Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 4-23-16

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa lost 6-4 (13 innings) Box Score

 

CF A. Almora 2/5, R, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB, K

C W. Contreras 1/6, 2 K

1B D. Vogelbach 1/3

PH A. Alcantara 0/1

SS M. Kawasaki 1/2, K

SP S. Perakslis 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 3-1 GO-FO, 69-45 pitches-strikes

RP F. Pena 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1-2 GO-FO

 

Tennessee won 5-2 Box Score

 

CF J. Hannemann 1/4, R, BB, K

LF M. Zagunis 1/5, 2 RBI, 2 K

2B C. Young 0/2, 3 BB, K

3B J. Candelario 1/3, R, 2 BB

RF B. Rademacher 1/5, R, K

C V. Caratini 1/3, BB

SP P. Blackburn 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 14-6 GO-FO, 94-62 pitches-strikes, E (1, throw)

 

Myrtle Beach won 6-5 Box Score

 

SS G. Torres 2/3, 2 R 3B (1), BB, E (3, throw)

2B I. Happ 1/3, 2 R, HR (3), 2 RBI, BB

DH Y. Balaguert 2/4, R, 2B (1), RBI, K

3B J. Vosler 2/3, R, RBI, E (5, fielding)

RF Je. Baez 1/3, 3B (1), RBI, BB, K, CS (1)

SP J. Stinnett 6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 1 WP, 8-2 GO-FO, 80-56 pitches-strikes

RP D. Berg 1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 4-1 GO-FO

 

South Bend won 7-4 Box Score

 

2B C. Sepulveda 3/5, 2 R, 2 2B (2), 3 RBI, K

C PJ Higgins 2/4, R, 2B (4), RBI, BB, PB (3)

CF D. Dewees 2/5, 2 2B (7), K

LF E. Jimenez 1/4, R, 2 RBI, 2 K

RF E. Martinez 1/5, 3 K, outfield assist at second base

1B M. Rose 1/3, R, BB, E (5, missed catch)

SS B. Flete 1/3, R, BB, E (4, fielding)

SP A. Alzolay 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 6-5 GO-FO, 82-49 pitches-strikes

RP S. Frazier 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 2 WP, 0-1 GO-FO

[Tim]

I still maintain irrational hopes for Stinnett.

[craig]

Tim, I'm pretty hopeful, too. When the year is done, I'm hopeful that we'll look at both Stinnett and Clifton and be pretty pleased with their seasons.

 

Tonight could be a pretty good pitching night. Blackburn's been good three straight, so perhaps he's due for a dud. But, so far so good; so I'm curious whether he can sequence another good one on.

[craig]

Stinnet 7K/0BB and 8GO/2AO in 6.2 innings. Very nice. Pretty good strike percentage, 56/80.

 

Blackburn again winning the BABIP game. Shutout through 4 with only a single K. No walks helps.

 

Alzolay also with another good BABIP game, no earned runs, 2 singles and 1 unearned run through 6, with only 4 K's.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Almora with a HR

 

luv luv luv to see the isop climb

[TruffleShuffle]

happ is probably not long for the midwest league.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Happ is in the Carolina league.

[TruffleShuffle]

lol, brain fart. well they'll probably give him a little time there, but so far he is raking, hitting for power and walking a lot. i'd expect him to spent at least half the year with tennessee.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Really fun day on the farm.

 

Apparently Happ decided to stop striking out and is only going to walk and dong now. He seems intent on proving me wrong and putting up a good year. I am starting to get down. The walks and power as a second baseman can definitely play. I was very cautious because of the lack of contact last year, at a low level, from a college guy. But I can look past it if he keeps getting on base and smacking the ball out of the park.

 

Gleyber had a good night. He's walking a ton. That's fun. Now he needs to start putting the ball in play more. I know he 's never going to have a ton of power, but he knows how to hit. Just put the bat on the ball and he'll be a fine player.

 

Dewees and Chesny Young keep rolling along.

 

Very encouraging start for Stinnett. Hopefully he's righted the ship.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

And my favorite news: Almora. The walks are real. I am certain. It's been going on too long. He's on record as saying he worked hard at improving that aspect of his game. And he needed to be more patient. Badly. I think he made a sincere effort to change, and it is working. I am all in on him at this point. I'm not getting too excited about a couple homers. I honestly don't care too much about the power. If he hit 15-20 on the year, then I might be getting a little more excited. But, it's the PCL, and, so far, it's just a couple homers. I won't read anything into it, except it shows me that he's not making weak contact. That's where he got into the most trouble and why he fell off the face of the Earth. The contact ability has always been there. But he got exposed badly at the upper levels. It didn't matter that he put balls in play, because it wasn't working. The BABIP fell through the floor. And, if you know the guy is willing to get himself out by chasing junk and putting it weakly into play, then he just was useless offensively. He's not going to get good pitches to hit. And, even so, he doesn't have enough power to really harm you. So he's just an easy out. He's Darwin Barney. That's cute that you don't strike out, but you are still worthless. Maybe you'll luck into a single. But,with the way you hit, probably not.

