Random Cubs Musings: Minor League Edition

[Guest]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-fringe-five-baseballs-most-compelling-fringe-prospects-18/

 

This is old. Gato posted it at PSD. Posting the GIFs here because I'm not sure if we had seen CJ from this angle before.

 

Fastball for a K:

http://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Edwards-Chester-FA-SS-K.gif

 

 

Curve for a K:

http://cdn.fangraphs.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Edwards-Hernandez-CU-SS-K-3rd.gif

[Vinestal]

Thanks for the gifs that curve... Wow it's got bite

[A New Era]

If you are a prospect porner, make sure to catch MLB Tonite at 6:00 p.m. central (MLB Network) because tonight is the Cubs turn in the "30 clubs in 30 days" segment. Fri March 14, we're up boyz!

[Guest]

@jnorris427: Got an inning of #Cubs' Paniagua. Hitting 95 regularly with good sink. Threw one really good CH at 78.

[Guest]

@jnorris427: Got an inning of #Cubs' Paniagua. Hitting 95 regularly with good sink. Threw one really good CH at 78.

 

WHAT NOW, TT?

 

WHAT NOW??

[Guest]

Unsurprising omission: news of Paniagua actually getting hitters out.

[Guest]

details

[davell]

Unsurprising omission: news of Paniagua actually getting hitters out.

Absolutely, because 22 innings in a year he had extenuating circumstances in most definitely tell his entire [expletive] story.

[Guest]

Calm down killer, David and I were riffing.

 

Still though, stuff isn't Paniagua's problem. We know he can throw hard. Guys with velocity can still be terrible too, so we'll have to see if he can get people out when games come.

[davell]

Ah, sorry. I'm pissed because Urias just K'd Venable and Alonso at 17 years old.

[Guest]

@jnorris427: Corey Black pitching at 94-95 here this morning.

 

@TGold_PG: 15 y/o Dominican prospects didn't get to show much w bat vs #Cubs RHP Corey Black (traded for Alfonso Soriano) who located 93-95 in/out

[davell]

Badler said nice job for Cubs staying on Tseng. 91-93 today with above average CB.

[Guest]

Badler said nice job for Cubs staying on Tseng. 91-93 today with above average CB.

 

@BenBadler: Much better than he looked this time last year, without question RT @cublando better than advertised ?

[ctcf]

@ProfessorParks: I did. He was pretty filthy; 91-93, touch 94; legit 74 mph bender. It was very good. RT @Drewboke: @ProfessorParks you watching Tseng?

[Guest]

@jnorris427: So, Jen Ho Tseng is pretty damn nasty. Up to 94 with two very good secondaries. Video later. #cubs

[Clem Fandango]

\:D/ Is it too late to re-vote Tseng higher?

[Guest]

@ProspectMark: Really impressive stuff from Jen-Ho Tseng today in Mesa; writing him up for @baseballpro tomorrow. #Cubs

 

@ProspectMark: Only a brief look, but very intrigued by SS Gleyber Torres as well; lots of potential. #Cubs

 

@ProspectMark: He mixed in a couple RT @kcmgallo905: @ProfessorParks @ProspectMark @baseballpro is Tseung throwing a CH?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

No one else mentioned two secondaries. Changeup?

[Guest]

No one else mentioned two secondaries. Changeup?

 

Curve and change (some might refer to it as a split).

[Vinestal]

No one else mentioned two secondaries. Changeup?

 

Curve and change (some might refer to it as a split).

Any guess as to where he might start the year?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/cubs-diligence-pays-off-on-jen-ho-tseng/

 

Right now, Tseng appears to be back on track. Pitching for three innings on Sunday against a travel team of Dominican amateur players from the International Prospect League, Tseng threw 89-93 mph, mostly in the higher end of that range for the first two innings. He mixed in an above-average curveball that mostly registered at 75, though he added and subtracted with the pitch. He threw plenty of strikes with his curveball, which had good depth and late, sharp bite. He buckled the knees of back-to-back hitters for strikeouts at one point, and while the hitters he’s facing were mostly 15- and 16-year-old boys, the fastball and curveball were quality pitches regardless of who he was facing. Some scouts think Tseng’s best pitch is his changeup, though he didn’t use it much, nor did he appear to throw his slider, which can be an average pitch.

