Minor League Musings

[CubsWin]

its really hard to get too excited about the 7th best catching prospect in the minors when there arent even 7 good catchers in the major leagues

 

Meh. He’s 19 and was in A-ball so his ranking amongst the best catchers throughout the minors is pretty meaningless. He can easily skyrocket towards the top of the list after anothe season or two with the hope he’s an all-star caliber catcher or he’ll end up being a defense-first backup catcher. Too many variables when you’re that far away at that position to be meaningfully compared to fellow minor leaguers.

He's also the youngest catcher listed on that top ten. Only Keibert Ruiz, 20, who's ranked 39th overall by MLB and MJ Melendez, 20, a 2017 2nd rounder (52nd overall) are even close.

[CubsWin]

AZ Phil has posted the 2019 Instructs Roster. Interesting to note, the only 2018 DSL player to get invited was OF Carlos Morfa. No 2018 IFA guys are participating.

 

* throws or bats left

# bats both

 

 

PITCHERS: 35

Cory Abbott

Jose Albertos

* Chris Allen

Javier Assad

* Faustino Carrera

Derek Casey

Yovanny Cruz

Jeremiah Estrada

Kohl Franklin

Tom Hatch

Alex Lange

* Brendon Little

* Brailyn Marquez

Riley McCauley

Tyson Mller

Erling Moreno

Zach Mort

Eduarniel Nunez

* Eugenio Palma

* Jack Patterson

Yunior Perez

Eury Ramon

Paul Richan

Etan Roberts

Duncan Robinson

Michael Rucker

Cam Sanders

Niels Stone

Matt Swarmer

Jesus Tejada

Keegan Thompson

Riley Thompson

Erich Uelmen

* Didier Vargas

Blake Whitney

 

CATCHERS: 6

Miguel Amaya

Alexander Guerra

Orian Nunez (ex-INF)

Jhonny Pereda

Henderson Perez

* Jonathan Soto

 

INFIELDERS: 18 (position played during infield practice in parenthesis)

* Aramis Ademan (SS)

Jhonny Bethencourt (3B)

Luis Diaz (2B)

* Tyler Durna (1B)

# Reivaj Garcia (2B)

Nico Hoerner (SS - see NOTE below)

# Josue Huma (3B)

# Fidel Mejia (3B)

Christopher Morel (SS)

Miguel Pabon (2B)

# Yonathan Perlaza (3B)

* Luke Reynolds (1B)

Jake Slaughter (1B)

* Jared Young (1B)

Luis Vazquez (SS)

Luis Verdugo (SS)

* Andy Weber (2B)

Delvin Zinn (2B)

NOTE: Hoerner did not participate with the other infielders in group infield practice on Fields #3 and #4; instead he received intense one-on-one instruction from Minor League Infield Coordinator Jonathan Mota and coach Carlos Rojas on Field #6

 

OUTFIELDERS: 11

* Edmond Americaan

* D. J. Artis

Brennen Davis

Jamie Galazin

Jimmy Herron

Fernando Kelli

Kevin Moreno

Carlos Morfa (U. S. debut - played in DSL in 2018)

* Ezequiel Pagan

* Cole Roederer

Nelson Velazquez

[CaliforniaRaisin]

And a nice update today from Arizona Phil. Hope Davis can keep himself healthy:

 

1/19 NOTE: While the other 24 infielders & outfielders were engaged in bunting practice under the tutelage of Doug Dascenzo on the half-field, the six guys with the highest exit-velo/hard contact rate (Aramis Ademan, Brennen Davis, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel, Andy Weber, and Jared Young) took special BP (tee-drills) on Field #1 (with Assistant Hitting Coordinator Tom Beyers) and Field #2 (with Hitting Coordinator Chris Valaika), working on striking the ball on the lower third and driving the ball in the air foul line-to-foul line.

 

While all six made consistent hard contact and did a nice job of spraying line-drives, Hoerner and Young are clearly way ahead of the other four. Hoerner and Young are really good hitters, and I wouldn't be surprised if both begin the 2019 season at AA. (After playing 1st base in infield practice yesterday, Young worked-out with the outfielders rather than the infielders in this morning's pre-BP fielding practice, so the Cubs apparently project him as a 1B-LF going forward).

