Minor League Discussion & Boxes 4-29-12

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa PPD

 

Tennessee won 5-3 in the 10th Box Score

 

SS E. Soto 1/4, K

2B L. Watkins 0/5, 2 K

CF JH Ha 0/5, RBI, K

DH M. Burgess 0/4, BB, R, K

SP DE Rhee 4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, HR, 4-2 GO-FO

RP K. Rhoderick 1 perfect, 0-2 GO-FO

RP M. Hatley 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, WP, 3-2 GO-FO

 

Daytona lost 6-4 Box Score

 

CF M. Szczur 2/4, 2 R, 2B (5)

SS R. Torreyes 0/4

2B R. Silva 0/4, RBI, K

PH A. Alcantara 1/1

SP Z. Cates 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 8-4 GO-FO

RP H. Simpson 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, Balk, 1-2 GO-FO

 

Peoria won 5-2 Box Score

 

2B Z. DeVoss 0/4, BB, R, K

SS W. Darvill 2/5, R, K

RF O. Zapata 1/3, BB, 2 K

LF PC Chen 0/4, R, 2 K

SP B. Wells 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, WP, 10-2 GO-FO

RP K. Burke 3.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 4-1 GO-FO

 

OVERALL: 2-1

[Guest]

Probable Starters

 

Iowa: RHP Jay Jackson (1-2, 6.20 ERA, 20.1 IP, 11 K, 8 BB)

Tennessee: RHP Dae-Eun Rhee (1-1, 5.73 ERA, 22 IP, 18 K, 5 BB)

Daytona: RHP Zach Cates (0-3, 15.12 ERA, 8.1 IP, 4 K, 6 BB)

Peoria: RHP Ben Wells (1-1, 6.23 ERA, 17.1 IP, 13 K, 2 BB) & LHP Kyler Burke (0-1, 1.04 ERA, 17.1 IP, 13 K, 2 BB)

[javy knows my name]

YEAH!

 

Look at Burkwells k/bb ratios...awesome.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Wow Garza on the ML mound...Cates in Daytona...Wells/Burke in Peoria....Cubs throwing some good arms out there today.

 

Any chance Wells/Burke sees Daytona this year? Cates sees AA?

[ctcf]

I'd be shocked if Burke doesn't see Daytona by midseason if only because of his age

[toonsterwu]

Here's hoping Rhee can bounce back from a couple sub-par starts. He did get off to an inconsistent start last year, before warming up as the weather warmed up.

 

I imagine that Francescon/Jensen might get priority over Burke as the next guy up (as a starter) because they have been throwing a full workload.

 

Cates in AA? I'm just hoping he can string together a few decent starts in A+ first.

[Guest]

For Peoria, Rafael Lopez is off the DL and Eduardo Gonzalez was sent to ExST.

 

Szczur leads off the Daytona game with a double. Nelson Perez singles him in.

[Guest]

Here's hoping Rhee can bounce back from a couple sub-par starts. He did get off to an inconsistent start last year, before warming up as the weather warmed up.

 

I imagine that Francescon/Jensen might get priority over Burke as the next guy up (as a starter) because they have been throwing a full workload.

 

Cates in AA? I'm just hoping he can string together a few decent starts in A+ first.

 

I agree on the timeline for Francescon or Jensen over Burke but I do believe all 3 will get to A+ this season. I think Francescon should be the first, given his age and his innings at Peoria last year.

[Guest]

Hayden Simpson is going to piggyback with Cates today, which is the unsurprising answer to the question of who lost their rotation spot to Frank Del Valle.

 

The only velocity reading I got for Cates from the radio crew in the 1st was 91 MPH. Cates worked around a pair of 1-out singles for a scoreless 1st. 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Here's hoping Simpson breaks his suck streak.

[Guest]

Cates' curve sounded really good in the 2nd - he got 2 strikeouts on it. They said the FB was at 93 and curve was at 78 in the inning.

 

2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2-2 GO-FO

[Guest]

Cates struggles mightily and gives up 3 in the 4th:

 

Leadoff triple to Nick Castellanos. It would have been a HR in 95% of minor league ballparks.

Sac fly.

Single.

BB.

4-3 GO.

2-RBI single.

Fly out.

 

4 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

[Guest]

Cates lost his curveball in the 4th and 5th which really hurt him. He did have a 1-2-3 5th, hitting 93 consistently and even topped out at 96.

 

This should be Cates' final line: 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 8-4 GO-FO

[Guest]

Brian Schlitter promoted to AA. He is still not allowed to throw his slider while recovering from TJS.

 

Iowa postponed due to rain.

[Guest]

Hayden Simpson's control is horrible but he topped out at 91 today. He's up to 7 K/15 BB on the season. Simpson was pulled in the middle of his 2nd inning for Brett Wallach.

 

ETA: Wallach hurt himself warming up and now Ty'Relle Harris is coming in.

 

Simpson's final line: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

Well at least Simpson hit 91 and picked up a couple of K's.

 

I completely forgot about Brett Wallach, not that that is hard to do.

 

Good to hear Cates held velocity. Also good to hear that his curve did some work earlier because supposedly his changeup was his #2 pitch.

[Guest]

Ben Wells continues his groundball profile. 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 4-1 GO-FO.

 

Dae-Eun Rhee: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3K, 3-2 GO-FO. Rhee is going up against last year's 1.2 pick, Danny Hultzen.

