the season:

 

11 G, 1-0, 3.00 ERA, 30.0 IP, 24 H, 10 ER, 9 BB, 28 K

 

And if you take out the first outing, that lowers to 10 G, 28.1 IP, 2.54 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 3.11 K/BB.

 

Listening to Mike Safford last night, in his first strikeout, his 12-6 curve was 70mph followed by a 94mph fastball. Apparently he's working on a slider in addition to the changeup he already throws.

[toonsterwu]

Rusin sure is cleaning up tonight: 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 8/0 K/BB

 

Jackson is 1 for 3 with a K as the DH.

 

Abreu is 3 for 4 with a 3B and K, bringing his Daytona line to .343/.400/.594

 

Was Abreu anything special at any point? There must be some reason they chose him in the Kosuke trade.

 

They picked Abreu IMO because of his athleticism. He was rated to have the best outfield arm in the Indians organization last year. He has 6 triples and 19 SB already this year so his speed must be plus. He has some pop in his bat (13 HR this year). He's got some tools-the problem is that he either has to improve his strikeout rate or improve his power significantly to be successful at higher levels (and it will probably have to be the strikeout rate first).

 

So I take it he's not some super high ceiling guy that the Indians gave up on early like Archer?

 

Super-high ceiling? I don't know how you are defining what that is, but Abreu does have a high ceiling. It's just, and I haven't seen him as a Cub, that with Kinston, for all his tools, he hacked far too often. IIRC, the Indians were working with him on something with his swing, but I don't recall at the moment. That, though, doesn't excuse poor zone judgement.

 

Here's hoping he's found some mix to turn things around.

[toonsterwu]

I'm not getting the Mathes comp at all. JR Mathes was Kirk Reuter. Rusin actually strikes people out and isn't as hittable as I am.

 

I was simply trying to find a soft-tossing lefty in the org in recent years to compare him to. As I said, I didn't really think there was a good comp to make, as he isn't really Marshall-like, and he didn't have the nasty curve of Rich Hill.

[Guest]

CSN Chicago[/url]"]“At the beginning of the year I didn’t have the sink that I have now,” Rusin said. “I was struggling to get that movement and the pitches were moving on a flat plane rather than downward to the right or left. The pitching coordinator came in, worked with me a little, tweaked something in my delivery and from that point on I’ve had pretty good movement and got my sink.”

 

So Rusin has found his mojo and the results are obvious. While he needed to get the “sink” back on his pitches, he also added that it wasn’t much of a surprise that he struggled a bit at the outset this season. He had a 5.40 ERA in April and after winning his first start, he didn’t pick up another victory until June 1, a stretch of nine starts.

 

“I’ve gotten sharper with the rotation and my off-speed pitches,” Rusin said. “I’m locating them better now with two strikes. Early in the season I struggled to find the command and I’ve gradually gotten better.

 

“But you could see it last year, too, in Daytona. I was struggling early and as the season went on I got better and stronger.”

 

“I guess you can call it rust,” he said. “Spring training wears me out a little bit and when I try to get my strength back, it’s already the beginning of the season and that’s when I struggle. It’s something I’ve gone through in high school and college, too.

 

“I’d like to be able to start strong and finish strong and I’m working on getting to that point now. Hopefully I’ll get there next year. I don’t need the season to start in June, I just need to work on starting the season on the right foot. I just have to be in form at the beginning of the season.”