Minor League Discussion & Boxes 7-16-12

[Guest]

When your hands are as quick as Baez's, you stand as close to the plate as you can, since you can turn on anything. One of his offensive comps, Gary Sheffield, was much the same way, and wore body armor on his left elbow because he'd get hit a lot too. I didn't notice Baez standing on top of the plate when I saw him, but in hindsight he definitely has a little lean towards the plate. Not so much a "I hope I get a free base" thing, but more of a cheat to get more coverage because he has no fear of getting burned by inside heat.

[pccubfan]

Could be a fluke, maybe he lunges over a bit, could be pitchers know he is one of the better hitters they will be facing so maybe they are trying to throw harder/make their pitches break more and they are losing command because of it, maybe he really hangs in the box a long time and since it's A ball a lot of the breaking stuff he's facing isn't polished/that great/guys are working on it so a lot of stuff that he thinks is going to break more just doesn't. My 2 cents at least.

 

I thought about the breaking stuff and just wondered if someone who had seen him play noticed anything. Hopefully, one of these don't turn into an injury that slow his development.

 

Any chance of him being a raging douche and these other young guys taking it out on him? Not that I really care unless it leads to him getting hurt. Usually great players are all douches.

 

From the sound of it he is pretty high on himself, with his I'll do whatever the F I want. But I would think we would be hearing about beanball wars if these were deemed intentional.

[pccubfan]

When your hands are as quick as Baez's, you stand as close to the plate as you can, since you can turn on anything. One of his offensive comps, Gary Sheffield, was much the same way, and wore body armor on his left elbow because he'd get hit a lot too. I didn't notice Baez standing on top of the plate when I saw him, but in hindsight he definitely has a little lean towards the plate. Not so much a "I hope I get a free base" thing, but more of a cheat to get more coverage because he has no fear of getting burned by inside heat.

 

Thanks for the insight. I watched the Saturday home run and it looked like he was well inside the box. The footage was quick and didn't really offer a good perspective of how he attacked the pitch. If he is taking all the space just inside off the plate when he is swinging, then that really doesn't give these A ball pitchers much room to miss inside.

[TruffleShuffle]

logan watkins is 2-2 and has a .329/.430/.519/.949 line in his last 22 games. didn't he hit really well in the second half last year also, or am i just imagining that?

[CubsWin]

logan watkins is 2-2 and has a .329/.430/.519/.949 line in his last 22 games. didn't he hit really well in the second half last year also, or am i just imagining that?

He had a crappy August going .258/.295/.340 over 105 PAs, but he did really well in June and July. He only had 17 PAs in Sept., but he was good in that month, too.

[TruffleShuffle]

azl cubs faced starting pitcher michael ynoa (remember him?)

[JockJones]

BJax almost made it a full game without K'ing. Struck out in the top of the 9th.

[sneakypower]

saw this at fangraphs re HBP

 

Certain players tend to get hit much more frequently than others-- Chase Utley, Carlos Quentin, Craig Biggio all come to mind. In those cases you can certainly call it a 'skill'. In fact, HBP/PA appears to correlate at .64 year-to-year, which is nowhere near as strong as, say, walk rate (.78) but significantly better than batting average (.41).

[TruffleShuffle]

three vogelwalks

[iowahawkeyes89]

Carlos Rodriguez continues to be a bright spot for the DSL Cubs.

 

5 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 5 K

 

The 17 year old lefty has an ERA of 1.79 with 40.1 IP and 46 K's on the season

 

Only 5'11 178 but I remember reading he throws 88-90, which is pretty good for his age. Hopefully he gets bigger and adds a few MPHs.

[Guest]

Candelario is just ice cold right now. 3 for his last 30 with no XBH, 1 BB and 11 K

[ctcf]

Dunston Jr. FINALLY broke out of his cold streak tonight, hitting his first pro HR and going 2-5 (so far). Vogelbach is 0-1 with 3 BB

[TruffleShuffle]

Dunston Jr. FINALLY broke out of his cold streak tonight, hitting his first pro HR and going 2-5 (so far). Vogelbach is 0-1 with 3 BB

 

inside the park HR according to the game log

[RammyFanny]

Candelario is just ice cold right now. 3 for his last 30 with no XBH, 1 BB and 11 K

Walk-off homers tend to help break slumps...

[Guest]

Dunston Jr. FINALLY broke out of his cold streak tonight, hitting his first pro HR and going 2-5 (so far). Vogelbach is 0-1 with 3 BB

 

Actually, Dunston was 2/5 in his last game.

[CUBZ99]

Sanders still sporting a .532/.690/1.222 line in AZ. I realize he is old for the league, but they need to call him up and challenge him soon.

[ctcf]

three vogelwalks

 

That has immediately become better than anything with the word "bomb" at the end.

