Minor League Discussion & Boxes 6-14-12

[craig]

...

He's ops'ing around 1.000 in June so far, yet his k rate is still way up.

 

He's hitting over .500 in June when he doesn't strike out.

[davell]

In his chat today, Law said, assuming he signs, Almora, Soler, and Baez will probably all be in his top 50 for next year.

[Sosa21MVP]

Attended the Fort Wayne-Lansing game tonight. Found out Jacque Jones is the hitting coach for Fort Wayne. Yes, THAT Jacque Jones.

[El Duderino]

Attended the Fort Wayne-Lansing game tonight. Found out Jacque Jones is the hitting coach for Fort Wayne. Yes, THAT Jacque Jones.

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/04/28/SdRFYLvW.jpg

 

Also, Cubs killer Jose Valentin is the manager.

[Cubswin11]

@peoriachiefs

 

Final Burke line: 6.1ip, 6h, 3r, 2bb, 4k. 87 pitches, 54 strikes. 7th quality start. All 3 runs in 1st inning.

Burke has had a fantastic year so far, he's still fairly young right as he was drafted out of HS? When do we start considering him one of our better pitching prospects?

[toonsterwu]

@peoriachiefs

 

Final Burke line: 6.1ip, 6h, 3r, 2bb, 4k. 87 pitches, 54 strikes. 7th quality start. All 3 runs in 1st inning.

Burke has had a fantastic year so far, he's still fairly young right as he was drafted out of HS? When do we start considering him one of our better pitching prospects?

 

He's not that young. I mean, granted, he's been around forever as a result of being drafted out of HS, but he's 24.

 

Whether or not he's one of our better pitching prospects (and that doesn't mean that much considering the status of the pitching in our system as of now) depends, for me, on what he is throwing. Is he throwing the hoped for low-mid 90's, or is he in the upper 80's, topping out low 90's, as many reports have put it at this year (granted, weather is warming up, which could help).

 

He's definitely a fascinating prospect, but whether or not he is a legitimate starting pitching prospect, or a guy who ends up in the pen and being fast-tracked ... well, I'm not sure there's a clear answer, for us as fans, as of now, and time is running short in that regards. I've said it before, but if they think his future is in the pen, I'd be open to fast-tracking him to AA.

[toonsterwu]

Acosta hit a homer, but K'd 3 times. Badler said breaking stuff giving him problems, but he has power.

 

I'm mildly intrigued by the monster game Daniel Sanchez had for Cubs1 today. He was touted when he was signed, and he is only 18. He's fallen off the radar, but if he heats up, I'd be curious what the national guys thought about him.

[Guest]

In his chat today, Law said, assuming he signs, Almora, Soler, and Baez will probably all be in his top 50 for next year.

 

Tony (Chicago)

 

Should the Cubs start to be getting excited about their fair system? Theo has added more talent in 6 months than we have had in 20 years. Do the Cubs actually have an above average farm system yet or still a ways away from that?

Klaw (2:08 PM)

 

Definitely time to start getting excited. Assuming Almora signs (and I assume he will) they'll probably have three guys in my top 50 after the season with him, Soler, and Baez. Also assuming Rizzo will no longer be eligible.

[Guest]

More Cubs related stuff from that chat...

 

Ben (Leland Grove)

 

Chances of the Cubs locking up Wiseman?

Klaw (1:31 PM)

 

I think zero. He's not good enough to go play pro ball right now. Three years in the SEC will be good for him.

 

 

Justin (Indianapolis)

 

If Baltimore is still contending in July with If being the main word here could the Cubs land Bundy or Machado in a trade with Garza?

Klaw (1:54 PM)

 

No. Pretty sure I know who you root for now.

[craig]

...Whether or not he's one of our better pitching prospects ...depends, for me, on what he is throwing. Is he throwing the hoped for low-mid 90's, or is he in the upper 80's, topping out low 90's, as many reports have put it at this year (granted, weather is warming up, which could help).

 

He's definitely a fascinating prospect, but whether or not he is a legitimate starting pitching prospect, or a guy who ends up in the pen and being fast-tracked ... well, I'm not sure there's a clear answer, for us as fans, as of now, and time is running short in that regards. I've said it before, but if they think his future is in the pen, I'd be open to fast-tracking him to AA.

