The Cubs Way, Junior Lake & Mike Olt

[CubsWin]

I would love everyone's input on a question that's been rolling around in my head for a while now.

 

The Cubs FO has a fairly well known and specific development philosophy. Hit certain benchmarks, get a certain number of plate appearances, etc., before being promoted. They want players with a good approach at the plate that will put together quality at bats each time. We saw their patience with keeping Bryant in AA, not promoting Baez until he showed better discipline and improved his walk rate and K/BB ratios at Daytona and Tennessee, and sending Rizzo back to AAA to work on his swing and get a "full compliment" of PAs.

 

Why does this philosophy not apply to Junior Lake and Mike Olt?

 

Lake was promoted after 170 plate appearances in AAA. He was hitting well, but not exactly dominating. Olt did dominate in AA while he was with Texas, but was terrible in AAA slashing .197/.302/.368 with a 30.6% K rate while dealing with the after effects from a concussion and allergy-driven eye problems. If Baez or Bryant were performing at that level, would we be clamoring for them to be brought up?

 

While with the Padres, Rizzo hit .141/.281/.242, striking out in 30% of his 153 PAs. By comparison, Olt is hitting .147/.225/.365, striking out in 38.7% of his 191 plate appearances so far this season. Rizzo had 412 PAs in AAA when he was sent to Iowa. Olt has 420, so why not send him back? They had identified something in Rizzo's swing they wanted him to work on. He did, played great in Iowa, was brought up and the rest his history. Wouldn't it be obvious to the Cubs FO that Olt would benefit from spending time in AAA working on his swing?

 

So what is so different about Lake and Olt? If Theo is all about creating value, why doesn't he use his tried and somewhat true developmental philosophy on those guys? You think the Cubs have some trade chips now, can you imagine if Lake and Olt were performing well? Right now, they have very little value to the Cubs or any other team.

 

Both Lake and Olt are older now, 24 and 25 respectively, than Rizzo was when he returned to AAA, and certainly older than Bryant, Baez or Alcantara. But in a world where we are in the business of creating value, should that matter? Have they given up on Lake and Olt? Are they passed being helped?

 

I'm at a loss. Can anyone shed some light on what they're thinking?

[Sammy Sofa]

To be blunt, it's not a leap to think that Lake is what he is. And Olt's success largely rested on determining whether or not his vision issues were resolved.

[Guest]

To be blunt, it's not a leap to think that Lake is what he is. And Olt's success largely rested on determining whether or not his vision issues were resolved.

 

i think it was very possible olt was going to brett jackson his career even without the possible red herring of the vision/concussion thing

[Sammy Sofa]

To be blunt, it's not a leap to think that Lake is what he is. And Olt's success largely rested on determining whether or not his vision issues were resolved.

 

i think it was very possible olt was going to brett jackson his career even without the possible red herring of the vision/concussion thing

 

That too.

[CubsWin]

To be blunt, it's not a leap to think that Lake is what he is. And Olt's success largely rested on determining whether or not his vision issues were resolved.

 

i think it was very possible olt was going to brett jackson his career even without the possible red herring of the vision/concussion thing

 

That too.

Completely agree. Totally possible. I've wanted Lake and Olt to go to AAA since May in Olt's case and wanted Lake to start the season there.

 

My question is why keep them up? They sent Jackson down after he sucked in his cup of coffee. Why doesn't their developmental philosophy apply to them?

[jersey cubs fan]

They are already at the sink or swim stage of their careers. They are what they are and seasoning isn't going to develop them further.

 

Also, the cubs need 25 guys on the active roster. These two are filler.

[Sammy Sofa]

To be blunt, it's not a leap to think that Lake is what he is. And Olt's success largely rested on determining whether or not his vision issues were resolved.

 

i think it was very possible olt was going to brett jackson his career even without the possible red herring of the vision/concussion thing

 

That too.

Completely agree. Totally possible. I've wanted Lake and Olt to go to AAA since May in Olt's case and wanted Lake to start the season there.

 

My question is why keep them up? They sent Jackson down after he sucked in his cup of coffee. Why doesn't their developmental philosophy apply to them?

 

Like Jersey said, because they're older and were basically at sink or swim points of their careers.

[SouthSideRyan]

And Rizzo wasn't sent down for further development, not was Bryant kept on AA for development. It was service time games.

[ConstableRabbit]

And Rizzo wasn't sent down for further development, not was Bryant kept on AA for development. It was service time games.

Yep. Can't take everything the FO says at face value.

[Guest]

And Rizzo wasn't sent down for further development, not was Bryant kept on AA for development. It was service time games.

 

I think with Rizzo it was a bit of both. They probably wanted him to have some video game success (and there were some mechanical adjustments he made) after how horribly his callup went.

[Little Slide Rooter]

The good thing about spring training is that prospects can face big league pitching in meaningless situations. On the job training, if you will. This I s not a luxury a team can afford when trying to win games.

 

But what if a team is in a stage when offering this on the job training is more valuable to the organization that the W/L record? Why not let these guys iron out their kinks versus the best in the world as opposed to feasting on junk ballers and the occasional prospect?

 

Long story short, so long as the team is in this position, would you rather guys like Olt and Lake be outmatched by the best and hopefully learn from experience, or rack up ridiculous AAA stats vs. Justin Germanos and Jason Berkens, and then be blown away when they find themselves facing the real deal?

[CubsWin]

They are already at the sink or swim stage of their careers. They are what they are and seasoning isn't going to develop them further.

 

Also, the cubs need 25 guys on the active roster. These two are filler.

Yeah, that's gotta be it.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Because they aren't serious prospects.

[Guest]

They are already at the sink or swim stage of their careers. They are what they are and seasoning isn't going to develop them further.

 

Also, the cubs need 25 guys on the active roster. These two are filler.

Yeah, that's gotta be it.

 

I'm honestly not sure if that's sarcasm or not given how quickly that would mean you'd be backing off that long first post if it isn't, but that pretty much IS it.