Minor League Musings

[JunkyardWalrus]

So, were all of Shaw, Horton and Cassie the #1 Cubs prospect at the time when called up this year? If so, when's the last time that happened?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

He said he's going to be able to start taking swings next week.

[Donzo]

3 hours ago, JunkyardWalrus said:

So, were all of Shaw, Horton and Cassie the #1 Cubs prospect at the time when called up this year?

I don't think so. I believe Shaw was still #1, he didn't graduate from the system yet, when Horton was called up.

But, they were the top prospect playing in the minors when they were each called up.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

3 hours ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

He said he's going to be able to start taking swings next week.

Thanks - wasn't able to listen to his interview on Marquee.

[Hot Sauce]

I knew Triantos was playing some OF, but I didn’t know he was seeing time in CF. He made a great diving catch yesterday. He’s a favorite prospect of mine. I would love to see him come up the MLB roster as a super sub next season.

[craig]

Triantos catch was great, but partly because he had a terrible jump and broke back on a shallow fly.  Obviously catching is a huge part of outfielding, but so is reading swings and balls-off-the-bat and getting good jumps.  I'd love it if Triantos picked all that up quickly and became very good.  But I'm guessing it's going to take a whole lot of repetitions and practice to become close to average as a big-league CFer.  

[Donzo]

On 8/19/2025 at 5:52 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Yency Almonte and Erian Rodríguez promoted to AA Knoxville.

I missed this. I saw your news on Wiggins and blurred over this.

I like Rodriguez. He has the size, stuff, athletic build and overall look of a MLB pitcher.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/ranking-the-20-hottest-mlb-prospects-hot-sheet-8-25-25/

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Outshined_One]

13 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

Kinda have to wonder if MLB was messing with baseballs again. I remember we saw something similar happen in AA not too long ago.

[Bertz]

The funnest thing about Cepeda is that the contact is trending way up lately.  He's been hitting for a while now, he had a 112 wRC+ in April/May, the only one of the teens to do a damn thing at MB early in the season.  But the contact numbers were pretty awful until here in August, where they're at a league average-ish 22.6%.

That's not to say we're in the clear, Lumpuy backslid hard after he seemed to get his contact demons under control a month or so back, but it's a good sign.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

4 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

Kinda have to wonder if MLB was messing with baseballs again. I remember we saw something similar happen in AA not too long ago.

This is pretty interesting:

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Bryan Smith has a weekly Substack which I can't recommend enough. Amongst other topics this week, he talked about Ángel Cepeda's resurgence: https://fivecubsthings.substack.com/p/five-cubs-things-825-go-west-and

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Noah Edders becomes the second 2025 draftee pitcher to make his professional debut.

David Bracho was expected to be the top pitching prospect for Myrtle Beach this year before a leg injury this spring.

[Post Count Padder]

I feel like no one is talking about how Wiggins hasn't allowed a hit since June.

(2 starts)

[Bertz]

Given the timing he's presumably out for all of next year too.  Maybe back for the AFL?

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

3 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Given the timing he's presumably out for all of next year too.  Maybe back for the AFL?

 

Unsure because they don’t know what’s wrong:

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cole Mathis and Ed Howard are going to the AFL.

[Donzo]

Just saw a recent picture of Ballesteros, not good. He's looking like he's on the Daniel Vogelbach path. We'll see.

Untill he loses weight he's a limited prospect in my eyes.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

this guy is one of the best catchers in baseball

 

[Donzo]

17 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

this guy is one of the best catchers in baseball

 

If you want to make that comp then you're saying Ballesteros has the same physical ability as Kirk? Kirk is a good athlete despite his obesity, Ballesteros is not.

The Cubs din't let Ballesteros catch one pitch when he was up with the team. That says a lot about his current catching abilty.

[We Got The Whole 9]

1 hour ago, Donzo said:

Just saw a recent picture of Ballesteros, not good. He's looking like he's on the Daniel Vogelbach path. We'll see.

Untill he loses weight he's a limited prospect in my eyes.

Did you not watch when he played in Chicago this year? This really isn't that close to Vogelbach or Telles IMO.