2011 Fall Instructs

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

Cubs Instructs team lost 10-9 today but there are so many intriguing names who got some playing time: http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/24/cub-rally-falls-short-papago-park

 

• Tarlandus Mitchell and Zac Rosscup each pitched for the first time in months.
  
• Jeffrey Baez made his U.S. debut, going 1/2 and playing in RF.
  
• Javier Baez was 1/3, Vogelbach was 2/3, Candelario was 1/4.
  
• Micah Gibbs and Javier Baez had doubles, Taiwan Easterling hit a triple.

 

Do you think Jeffrey Baez will be stateside next year?

 

It's clear that there's way more positional talent in the system than pitching talent. That may be a good thing.

Edited September 25, 2011 by KingKongvs.Godzilla

[Guest]

Cubs Instructs team lost 10-9 today but there are so many intriguing names who got some playing time: http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/24/cub-rally-falls-short-papago-park

 

• Tarlandus Mitchell and Zac Rosscup each pitched for the first time in months.
  
• Jeffrey Baez made his U.S. debut, going 1/2 and playing in RF.
  
• Javier Baez was 1/3, Vogelbach was 2/3, Candelario was 1/4.
  
• Micah Gibbs and Javier Baez had doubles, Taiwan Easterling hit a triple.

 

Just out of curiosity do you think Jeffrey Baez will be stateside next year?

 

The hitting talent the Cubs are putting out is way more interesting than the current pitching talent.

 

I certainly do, along with Candelario and Penalver. Baez and Penalver should be in Mesa, but I think Candelario could end up at Boise.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/26/archie-bradley-shoots-broken-arrows-cubs

 

Starling Peralta, Michael Jensen, Tayler Scott, Austin Reed, Kyle Burke and Dustin Fitzgerald all pitched yesterday. Archie Bradley dominated the Cubs for 3 innings.

[Guest]

Mark Malave makes his pro debut, as did NDFA signee David Henrie who pitched at a JC last year:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Also making his pro debut today for the Cubs was 16-year old Venezuelan switch-hitting catcher Mark Malave. One of the top-rated 16-year old International players available at the start of the International Signing Period, Malave received a reported $1.6M bonus (equivalent to “1st round money”) this past July. He is a big dude (6'3), a typical catcher, bottom-heavy and barrel-chested. He was a DH today, and went 0-3 with two strikeouts (both swinging) and a 1-3 tap-out. He looked over-matched at the plate, but you have to remember he is the same age as a HS junior in the U. S. (he won’t turn 17 until next year).

 

21-year old RHRP Tony Zych (Cubs 2011 4th round draft pick out of the U. of Louisville) pitched the 6th inning. He came out firing high-velocity gas and a sharp-breaking slider, and had an easy eight-pitch 1-2-3 inning with lots of swings & misses and two strikeouts. I wouldn't be surprised if Zych ends up on the same track in 2012 as Kevin Rhoderick and Aaron Kurcz this past season, starting the year at Daytona.

[Cubs Fan Dan]

Mark Malave makes his pro debut, as did NDFA signee David Henrie who pitched at a JC last year:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Also making his pro debut today for the Cubs was 16-year old Venezuelan switch-hitting catcher Mark Malave. One of the top-rated 16-year old International players available at the start of the International Signing Period, Malave received a reported $1.6M bonus (equivalent to “1st round money”) this past July. He is a big dude (6'3), a typical catcher, bottom-heavy and barrel-chested. He was a DH today, and went 0-3 with two strikeouts (both swinging) and a 1-3 tap-out. He looked over-matched at the plate, but you have to remember he is the same age as a HS junior in the U. S. (he won’t turn 17 until next year).

 

21-year old RHRP Tony Zych (Cubs 2011 4th round draft pick out of the U. of Louisville) pitched the 6th inning. He came out firing high-velocity gas and a sharp-breaking slider, and had an easy eight-pitch 1-2-3 inning with lots of swings & misses and two strikeouts. I wouldn't be surprised if Zych ends up on the same track in 2012 as Kevin Rhoderick and Aaron Kurcz this past season, starting the year at Daytona.

 

 

I am so excited to follow the Cubs minors next season, I think the draft / international signings will put the Cubs near the top in baseball sooner than later in Minor League Rankings. This is the most optomistic i have been in a long time about the future of this organization.

