Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-20-12

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa lost 5-4 Box Score

 

Tennessee won 3-2 Box Score

 

Daytona won 9-2 Box Score

 

Peoria lost 7-5 Box Score

 

OVERALL: 2-2

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Randy Wells (1-0, 9.42 ERA, 14.1 IP, 10 K, 6 BB)

Tennessee: LHP Brooks Raley (1-0, 2.70 ERA, 13.1 IP, 5 K, 1 BB)

Daytona: RHP Zach Cates (0-2, 22.85 ERA, 4.1 IP, 3 K, 6 BB)

Peoria: LHP Willengton Cruz (0-2, 8.10 ERA, 10 IP, 7 K, 6 BB)

[bukie]

From Bruce Miles this morning:

 

Nothing official from #Cubs about Kerry Wood to DL, but Randy Wells said to be at Wrigley.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

From Bruce Miles this morning:

 

Nothing official from #Cubs about Kerry Wood to DL, but Randy Wells said to be at Wrigley.

 

Wells for a callup?

 

http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/t/tank_fight_wallpaper-404983-1284516736.jpeg

[ctcf]

From Bruce Miles this morning:

 

Nothing official from #Cubs about Kerry Wood to DL, but Randy Wells said to be at Wrigley.

 

Nope!

 

Cubs recalled LHP Scott Maine from Triple-A Iowa.

Rumors surfaced that Randy Wells would be the one to replace Kerry Wood on the roster, but it will be Maine instead. The southpaw held a 1.42 ERA while striking out five over his first 6 1/3 innings for Iowa. He'll be used in middle relief.

[toonsterwu]

I was just pondering this morning how disappointing it's been that we haven't really had a lot of positive surprises in the early goings to get excited about. I mean, Rizzo/Castillo/Valbuena have hit AAA well before. Cardenas doing well in AAA isn't that surprising. All the "new" guys besides Rizzo (Wood/Sappelt/Torreyes/Cates are struggling). McNutt isn't averaging 4 yet. I'm not really going to hang my hat on hoping Burgess' improvement lasts as of now.

 

I guess ... here's hoping that the increased K rate (and slightly lower GB rate) for Beeler is real and that it's a sign that the breaking balls are sharper. Well, Rubi Silva's improved discipline and overall performance is one thing to get excited about. And I guess there's Michael Jensen and Patrick Francescon (although I somewhat expected the latter to hold his own and show well against the raw bats in the MWL).

 

Tis early, hopefully.

 

Edit: Completely forgot about Kyler Burke. It's been nice to see all the excitement about his potential as a pitcher is showing well in the early goings. Part of me would like to see him get more innings, to see if he can handle the load and still do well (and the switch I'd make is to make Cruz into the "piggyback" guy and give Burke a rotation slot).

Edited April 20, 2012 by toonsterwu

[bukie]

From Bruce Miles this morning:

 

Nothing official from #Cubs about Kerry Wood to DL, but Randy Wells said to be at Wrigley.

 

Nope!

 

Cubs recalled LHP Scott Maine from Triple-A Iowa.

Rumors surfaced that Randy Wells would be the one to replace Kerry Wood on the roster, but it will be Maine instead. The southpaw held a 1.42 ERA while striking out five over his first 6 1/3 innings for Iowa. He'll be used in middle relief.

Wells is in Chicago in case Dempster can't go on Sunday.

[A New Era]

From Bruce Miles this morning:

 

Nothing official from #Cubs about Kerry Wood to DL, but Randy Wells said to be at Wrigley.

 

Nope!

 

Cubs recalled LHP Scott Maine from Triple-A Iowa.

Rumors surfaced that Randy Wells would be the one to replace Kerry Wood on the roster, but it will be Maine instead. The southpaw held a 1.42 ERA while striking out five over his first 6 1/3 innings for Iowa. He'll be used in middle relief.

Wells is in Chicago in case Dempster can't go on Sunday.

 

Maybe Dempster is being traded for a teams prospects #1 through #10? :razz:

[Little Slide Rooter]

I was just pondering this morning how disappointing it's been that we haven't really had a lot of positive surprises in the early goings to get excited about. I mean, Rizzo/Castillo/Valbuena have hit AAA well before. Cardenas doing well in AAA isn't that surprising. All the "new" guys besides Rizzo (Wood/Sappelt/Torreyes/Cates are struggling). McNutt isn't averaging 4 yet. I'm not really going to hang my hat on hoping Burgess' improvement lasts as of now.

 

I guess ... here's hoping that the increased K rate (and slightly lower GB rate) for Beeler is real and that it's a sign that the breaking balls are sharper. Well, Rubi Silva's improved discipline and overall performance is one thing to get excited about. And I guess there's Michael Jensen and Patrick Francescon (although I somewhat expected the latter to hold his own and show well against the raw bats in the MWL).

 

Tis early, hopefully.