[CubsWin]

And a nice update today from Arizona Phil. Hope Davis can keep himself healthy:

 

1/19 NOTE: While the other 24 infielders & outfielders were engaged in bunting practice under the tutelage of Doug Dascenzo on the half-field, the six guys with the highest exit-velo/hard contact rate (Aramis Ademan, Brennen Davis, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel, Andy Weber, and Jared Young) took special BP (tee-drills) on Field #1 (with Assistant Hitting Coordinator Tom Beyers) and Field #2 (with Hitting Coordinator Chris Valaika), working on striking the ball on the lower third and driving the ball in the air foul line-to-foul line.

 

While all six made consistent hard contact and did a nice job of spraying line-drives, Hoerner and Young are clearly way ahead of the other four. Hoerner and Young are really good hitters, and I wouldn't be surprised if both begin the 2019 season at AA. (After playing 1st base in infield practice yesterday, Young worked-out with the outfielders rather than the infielders in this morning's pre-BP fielding practice, so the Cubs apparently project him as a 1B-LF going forward).

I'd love to see Young get some time at 2B where he played in college, but it looks like the Cubs may have moved on from that as he only played 2 games there last season.

[craig]

Curious that Roederer is **not** among the six guys with highest exit velocity. I wonder how data-literal Phil's comment actually is? Also interesting that Davis *is* included in that group. I wouldn't have been confident that with his length that he'd have the swing-speed for exit-velo. Also interesting that Ademan, who slugged .273, would be included.

 

And a nice update today from Arizona Phil. Hope Davis can keep himself healthy:

 

1/19 NOTE: While the other 24 infielders & outfielders were engaged in bunting practice under the tutelage of Doug Dascenzo on the half-field, the six guys with the highest exit-velo/hard contact rate (Aramis Ademan, Brennen Davis, Nico Hoerner, Christopher Morel, Andy Weber, and Jared Young) took special BP (tee-drills) on Field #1 (with Assistant Hitting Coordinator Tom Beyers) and Field #2 (with Hitting Coordinator Chris Valaika), working on striking the ball on the lower third and driving the ball in the air foul line-to-foul line.

 

While all six made consistent hard contact and did a nice job of spraying line-drives, Hoerner and Young are clearly way ahead of the other four. Hoerner and Young are really good hitters, and I wouldn't be surprised if both begin the 2019 season at AA. (After playing 1st base in infield practice yesterday, Young worked-out with the outfielders rather than the infielders in this morning's pre-BP fielding practice, so the Cubs apparently project him as a 1B-LF going forward).

[Cubswin11]

Some really good stuff in this thread.

 

[Cubswin11]

Also interesting that Davis *is* included in that group. I wouldn't have been confident that with his length that he'd have the swing-speed for exit-velo.

 

?? Is this a physics thing? I was terrible at that stuff

 

——

 

Ernst did a profile on Ademan too and there’s something I just like about his swing:

 

 

 

He needs to bulk up to really tap into the power and hit. I’d honestly rather he do that even than stick at SS.

Yeah he needs to mature physically. The promotion last year was just too aggressive, but good that they are pushing guys. He still could be something. I was listening to some prospect podcast recently (BP I think on the Cubs system) and they basically said the few times they saw Ademan last year it was like watching a middle schooler being put on a HS varsity baseball team. You could just tell he was physically overmatched but could see why he was being sent up there with his raw ability/skills. He just needs to mature.

[Hrubes20]

AZ Phil has posted the 2019 Instructs Roster. Interesting to note, the only 2018 DSL player to get invited was OF Carlos Morfa. No 2018 IFA guys are participating.

 

Boo! I was craving some Richard Gallardo action.

[Cubswin11]

Damn, he’s a big dude (in a good way) already for a 18-19 year old. Looks like he can still add some decent, good weight to his frame too.

 

https://twitter.com/jasonpennini/status/1087408866755637249?s=21

[Hrubes20]

Damn, he’s a big dude (in a good way) already for a 18-19 year old. Looks like he can still add some decent, good weight to his frame too.

 

https://twitter.com/jasonpennini/status/1087408866755637249?s=21

 

Whoa. Dude has been in the gym this offseason! He was MUCH skinnier this past summer.

[Cubswin11]

Damn, he’s a big dude (in a good way) already for a 18-19 year old. Looks like he can still add some decent, good weight to his frame too.

 

https://twitter.com/jasonpennini/status/1087408866755637249?s=21

 

Whoa. Dude has been in the gym this offseason! He was MUCH skinnier this past summer.

No horsefeathers. Look at the video (outside of the swing difference as noted, which is interesting and good to see in and of itself) he was skinner than Carl.

