Minor League Musings

[jersey cubs fan]

On 6/28/2024 at 5:05 PM, Bertz said:

*sigh* Sounds like Brennen's dead again

 

 

What does hasn’t played July 11 mean?

[CubinNY]

9 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

What does hasn’t played July 11 mean?

I think June 11. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[KCCub]

 

[JD94]

Just going to throw this here…..

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Boy "spectacular" is sure doing some heavy lifting.  Even after an excellent outing tonight, Herz's MLB performance is about 8th among Cubs who have started games this year, ahead of only Hendricks.  He's made some progress with walks, though judging by his HR rate it's very possible he's just daring MLB hitters to hit center cut fastballs when he's behind in the count and at least once an outing they gladly oblige.

[Bertz]

Yeah Herz was pretty bad at AAA this year so my guess is this is first time around the league success on the back of his funkiness.

Also pretty funny thing to get mad about given literally every other conversation around this team.

[Bertz]

 

 

[Bertz]

Honestly you don't even really need to play arbitrary endpoints, he's up to a 120 wRC+ on the season.  His awful April and the Southern League's deadball just made it the quietest 120 in the system.

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[jersey cubs fan]

19 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

[CubinNY]

WT

Edited July 4, 2024 by CubinNY

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Tryptamine]

1 minute ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

I wonder if this means a DFA for Kyle

[CaliforniaRaisin]

34 minutes ago, Tryptamine said:

I wonder if this means a DFA for Kyle

Doubt it when they desperately need SP. Would guess Kyle is probably headed to the IL.

[We Got The Whole 9]

What do you guys think Jacob Wilson's offense will look like in the Majors? Currently at AAA i believe he has more XBH than whiffs, hitting 398/444/639 with 3 Ks in 90 PA, which is just a hair thinner than his AA line was. But is his GB-heavy approach gonna get swallowed up in the Majors and he'll struggle to be average? 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

25 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

What do you guys think Jacob Wilson's offense will look like in the Majors? Currently at AAA i believe he has more XBH than whiffs, hitting 398/444/639 with 3 Ks in 90 PA, which is just a hair thinner than his AA line was. But is his GB-heavy approach gonna get swallowed up in the Majors and he'll struggle to be average? 

Honest question, is his approach actually GB heavy, or does it just look that way because it's impossible to strike him out in the minors?

[We Got The Whole 9]

8 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

Honest question, is his approach actually GB heavy, or does it just look that way because it's impossible to strike him out in the minors?

IDK but his career-high FB rate was last year at 26.9 and this year it's about 23, with 50% GB. I guess it's not fair to label it as that - he hits a lot of line drives - but results-wise, a lot of his batted balls end up on the ground, well over 50% for his career. I think to get results like that, I lean toward: elite pitch recognition and ability to make contact and probably "hits it where it's pitched" extraordinarily well. 

 

This guy is pretty confounding. He's not fast. How does he hit like that with 50% of his BIP pulled, and on the ground?

Edited July 15, 2024 by We Got The Whole 9

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just now, We Got The Whole 9 said:

IDK but his career-high FB rate was last year at 26.9 and this year it's about 23, with 50% GB. I guess it's not fair to label it as that - he hits a lot of line drives - but results-wise, a lot of his batted balls end up on the ground, well over 50% for his career.

I guess here's what I'm driving at, and this is a hobby horse of mine so I get that I'm being at least a little pedantic.  FB and GB rate have a denominator of batted balls, so if Wilson's GB are higher simply because he's impossible to strike out, is that necessarily a negative thing.  Making the denominator PA is illustrative, Wilson has 19 FB in 90 AAA PA(21%), last year in AAA Michael Busch(who has pretty consistently been heralded for his swing path/FB tendencies) was 113/469, or 24%, making the difference in Wilson's AAA performance 1-2 FB.  

[We Got The Whole 9]

2 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I guess here's what I'm driving at, and this is a hobby horse of mine so I get that I'm being at least a little pedantic.  FB and GB rate have a denominator of batted balls, so if Wilson's GB are higher simply because he's impossible to strike out, is that necessarily a negative thing.  Making the denominator PA is illustrative, Wilson has 19 FB in 90 AAA PA(21%), last year in AAA Michael Busch(who has pretty consistently been heralded for his swing path/FB tendencies) was 113/469, or 24%, making the difference in Wilson's AAA performance 1-2 FB.  

It may not be a negative thing. He looks like a guy who is a good bet to be a well above-average hitter. But I expect a large increase in grounders converted into outs at the MLB level.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

5 minutes ago, We Got The Whole 9 said:

It may not be a negative thing. He looks like a guy who is a good bet to be a well above-average hitter. But I expect a large increase in grounders converted into outs at the MLB level.

For sure, that's why it's good for him that he's currently hitting .400 instead of .300 like the Almoras of the world. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Derik Alcántara with the in-season promotion from the DSL to the ACL.

[Bertz]

20 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Derik Alcántara with the in-season promotion from the DSL to the ACL.

That is normally an extremely positive sign, right?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

49 minutes ago, Bertz said:

That is normally an extremely positive sign, right?

Absolutely

[Bertz]

 

 

Even after the Tiroco trade that's an open starting  pitcher and infielder spot at Iowa.  Noland and Shaw presumably?  Do we get additional moves for Triantos and Franklin too?