Minor League Musings

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Jim Callis had Cade Horton as a top 100 prospect:

 

[craig]

Did anybody have access to the Lance/Callis show?  Any interesting perspectives to share?  

[Named After Maddux]

Riley Thompson earned an ICubs rotation spot. He made a lot of progress over the winter so that's pretty cool.

[Bertz]

27 minutes ago, Named After Maddux said:

Riley Thompson earned an ICubs rotation spot. He made a lot of progress over the winter so that's pretty cool.

[Hrubes20]

14 hours ago, Named After Maddux said:

Riley Thompson earned an ICubs rotation spot. He made a lot of progress over the winter so that's pretty cool.

Nice!  So Kilian/Jensen/Thompson/Sampson in the rotation.  Who's the 5th starter there to begin the year.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some veteran JAG that they picked up this offseason for depth.  

[Named After Maddux]

40 minutes ago, Hrubes20 said:

Nice!  So Kilian/Jensen/Thompson/Sampson in the rotation.  Who's the 5th starter there to begin the year.  I'm sure I'm forgetting some veteran JAG that they picked up this offseason for depth.  

So I'm not sure this is official or decided, but heard Jensen might not be in Iowa. 

Guessing it's Kilian, Sampson, Thompson, Neidert, then it still leaves one more. Perhaps Ben Brown? Not sure yet on that one.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Maybe they give one of the new relievers some piggyback type work to give them time to flesh out any adjustments?  Elias was starting in winter ball and is new to the org and is the first candidate that comes to mind.

[Hrubes20]

20 minutes ago, Named After Maddux said:

So I'm not sure this is official or decided, but heard Jensen might not be in Iowa. 

Guessing it's Kilian, Sampson, Thompson, Neidert, then it still leaves one more. Perhaps Ben Brown? Not sure yet on that one.

Brown starting in AAA would be fun.  I'm on the "Jensen is a reliever" train anyway, but I'd still like him to throw starter's inning.  

4 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Maybe they give one of the new relievers some piggyback type work to give them time to flesh out any adjustments?  Elias was starting in winter ball and is new to the org and is the first candidate that comes to mind.

Neidert and Elias are exactly the type of veteran JAGs I couldn't remember.  

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Klaw: https://theathletic.com/4367417/2023/03/31/cactus-league-scouting-dodgers-cubs/

Quote

• I caught the Cubs’ Double A hitters in an ostensible major-league game against the White Sox right before both squads decamped for Opening Day. Kevin Alcántara, my No. 29 prospect coming into the year, showed that same electric bat speed that boosted him to that ranking on my list, although his timing wasn’t great on that afternoon. No one looked more impressive compared to my previous looks than catcher Miguel Amaya, who missed most of the last two years around Tommy John surgery, but was noticeably stronger and showed a quiet, controlled approach at the plate. Amaya was a top 100 prospect before losing those two seasons to injury and could regain that status now that he’s both healthy and in – wait for it – the best shape of his life.

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I really want Amaya to rake this year and then I want to ship him out for like Yoan Moncada

[Hrubes20]

Paciolla was plunked in the wrist in his very first PA in EXST and exited the game, per AZPhil.  Hopefully it's just a bruise.

https://www.thecubreporter.com/cubs-edge-giants-extended-spring-training-opener-papago-park

[Bertz]

Caissie and PCA both make it for the Southern League.  No other Cubs, though given the cutoffs I'd guess Ramirez, Hernandez, and maybe Ballesteros are in the next ten for the Carolina League and Triantos when if he were healthy would be in the 10-20 range for the MWL

 

[CubinNY]

57 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Caissie and PCA both make it for the Southern League.  No other Cubs, though given the cutoffs I'd guess Ramirez, Hernandez, and maybe Ballesteros are in the next ten for the Carolina League and Triantos when if he were healthy would be in the 10-20 range for the MWL

 

Cam Collier, 3B, CIN - that one is going to sting me if he turns into a star. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CubinNY]

Nonprofessional notes from the 4.14 Smokies/Biscuits game. 
 

PCA is the real deal. Super quick bat. Aggressive base runner. Turned a single into a double and a double into a triple. His arm isn’t as strong as I thought it would be. He seems to be susceptible to high fastballs.

Wicks had control problems but he stuck out six in his first two innings. They hit his breaking pitches well. 
 

Caissie is not very athletic. He had trouble with off speed pitches, fooled badly a couple of times. 
 

Ngwogu bulked up since last year. Very quick bad. 
 

Aliendo is not a good defender behind the plate. 

[Hrubes20]

Angels calling up Neto to be their SS. That’s nuts.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Hrubes20

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Quote

How much has Pete Crow-Armstrong changed as a hitter since entering pro ball? I asked the 21-year-old Chicago Cubs prospect that question following a back-fields game during spring training.