[toonsterwu]

I'm optimistic as well. It's odd ... our team rankings will likely be far lower than where we were last year, but this is a far more interesting system to me than last year. We still have a lot of "cup of tea ... or more" guys that will likely see the bigs in some role, but there's finally some upside in the lower levels. Furthermore, there's upside in arms and bats, a rarity for the system to have upside talent in both areas.

[Rob]

I'm optimistic as well. It's odd ... our team rankings will likely be far lower than where we were last year, but this is a far more interesting system to me than last year. We still have a lot of "cup of tea ... or more" guys that will likely see the bigs in some role, but there's finally some upside in the lower levels. Furthermore, there's upside in arms and bats, a rarity for the system to have upside talent in both areas.

 

We wont take that much of a hit in the rankings... most of that already happened with the Garza trade (and in fairness, Archer and Lee were in our top 5, Guyer in the top 10, and Chirinos wasn't far from the top 10). Last I saw, most analysts had already slid us down to around the #20 system before this season even started.

 

But I'm with you... this is the most interesting the minor league system has been in a while. Upside is a magical thing.

[toonsterwu]

I'm too lazy to go check right now, but I thought a couple pubs had us in the mid-teens? Don't be stunned if we are ranked in that 22-26 range. I like our system and am very intrigued with it, but the general feeling seems fairly down on it right now and I expect the rankings to reflect a mid-20's ranking.

 

Anyhow, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised and it'll be more in that 17-21 range.

Edited September 30, 2011 by toonsterwu

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I am so excited to follow the Cubs minors next season, I think the draft / international signings will put the Cubs near the top in baseball sooner than later in Minor League Rankings. This is the most optomistic i have been in a long time about the future of this organization.

 

Completely agreed. It's on the up. It's really been on the up since one of the first round picks clicked early and held/raised his status (Jackson). Oh, and when it (the entity known as the farm system) was able to land a prime pre-FA playoff caliber vet, Matt Garza, especially since half of the big get for the Rays was a prospect who's profile raised greatly in his time with the Cubs.

m optimistic as well. It's odd ... our team rankings will likely be far lower than where we were last year, but this is a far more interesting system to me than last year. We still have a lot of "cup of tea ... or more" guys that will likely see the bigs in some role, but there's finally some upside in the lower levels. Furthermore, there's upside in arms and bats, a rarity for the system to have upside talent in both areas.

 

Again completely agreed. The thing I like too is that alot of the hitters have a much better approach than the the guys from the early 2000 and mid 2000's. Guys like Ryan Harvey and Bryan Dopirak were hackers with power and raw upside. Brett Jackson is the only one of the top hitting prospects I can think of who K's alot, but he also walks alot to balance it out. Matt Cerda is another young guy who K's, but balances it out with walks. Guys like Vitters, Szczur, LeMahieu, Flaherty, and Ha may not walk a ton (rates vary between them), but they all make consistently solid contact and don't K much. There's alot of gap and doubles hitters too, and everyone's a good athlete. It's more balanced, and more of a focus on athleticism and being loose on the field.

[Guest]

Yesterday at Instructs (Ian Dickson made his pro debut): http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/29/cubs-pitching-defense-frustrates-fitch-park

 

Today (McNutt tunes up for the AFL): http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/30/mcnutt-versus-bradley-instructs-version-mothra-versus-godzilla

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I like to think I somehow inspired that title today, even though I didn't.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/10/01/cubs-rally-two-8th-claim-victory

 

Christopher Pieters made his pro debut. Alberto Mineo headed back to Italy (previously scheduled) and will be back in the spring.

 

Long & lanky 6’3 LHP Christopher Pieters made his pro debut in today’s game, throwing a 1-2-3 11-pitch 5th inning (4-3, F-8, F-8). Pieters is all arms & legs, and has a similar pitching style as that of Cubs Dominican LHP Willengton Cruz.

 

A native of Curacao, Pieters signed with the Cubs this past summer as a 16-year old during the International Signing Period for a reported $350K bonus. He turned 17 last week.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

A 6'3 16 year old lefty should be all arms and legs. Does he have a good arm?

