Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-8-12

[Outshined_One]

Box Scores

 

Iowa won Game 1 of its DH 5-4 Box Score

 

Iowa lost Game 2 of its DH 6-0 Box Score

 

Tennessee won 4-3 Box Score

 

Daytona won Game 1 of its DH 3-2 Box Score

 

Daytona lost Game 2 of its DH 4-3 Box Score

 

Peoria won 4-2 Box Score

 

DSL Cubs 1 won 3-2 Box Score

 

DSL Cubs 2 won 6-0 Box Score

 

OVERALL: 6-2

[ctcf]

That is an awesomely large helping of minor league baseball for tonight.

[Guest]

That is an awesomely large helping of minor league baseball for tonight.

I can't wait for short season leagues to start, too.

[ctcf]

That is an awesomely large helping of minor league baseball for tonight.

I can't wait for short season leagues to start, too.

 

Boise Hawks may well end up being the most important box scores of the summer.

[El Duderino]

Hopefully Almora can at least get a month of ABs at Mesa.

[Guest]

Hopefully Almora can at least get a month of ABs at Mesa.

 

The signing deadline is July 13th. He should get 6 weeks.

[17 Seconds]

rbi double for vitters

[Guest]

rbi double for vitters

"On a frozen rope" per Iowa's Twitter.

[17 Seconds]

what's going on with Szczur?

[davell]

Szczur was put on the DL, I think it's a sore knee? Daytona is in another damn delay, messing up Whitenack's start. 2ip 3h 1r 1er 0w 1k.

[toonsterwu]

Having been busy for the past week, I was surprised to see Micah Gibbs batting that high in the lineup. Lo and behold, I missed Gibbs going on a tear in the last 10 games. That's a nice positive thing to see, though his bat is still an iffy proposition up the ladder.

[El Duderino]

Rizzo HR. Bomb to straight-away CF according to Gameday.

[toonsterwu]

Some random thoughts as I catch up on our minors:

 

So, out of boredom, I was looking at Paul Hoilman's stats. It's certainly interesting that, in his slump of late, he's actually been walking a ton more (14 walks in the last 9 games, 28 total on the season), and striking out a ton less (13 K's in the last 10).

 

____

 

I'm ... mildly curious how Justin Bour looks in LF. That seems even worse a fit than Yonder Alonso in LF. But with whatever is plaguing Rebel Ridling (the last Cubs prospect that I recall doing well in AA and then struggling this badly was Brandon Sing, but at least with Sing, there were some mild warning signs IIRC ... makes me wonder if Rebel is banged up ... BABIP can only explain so much), I guess Justin deserved a look out there.

 

___

 

Greg Rohan really should get a look in AA. It's not that I think he's anything intriguing, beyond being a versatile upper level positional asset, but there's no point for him to be in A+, and much as I like Matt Cerda, he just doesn't offer any intrigue as a prospect if he's at the hot corner. Maybe when Castillo is ready for AAA, they'll give Rohan a mid-season call-up.

 

____

 

I was never huge on Dave Sappelt (thought he was a nice Sam Fuld-ish player), but even I didn't expect him to struggle this much this year, particularly since he still has decent wheels.

[El Duderino]

@IowaCubs

 

Jackson shoots one up the middle to start the seventh. Has reached base safely in sixteen straight games.

 

Baez flew out in his first AB. Rosario 2 scoreless so far, worked out of a bases loaded jam in the 2nd.

[iowahawkeyes89]

Baez has two Abs tonight and has seen two pitches... [-X

[El Duderino]

@peoriachiefs

 

Jose Rosario final line: 6ip, 5h, 2r, 1bb, 4k.

[toonsterwu]

Man ... that looks like a fascinating outing for Rosario if he has a 14:0 GO/FO ratio. If that number is real, I'd be curious what it was that gave the other side fits to drive the ball into the ground so much.

 

Zych's had a solid little run of late. Would be curious if the reports suggest he's tightening up his stuff.

[El Duderino]

Brett Jackson 3/7 in the two games tonight, only 1 K. Average is up to .267 and he's been on base 17 straight games.

[RammyFanny]

Josh Vitters, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is streaking at Class AAA Iowa — up to .267 with nine home runs — but he also has eight errors at third with a .938 fielding percentage.

 

And Sveum, who has watched him on video, makes it clear he’s not ready.

 

‘‘He’s been swinging the bat real well lately, but he’s the same guy,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘Not great command of the strike zone. He swings out of the strike zone, but he puts the ball in play and doesn’t strike out for that kind of hitter.

 

‘‘But he’s still got to develop defensively. That’s still not going all that great. He’s got to get a little better defensively before we think about that.’’