“I haven’t changed,” replied Crow-Armstrong, whom the New York Mets drafted 19th overall in 2020 and subsequently swapped to Chicago in exchange for Javier Báezand Trevor Williams. “I’ve stayed true to myself as a hitter. We’ve made slight swing changes, but no, I’ve just improved what was already there. I feel like you’re probably going to ask about the power, but it’s always been there. I trust in my ability, my body, and I’ve worked really well with the coaches here.”

I asked the youngster if he could elaborate on “slight swing changes.”

“Entry into the zone has probably been the biggest benefit out of the changes we’ve made,” said Crow-Armstrong. “I like to think of it as a cleaner first move. It’s less steep.”

The Harvard-Westlake (CA) High School product slashed .312/.376/.520 with 16 home runs last year between Low-A Myrtle Beach and High-A South Bend. No. 14 on our Top 100, Crow-Armstrong is 10-for-28 with Double-A Tennessee so far this season.

PCA with a blurb in Fangraphs' sunday notes column: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/sunday-notes-are-kenley-jansen-and-or-craig-kimbrel-cooperstown-bound/

[CubinNY]

I'm loving the MLB.tv package. I've never watched so much minor-league baseball in my life. One thing that has struck me, and maybe it's a bias, but the Cubs minor league pitchers give a lot of walks, a lot. It seems like it's much more than they are taking. Why is that command is so bad? Is this something they don't concentrate on in "the pitch lab" or early development? 

To me, it seems like a good idea to work on command because it matters most. Alternatively, maybe it's typical, but it seems like strike throwing would be a necessary requirement to make to the draft. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

14 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

I'm loving the MLB.tv package. I've never watched so much minor-league baseball in my life. One thing that has struck me, and maybe it's a bias, but the Cubs minor league pitchers give a lot of walks, a lot. It seems like it's much more than they are taking. Why is that command is so bad? Is this something they don't concentrate on in "the pitch lab" or early development? 

To me, it seems like a good idea to work on command because it matters most. Alternatively, maybe it's typical, but it seems like strike throwing would be a necessary requirement to make to the draft. 

Just eyeballing the leaderboards, it looks like the walk rate is currently highest relative to the league in Low A, then gets progressively better at each level.  Two reasons I wouldn't read too much into it at the moment.  One is we're talking about 10 or fewer games, there's a lot of noise or a situation where one or two bad games/outings skews things since in the nominal sense only a handful of walks separate 'good' v. 'bad' walk rates.  The other is that I'm not sure that for this stage in the season this is the worst thing.  If we want the organization to be at the forefront of things like pitcher development, that will mean that pitchers will be starting the season looking to implement new things.  Harnessing improved velocity, using new pitches, and those things take time, repetition, plus failure/adjustment cycles.  As the season progresses you'll see the best pitchers going deeper in games and hopefully many pitchers making better use of those improved skillsets, which would make a difference in those walk totals relative to their peers.

[Bertz]

One of the PD focused FO guys, I think Banner, actually called out exactly what TT said.  Their high level approach to pitching dev goes 

Improve Velocity -> Improve Shape/Movement  -> Improve Command

So you've got a bunch of guys right now who have either improved velo or new/changed movement profiles on their pitches.  It's going to take a bit to learn to harness them.

[CubinNY]

Brett out there beating the Mervis drum. I agree.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Quote

8. Matt Mervis, 1B, Cubs
Team: Triple-A Iowa (Pacific Coast)
Age: 25

Why He’s Here: .462/.632/.846 (6-for-13), 7 R, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 6 BB, 2 SO, 0-for-0 SB

The Scoop: Mervis broke out last season when he led the minors with 78 extra-base hits, 117 RBIs and 310 total bases and finished tied for third with 36 home runs while racing to Triple-A. He’s picked up this year right where he left off. Mervis recorded multiple hits in three of four games last week before weather postponed Iowa’s final three games. He launched his third homer of the young season in the series opener against Omaha and finished the abbreviated series with consecutive multi-hit games. Mervis is now batting .293/.456/.585 with three doubles and three home runs in 12 games and has more walks (13) than strikeouts (9). With Cubs first basemen batting a combined .231/.276/.286 entering Monday, it should be only a matter of time before Mervis gets his first big league callup. (KG)

Quote

11. Owen Caissie, OF, Cubs
Team: Double-A Tennessee (Southern)
Age: 20

Why He’s Here: .333/.364/1.048 (7-for-21), 5 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 9 RBIs, 1 BB, 12 SO, 0-for-0 SB

The Scoop: Caissie showed off his prodigious power in a big way last week, hitting three home runs in a game against Montgomery on April 12 and following with a triple and another homer the next day. Caissie got his big day started with a grand slam in the first inning, added a massive solo home run in the sixth inning and finished it off with another solo shot in the ninth inning. He remained scorching hot with an RBI triple in his first at-bat the following day and went back-to-back with fellow outfielder Jordan Nwogu in the sixth to cap his explosive two-day stretch. (KG).