[Guest]

Yesterday at Instructs (Ian Dickson made his pro debut): http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/29/cubs-pitching-defense-frustrates-fitch-park

 

Today (McNutt tunes up for the AFL): http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/09/30/mcnutt-versus-bradley-instructs-version-mothra-versus-godzilla

Boy, I would love to be able to follow the cubs like that. I don't seem to be doing too good at wining the lottery or inventing crap, so oh weep.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/2011/10/03/other-baez-gets-big-hit-papago

 

Zeke DeVoss commits 3 errors, Jeffrey Baez hit a triple while Gibbs and Candelario hit doubles.

 

Baez received a reported $350K bonus when he signed with the Cubs as a 16-year old in the first days of the International Signing Period in 2010, and he hit 282/353/408 with 32 SB in 68 DSL games in his rookie year this season. He is built like a running back or an outside linebacker, and in fact he plays OF and runs the bases like a football player. Which is to say he’s going to need a lot of polish.

 

...

 

In AZIL Cubs roster news, OF Trey Martin (Cubs 2011 13th round draft pick out of Brookwood HS - Snellville, GA) has been placed on the Active List after missing the first couple of weeks of Instructs with a left shoulder strain. He was in uniform today, but did not play. (Martin hit 243/289/357 in 18 AZL Cubs games after signing).

[BeerHere]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/online/minors/news/2011/2612442.html

 

The two international signees will be there (Malave and Acosta) along with Maples, Baez, Zych, DeVoss, Penalver, VogelBOMB, Dunston, Golden, Candalario. I'm guessing they want Simpson to rest.

[toonsterwu]

Beer, the instructs thread posted the free roster provided by AzPhil, with the only addition I can think of being Trey Martin.

[BeerHere]

I checked. How the hell did I miss that? Sorry...mods please delete.

[Guest]

While Martin wasn't on AZ Phil's intial instructs roster, apparently he was hurt but is now healthy and back in uniform.

 

Let's see if I can merge this thread with the instructs thread while on the phone. It's nice seeing all the other teams rosters (and wow, the Cardinals don't have instructs!?).

[Guest]

Dillon Maples makes his pro debut and struggles:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Making his pro debut, 19-year old RHP Dillon Maples got the start for the Cubs, but was unable to complete even one inning thanks to a bout with wildness. After striking out the first man he faced with a nasty breaking ball, Maples walked the bases loaded on 13 pitches, and then allowed a bloop RBI single to RF as the Rockies took a 1-0 lead. Maples then got the ground ball he wanted, but it wasn’t hit hard enough to turn two, so another run scored.

 

By that point Maples had reached his pitch limit, and so he was pulled from the game with two outs and runners at 1st & 3rd. For the day, Maples threw a total of 25 pitches, but only nine strikes.

 

Also, Rubi Silva, Yaniel Cabezas, Reggie Golden, Dustin Geiger and Jeffrey Baez all had extra base hits while Dan Vogelbach went 0/1 with 3 walks.

[toonsterwu]

I'm curious what people's expectations on Maples are for next year. I'm expecting something akin to Austin Reed's first two years - flashes that get people really excited, and then some wild inconsistencies that trouble folks.

[Guest]

I'm curious what people's expectations on Maples are for next year. I'm expecting something akin to Austin Reed's first two years - flashes that get people really excited, and then some wild inconsistencies that trouble folks.

 

I expect a bit better than Reed's season in Boise but I do expect a lot of inconsistency, especially because I assume he'll be trying to maintain revamped mechanics.

[davell]

I guess I expect lots of ups and downs as well. It'll be interesting to see where he starts off at. My guess is Boise. But it's possibly he comes out and surprises us for the good. He certainly has some rust to knock off right now and I'm sure they're working on mechanics much more than results anyway, so it's going to be determined by how quickly he adjusts. Worst case is he's in Arizona all summer, best case is he finishes up with a couple of outings in Daytona.

[toonsterwu]

I hope he's better than Reed in Boise this year, otherwise I'm going to be fairly disappointed. I just meant a comparison in terms of the ups and downs that Reed went through his first two years.

[KingKongvs.Godzilla]

I'm curious what people's expectations on Maples are for next year. I'm expecting something akin to Austin Reed's first two years - flashes that get people really excited, and then some wild inconsistencies that trouble folks.

 

More K's than Reed and maybe less ground balls. I'm more curious to see what they do with his mechanics. I expect him to break out sometime in 2013/2014.