Random Cubs Musings: Minor League Edition

[Guest]

I don't know why, but I'm convinced that Stephen Bruno is going to be a major leaguer one day and an OK one at that.

[Guest]

More from the Parks chat

 

JWP123 (Iowa City): Vogelbach has slimmed down noticeably over the winter, did you get a chance to see him take bp yesterday? If so, what are your thoughts?

 

Jason Parks on the Completed Prospect Rankings: I didn't see his batting practice. While I'm glad that he slimmed down, I don't think that changes anything about his profile. He's still a 1B/DH type that will have to hit the ceilings of his offensive projections to be a first-division player.

Jordan (Chicago): Could you have any more of a man crush on Javy Baez? #LightSpeedSwing

 

Jason Parks on the Completed Prospect Rankings: No. Its actually not possible. His bat speed is elite and I'd pay to watch it.

 

Jake Smith (SEMO): Would you throw the generational talent label on Byron Buxton a la Griffey, Pujols, Trout?

 

Jason Parks on the Completed Prospect Rankings: He's pretty special, man. No doubt. But of all the players in the minors, I'd throw a generational label on Baez over Buxton. It comes with more risk and Buxton is a no-doubt up-the-middle player at the next level and a future all-star, but Baez has the generational ceiling.

John (Cincinnati): Did you a get a good look at Jorge Soler while Cub scouting? If so, how's he looking?

 

Jason Parks on the Completed Prospect Rankings: He's a very large man. He's listed at 6'4'' 215 but he looks more like an NFL tight end than a ballplayer. Impressive raw power but low-energy player that will require more developmental patience than first thought.

 

Scott (Lincolnshire): Everyone talks about A. Almora's off the charts makeup and approach to the game. How much does that translate into actual production for a team? It's great to be a nice guy and work hard and all, but give me the high ceiling guy over the low floor guy any day. Thoughts?

 

Jason Parks on the Completed Prospect Rankings: I think his makeup stems from his approach to the game and the enjoyment he seems to get from that, not the fact that he is well-liked, which I can't really speak to. He also doesn't have a low floor. He's a natural baseball player with solid-average to plus tools and profiles as a first-division player at a premium position. I don't give a **** if a player is well-liked or considered nice. I care if they put in the work, can make adjustments, and keep themselves focused. That's how I judge makeup. Almora receives high marks in that department

[Post Count Padder]

I don't know why, but I'm convinced that Stephen Bruno is going to be a major leaguer one day and an OK one at that.

I keep thinking of him as the system replacement for DJ LeMahieu and Ronald Torreyes, undersized infielder with a very strong hit tool. I'd love to see what he can do as he moves up in the system and hopefully stays healthy.

[rawaction]

I don't know why, but I'm convinced that Stephen Bruno is going to be a major leaguer one day and an OK one at that.

 

Yeah, I agree. Polished college bat. I can see a better Mike Fontenot type career for him. Utility player who gets a couple seasons as a full-time starter and doesn't embarass himself.

[Guest]

I don't know why, but I'm convinced that Stephen Bruno is going to be a major leaguer one day and an OK one at that.

 

Yeah, I agree. Polished college bat. I can see a better Mike Fontenot type career for him. Utility player who gets a couple seasons as a full-time starter and doesn't embarass himself.

 

I wonder if he'll get moved to AA this year to make up for the lost time or if they'll keep him at Daytona since he only got 20ish games there.

[Guest]

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=22949

 

Cubs/Royals (Jason Parks)

The Cubs’ brand new spring training facility is easy plus-plus and possibly elite, although I still prefer the visual aesthetics provided by Salt River Fields in Scottsdale. The complex itself is highly functional, with a mix of modern and classic styles for the eyes and state-of-the-art conveniences for the players. The only real drawback for me stems from the fact that it's located in Mesa and I’m staying in Peoria, but life is more fun when you leave the house.

 

Albert Almora (Cubs): Almora carries himself in a manner that stands out only because of the context of his surroundings. On the backfields, in a batting practice grouping with other prospects, Almora arrived at the cage with the confident gait and overall familiarity of a major leaguer coming to his 10th spring camp. His approach to the workout seemed casual—almost blasé—but when he stepped into the cage, he took off his nonchalant mask and went to work, besting some of the brightest bats on the farm with his impressive rounds of batting practice.