 

Now, it appears that he makes you pitch to him, and he makes you work. And maybe he lays off your junk. If so, well, maybe a little power surge is genuine. Maybe he is waiting for good pitches to drive. Maybe he is able to do a little more damage on his balls in play. And, even if not, at least he is going to get on base more often by upping his walk total from non-existent to at least average. I won't buy that he is just all of a sudden going to hit for more power. But, the power is still good to see. As is the batting average. This was a guy that was getting killed by his deflated BABIP. He thrived off of it when he was younger. It's the only thing he had going for him. He was a guy that could put the ball in play and hit his way on base. Then... he wasn't. It's easy to surmise that it was because he just wasn't hitting the bell well. So, seeing a higher BABIP, and a higher batting average, and a higher ISO... these are all good things. Those stats might be lying to me -- it is the PCL, after all. But, it is important that I see them improve. He has to improve them. And there is reason to believe he has. He already did in the second-half last year.

 

Throw in what very well may be plus defense in CF, and, as I said, I'm all in. He's the guy I'll be most attentively watching this year. I'm thoroughly impressed with his transformation. And, frankly, I'm shocked that I'm all in. I wasn't even in when he was thought of more highly.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Duane Underwood is ready for Tennessee:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]RHSP Duane Underwood (right ebow stiffness) made his final rehab start in the game at Sloan Park and threw 5.1 IP (78 pitches) of one-run ball, retiring 13 of the first 16 men he faced before running into trouble in the top of the 6th when he allowed three singles and a HBP and surrendered his only run. But he was outstanding through the first five innings, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

[CubsWin]

Duane Underwood is ready for Tennessee:

 

Arizona Phil[/url]"]RHSP Duane Underwood (right ebow stiffness) made his final rehab start in the game at Sloan Park and threw 5.1 IP (78 pitches) of one-run ball, retiring 13 of the first 16 men he faced before running into trouble in the top of the 6th when he allowed three singles and a HBP and surrendered his only run. But he was outstanding through the first five innings, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk with four strikeouts.

That Smokies team has a chance to be a monster.

 

Candelario, Caratini, McKinney and Zagunis should all see an uptick in production as the season progresses with Rademacher being the only one to regress. Chesny Young will come back a little bit, but he's not too far off his career averages. I like the patient approaches in the line-up here. They lead the league in walks and OBP and have the least Ks per game. Hannemann and Penalver provide athleticism and good defense if nothing else.

 

There might be some promotions in the 2nd half as both Candelario and McKinney logged AA time last season, but that's 6 legit hitters, with the possibility/likelihood of Happ replacing anyone who gets promoted, and Jason Vosler (one of my picks to breakout this season) ready to move up from Myrtle Beach come June/July.

 

On the pitching side, Blackburn is off to a hot start. He looked really good when seeing him a few times on the back fields this spring, so where as his numbers will regress for sure, I'm not surprised to see him doing well. Dare I say Zastryzny has improved? We'll see, but so far, so good. I've always held out hope for Skulina. I think he's got a shot at being a decent reliever in the bigs as does Markey. Jen-Ho Tseng is off to a bad start and should pick it up as the season progresses, but as a BOR in AA a team could do worse. Top that rotation off with a returning Underwood and that's not a bad group. There really isn't an organizational filler guy on the list.

 

The bullpen is full of guys with good fastballs and sliders that they're still learning to control. But Acevedo, Black, Peralta, Conway and Paniagua all have decent stuff. There may not be more than 1 or 2 MLB arms in that group but they can all be nasty when they're right. Concepcion seems to have steadily improved over the last couple of seasons. It'll be interesting to see if he continues to perform. Pugliese doesn't have the upside, but he's been a steady minor league reliever for a couple years now.

 

Tennessee is middle of the pack at 8-9 right now mostly due to the slow starts from many of their hitting prospects, but as they heat up and Underwood returns, if they can stay healthy, this team could vie for the Southern League championship, if not run away with it. This is one of the best Cubs minor league rosters I've seen in my 25 years of following such things. What's doubly nice is many of these guys are age appropriate or younger and true prospects. No ringers in the bunch.

[CubsWin]

Apparently Happ decided to stop striking out and is only going to walk and dong now. He seems intent on proving me wrong and putting up a good year. I am starting to get down. The walks and power as a second baseman can definitely play. I was very cautious because of the lack of contact last year, at a low level, from a college guy. But I can look past it if he keeps getting on base and smacking the ball out of the park.