 

toonster, I see no "time is running short". He's got plenty of time to be patiently developed into whatever it is he has the potential to become. Whether a slow-track starting pitcher, or a slow-track relief pitcher, or a fast-track version of either. Given that he hasn't pitched much, I'd think slow-track patience would be my preference.

 

Time: He's got 2+ months left of this summer to develop. Then he's got three full option years. So he could spend all of this year at Peoria, where he seems qualified but challenged. All of next year at Daytona, option 1. Tennessee, option 2. Iowa, option 3. That wouldn't be rushing him at all, and would provide more than plenty of time for him to refine his curve, introduce and develop a cutter, refine his changeup, become more adept at moving back and forth between two-seam and four-seam, perhaps work on a second arm slot that would be lower and more deadly on lefties, etc. I don't know really what he really needs to do to become an optimal starter, or reliever, but given that he's already good at Peoria, three-and-a-half years seems like plenty of time to get him ready. He may not need all that much time, but my point is that there is more than plenty of time to get wherever he needs to go. If he only needs 1.5 instead of 3.5, fine. But don't underdevelop him because of some urgency to get him up in 1.5 if he'd be a better pitcher if he had 2.5 or 3.5.

 

I don't much care that he's 24. I'd rather get six really good years as a starter from age 27-33 than six years as a reliever from 25-31.

 

If the time pressure is that he isn't good enough to justify a 40-man spot, that's a different question. But if he's not, then I don't think it matters much, because a guy who isn' good enough for 40-man isn't relevant for 25-man either.

 

To me the real question is how good he is, and how good he can become. Scouting stuff. How much movement does his fastball have? How fast is he, and how consistently? Does he have a cutter that has promise? How sharp is his breaking ball? His ERA is nice for sure. But as you say, what stuff does he have? His 2.31 ERA and his WHIP are excellent, 57H/22BB/74 innings are very good. However, his K-rate and HR-rate are both not so great. (5HR/74 IP is mediocre in the low-HR Midwest league. And 52K/74 innings isn't eye-catching.) But, what he's got for a K-pitch now and what he might have projected over several years of patient development and improvement, I don't know. That's the real question.

[rawaction]

I've heard high 80s- low 90s on Burke as well. Works 88-90, but hits 92 when he needs to. I've heard really good things about his curveball and he also throws a changeup. I think most scouts project him as a reliever long-term but the Cubs want to get him as many innings as they can and believe he could actually start. I think at some point he gets fast tracked. Maybe not this year, but I'd say he'd spend at least the majority of 2013 in AA. I don't think that's "too big" for him, especially at 25. Then by 2014, he could be a guy that's called on to get some spot starts or even have a role in short relief. If he can get that fastball up to mid 90s and refine the curve some more, he can be a Sean Marshall type of late-inning reliever at some point. I think that's best case scenario for him, and that's not a bad scenario by any means.

[craig]

My friend went to all three games of the beloit series, so saw Jensen, Burke, and Rosario.

 

Michael Jensen was not nearly as bad as the score indicated. He was the victim of some of the worst fielding you could have. Three errors by Baez and two by Geiger that I remember, and there may have been more that I repressed.

 

There was no gun at the game that I could see, but Jensen looked fast. Faster, even, then Suarez, who is 8 feet tall and 500 lbs, or looked it when he replaced Jensen, who was on some sort of pitch count.

 

Roserio was outstanding. he threw mostly fastballs, but he also threw 7 or 8 pitches that were either a curve (I was not in position to see a break on the ball) or a change up. I think everyone was a strike. There was a guy with a gun several seats away from me, but I couldn't see the readings. After the 6th inning, I went over there to ask how fast Roserio was throwing. he said he was typically 92 - 94 and hit 96 twice.

 

Burke had a very rough start to the game, and then settled down to pitch decently. He has a fastball that looked about as fast as Rosario's did yesterday, and a pretty good curve ball. He walked a couple of guys, but generally had decent control.

 

After the first inning, [burke] looked pretty good. I didn't have access to a gun, but he seemed to be about as fast as Rosario the previous night. He also threw more breaking pitches with reasonable success. He certainly was not as dominant as rosario had been the night before.