 

The 19-year-old looked bigger and stronger than I recall, standing every bit of 6-foot-2—if not slightly taller—with a lean but not lanky physique. He showed quick hands at the plate, tapping into his pull-side power and launching several bombs into the grassy disappearance behind the left-field fence. He showed an explosive hip rotation that was impressive for its fluidity and speed and not its violence; that allowed him to throw the bat head out and really turn on the baseball without losing his balance, hitting with authority and making hard/loud contact. After his rips, he returned to his comfortable swagger, which is probably an acceptable mixture of extremely cocky and extremely confident, both of which are characteristics I expect to see in top talents.

 

Kris Bryant (Cubs): He starts with a very wide stance at the plate, his legs forming a wider base than his shoulders, almost like he’s straddling a large rock while he’s trying to hit. Because of his length and the width of his setup, I assumed that he would struggle with balance when he shifted his weight and triggered his swing, but the entire process is fluid and functional and I was impressed with his overall balance. The raw power is easy to see and not news to anybody reading this. He uses his hands more than most bombers, but he also uses his lower half very well, and when he shifts his weight and fires his hips, he doesn’t open up too much and he can stay on the baseball. This puts him in a good position to track the ball from release and cover all quadrants of the zone with his swing. The bat speed is very good, and the leverage he creates with his long body doesn’t make the swing long to a fault.

 

Bryant comes into the hitting zone clean and with a direct path, and when he extends he can really knock the living hell out of a baseball, with enough natural plane to hit home runs but not exaggerated to the point where his bat only sweeps through the zone. Because of his eye, he’s going to put himself in favorable hitting conditions, and even though his length can work against him in certain locations and he will swing and miss, he’s going to make enough contact for his raw power to play.

 

In game action, he went down on strikes after a good at-bat, and despite the outcome, I thought it was very promising. It was nearing the end of the game, rain was approaching, and Bryant was called out looking on a fastball that was on the outside of the outside corner. It’s the kind of call a veteran hitter with a pedigree is likely to get, but Bryant got the hook despite falling behind early in the count (on good sequence; started off with off-speed) and working himself back in it by laying off several good off-speed pitches. Most young hitters—playing in the main stadium against quality arms—will come up to the plate hacking, looking to drive the ball and make the most of the playing time, but Bryant came to the plate with a plan and executed that plan, even if he did go down on strikes. It was a good at-bat from a very good young hitter, and if that is the way he’s going to approach the game, Cubs fans could be in for a real treat as early as this season. This kid is going to hit and he’s going to hit very soon.

 

Javier Baez (Cubs): Baez has the best bat speed I’ve seen since I started evaluating talent at the minor-league level, and it might be some of the best bat speed I’ve seen period. It’s violent—no doubt—and I’m not always sold that he can control the bat after he triggers. But when he unsheathes that weapon and it finds the ball, the cowhide screams in what I believe to both ecstasy and agony. Baez appears shorter than his listed height, and his body is a bit like Jean Segura's, with a thick and muscular lower half, particularly the thighs. However, it doesn’t appear to be a high-maintenance body on any level, though you can project him to become more robust up top as he ages, filling out to the point where shortstop would no longer be a possibility.

 

But just to soothe some of the present concerns about his defensive skill set, Baez can absolutely play shortstop. Long term is more nebulous because of the body/range, but his actions are fine (better than fine, actually), he controls his body and is coordinated, he has on-the-field instincts and moves to the ball well, and his arm is very strong. He struggles with some fundamentals at times, and he doesn’t play the position with the same confidence that he brings to the plate, but all of these things can improve through repetition and experience. His issues at the position (at present) are fixable through instruction and wrench work.

 

At the plate, Baez has a lot of pre-swing noise and he wraps the bat like a champ, which means he has to gain control of the stick before executing his swing, very similar to the way Gary Sheffield would wiggle and wrap before triggering. It’s not something you would teach, and unless you are special it’s not something that will work. But Baez is special. It’s a beautiful stroke once he lets it loose, and despite the noise and the wrap, the hands are elite and he sends the bat through the zone on an elevated line-drive plane. You can fool him with off-speed stuff because the violence comes at the expense of control, but he’s a very dangerous fastball hitter, and he can beat good pitches as well as mistakes.

