Spring Training Rosters and Injuries, per Arizona Phil.

[toonsterwu]

Tennessee would be tough. I don't think Torreyes deserves to go up, but maybe he does enough to convince them.

Torreyes did really well from June on last year. His awful start just kept his overall numbers down. I think he, out of the group listed originally, is easily the right choice for Tennessee.

 

Personally, I think the sink or swim guy should be Zeke DeVoss. Move him up to AA and see how he does.

I'd be stunned if DeVoss skipped Daytona. He wasn't all that great at Peoria last year to the point that I wouldn't hesitate to send him back unless a better prospect needed to start there.

 

Well, I don't want to go back to a discussion on his numbers, so I'll just note that Torreyes' numbers dipped again in August. What he really had was roughly a good 7/8 weeks - a really hot June, and a very good July. Thus, he had 2 very similar hot months, and 2 very similar cold months (let's leave May aside, as the numbers were far more extreme than April/August)), numbers wise.

 

That said, I don't want to beat that horse again on the numbers, so I'll argue it another way as to why I'd rather have DeVoss at AA. Who is more important? Torreyes or DeVoss. It's Torreyes. DeVoss' best case seems is ... ? I'm not real sure. You probably don't want him manning 2nd year long, and his offense is limited, so his best case seems to be that of a pinch runner/depth IF. While I still don't have huge expectations for Torreyes, his best case is a very solid starting 2nd baseman. Torreyes is 20 turning 21 this season. He's not coming off a great season, so why not be careful with him and let him master A+ for an extended stretch, playing alongside other potential future pieces in Baez/Soler. I'm not a huge believer in the idea that guys need to play together ... but it doesn't hurt. The short of it is, Torreyes' future is better, so why not be a bit careful with him? DeVoss' future is very limited, so push him up and see if he can stick. If he can't, then Torreyes or Bruno could replace him in a month or two, whoever shows to be more capable.

[craig]

... I'll argue it another way as to why I'd rather have DeVoss at AA. Who is more important? Torreyes or DeVoss. It's Torreyes. DeVoss' best case seems is ... ? I'm not real sure. You probably don't want him manning 2nd year long, and his offense is limited, so his best case seems to be that of a pinch runner/depth IF. While I still don't have huge expectations for Torreyes, his best case is a very solid starting 2nd baseman. Torreyes is 20 turning 21 this season. He's not coming off a great season, so why not be careful with him and let him master A+ for an extended stretch, playing alongside other potential future pieces in Baez/Soler. I'm not a huge believer in the idea that guys need to play together ... but it doesn't hurt. The short of it is, Torreyes' future is better, so why not be a bit careful with him? DeVoss' future is very limited, so push him up and see if he can stick. If he can't, then Torreyes or Bruno could replace him in a month or two, whoever shows to be more capable.

 

I agree. DeVoss is a very fringy prospect. He can't play big-league defense at 2B. He's just minor-league roster filler probably, maybe a shot to become a 25th man OFer/emergency 2B. He should be a non-factor in the Daytona 2B puzzle. Whether you get him away from Daytona 2B by sticking him at Tenn, Kane, or Daytona OF, wherever you need a body.

 

I agree that Torreyes is meaningful and what's best for his development is where he should be. I'd like to see him improve or sustain some success at Daytona. But, I do think his gift for contact and his greater experience at Daytona makes him probably the least likely to get killed by AA pitching.

[craig]

I feel the same for Alcantara. He's 21, he's played only half a season at Daytona. His defense is extremely raw (0.42 errors per game), his plate discipline is very raw (5%), his overall offense was good but not great (.786 OPS). His previous season his OPS was only .655. So I'd like to see him show better defense, better plate discipline, show he can sustain his offense, and show better offense. It's not like .786 OPS is such compelling offensive profile that he's not challenged there, or so overwhelming that it commands a promotion even if his plate discipline and error-defense is raw and lousy. Baseball is a different sort of deal, I realize, but there could be some targets set: reduce your error-rate below 0.30/game; get your walk rate up over 7%; and get your OPS up over .800. Do that and sustain that for at least a month, and welcome to Tennessee. I guess for a player as young and raw as Alcantara, promoting him after only 71 games at a level seems like kind of a rush. But, Baez is coming, so lesser prospects need to get out of the way. That might mean Tennessee for Alcantara. I could also easily see Alcantara and Baez flipping leagues mid-season, once Baez is ready for AA. Unless Alcantara is performing pretty well at AA, he might get sent back down, kind of like happened with Marco Hernandez last summer.

[Guest]

I feel the same for Alcantara. He's 21, he's played only half a season at Daytona. His defense is extremely raw (0.42 errors per game), his plate discipline is very raw (5%), his overall offense was good but not great (.786 OPS). His previous season his OPS was only .655. So I'd like to see him show better defense, better plate discipline, show he can sustain his offense, and show better offense. It's not like .786 OPS is such compelling offensive profile that he's not challenged there, or so overwhelming that it commands a promotion even if his plate discipline and error-defense is raw and lousy. Baseball is a different sort of deal, I realize, but there could be some targets set: reduce your error-rate below 0.30/game; get your walk rate up over 7%; and get your OPS up over .800. Do that and sustain that for at least a month, and welcome to Tennessee. I guess for a player as young and raw as Alcantara, promoting him after only 71 games at a level seems like kind of a rush. But, Baez is coming, so lesser prospects need to get out of the way. That might mean Tennessee for Alcantara. I could also easily see Alcantara and Baez flipping leagues mid-season, once Baez is ready for AA. Unless Alcantara is performing pretty well at AA, he might get sent back down, kind of like happened with Marco Hernandez last summer.

