Minor League Musings

[CubsWin]

The mysterious story of 6'6" LHP Andres Bonalde continues, #BonaldeWatch2019. He last pitched for the Cubs in 2016, throwing 57.2 innings as an 18 year old in the DSL. The year before, he threw 39.2 innings for the Cubs affiliate in the final season of the VSL. He was basically terrible both seasons.

 

But then, out of the blue, he was protected on the Cubs AAA reserve list this fall meaning he couldn't be taken in the minor league portion of the rule 5 draft. Obviously, there's only so many spots available, and the fact the Cubs used one of those spots on a guy who hadn't pitched in 2 years and never above the DSL was... intriguing.

 

Alas, we will have to wait a little longer to get our first stateside look at the now 21-year-old mystery man as he will start the year on the South Bend 7-day IL.

[JennieGarthAlgar]

[attachment=0]8E7ACFA0-9CF9-4C76-AF3D-81888B39E382.jpeg[/attachment]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Keegan Thompson to the IL.

[Hrubes20]

Keegan Thompson to the IL.

 

Because of course. Guy looks the best he ever has since being drafted and he then has to go on the shelf.

[Regular Show]

Keegan Thompson to the IL.

 

Damn. I hope it's not too serious an injury.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Arizona Phil[/url]"]The Cubs have added RHP Manuel Heredia and LHP Joel Machado to the EXST roster, so that makes a total of three 2018-19 IFA making their pro debut at EXST (RHP Richard Gallardo is the other one).

 

Hopefully José Lopez will join Gallardo, Machado and Heredia soon.

[CubsWin]

Despite spending $300,000 on him, the Cubs cut LHP Jonathan Bruzual. It comes as little surprise because his numbers were ridiculously brutal. He finishes his Cubs career with a 7.77 ERA, 2.12 WHIP, walking more than he struck out (69/64), but he only allowed 1 HR in 63.2 IP, so...

 

The Cubs have released minor league LHP Jonathan Bruzual, RHP Fernando Calderon, C Daniel Diaz, INF Henrry Pedra, and OF Jose Alonso Gaitan.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Baseball America[/url]"]While this doesn’t mean Hoerner will match Bryant’s production, it is unusual for a college draftee to jump straight to Double-A to begin their first full pro season.

 

Since 2010, Bryant is one of just six position players selected among the draft’s top-10 picks to begin his first full professional season in Double-A or higher. The other five? Mike Zunino (who started in Triple-A), Kyle Schwarber, Alex Bregman, Anthony Rendon and Christian Colon. Of that group, Colon is the only pick that seems like a whiff (even though he did score one of the most significant runs in franchise history).

 

And even though Hoerner wasn’t among the top-10 picks in last year’s draft (he went 24th), starting his first full season in Double-A is still a pretty rare feat. Baseball America looked at the top 40 picks from the last nine drafts and found that, of the 84 position players from four-year universities (we did not include JC selections Bryce Harper, Cory Spangenberg and Brian Goodwin), just 10 started their first full pro season at Double-A or higher.

 

Besides Zunino, Schwarber, Bryant, Bregman, Rendon and Colon, the rest of the list includes Trea Turner, Kolten Wong, Twins prospect Brent Rooker and Hoerner. That’s it. The eight players in that group who have made their big league debuts have racked up a trophy room full of honors, including a three All-Star appearances, one All-Star Game MVP, a Rookie of the Year and five spots among the top 10 in MVP voting, including 2016 winner Bryant.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Keegan Thompson to the IL.

 

Damn. I hope it's not too serious an injury.

 

Bryan Smith didn’t think so:

 

Bleacher Nation[/url]"]The other notable prospect injury is to righty Keegan Thompson, who hit the 7-day DL in Tennessee, and while we’re still waiting details, I have heard it’s nothing currently considered serious. It’s still unfortunate, as Thompson pitched so incredibly in his season debut.

[CubsWin]

Gotta #OwnUp for Bruzual. I had him listed in a large pool of possibly interesting arms between 16-20 behind Marquez and not some other guy last summer. I must, at my core, understand despite claims otherwise that I am no supreme expert. I would add Joel Machado to that pool of pitchers

 

——

 

Hoerner should go ahed and become Trea Turner for the Cubs because they could use one

Ain't NO supreme experts around here. I'm certainly not one. I'm not even a pseudoexpert...

 

But we can still have fun THEOrizing!