 

It’s not so much that Baez's approach is overly aggressive. I think that comes off as a pejorative statement at times, and being aggressive isn’t always a bad thing. You want to see hitters take advantage of opportunities and drive the baseball with authority. I think Baez’s biggest problem at the plate is that his confidence with the bat/swing creates an environment where everything thrown in his general direction is considered an opportunity for him to drive the ball out of the park. It’s often hard to distinguish between being aggressive and being overly confident, but in Baez’s case, he’s not a grip-it-and-rip-it hitter; rather, he’s a guy who thinks he can turn around whatever a pitcher has to offer and send it out of the park. This isn’t a guy looking for singles or going the other way on off-speed pitches in order to dink a ball into shallow right. This is a guy who is going for the gold on most swings, and the rationale is that he can make it happen so why not try.

 

The violence in the swing and the confidence at the plate (almost sanguine at times) are both positive and negative qualities for Baez. You don’t want to change the hitter but you want him to refine a bit, and if he does, this is a superstar and a potential role 8 player at the major-league level. This is what elite looks like when it's young. But learning to find his game and make adjustments will be vital if he is to come close to that lofty, spectacular ceiling. It’s anything but a sure thing, but of all the players in the minors—and this includes Buxton, Taveras, Bogaerts, et al.​—Baez has a higher all-around ceiling.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Most of that was fun because of the content but overwritten as well.

 

But this stood out:

 

a potential role 8 player at the major-league level

[Guest]

Parks just said he thinks Almora has the power to be a 20 HR guy (on with Boers and Bernstein)

[craig]

Parks just said he thinks Almora has the power to be a 20 HR guy (on with Boers and Bernstein)

 

Pre-draft, some scouts didn't see a lot of power. The Cubs projected that he would hit plenty of HR's. That expectations seems to be becoming more the norm and less the exception these days.

[Guest]

Parks just said he thinks Almora has the power to be a 20 HR guy (on with Boers and Bernstein)

 

Pre-draft, some scouts didn't see a lot of power. The Cubs projected that he would hit plenty of HR's. That expectations seems to be becoming more the norm and less the exception these days.

 

Just curious what that's based on...stuff they said publicly around the draft or are you indicating you have some sort of contacts?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Parks just said he thinks Almora has the power to be a 20 HR guy (on with Boers and Bernstein)

 

Pre-draft, some scouts didn't see a lot of power. The Cubs projected that he would hit plenty of HR's. That expectations seems to be becoming more the norm and less the exception these days.

 

I love how Almora, Johnson and even Bryant are all ahead of their draft-day status.

[Guest]

Parks just said he thinks Almora has the power to be a 20 HR guy (on with Boers and Bernstein)

 

Pre-draft, some scouts didn't see a lot of power. The Cubs projected that he would hit plenty of HR's. That expectations seems to be becoming more the norm and less the exception these days.

 

I love how Almora, Johnson and even Bryant are all ahead of their draft-day status.

 

dat scouting doe

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/21731/edwards-gaining-recognition-and-weight

 

Apparently, CJ has managed to put on about 10 pounds (up to 167).

 

According to the Cubs official website, Edwards is 6-foot-2, 155 pounds. Many think that's too lean for a major league pitcher, especially a starter. Edwards has put on weight over the past 12 months, but it's still an issue. It's just not easy for him to gain weight.

 

"I average five meals a day and about three snacks," Edwards said. "I came in at 160 in January; now I weigh like 167."

 

Edwards says he eats everything in sight. His frame has been the knock on him since the Rangers drafted him in the 48th round (1,464th overall) in 2011. Can his body type handle the rigors of being a major league starting pitcher?

 

"Even with the body I have now, I feel like I can go seven or eight innings," Edwards said. "The issue of gaining weight used to be a big deal. Now I'm just enjoying my time out here, and eat, eat, eat, of course."

 

There has been a lot of steak this past offseason, so much so that he's gotten to the point of staying away from it.

 

"Panda Express last night," he said. "And then a snack later at home."