 

I thought Alcantara's offense was fine when you consider that he played in the pitcher-friendly FSL - he had an OPS+ of 124. He definitely needs to work on his patience and defense but those parts of his game aren't so poor that he needs to repeat; his play last season warrants graduation to AA.

[jumbo]

Well, I don't want to go back to a discussion on his numbers, so I'll just note that Torreyes' numbers dipped again in August. What he really had was roughly a good 7/8 weeks - a really hot June, and a very good July. Thus, he had 2 very similar hot months, and 2 very similar cold months (let's leave May aside, as the numbers were far more extreme than April/August)), numbers wise.

 

That said, I don't want to beat that horse again on the numbers, so I'll argue it another way as to why I'd rather have DeVoss at AA. Who is more important? Torreyes or DeVoss. It's Torreyes. DeVoss' best case seems is ... ? I'm not real sure. You probably don't want him manning 2nd year long, and his offense is limited, so his best case seems to be that of a pinch runner/depth IF. While I still don't have huge expectations for Torreyes, his best case is a very solid starting 2nd baseman. Torreyes is 20 turning 21 this season. He's not coming off a great season, so why not be careful with him and let him master A+ for an extended stretch, playing alongside other potential future pieces in Baez/Soler. I'm not a huge believer in the idea that guys need to play together ... but it doesn't hurt. The short of it is, Torreyes' future is better, so why not be a bit careful with him? DeVoss' future is very limited, so push him up and see if he can stick. If he can't, then Torreyes or Bruno could replace him in a month or two, whoever shows to be more capable.

 

You're right about Torreyes by month. I'm inclined to write off his terrible BABIP month a bit and believe in his track record, maybe too much. And I completely agree on DeVoss. He'd be the guy to get bumped around for just about anyone else at this point.

[Guest]

http://www.thecubreporter.com/03272013/2013-cubs-minor-league-camp-rosters-updateed-326

 

Take aways for me: Jose Rosario (Daytona) and Josh Conway (Kane County) are healthy while Lendy Castillo is all the way down in Kane County.

[Guest]

Craig, there were only 12 qualified players in the entire FSL that OPS'd .800 or above last year. I understand that part of that is that guys that started the year there and hit better got promoted, but it still shows what a tough hitting league that is.

[craig]

Interesting point, Tim. Thanks. How many AB does it take to be "qualified"?

 

One other observation from Phil's roster list is DeVoss is listed with the outfielders. So that takes him out of the 2b clutter at Daytona.

 

And Alcantara was listed with the Iowa group, so that probably reflects that he'll be at Tennessee, as expected, and contrary to my dopey idea of holding him back.

 

Maples was not listed as "inactive".

[jersey cubs fan]

Interesting point, Tim. Thanks. How many AB does it take to be "qualified"?

 

2.7 PA/league game

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It looks like the Maples thing was a minor leg or foot injury. There's been a few reports of him throwing normally since.

[CubsInNC]

... I'll argue it another way as to why I'd rather have DeVoss at AA. Who is more important? Torreyes or DeVoss. It's Torreyes. DeVoss' best case seems is ... ? I'm not real sure. You probably don't want him manning 2nd year long, and his offense is limited, so his best case seems to be that of a pinch runner/depth IF. While I still don't have huge expectations for Torreyes, his best case is a very solid starting 2nd baseman. Torreyes is 20 turning 21 this season. He's not coming off a great season, so why not be careful with him and let him master A+ for an extended stretch, playing alongside other potential future pieces in Baez/Soler. I'm not a huge believer in the idea that guys need to play together ... but it doesn't hurt. The short of it is, Torreyes' future is better, so why not be a bit careful with him? DeVoss' future is very limited, so push him up and see if he can stick. If he can't, then Torreyes or Bruno could replace him in a month or two, whoever shows to be more capable.

 

I agree. DeVoss is a very fringy prospect. He can't play big-league defense at 2B. He's just minor-league roster filler probably, maybe a shot to become a 25th man OFer/emergency 2B. He should be a non-factor in the Daytona 2B puzzle. Whether you get him away from Daytona 2B by sticking him at Tenn, Kane, or Daytona OF, wherever you need a body.

 

I agree that Torreyes is meaningful and what's best for his development is where he should be. I'd like to see him improve or sustain some success at Daytona. But, I do think his gift for contact and his greater experience at Daytona makes him probably the least likely to get killed by AA pitching.

 

While it isn't confirmation of where Torreyes is headed, Zeke Devoss is starting the season in Daytona.

[davell]

Based on tweets, Bruno, Carhart, and Geiger are starting in Daytona. Sounds like everyone's getting their assignments today. If I'm picking an upset, I'll say Vogelbach starts at Daytona.

[craig]

...

While it isn't confirmation of where Torreyes is headed, Zeke Devoss is starting the season in Daytona.

 

AZ Phil has noted that DeVoss has been with Daytona's OF. So I don't think he's a factor for 2B anymore.

[davell]

Since Brett has been back from his injury, he has had 2 plate appearances in a spring training game and 11 in minor league games. No K's.

[Hawk4Hall]

Is there an updated list of who is injured in the minors? Can they place guys on the DL yet or do they have to wait for the rosters to be finalized?

[CubsWin]

Is there an updated list of who is injured in the minors? Can they place guys on the DL yet or do they have to wait for the rosters to be finalized?

According to AZPhil, current minor leaguers that are rehabbing are:

 

Pitchers: Arodys Vizcaino ®, Kyler Burke (L), Marcelo Carreno ®, Hunter Cervenka (L), Gerardo Concepcion (L), Dayan Diaz ®, Jin-Young Kim ®, Chang-Yong Lim ®, Armando Rivero ®, and Casey Weathers ®

 

IF: Junior Lake, Greg Rohan, and Ian Stewart

 

OF: Albert Almora