Minor League Musings

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Pretty positive on David, Amaya and Howard (all things considering):

 

 

[JeffH]

Below the equator, 'd's become 'b's.

[Thusly Boned]

Below the equator, 'd's become 'b's.

Got flipped by the coriolis effect

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Below the equator, 'd's become 'b's.

Got flipped by the coriolis effect

 

Home runs are called chazzwazzas Australia.

[David]

I wonder if Cole's ever played knifey-spooney before.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Transmogrified Tiger]

and so our Mekkeswatch has ended

[PackLandVA]

Was hoping Bryan Hudson would be a thing in the org.

[Bertz]

[craig]

Tom, things change over a long season. But the comments in that article reinforce that Mule will NOT begin at Myrtle. "priority is building up the body rather than focusing on the repertoire or pitch shape" sounds like Mesa to me.

 

Talented guys can earn their way up, of course.

[craig]

Yeah, Mule would seem to have the stuff to be able to compete very well in Myrtle.

 

I'm just thinking that the goal is developing him. Ferris and McGwire will be 19 all season; Mule will be 18 all season. Mule reportedly had arm problems last season. So I think they are probably going to want to be very careful with him, and kind of have him working under very controlled conditions. Mesa has more controlled practices. I'm guessing guys are less tempted to overthrow than in a box-score game when they're in a jam. Mesa may have more controlled eating and nutritional stuff. Mesa's pitch lab environment is probably more oriented towards force-plate tracking and stuff like that, to help optimize his delivery. In a close game with a box score, I'm guessing a guy might be less oriented towards experimenting with tweaking his delivery or his grip and more focused on throwing strikes that give him a chance to get out of an inning.

 

So I guess I'm just assuming both from a body perspective, and perhaps also from a physiology-optimization and delivery-optimization, that they'll pretty much want to keep Mule at the controlled, protective Mesa environment for at least a couple of months. If he's throwing really well there, and they aren't working on anything super specific, of course a June callup is well possible.

 

I'm just saying VERY unlikely for Mule to see Myrtle in April.

[craig]

McGwire harder for me to guess. He'll turn 19 next month, so he's a little older. I don't think he has the sore-arm history that Mule has. And it's possible that with a baseball-oriented family, that perhaps he's already benefited from relatively advanced developmental stuff. Gym, driveline, private coaching, nutritional stuff, perhaps McGwire has already had a lot of that, and getting more at Mesa won't help that much?

 

Or who knows, it's also well possible that he's been allowed to live a normal high-school-athlete life. Not having been a phenom he's perhaps done less travel-team stuff, with less advanced coaching and hype, who knows? He may have tons of learning and physical maturation ahead for him? The draft info listings, for example, had McGwire an inch taller but 20 pounds lighter than Mule. So he may have a lot more "filling out" left, and lots of developmental adjustments as a result.

 

Beats me, in HS he perhaps lived on fastball/forkball? Perhas as a pro his developmental plan will now prioritize not only adding velocity, but working through curve/slider/cutter/change to try to come up with 3rd and 4th pitches that a strike-throwing starter needs? Who knows?

 

If I was guessing, I'd figure the odds are variably below 50% that he'll start April in Myrtle. Kinda thinking he's more likely to work there for a while, show some consistency, and hopefully earn some Myrtle time more in June or July.

[Bertz]

 

 

The Cubs don't have any of these guys, but three guys who were pretty close. Wicks a little low on innings (94.2), Devers a little low on K's (9.3), and Brown a little high on BBs (3.1).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Tryptamine]

 

Good god, how busted is Brailyn that he was not only cut, but able to be resigned?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

Good god, how busted is Brailyn that he was not only cut, but able to be resigned?

 

Save for a single random MLB relief appearance in 2020(where he got lit up), he hasn't pitched in a professional game in 3 years, and hasn't pitched above high A. Why would anyone offer him a 40 man spot?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

Promising health sign

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs lost Chris Clarke in the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft and so far, Bryan King in the minor league portion.

 

They’ve added righty reliever Nick Burdi, LHP José Aquino (who has barely pitched outside the DR) and OF Jefferson Encarnacion in the minor league portion.

 

 

[Tim]

I'm not too worried about Clarke sticking on an MLB roster all year. If he does, congrats.

[Cubswin11]

Burdi is a lot of fun for the lab if he can ever stay healthy

[Bertz]

I was one of if not the very highest on Clarke, and even I'm gonna chalk only losing him up as a huge win.

[craig]

Burdi is a lot of fun for the lab if he can ever stay healthy

 

Yeah, poor guy has really had the injuries. He must have looked like quite the prospect back during his first year or two as a pro.

[Rex Buckingham]

^^ Yeah, I did a double take...MLB portion too, :good: (Re: Chris Clarke)

 

The giant hard throwing lefty from the Mariners sounds interesting enough. I'm assuming TJ since he threw just 6 innings, but they might be able to sneak a prospect out coming from a decent pitching org already

 

Sabol might stick for the Reds, seems interesting for them

 

Sabol already traded to the Giants for PTBNL and cash

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[craig]

Question for farm experts, on alum Cris Morel.

1. I'm thinking I remember Morel having pretty strong lefty-righty splits as a minor-leaguer. Is that true or false?

 

2. I ask in part because he had strong anti-splits this season: OPS .782 RHP, .627 LHP.

 

3. How would you project forward? That his big-league split is real and projectable? Maybe his offense rests on HR's, and those come when RHP try to challenge him inside? Or probably a fluke, and his minor-league record is a better predictor?

 

4. I ask because Bellinger is a big-splits lefty. I'd like a solid-hitting RH platoon for him. Could Morel be that guy?

*Or likewise, there are some questions whether Mervis will handle LH pitching well at the big-league level? One possible platoon scenario could involve Morel at 3B with Wisdom playing 1st.

 

But considering Morel the Cubs best platoon option for either Bell or Mervis might be gross, or may not be something Cubs analytics will support or plan for, *IF* they think his awfulness vs LHP in 2022 will carry forward.