 

 

[craig]

Thanks for links and vids, guys! Yeah, that's quite the change in physique. Fun to see. Hope he can hit.

[Hrubes20]

Damn, he’s a big dude (in a good way) already for a 18-19 year old. Looks like he can still add some decent, good weight to his frame too.

 

https://twitter.com/jasonpennini/status/1087408866755637249?s=21

 

Whoa. Dude has been in the gym this offseason! He was MUCH skinnier this past summer.

No horsefeathers. Look at the video (outside of the swing difference as noted, which is interesting and good to see in and of itself) he was skinner than Carl.

 

 

 

That's some terrific stuff. I'm loving those swing changes as much as the physique changes.

[Post Count Padder]

That's really cool about Hagerty. I remember that draft well. We had 4 first rounders and none of them made it to the majors. Cubs apparently sent some scouts to watch that workout.

 

 

Side note: One of the other three, Bobby Brownlie, is now an area scout in PA/NJ. A friend of mine's brother in law is a Rockies scout and he was hanging out with Brownlie during a few games in the area this season.

[d_money]

Back In ‘14 or ‘15 - what was the peak number of Cubs prospects in the top 100? 6 or 7?

[CubsWin]

Back In ‘14 or ‘15 - what was the peak number of Cubs prospects in the top 100? 6 or 7?

MLB.com had 6 Cubs in the top 100 (top 72, really) and 4 in the top 50 at the end of '14.

 

3rd Bryant

5th Russell

36th Almora

48th Soler

53rd Edwards

72nd Schwarber

[Named After Maddux]

Back In ‘14 or ‘15 - what was the peak number of Cubs prospects in the top 100? 6 or 7?

MLB.com had 6 Cubs in the top 100 (top 72, really) and 4 in the top 50 at the end of '14.

 

3rd Bryant

5th Russell

36th Almora

48th Soler

53rd Edwards

72nd Schwarber

 

At BA it was still six to start 2015, but even more impressive. The Cubs had four in the top 20 overall prospects.

 

1st Bryant

3rd Russell

12th Soler

19th Schwarber

38th Edwards

83rd Billy McKinney

[d_money]

Eloy Jimenez is MLB.com’s top OF prospect. confetticannon.gif

Well that’s just fuckin great.

[Ding Dong Johnson]

well duh

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Regular Show]

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

Due to the injury last season, the Cubs will also keep a close eye on Alzolay's innings throughout the summer. He only logged 39 2/3 innings prior to his health setback, so a full season of starting is not in his future for 2019.

 

"He's worked exceptionally hard," Cubs senior vice president of player development and amateur scouting Jason McLeod said last weekend. "The kid's phenomenal. He feels great. He looks great. But, yeah, it's probably going to be -- I can't put the innings out there now -- but it won't be a full 160-inning year."

 

The alternative would be to have Alzolay begin his season as a starting pitcher, with an eye on potentially coming to the Majors as a reliever. McLeod emphasized that given the structure of the MLB roster at the moment, the bullpen is the most probable route for pitching prospects to earn big league time this year. Obviously, injuries or setbacks would alter that landscape.

[Regular Show]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

In terms of prospects on our current Cubs Top 30, right-hander Richard Gallardo will jump from No. 27 to close to the Top 10. While Gallardo is 17 and has yet to appear in a pro game, he was the best pitcher on the international amateur market last summer and signed for $1 million out of Venezuela. He obviously has everything to prove, but he has the potential for three plus pitches and precocious feel for a teenager, so I like him more than most of Chicago's muddled group of righties.

 

As for prospects not featured on the current list, right-handers Tyson Miller and Yovanny Cruz will push into the back of the Top 20. Both posted strikeout-to-walk ratios around 4/1 in 2018 with solid if not spectacular stuff. Cruz's repertoire grades slightly better than Miller's, though Miller starred in Class A Advanced last year and Cruz has yet to reach full-season ball.

[Tim]

See, I'd say that the most likely way to reach the majors is for injuries to the starters. But I'm drinking gin tonight, so maybe that makes me a different kind of drunk. :wink:

[Regular Show]

See, I'd say that the most likely way to reach the majors is for injuries to the starters. But I'm drinking gin tonight, so maybe that makes me a different kind of drunk. :wink:

 

[Tim]

See, I'd say that the most likely way to reach the majors is for injuries to the starters. But I'm drinking gin tonight, so maybe that makes me a different kind of drunk. :wink:

 

Was Cubbie Swagger (or whatever his name was) before your time?