Minor League Playoff Discussion & Box, 9-13-15

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Game 1 of the Carolina League Championship Series:

 

Myrtle Beach won game one of the CL Championship Series 3-2 (10 innings) Box Score

 

DH C. Young 1/3, 2 BB

RF J. Soler 1/4, R, 2B (2), RBI, BB, 3 K - rehab

C V. Cartaini 3/5, RBI, E (1, throw)

LF M. Zagunis 1/5, RBI, 3 K

SS G. Torres 0/4, 2 K

SP JH Tseng 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 WP, 9-1 GO-FO, 83-53 pitches-strikes

RP J. Rakkar 0+ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

RP D. Berg 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 4-0 GO-FO

[Guest]

Soler is 1/3 thus far with 2 Ks and a double.

[CubsWin]

Pelicans win game one in a wild finish.

 

Up 2-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Jasvir Rakkar encounters all sorts of bad luck and some not so great pitching. He loads the bases on a single that deflected of the 1st baseman's glove, walks the next guy and then has a weird bunt go off of his glove for a single. 6th round draft pick, ground ball machine and side-arm reliever extraordinaire comes in and gets the first guy to ground to 3rd baseman Jason Vosler, who fires to catcher Victor Caratini for the force. On the next play, Berg gives up the game-tying run, however, though not due to any fault of his own. Berg induces a double-play ball to 2nd baseman Daniel Lockhart, but Gleyber Torres falls asleep and doesn't cover 2nd. Lockhart runs to the bag and fires to 1st but it's too late and the run scores. Berg, who averaged just under 3 ground outs for every air out in High-A this year, got the final guy to ground out to send the game to extras.

 

Lockhart leads off the 10th with a double and he would eventually score. Berg comes back out for the bottom half and gets the first batter to ground out to Torres and strikes the last 2 batters out to secure the win.

 

Berg looks like he could move quickly. He was one of the best college relievers last season and put up great numbers in his first pro season. He's not overpowering but has good control and is rather deceptive. He could provide bullpen depth as soon as next season if he continues to perform. I imagine his ceiling is only middle reliever/roogy but he has a fairly high probability of reaching it.

 

Another player to watch next season from Myrtle Beach is Victor Caratini. He finished this year strong (.287/.350/.436 in August & Sept.) while showing a consistent, steady gap-power bat with a good approach, and he's been the Pelicans best hitter throughout the playoffs. He'll be 22 for most of next season in AA. That's young for a catcher at that level. I don't know how good his defense is. Haven't heard any reports lately, but I remember it being average. He's another converted infielder (3B).

 

If his defense hasn't improved, he may find it difficult to make the bigs as most back-ups are defensive specialists and his bat hasn't proven starter worthy yet. He won't need a Contreras-esque break out with the bat to reach that level, though. He's put up OBPs north of .340 every year of his 3-year career. He shows a solid approach walking in just under 10% of his PAs while striking out in only 16.6% of them. He only HR'd 4 times but finished 5th in the league in doubles with less PAs than those who finished ahead of him.

 

Catchers usually develop more slowly than other prospects so I think there may be more left in his bat. He's a 2nd round pick, so there's some pedigree there. He's certainly one to watch.

[davell]

I think the general opinion is he can "stick at C". Which is fine, but nothing noteworthy obviously from a defensive standpoint. He's athletic enough to move off, but unless the bat comes on more, he's probably not a factor for us in the majors as we've got others that'll bypass him.

[CubsWin]

I think the general opinion is he can "stick at C". Which is fine, but nothing noteworthy obviously from a defensive standpoint. He's athletic enough to move off, but unless the bat comes on more, he's probably not a factor for us in the majors as we've got others that'll bypass him.

Yeah, that's what I remember hearing last. Average, can stick. If he hits .260/.350/.400 or better as a 22-year-old catcher in AA, they'll have something. I've got him as a top-20 prospect which in this organization right now is pretty good.

 

Agree that he's likely blocked, but I don't think he'd need to move off catcher to have value to the Cubs. I'm happy to have him develop for injury depth/trade purposes. Talent and depth. Love it.

[CubsWin]

Thanks for that CubsWin11. Caratini is a guy who I thought was meh coming into the year, but now I like him in a Gregg Zaun kind of way. He had a better year than it looks - 36 XBHs with a tough home park and playing C isn't so bad. He's got some size and physicality, switch hits, is more athletic than most catchers, has been durable, takes a walk, doesn't pile up Ks (again, despite the rigors of playing C)...I think there's a case to be made that he's MB's most interest bat prospect over Zagunis, a big chunk of that because he's at C.*

 

*Not counting recent callup Torres

Not CubsWin11, but thanks!

 

I'd put Young ahead of him as a bat, but agree that the fact that he can stick at catcher helps.

[toonsterwu]

I've been high on Caratini, and I still think there might be a bit more pop in the bat. Now, I've certainly thought that of guys before, only for it to not happen, but IIRC, the reports his draft year suggested potential for some pop, but he takes a gap-to-gap approach. We'll see, he has time. Contreras should get AAA next year, clearing the space for Caratini to get full-time duty in AA. Relatively speaking, Tennessee should be a better park than Myrtle Beach for someone like Caratini.

 

Chesny Young's going to have to keep producing at each level, but he's really got a nice feel for hitting. Saw him a few weeks back and I kept thinking that I think the bat can do enough as he moves up, so that he should be able to fill at least an utility role in the bigs.