Minor League Musings

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Jonny Long was BA's Cubs MILB player of the year.

[Donzo]

Well, will Ballesteros get to cath today? I'm thinking the Cubs want McGuire to get at bats today to keep him ready when needed. If Tucker could play RF then McGuire could DH, but that's not probable.

I'm thinkin' Ballesteros gets in the last few innings... We'll see.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/best-minor-league-changeups-splitters-per-stuff-in-2025/

[Bertz]

1 hour ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/best-minor-league-changeups-splitters-per-stuff-in-2025/

How in the world does a splitter have negative vertical break?  I thought only fastballs could do that??

This has got to be the most unicorn pitch in the system right?  It makes Neely's slider sound boring.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

How in the world does a splitter have negative vertical break?  I thought only fastballs could do that??

This has got to be the most unicorn pitch in the system right?  It makes Neely's slider sound boring.

It sounds like a reverse sweeper? Lol wtf is this.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Am I crazy or does that not sound like a very straight changeup instead of a splitter?  Wonder what the spin rate looks like

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-150-minor-league-stuff-leaders-for-2025/

Jaxon Wiggins with the 21st best Stuff+ in the minors at 114 and the 5th best normalized Stuff+ in the minors at 120. Kevin Valdez was the only other Cub in the top 150 at 143 (108 Stuff+, 105 NStuff+).

Wiggins had the 7th best FB, Florentino the 15th best slider, Leigh the 8th best curve, Zarraga the 11th best curve and LMG the 5th best splitter in the minors.

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-150-minor-league-stuff-leaders-for-2025/

Jaxon Wiggins with the 21st best Stuff+ in the minors at 114 and the 5th best normalized Stuff+ in the minors at 120. Kevin Valdez was the only other Cub in the top 150 at 143 (108 Stuff+, 105 NStuff+).

Wiggins had the 7th best FB, Florentino the 15th best slider, Leigh the 8th best curve, Zarraga the 11th best curve and LMG the 5th best splitter in the minors.

[Bertz]

Quote

We normalize our Stuff+ scores by rebalancing data for each pitch classification against the average Stuff+ for that pitch type. So, because the average slider has a Stuff+ of 110, if a pitcher has a slider with a Stuff+ of 110, it is considered an “average” example of such a pitch and is rebalanced to 100 on the normalized scale.

I like Eno Sarris, but its horsefeathering asinine that this is not the default way of doing things.  Like "the blue on the map is clearly land" level stupid. 

[Backtobanks]

On 9/23/2025 at 5:02 PM, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

Jonny Long was BA's Cubs MILB player of the year.

It would be great if long could make the ML roster next year.  A perfect (and cheap) platoon DH/1B.

[Stratos]

On 10/3/2025 at 8:16 PM, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

It sounds like a reverse sweeper? Lol wtf is this.

Only 3 cutters in the MLB the last 2 seasons have had negative vertical break (Caleb Killian threw one of them last year for Cubs) so yeah kinda like sweeper or weird cutter movement.  No splitters in the MLB this year had glove-side horizontal movement, so its a freak ptich.  A few had negative vertical movement, including Colin Rea, but not by much.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Cubs had 4 of the 125 minor leaguers who threw at least one pitch 100 mph or faster in the minors: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/all-125-mlb-prospects-who-threw-100-mph-in-the-minor-leagues-in-2025/

Daniel Palencia
Joel Sierra
JP Wheat
Mathew Peters

Very weird Wiggins isn't on here since he clearly hit 100 at AAA.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

DSL Hitting Prospects to Watch: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/40-standout-hitting-prospects-from-the-2025-international-signing-class/

Under the Prospects to Watch:

[CaliforniaRaisin]

On 10/7/2025 at 10:33 AM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

The Cubs had 4 of the 125 minor leaguers who threw at least one pitch 100 mph or faster in the minors: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/all-125-mlb-prospects-who-threw-100-mph-in-the-minor-leagues-in-2025/

Daniel Palencia
Joel Sierra
JP Wheat
Mathew Peters

Very weird Wiggins isn't on here since he clearly hit 100 at AAA.

I complained to BA and they added Jaxon Wiggins (100.4)... They also added Nate Pearson and Caleb Kilian.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/every-mlb-prospect-who-added-2-mph-fastball-velocity-in-2025/

Jostin Florentino added 5.1 mph to his fastball from 2024 to 2025 (84.9 to 90.0 mph).

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Video of Hartshorn in a Cubs uniform

[Jason Ross]

Rachel Folden will be leaving the Cubs MiLB coaching ranks and joining the Mets organization. 

She was a big part of some notable swing changes, namely PCA originally helping him with his launch angle.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

45 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Rachel Folden will be leaving the Cubs MiLB coaching ranks and joining the Mets organization. 

She was a big part of some notable swing changes, namely PCA originally helping him with his launch angle.

Huge loss 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Do we know what title she got with the Mets?  I assume she got a pretty nifty promotion.  Assistant hitting coach at the big league level?  Or maybe something in the Farm Director neighborhood?

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

The Mets got rid of pretty much everyone except their manager so I wouldn't be surprised if she is on the staff. 

[Bertz]

Really looking forward to Pedro at Iowa this year

 

[Jason Ross]