[CubsWin]

Alzolay pitched today in ExST. From AZ Phil:

 

RHP Adbert Alzolay (on AAA Iowa 7-day IL with a lat strain) saw his first game action of 2019, getting the start and working 1.2 IP. He allowed one run on two hits (a double and a single) and no walks, with four strikeouts. He got eleven swings & misses among his 34 pitches, mixing a 95-96 MPH FB with an effective CV.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

One Cub made the BA DSL Top 20 prospect list: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/dominican-summer-league-top-20-prospects-entering-2019/

 

Fabian Pertuz, SS, Cubs

Age: 18 | B-T: R-R | Ht: 6-0 | Wt: 170 | Signed: Colombia, 2017.

 

Pertuz trained in Colombia with former big shortstop Orlando Cabrera before signing with the Cubs in 2017 for $300,000, the maximum bonus they could give while under the penalty. The Cubs sent fellow 2017 signings Luis Verdugo and Reivaj Garcia to the Rookie-level Arizona League last year, so they kept Pertuz in the DSL to get him everyday reps at shortstop, with the Cubs getting strong production from Pertuz and fellow shortstop Pedro Martinez on their other DSL club. Pertuz showed an advanced offensive approach for his age. He has a knack for the barrel and controls the strike zone, drawing more walks than strikeouts last year. He has mostly gap power now, with the strength projection to grow into average power eventually. How big Pertuz gets could dictate his future position. He's an average runner who doesn't have the typical first-step quickness teams often prefer at shortstop, but he's also a smart, heads-up player with good defensive instincts, along with the actions and strong arm for the position. If he goes to third or second base, he has the defensive attributes to be a potentially above-average defender at either spot with the offensive upside to possibly fit there as well.

[CubsWin]

Danis Correa report from AZ Phil:

 

Correa was especially impressive in his two innings of work, easily retiring all six batters he faced (K, K, F-7, 3-1, 4-3, K) while showing off his 93-96 MPH FB and a much-improved CV (CH still needs work, though). Along with Yovanny Cruz, Jose Albertos, Eduarniel Nunez, Jeremiah Estrada, Yunior Perez, and Kohl Franklin, Correa is smack dab in the middle of the competition for 2019 starting rotation jobs at Eugene.

 

Correa's line from today's ExST game against the A's: 2 perfect innings, 3 Ks, 2 GO/1 AO, 30 pitches (19 strikes).

 

FWIW, DSL newcomer LHP Luis Rodriguez threw a perfect inning with one K and 2 flyouts on 9 pitches (7 strikes).

[TruffleShuffle]

http://www.milb.com/images/676561/t550/180x270/676561.jpg

 

is that cubbiebum?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

you watch your mouth when talking about my stout adult son

[Post Count Padder]

I'm still mad as hell we included him in that trade.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Nico up to 64 in BA’s revised top 100 list. Amaya remains unranked.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

Robel is 26. He probably needs to get the bump to AAA.

[Regular Show]

 

Robel is 26. He probably needs to get the bump to AAA.

 

Huh, I know nothing about Robel Garcia. Is he a real prospect? I went on baseball-reference.com to look up his stats and there's this weird gap from 2013 to the present season. Seems too old to be considered a serious prospect, but he's raking at AA.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

 

Robel is 26. He probably needs to get the bump to AAA.

 

Huh, I know nothing about Robel Garcia. Is he a real prospect? I went on baseball-reference.com to look up his stats and there's this weird gap from 2013 to the present season. Seems too old to be considered a serious prospect, but he's raking at AA.

I read something about him on a random site just a few days ago. I guess he was playing in Italy until recently.

[Regular Show]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

Found this on Nico's twitter account. It's cool, but it also raises a lot of questions...

[Little Slide Rooter]

 

Robel is 26. He probably needs to get the bump to AAA.

 

Huh, I know nothing about Robel Garcia. Is he a real prospect? I went on baseball-reference.com to look up his stats and there's this weird gap from 2013 to the present season. Seems too old to be considered a serious prospect, but he's raking at AA.

I read something about him on a random site just a few days ago. I guess he was playing in Italy until recently.

 

During Spring Training, MLB prospects played some sort of expo game vs. Team Italy. They liked what they saw from him with the bat and the glove, and inked him.

[Regular Show]

 

Huh, I know nothing about Robel Garcia. Is he a real prospect? I went on baseball-reference.com to look up his stats and there's this weird gap from 2013 to the present season. Seems too old to be considered a serious prospect, but he's raking at AA.

I read something about him on a random site just a few days ago. I guess he was playing in Italy until recently.

 

During Spring Training, MLB prospects played some sort of expo game vs. Team Italy. They liked what they saw from him with the bat and the glove, and inked him.

 

Cool. Thanks for sharing that.

 

I wonder why he was playing in Italy? Much better leagues that pay more with a chance to be seen by scouts. No one scouts baseball players playing in Italy lol.