Call your shot-Minor League Pitching(stolen from TT)

[davell]

The Good

 

Zach Cates posts excellent peripherals again and finishes the season strong in Tennessee. Gerardo Concepcion begins the season in Boise, but finishes with a couple of solid starts in Daytona. Ben Wells has a very solid, workman-like Peoria campaign and starts to establish himself as a solid potential mid rotation guy. McNutt bounces back and has a very solid 2/3 season for Tennessee, before moving on to Iowa for a couple of outings and Wrigley for 3 or 4 starts at the end of the season. puts himself firmly back into BA's top 75. Kyler Burke shows enough that's he makes Peoria's rotation and makes it to Daytona mid-season and impresses there as well.

 

The Bad

 

Dillom Maples proves to be a true "work in progress" who's going to need LOTS of time. Hayden Simpson has a below average season in Peoria. Nick Struck gets knocked around at Iowa and is sent back to Tennessee midseason. Tony Zych has control issues and spends all season in Peoria, when some thought he'd be in Tennessee by year's end. Dae Eun Rhee doesn't hold up as a starter and is moved to the pen.

[BeerHere]

I'll go the other way with Simpson - he has a bounce back year and finished with solid if not spectacular season at Peoria.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Jay Jackson looks solid and is a September call up.

 

Cam Greathouse greatly improves his control an is one of our top 15 prospects next year.

[imb]

hayden simpson gets a job at mark pawelek's used car dealership

[javy knows my name]

hayden simpson gets a job at mark pawelek's used car dealership

 

I really like this as a fantasy team name.

[javy knows my name]

hayden simpson gets a job at mark pawelek's used car dealership

 

I really like this as a fantasy team name.

 

GR's fantasy team name.

[SouthSideRyan]

Hayden Simposn can take no more of Mark's actions and resigns.

[CubsInNC]

James Pugliese had a great spring in Boise, and is in Peoria by the end of July.

[Outshined_One]

Good

 

-Tayler Scott finishes the year as the standout performer from the 2011 draft class, ending up on BA's NWL Top 20 as the ace of Boise's staff.

 

-Jay Jackson is moved to relief full time, where he flourishes and finishes the season in the Cubs' bullpen. Chris Rusin and Nick Struck also impress enough in AAA to get callups.

 

-Robert Whitenack makes a full recovery from Tommy John Surgery and comes back showing flashes of his performances from the start of 2011.

 

Bad

 

-Scott aside, no one from this system stands out at season's end. McNutt muddles his way through AA and does well enough to stay in the Cubs' Top 10, but loses some luster. Maples stays in Arizona all year to work out control problems. Rosario/Peralta/Liria/et al. shuttle back and forth between Peoria and EXST because of struggles. Most of the guys who do well are seen as being low upside types (Wang, Smith, Kirk).

 

-Hayden Simpson starts the season throwing in the low 90s with some bite on his breaking stuff, but his pitching arm pulls a Dravecky in July.

 

-Rhee receives glowing reviews and does well for himself in AA. However, in August, he will pitch the first three innings of a game which ends up delayed for an hour due to rain. Smokies Manager Buddy Bailey decides to throw Rhee out there for another four innings after the delay. Rhee is never the same after that.

[davell]

Only Cub pitcher to make BA top 100 is McNutt, who comes in at 71. Cubs address this issue by drafting Taylore Cherry, Hunter Virant, and Jake Barrett with their 2 supplemental picks and their 2nd rounder.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

If Graham Hicks is healthy (I think he was hurt last year) he has a season that makes him somewhat interesting.

 

Hayden Simpson surprises everyone with the return of most of his stuff. He hits 97 during the summer and shows off a slider.

 

I'm on the Taylor Scott bandwagon as well. Liked the size, athleticism, and potential for good mechanics...

 

Ben Wells continues to grow into a Jake Westbrook-esque prospect.

 

Trey McNutt earns a September callup.