Yep. In his last 7 games, 4 Ks to go with 6 walks and 3 HRs. If he can keep those Ks down, thats very encouraging. The next biggest step in his development is his play at 2B.

 

I was hoping for Benintendi to fall but if he didn't I wanted Happ. Both are doing well right now. Benintendi makes better contact but if Happ can become an average (or better) defensive 2B, that might even the score a bit.

[CubsWin]

And my favorite news: Almora. The walks are real. I am certain. It's been going on too long. He's on record as saying he worked hard at improving that aspect of his game. And he needed to be more patient. Badly. I think he made a sincere effort to change, and it is working. I am all in on him at this point. I'm not getting too excited about a couple homers. I honestly don't care too much about the power. If he hit 15-20 on the year, then I might be getting a little more excited. But, it's the PCL, and, so far, it's just a couple homers. I won't read anything into it, except it shows me that he's not making weak contact. That's where he got into the most trouble and why he fell off the face of the Earth. The contact ability has always been there. But he got exposed badly at the upper levels. It didn't matter that he put balls in play, because it wasn't working. The BABIP fell through the floor. And, if you know the guy is willing to get himself out by chasing junk and putting it weakly into play, then he just was useless offensively. He's not going to get good pitches to hit. And, even so, he doesn't have enough power to really harm you. So he's just an easy out. He's Darwin Barney. That's cute that you don't strike out, but you are still worthless. Maybe you'll luck into a single. But,with the way you hit, probably not.

 

Now, it appears that he makes you pitch to him, and he makes you work. And maybe he lays off your junk. If so, well, maybe a little power surge is genuine. Maybe he is waiting for good pitches to drive. Maybe he is able to do a little more damage on his balls in play. And, even if not, at least he is going to get on base more often by upping his walk total from non-existent to at least average. I won't buy that he is just all of a sudden going to hit for more power. But, the power is still good to see. As is the batting average. This was a guy that was getting killed by his deflated BABIP. He thrived off of it when he was younger. It's the only thing he had going for him. He was a guy that could put the ball in play and hit his way on base. Then... he wasn't. It's easy to surmise that it was because he just wasn't hitting the bell well. So, seeing a higher BABIP, and a higher batting average, and a higher ISO... these are all good things. Those stats might be lying to me -- it is the PCL, after all. But, it is important that I see them improve. He has to improve them. And there is reason to believe he has. He already did in the second-half last year.

 

Throw in what very well may be plus defense in CF, and, as I said, I'm all in. He's the guy I'll be most attentively watching this year. I'm thoroughly impressed with his transformation. And, frankly, I'm shocked that I'm all in. I wasn't even in when he was thought of more highly.

It's still too early for me, but I never left the Almora bandwagon. I'm probably more patient than most, however.

 

I love how this Cubs front office went to a kid who had just hit .329/.376/.466 in Low-A as a 19-year-old and said you need to make adjustments or you're going to be in trouble. Previous regimes would've not intervened saying "he's a natural hitter" and to not "get in his way" only to watch him fail at the upper levels.

 

These guys drafted Almora for his make-up as much as his bat/defense. They knew he had the coachability, mental toughness and work ethic to challenge him to wait for a pitch he could drive, even though all of his previous success was due to his ability to recognize a pitch and make good contact with it whether it was in his wheelhouse or not.

 

They let him get his feet wet in the AZL and he hit well (347/.363/.480) but was very aggressive. He continued his success in Low-A while still lacking selectivity. Looking back, it seems as if they were allowing him to get comfortable and know he can play at this level while waiting for him to struggle.

 

Finally he did. He struggled badly in High-A at first, hitting .241/.262/.318 through mid-June. It's unclear exactly when they asked him to make the adjustment to wait for a pitch he could drive (I have a vague memory of them doing so before the 2014 season began), but reports were when they did, he bought in. The moment he started to hit well in Daytona (.369/.395/.582 in his last 28 games without having become that much more selective), they aggressively promoted him to AA to see how he handled the more advanced pitching. I expect, they did so with an eye towards him struggling again. They knew he could handle the failure and it kept him focused on the need to wait for something he could drive.

 

Years of habit needed to be undone all while facing the best pitching he'd seen in his career to date and being years younger than almost everyone around him. Last August, it seemed to click for him. It wasn't a large enough sample to draw anything conclusive from (.352/.413/.504 with 11 BB/13 K in 140 PAs) but the combination of a higher walk rate and greater power (14 doubles, a triple and a HR in that month) were the exact results the adjustment he'd been working on for about a year and a half were supposed to produce.

 

Now, he's just 14 games and 60 PAs into his first season in AAA, but he's picked up right where he left off hitting .333/.390/.510 with a 10% walk rate and 11.7% K rate while being the 3rd youngest player in the PCL. I still need to see if this continues to believe this level of production is due to him having completed that adjustment, but the early returns are very promising.