[Little Slide Rooter]

2 questions:

1. Is DSL SS ready to join the ranks of our young, high ceiling middle infield prospects such as Amaya, Hernandez and Alcantara? Baez left out because he's on a whole different level

2. How close is Carlos Martinez, who will be 17 tomorrow, to being considered our top pitching prospect?

[Little Slide Rooter]

What are the chances that at some point in 2013 that Peoria or Daytona look like this:

 

1B Vogelsbach 1B

2B Hernandez 2B

SS Amaya

3B Candelerio

LF Encarnacion (I'm aware that nobody other than myself cares about him, but I can't think of another option: Dunston? Saunders?)

CF Almora

RF Soler

C Krist

SP Maples

SP C. Martinez

SP Wells (if ready to return)

 

I simply can't imagine Baez not being a step ahead of the rest. Even if he started at Peoria, by the time some of the others joined he's likely be in Daytona. Soler could be there as well. Still, for lack of a better term, it would be damned sexy.

[Guest]

You think the 3 year DSL guy is going to fly through Mesa and Boise in less than a year?

 

Outside of that, I don't think that's an unreasonable assumption. Maybe the more advanced guys like Krist could be promoted before Almora joins full season ball, but the lineup seems okay.

 

Maples seems like a longshot to make Peoria until laaate next year unless he starts turning heads the moment he gets healthy.

[Guest]

2 questions:

1. Is DSL SS ready to join the ranks of our young, high ceiling middle infield prospects such as Amaya, Hernandez and Alcantara? Baez left out because he's on a whole different level

2. How close is Carlos Martinez, who will be 17 tomorrow, to being considered our top pitching prospect?

Carlos Rodriguez, the DSL pitcher turns 17 tomorrow. Carlos Martinez is a 21-year old Cuban defector. Are you really suggesting either is in a conversation to be the organization's top pitching prospect?

 

Also, I'm not sure who you're referring to in the first question.

[Guest]

What are the chances that at some point in 2013 that Peoria or Daytona look like this:

 

1B Vogelsbach 1B

2B Hernandez 2B

SS Amaya

3B Candelerio

LF Encarnacion (I'm aware that nobody other than myself cares about him, but I can't think of another option: Dunston? Saunders?)

CF Almora

RF Soler

C Krist

SP Maples

SP C. Martinez

SP Wells (if ready to return)

 

I simply can't imagine Baez not being a step ahead of the rest. Even if he started at Peoria, by the time some of the others joined he's likely be in Daytona. Soler could be there as well. Still, for lack of a better term, it would be damned sexy.

 

Hmm... Switch Marco Hernandez and Gioskar Amaya's positions. Try Trey Martin (or Bijan Rademacher?) instead of Kevin Encarnacion and Justin Marra instead of Chadd Krist (who should be at Daytona next year).

[Guest]

You think the 3 year DSL guy is going to fly through Mesa and Boise in less than a year?

 

Outside of that, I don't think that's an unreasonable assumption. Maybe the more advanced guys like Krist could be promoted before Almora joins full season ball, but the lineup seems okay.

 

Maples seems like a longshot to make Peoria until laaate next year unless he starts turning heads the moment he gets healthy.

 

I could see Maples getting to Peoria to start 2013, especially if he gets a few innings sometime this summer in the AZL and remains healthy throughout fall instructs.

[Little Slide Rooter]

2 questions:

1. Is DSL SS ready to join the ranks of our young, high ceiling middle infield prospects such as Amaya, Hernandez and Alcantara? Baez left out because he's on a whole different level

2. How close is Carlos Martinez, who will be 17 tomorrow, to being considered our top pitching prospect?

Carlos Rodriguez, the DSL pitcher turns 17 tomorrow. Carlos Martinez is a 21-year old Cuban defector. Are you really suggesting either is in a conversation to be the organization's top pitching prospect?

 

Also, I'm not sure who you're referring to in the first question.

 

The DSL kid. It's really more testement to the weakness of our pitching prospects. Who knows if Wells will pitch in 2013. McNutt seems to be in some type of limbo. Whitenack, though coming off TJS still needs to re-prove himself. Maples has yet to do anything but collect a hefty bonus. Rodriquez has done more than Johnson, Blackburn or Underwood. And with the possible exception of Nick Struck, the rest of our starting pitching prospects seem to fall somewhere between Casey Coleman and Randy Wells.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Little Slide Rooter

[ctcf]

What are the chances that at some point in 2013 that Peoria or Daytona look like this:

 

1B Vogelsbach 1B

2B Hernandez 2B

SS Amaya

3B Candelerio

LF Encarnacion (I'm aware that nobody other than myself cares about him, but I can't think of another option: Dunston? Saunders?)

CF Almora

RF Soler

C Krist

SP Maples

SP C. Martinez

SP Wells (if ready to return)

 

I simply can't imagine Baez not being a step ahead of the rest. Even if he started at Peoria, by the time some of the others joined he's likely be in Daytona. Soler could be there as well. Still, for lack of a better term, it would be damned sexy.

 

Hmm... Switch Marco Hernandez and Gioskar Amaya's positions. Try Trey Martin (or Bijan Rademacher?) instead of Kevin Encarnacion and Justin Marra instead of Chadd Krist (who should be at Daytona next year).

 

Especially considering Rademacher is already there.