 

The pitching only gets exciting once the draft rolls around and they luck into Gausman in the first. Justin Jones at some point too.

[toonsterwu]

Good

 

- I'll start off with a personal favorite - Ben Wells rolls through Peoria, showing a better breaking ball than anyone anticipated. He gets pushed to Daytona late in the year and is on the back end of top 100 lists for 2013.

 

- Beeler's fastball picks up a notch (hey, I can dream right ...) and has a strong season with his 3 pitch arsenal. He gets called up to the bigs for a cup of tea late in the year.

 

- Alberto Cabrera is moved to the pen in Iowa ... and dominates.

 

- Luis Liria takes a step forward, showing significantly improved command to go with a much sharper change.

 

Bad

 

- Maples struggles with his mechanics, gets hurt at some point, and is eventually shut down until the fall.

 

- Cates struggles mightily, and is shifted to the pen in the hopes that he can just throw the ball in the mid-90's and get it by folks.

 

In that Gray Area

 

- McNutt gets off to a hot start, gets bumped to Iowa in the early summer. He makes some top 50 lists, but then he starts to struggle a bit in the PCL and against more veteran hitters, guys who take advantage of his inconsistent change-up.

[craig]

I'll be borrowing from some of the others, but use a different format:

 

Beliveau: Good, remains excellent. He goes up to the Cubs by July, does well, and establishes himself as a keeper.

 

McNutt: Bad. He's again mediocre, too many HR's, too many walks, too few K's, not really that fast, not really any signature breaking pitch. Kind of the 2012 Jay Jackson. Any top-100 consideration is long foggy history by October.

 

Hayden Simpson: Good. He's a new man, he flashes 95's and 96's on occasion, he blends in some good breaking pitches, and works in the 88-93 range comfortably. Neither his fastball nor any individual pitch is exceptional, but he commands his arsenal well enough to look like a a realistic rotation prospect. He reaches Daytona for sure, and perhaps even Tennessee. He is a candidate for top-100 lists by October. He's one of the big breakout guys.

 

Whitenack: Bad and Good. The stuff about being back and starting the season is baloney. By August, he's pitching pretty regularly, and hopes are reasonable that he'll be good again in 2013. But too soon to tell.

 

Rhee: Good. Is effective in AA, and looks like a decent back-of-rotation prospect, perhaps even does so well that he emerges as a fringy top-100 prospect.

 

Dolis: Bad. Wild as always.

 

Maples: Good. Control shows some progress, and he flashes at times at Boise.

 

Wells: Bad. Doesn't show much progress.

 

Concepcion: Good. Looks smooth, has good control and consistency, gets velocity reports of 95-96 on occasion, and there are flashes of a good breaking ball. Top-100 guy next winter. He's a big breakout guy.

 

Zych: Bad. Wild, inconsistent.

 

Cates: Good. Everything improves. Velocity is good, command improves, changeup improves, and slider shows some promise. Very effective at Daytona, but struggles in late-season Tennessee showing.

 

Kurcz: Bad. As inconsistent as before, no sign of progress. Allows too many HR's.

 

Struck: Good. Forgotten prospect, he has a good year at Iowa. Doesn't emerge as any thriller prospect, but looks like a major leaguer in some role. Breaking stuff gets more consistent, command improves, and he remains an anti-HR guy.

 

Antigua: Bad. Too many HR's, not consistent enough to get by with his fringy stuff.

 

Beeler: Good. Not dramatically knockout good, but everything is somewhat better. A little faster and more consistently so. A little more command with his fastball. Slider is sharper. Adds a cutter that really helps him. Becomes less aggressive, so he walks more but more nibbles get more K's and cut way down on the HR's.

 

Rosario: Bad. Not enough control or command, too inconsistent.

 

Jensen: Good. Lacks the big name, but outpitches everybody at Boise.

 

Heh, this is fun. If half of the pitching prospects come out "good", that's probably pretty unrealistically optimistic, isn't it.