 

I didn't want to bring this up at the risk of being accused of overreacting, which I'm by no means doing , but I've noticed that aside from Rizzo, Castillo, Cardenas, and Valbuena the Iowa bats have cooled off. It's just a small sample, but over the last 10 days, Jackson has had a sub .200 BA despite an OPS in the mid .700s. Vitters, on the other hand has kept his average up, but had an OPS in the mid-high .600s. Sappelt's actually been picking up a bit lately with a .257/.742 over the last 10. Burgess has cooled off as well. A lot of guys in the lower levels, such as Szczur, Torryes, Ha, Hernandez, and Golden have really struggled as well.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

I wouldn't worry too much about fast or slow starts as we're not even officially 3 weeks in.

 

OTOH I wish Vitters would start hitting some g'damn doubles.

[toonsterwu]

I'm not worried, just disappointed that there isn't that much to be really happily surprised about so far. In some cases, one can rationalize it (for example, while the MWL is typically tough on bats, as the weather heats up, I imagine some of them may start swinging better bats).

 

As for Vitters, I'm just okay that he's afloat. I guess my expectations have never been that high on him for awhile now, and the fact that he's afloat is enough for me as of now, since he's really the only legitimate 3rd base prospect in full-season ball right now, which is a sad comment about the position in the system.

[illiniguy]

I'm not worried, just disappointed that there isn't that much to be really happily surprised about so far. In some cases, one can rationalize it (for example, while the MWL is typically tough on bats, as the weather heats up, I imagine some of them may start swinging better bats).

 

As for Vitters, I'm just okay that he's afloat. I guess my expectations have never been that high on him for awhile now, and the fact that he's afloat is enough for me as of now, since he's really the only legitimate 3rd base prospect in full-season ball right now, which is a sad comment about the position in the system.

Baez is gonna be a third basemen, so there is that.

[toonsterwu]

Yeah, that's exactly my point, we have to go down to XST to find potential 3rd base prospects (notwithstanding the fact that all signs point to the Cubs keeping Baez at short for now).

 

Of course, there is the possibility that Castro moves to 3rd down the line.

[illiniguy]

Yeah, that's exactly my point, we have to go down to XST to find potential 3rd base prospects (notwithstanding the fact that all signs point to the Cubs keeping Baez at short for now).

 

Of course, there is the possibility that Castro moves to 3rd down the line.

Which I'm all for, keeping Baez at short, until he has to be moved. I'm just glad we were bad enough last year to get a higher pick as opposed to winning a few more meaningless games and dropping several more spots.

[ctcf]

Cates is nowhere to be seen again. Kirk is pitching in Daytona.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Balls.

 

No one likes Baez as a 2B?

[toonsterwu]

Cates is nowhere to be seen again. Kirk is pitching in Daytona.

 

Haven't heard anything on an injury, so I wonder if it's a mental break of some sort. That said, who knows, maybe we'll find out there was an injury a few days later.

 

Sure hope the 6/7 hitters for Peoria can start breaking out a bit.

 

Looks like Daytona's lineup got tired of being walked over. Rohan with a slam! Torreyes with a walk and a triple. Some good news!

[craig]

Balls.

 

No one likes Baez as a 2B?

 

I sure do. I think he has the tools, if he can refine them. And he and Castro could be a super good-hitting middle of the infield. If you've got a couple of #3-type hitters playing middle infield, image how strong of a batting lineup you could have.

 

Tools-wise, neither would seem underqualified defensively.

 

I wonder whether Castro might benefit from a move to 2B. The shorter throw could bail him out of a lot of throwing errors.

[Guest]

Cates is nowhere to be seen again. Kirk is pitching in Daytona.

 

Damn.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

I sure do. I think he has the tools, if he can refine them. And he and Castro could be a super good-hitting middle of the infield. If you've got a couple of #3-type hitters playing middle infield, image how strong of a batting lineup you could have.

 

Tools-wise, neither would seem underqualified defensively.

 

I wonder whether Castro might benefit from a move to 2B. The shorter throw could bail him out of a lot of throwing errors.

 

I would think that 2B is the natural next spot for him after SS simply to keep the whole MIF value thing going.

[toonsterwu]

Balls.

 

No one likes Baez as a 2B?

 

I can see it go either way. Sounds like he has the tools to be solid at 2nd, but the dearth of 3rd base talent in the system, assuming he can't stick at short, makes me want to send him that way. But sure, 2nd makes some sense. A lot may depend a bit on what happens with Castro. I imagine Castro's sticking at short for the next couple of years, though.

[ctcf]

Torreyes now 2-2 with a 2B, 3B and BB

[davell]

Balls.

 

No one likes Baez as a 2B?

 

I can see it go either way. Sounds like he has the tools to be solid at 2nd, but the dearth of 3rd base talent in the system, assuming he can't stick at short, makes me want to send him that way. But sure, 2nd makes some sense. A lot may depend a bit on what happens with Castro. I imagine Castro's sticking at short for the next couple of years, though.

What would make it even more interesting is if we draft Correa.

[illiniguy]

Isn't Baez going to have to move over size? Seems that if that's the case second would be a tougher transition. Castro has issues with throwing, that translates better to second, no?

[A New Era]

Balls.

 

No one likes Baez as a 2B?

 

Not really sure I don't know much about his arm or defense. I've just seen his build. But from the looks of it his offense is going to be more than enough for even 3B. My guess is he gets moved to 3B. I mean if Vitters puts things together or there is someone else who is elite that is blocking 3B sure put him at 2B. But if no one is blocking him, why not.