[ctcf]

Wells was encouragingly lights out today, although it looks like he had some control issues: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K, 10/2 GO/FO

[Guest]

I'm not sure why Dae-Eun Rhee's 3rd run was earned - it scored on what should have been an inning-ending groundout but Mota threw it away for an error.

[videographer]

I took in the Peoria vs. Fort Wayne game and here are some thoughts:

 

Ben Wells and Kyler Burke pitched today. Wells is big and long armed. He is not fat or thick and looks athletic on the mound. His motion is smooth and repeats it well and he showed good composure throughout his start. In his delivery, he drops his hands to waist then raises and separates them with a leg kick. Wells pitches off the 1st bast side of the rubber. Early in the game, he struggled with his control. By the 3rd inning, he found a rhythm, settled in and mowed down the Caps before being taken out on a pitch count. He threw almost exclusively fastballs, taking off and adding on as much as 4 to 5 mph. The FB was upper 80s to low 90s, although more upper 80s. When he was in a jam and needed something extra, the FB would climb to 94. He pounded the lower half of the strike zone all game. The sink was there, but not as extreme as Austin Reed yesterday. The few times he threw a breaking ball it appeared to be a slider with a small break. His change up was not much less than his FB. I liked Wells a lot and he looked like a 3/4 starter in the bigs. I don't think he has the stuff to dominate an opponent and needs to keep the ball down and be pitch and game savvy to succeed.

 

Kyler Burke pitched the last 3 2/3 innings. He has a smooth, high 3/4 arm angle and pitches across his body. His demeanor is a cool customer. In the 8th inning, the Tin Caps loaded the bases with no outs and scored 2 with a ground single. Burke pitched out of the jam without another run scoring. Kyler's showed a good FB that moved when down in the zone, but flattened out at and above the waist. The Caps' hits came on the FB up. Burke took a couple of innings to control his off-speed stuff. After a visit to mound from the manager, he began to take something off his curve and change up, controlling both pitches in the strike zone. Kyler's curve is more sweep than snap and controlled it in the mid-70s. His change doesn't have much sink or fade, but it fooled the Caps on several occasions. I did notice his arm slow a couple of times during the change up.

 

I was impressed with Burke as a pitcher although I don't think he will be a starter. He pitched exclusively out of the stretch. I think his piggy-backing is to get innings and not an indication of a future starter.

 

Wes Darvill played SS today (3B yesterday) and looked mechanical. He is athletic looking in his actions, but slows to make plays at SS. I like Darvill. I don't know if he will tease or turn the corner in the future. He looks better than Logan Watkins, Matt Cerda and Junior Lake at the same age.

 

Zeke DeVoss is ultra-athletic. Super quick in most of his actions, he dove 3 different times for balls hit his way at 2B. But, his 2B instincts need work. On a slow hit ball and a runner advancing from first, DeVoss chose to throw to second. The runner was safe - standing up. However on the last out of the game, DeVoss reached for a ball in the hole, spun around and threw the runner out at first. He is a fun player to watch and I can see why the Cubs drafted him in the 3rd round. His polish is better than Darvill, but I think the best IF prospect so far is Marco Hernandez.

 

Taylor Davis his a monster grand slam. He DH'ed in the game and showed a loose swing. Davis is good at protecting the plate and his first hit was a two-strike slap down the 1st base line that went for a double. He has a lot of wrist action to his swing. On the slam, he put his front foot in the bucket, opened his front shoulder and snapped his quick wrists - wow did the ball travel far.

 

Ryan Cuneo is RH first baseman that bats left. Although the box score looked good for him today (2 hits and a walk) his swing is long and can be pitched inside. Also, he is a very slow runner - very slow. I don't see him advancing much past Peoria. Better pitching will expose his limitations.

 

All-in-all, an efficient, well played game by the Chiefs.

[sporrer17]

Szczur over his last 10 games, today included:

 

.308/.413/.487/.900 with 5 doubles, 1 triple and 8/9 in SB attempts. Also scored 13 runs in those 10 games. 39 ABs.

 

He has already walked 13 times in 90 ABs this year, compared to 26 BBs in 447 ABs last year. Very good to see, although the overall season numbers still look pretty bad.

[pitchcs]

Why does anyone still care about Hayden Simpson? I mean seriously, lost cause, move on. He will never pitch for a major league team.

[Outshined_One]

I took in the Peoria vs. Fort Wayne game and here are some thoughts:

 

Thanks for the observations! That was an excellent read.

 

Why does anyone still care about Hayden Simpson? I mean seriously, lost cause, move on. He will never pitch for a major league team.

 

The Cubs drafted and signed him only a little over a year and a half ago. It's not like he's a 30 year old career minor league journeyman.

 

As I've said previously, I don't particularly care about his performance this season. He just needs to make it through the year healthy, showing signs of recovery, and get up to around the 100 IP mark.

[Guest]

Updated Extended Spring Training Stats: http://www.thecubreporter.com/2012/04/29/cubs-2012-extended-spring-training-stats-update-429

 

Didn't realize Vogelbach was struggling so much.

 

9 K and only 1 BB in 5 IP for Jose Arias. :)

[PriortoTheoIhadWood]

V, thanks again. The more I read about Wells the more I'm confident in my Jake Westbrook comp for him.

 

Will you be doing these often?