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13068220-419/ian-stewart-dropped-to-9th-in-cubs-order.html

[Guest]

Luis Acosta: .286/.333/.607/.940 but he's struck out 13 times in 28 at bats. 2 BB/13 K

 

Mark Malave: .280/.379/.360/.739 - 4 BB/6 K

 

Ricardo Marcano: .190/.370/.238/.608 - 6 BB/2 K

[rawaction]

Josh Vitters, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is streaking at Class AAA Iowa — up to .267 with nine home runs — but he also has eight errors at third with a .938 fielding percentage.

 

And Sveum, who has watched him on video, makes it clear he’s not ready.

 

‘‘He’s been swinging the bat real well lately, but he’s the same guy,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘Not great command of the strike zone. He swings out of the strike zone, but he puts the ball in play and doesn’t strike out for that kind of hitter.

 

‘‘But he’s still got to develop defensively. That’s still not going all that great. He’s got to get a little better defensively before we think about that.’’

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13068220-419/ian-stewart-dropped-to-9th-in-cubs-order.html

 

Well, that's probably not going to happen at this point. Kinda is what he is defensively. Time to get him some more reps in LF, if the Cubs don't think he can handle 3B in the majors.

[Guest]

Josh Vitters, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is streaking at Class AAA Iowa — up to .267 with nine home runs — but he also has eight errors at third with a .938 fielding percentage.

 

And Sveum, who has watched him on video, makes it clear he’s not ready.

 

‘‘He’s been swinging the bat real well lately, but he’s the same guy,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘Not great command of the strike zone. He swings out of the strike zone, but he puts the ball in play and doesn’t strike out for that kind of hitter.

 

‘‘But he’s still got to develop defensively. That’s still not going all that great. He’s got to get a little better defensively before we think about that.’’

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13068220-419/ian-stewart-dropped-to-9th-in-cubs-order.html

 

Well, that's probably not going to happen at this point. Kinda is what he is defensively. Time to get him some more reps in LF, if the Cubs don't think he can handle 3B in the majors.

Yeah, that's a shame. Probably impossible for Castro to ever get better at SS, too, since they're around the same age.

 

Oh, wait. That happened.

[KingCubsFan]

Josh Vitters, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is streaking at Class AAA Iowa — up to .267 with nine home runs — but he also has eight errors at third with a .938 fielding percentage.

 

And Sveum, who has watched him on video, makes it clear he’s not ready.

 

‘‘He’s been swinging the bat real well lately, but he’s the same guy,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘Not great command of the strike zone. He swings out of the strike zone, but he puts the ball in play and doesn’t strike out for that kind of hitter.

 

‘‘But he’s still got to develop defensively. That’s still not going all that great. He’s got to get a little better defensively before we think about that.’’

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13068220-419/ian-stewart-dropped-to-9th-in-cubs-order.html

 

Well, that's probably not going to happen at this point. Kinda is what he is defensively. Time to get him some more reps in LF, if the Cubs don't think he can handle 3B in the majors.

He's still only 22, and there's no need to rush him. Plus I don't see his bat being a plus in the outfield.

[Guest]

Just as an example, Moustakas has six errors at 3B this season and ranks 9th amongst MLB 3B in fielding percentage*. That's obviously a difference of one error a month separating Vitters from being top ten in MLB in fieling percentage* at his position. We're not talking about an impossible gulf to cross here.

 

 

 

 

* I know fielding percentage is a terrible way to measure defense. But it was the way mentioned in the quote.

[rawaction]

Josh Vitters, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 draft, is streaking at Class AAA Iowa — up to .267 with nine home runs — but he also has eight errors at third with a .938 fielding percentage.

 

And Sveum, who has watched him on video, makes it clear he’s not ready.

 

‘‘He’s been swinging the bat real well lately, but he’s the same guy,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘Not great command of the strike zone. He swings out of the strike zone, but he puts the ball in play and doesn’t strike out for that kind of hitter.

 

‘‘But he’s still got to develop defensively. That’s still not going all that great. He’s got to get a little better defensively before we think about that.’’

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/13068220-419/ian-stewart-dropped-to-9th-in-cubs-order.html

 

Well, that's probably not going to happen at this point. Kinda is what he is defensively. Time to get him some more reps in LF, if the Cubs don't think he can handle 3B in the majors.

Yeah, that's a shame. Probably impossible for Castro to ever get better at SS, too, since they're around the same age.

 

Oh, wait. That happened.

 

Yes, because SS and 3B are the exact same position. And because Vitters is the same caliber athlete as Castro. And because 6 years in the minor with no defensive improvement is the same as the 4 years in the minors, 3 in the majors with constant improvement.

 

Castro was a 17-year old off a small island in the Carribbean. Vitters was a 17-year old with US highschool instruction.

Castro has consistently shown the range, arm, hands, and ability to be a good defensive SS. Vitters has consistently shown that he doesn't have the range, hands or ability to ever be more than an average defensive 3B.

 

I know you like Vitters (I do too actually), but if the team isn't comfortable with the thought of him at 3B now, they aren't going to be happy with him there with a couple more years of seasoning in the minors.