[sneakypower]

since last mid-June (71G)

http://i.imgur.com/V4bIrmS.png

[NOLA]

And my favorite news: Almora. The walks are real. I am certain. It's been going on too long. He's on record as saying he worked hard at improving that aspect of his game. And he needed to be more patient. Badly. I think he made a sincere effort to change, and it is working. I am all in on him at this point. I'm not getting too excited about a couple homers. I honestly don't care too much about the power. If he hit 15-20 on the year, then I might be getting a little more excited. But, it's the PCL, and, so far, it's just a couple homers. I won't read anything into it, except it shows me that he's not making weak contact. That's where he got into the most trouble and why he fell off the face of the Earth. The contact ability has always been there. But he got exposed badly at the upper levels. It didn't matter that he put balls in play, because it wasn't working. The BABIP fell through the floor. And, if you know the guy is willing to get himself out by chasing junk and putting it weakly into play, then he just was useless offensively. He's not going to get good pitches to hit. And, even so, he doesn't have enough power to really harm you. So he's just an easy out. He's Darwin Barney. That's cute that you don't strike out, but you are still worthless. Maybe you'll luck into a single. But,with the way you hit, probably not.

 

Now, it appears that he makes you pitch to him, and he makes you work. And maybe he lays off your junk. If so, well, maybe a little power surge is genuine. Maybe he is waiting for good pitches to drive. Maybe he is able to do a little more damage on his balls in play. And, even if not, at least he is going to get on base more often by upping his walk total from non-existent to at least average. I won't buy that he is just all of a sudden going to hit for more power. But, the power is still good to see. As is the batting average. This was a guy that was getting killed by his deflated BABIP. He thrived off of it when he was younger. It's the only thing he had going for him. He was a guy that could put the ball in play and hit his way on base. Then... he wasn't. It's easy to surmise that it was because he just wasn't hitting the bell well. So, seeing a higher BABIP, and a higher batting average, and a higher ISO... these are all good things. Those stats might be lying to me -- it is the PCL, after all. But, it is important that I see them improve. He has to improve them. And there is reason to believe he has. He already did in the second-half last year.

 

Throw in what very well may be plus defense in CF, and, as I said, I'm all in. He's the guy I'll be most attentively watching this year. I'm thoroughly impressed with his transformation. And, frankly, I'm shocked that I'm all in. I wasn't even in when he was thought of more highly.

It's still too early for me, but I never left the Almora bandwagon. I'm probably more patient than most, however.

 

I love how this Cubs front office went to a kid who had just hit .329/.376/.466 in Low-A as a 19-year-old and said you need to make adjustments or you're going to be in trouble. Previous regimes would've not intervened saying "he's a natural hitter" and to not "get in his way" only to watch him fail at the upper levels.

 

These guys drafted Almora for his make-up as much as his bat/defense. They knew he had the coachability, mental toughness and work ethic to challenge him to wait for a pitch he could drive, even though all of his previous success was due to his ability to recognize a pitch and make good contact with it whether it was in his wheelhouse or not.

 

They let him get his feet wet in the AZL and he hit well (347/.363/.480) but was very aggressive. He continued his success in Low-A while still lacking selectivity. Looking back, it seems as if they were allowing him to get comfortable and know he can play at this level while waiting for him to struggle.

 

Finally he did. He struggled badly in High-A at first, hitting .241/.262/.318 through mid-June. It's unclear exactly when they asked him to make the adjustment to wait for a pitch he could drive (I have a vague memory of them doing so before the 2014 season began), but reports were when they did, he bought in. The moment he started to hit well in Daytona (.369/.395/.582 in his last 28 games without having become that much more selective), they aggressively promoted him to AA to see how he handled the more advanced pitching. I expect, they did so with an eye towards him struggling again. They knew he could handle the failure and it kept him focused on the need to wait for something he could drive.

 

Years of habit needed to be undone all while facing the best pitching he'd seen in his career to date and being years younger than almost everyone around him. Last August, it seemed to click for him. It wasn't a large enough sample to draw anything conclusive from (.352/.413/.504 with 11 BB/13 K in 140 PAs) but the combination of a higher walk rate and greater power (14 doubles, a triple and a HR in that month) were the exact results the adjustment he'd been working on for about a year and a half were supposed to produce.

 

Now, he's just 14 games and 60 PAs into his first season in AAA, but he's picked up right where he left off hitting .333/.390/.510 with a 10% walk rate and 11.7% K rate while being the 3rd youngest player in the PCL. I still need to see if this continues to believe this level of production is due to him having completed that adjustment, but the early returns are very promising.

Thanks. Posts like this (and yes, Mojo's) are why I come here every day.