 

At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, Tseng probably won’t see the fastball bump any higher, and the question in the back of everyone’s minds, based on his history, will always be about whether he’s going to be able to retain that stuff over a full season, or if it will once again disappear on him. But if Tseng can throw strikes with three potential plus pitches and a quality fourth offering in his slider, those are the ingredients of a quality major league starting pitcher.

[craig]

I've wondered that, too. My guess is extended spring. I think a couple of reasons: 1) Innings 2) Culture 3) Coaching

 

1. He was 18 when he signed last summer, and there were arm concerns in the industry. I think they'll want to be very careful with his innings. If he starts out in cold Midwest League, that will be something new. And he'd probably exhaust his innings limit well before end of August anyway.

 

2. This is his first year in the U.S. So, I'm not sure he's gotten the full "Cubs Way" indoctrination, or a whole lot of coaching. Kane County is primarily a "playing" league, not an instructional league. Every night a game, with half of those on the road with time spent in the bus. Mesa has more coaches and is geared towards more instruction. New players at Mesa also get more "classroom" time on Cubs Way and various game situations. So I think a lot of that might be better served in Mesa. They also have English and American-culture training for internationals at Mesa. Not sure if the English is meaningful for a Chinese kid, though, if everybody else in the class is Latin. So maybe that's useless for him. But still, Mesa is controlled and protected, dorms, food, exercise, everything. Easier for a new guy than figuring out where to go and what to order (healthy) in Beloit or Peoria. At Boise, the players live with host families; at Kane they are on their own. I'd think he'd be better served for his first season to have a single host family who'd help him out. Perhaps they'd be able to find a Chinese-speaking host family to make it a lot easier for him.

 

Or maybe not. Maybe they don't want to have any of those "safer/easier-for-him" situations, and they'd prefer he was going out with teammates, ordering at MacDonalds, and learning to live more on his own.

[Guest]

I've wondered that, too. My guess is extended spring. I think a couple of reasons: 1) Innings 2) Culture 3) Coaching

 

1. He was 18 when he signed last summer, and there were arm concerns in the industry. I think they'll want to be very careful with his innings. If he starts out in cold Midwest League, that will be something new. And he'd probably exhaust his innings limit well before end of August anyway.

 

2. This is his first year in the U.S. So, I'm not sure he's gotten the full "Cubs Way" indoctrination, or a whole lot of coaching. Kane County is primarily a "playing" league, not an instructional league. Every night a game, with half of those on the road with time spent in the bus. Mesa has more coaches and is geared towards more instruction. New players at Mesa also get more "classroom" time on Cubs Way and various game situations. So I think a lot of that might be better served in Mesa. They also have English and American-culture training for internationals at Mesa. Not sure if the English is meaningful for a Chinese kid, though, if everybody else in the class is Latin. So maybe that's useless for him. But still, Mesa is controlled and protected, dorms, food, exercise, everything. Easier for a new guy than figuring out where to go and what to order (healthy) in Beloit or Peoria. At Boise, the players live with host families; at Kane they are on their own. I'd think he'd be better served for his first season to have a single host family who'd help him out. Perhaps they'd be able to find a Chinese-speaking host family to make it a lot easier for him.

 

Or maybe not. Maybe they don't want to have any of those "safer/easier-for-him" situations, and they'd prefer he was going out with teammates, ordering at MacDonalds, and learning to live more on his own.

 

 

I could've sworn I read/saw stuff about host families in Kane County last year.

[craig]

Interesting, thanks. Maybe I'm wrong on that.

[Guest]

 

I couldn't get the BA video to work at the other link posted but here is a youtube link of Tseng today