[SouthSideRyan]

Parks calling the facility plus-plus is so grating and I can't describe why

[sneakypower]

role 8 facilities #want

[Guest]

#rig

[ConstableRabbit]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/21731/edwards-gaining-recognition-and-weight

 

Apparently, CJ has managed to put on about 10 pounds (up to 167).

 

According to the Cubs official website, Edwards is 6-foot-2, 155 pounds. Many think that's too lean for a major league pitcher, especially a starter. Edwards has put on weight over the past 12 months, but it's still an issue. It's just not easy for him to gain weight.

 

"I average five meals a day and about three snacks," Edwards said. "I came in at 160 in January; now I weigh like 167."

 

Edwards says he eats everything in sight. His frame has been the knock on him since the Rangers drafted him in the 48th round (1,464th overall) in 2011. Can his body type handle the rigors of being a major league starting pitcher?

 

"Even with the body I have now, I feel like I can go seven or eight innings," Edwards said. "The issue of gaining weight used to be a big deal. Now I'm just enjoying my time out here, and eat, eat, eat, of course."

 

There has been a lot of steak this past offseason, so much so that he's gotten to the point of staying away from it.

 

"Panda Express last night," he said. "And then a snack later at home."

Jesus. Putting on that kind of weight is not a good thing.

[Guest]

http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/id/21731/edwards-gaining-recognition-and-weight

 

Apparently, CJ has managed to put on about 10 pounds (up to 167).

 

According to the Cubs official website, Edwards is 6-foot-2, 155 pounds. Many think that's too lean for a major league pitcher, especially a starter. Edwards has put on weight over the past 12 months, but it's still an issue. It's just not easy for him to gain weight.

 

"I average five meals a day and about three snacks," Edwards said. "I came in at 160 in January; now I weigh like 167."

 

Edwards says he eats everything in sight. His frame has been the knock on him since the Rangers drafted him in the 48th round (1,464th overall) in 2011. Can his body type handle the rigors of being a major league starting pitcher?

 

"Even with the body I have now, I feel like I can go seven or eight innings," Edwards said. "The issue of gaining weight used to be a big deal. Now I'm just enjoying my time out here, and eat, eat, eat, of course."

 

There has been a lot of steak this past offseason, so much so that he's gotten to the point of staying away from it.

 

"Panda Express last night," he said. "And then a snack later at home."

Jesus. Putting on that kind of weight is not a good thing.

 

When you're 6'2" 155, any kind of weight will do.

[SouthSideRyan]

Need Derwood to confirm

[toonsterwu]

I'm still a big fan of Bruno. I still believe that, had UVA had an opening at shortstop, he might've been drafted as one (he was slated to be the starting shortstop, then got hurt, and Chris Taylor took over and ran with it ... admittedly, Taylor is probably the better defensive player of the two). I think, on paper, he's a better contact guy than a Fontenot, and I think he's got a bit more power than Torreyes/LeMahieu. If given the opportunity, I think he could be a good, starting 2nd baseman in the bigs.

 

That said, this is an awfully tough system for him to work his way up because of our depth. In any other system, his name would probably be one of the more intriguing up the middle players.

[craig]

I wonder if Bruno will only DH this season, or if his arm will be recovered enough to play some 1B and 2b?

 

I thought there was some twitter or something back around Thanksgiving in which he was just starting to do super-light toss, so I'm kinda doubtful that he'll be ready for full-go defensively yet.

[Guest]

First day of minor league camp: http://www.thecubreporter.com/03062014/2014-cubs-minor-league-camp-rosters#more

[Guest]

First day of minor league camp: http://www.thecubreporter.com/03062014/2014-cubs-minor-league-camp-rosters#more

 

Who else was relieved not to see Paniagua among the MIAs?

[Guest]

First day of minor league camp: http://www.thecubreporter.com/03062014/2014-cubs-minor-league-camp-rosters#more

 

Who else was relieved not to see Paniagua among the MIAs?

 

Brett at Bleacher Nation tweeted earlier in the day that he was there so I wasn't sweating it.

[imb]

First day of minor league camp: http://www.thecubreporter.com/03062014/2014-cubs-minor-league-camp-rosters#more

 

Who else was relieved not to see Paniagua among the MIAs?

 

Brett at Bleacher Nation tweeted earlier in the day that he was there so I wasn't sweating it.

 

well look at you, jimmy insider