Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-12-16

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa lost 10-7 Box Score

 

DH W. Contreras 1/4, 3B (3), RBI, BB, 2 K

RF M. Zagunis 2/4, R, BB, K

1B D. Vogelbach 3/4, 2 R, HR (10), 2 RBI, BB, K

3B J. Candelario 1/4, 2B (3), 2 RBI, BB

SS M. Kawasaki 0/5, K

SP D. Rucinski 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 1 HR, 4-5 GO-FO, 83-49 pitches-strikes, E (2, pickoff)

RP G. Concepcion 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, 2-0 GO-FO

RP D. Beeler 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO

RP C. Edwards Jr 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 1 HR, 0-2 GO-FO

RP S. Patton 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO

 

Tennessee won 5-4 Box Score

 

RF J. Hannemann 1/4, 2B (11), HBP

SS C. Penalver 0/5, K

DH C. Young 1/4, R, K

DH C. Young 1/4, R, K

1B V. Caratini 3/4, 2 R, 3B (1), RBI

SP P. Blackburn 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 2 pickoffs (at 2nd base, at 2nd base), 8-3 GO-FO, 92-56 pitches-strikes

RP J. Paniagua 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB,1 K, 1 HR, 2-2 GO-FO

 

Myrtle Beach lost 3-2 Box Score

 

CF R. Crawford 0/4

SS G. Torres 0/4, 2 K

2B I. Happ 1/4, K

3B J. Vosler 0/3

DH G. Amaya 2/3, 2 R, 2 HR (4), 2 RBI, K

RF Je. Baez 0/3, 2 K

SP T. Clifton 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 4-3 GO-FO, 86-59 pitches-strikes

RP D. Torrez 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 3-1 GO-FO

RP D. Maples 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 0-0 GO-FO

 

South Bend lost 6-0 Box Score

 

C PJ Higgins 2/4, E (3, throw)

LF-RF D. Dewees 0/4

DH I. Rice 0/4, 2 K

RF E. Martinez 0/1, K - ejected for arguing balls and strikes

3B J. Hodges 0/2, BB, 2 K

1B T. Alamo 0/3, K

SP C. Sands 2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 WP, 1-2 GO-FO, 55-28 pitches-strikes

RP G. Eregua 4 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 6-3 GO-FO, 64-41 pitches-strikes

 

DSL Cubs 1 and 2 had the day off

[raw]

Kris Bryant AAA- .298/.412/.625/1.037

Schwarber AAA- .333/.403/.633/1.036

Contreras AAA- .353/.444/.595/1.039

[muntjack]

I'm starting to become giddy thinking about Contreras in this lineup next year. Where do we think he's going to turn up in mid-season lists?

[davell]

Vogelbomb

[David]

I'm starting to become giddy thinking about Contreras in this lineup next year. Where do we think he's going to turn up in mid-season lists?

 

 

you'll probably see it this year, eventually

 

he was already up to #18 on Keith Law's update.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

I'm starting to become giddy thinking about Contreras in this lineup next year. Where do we think he's going to turn up in mid-season lists?

 

Obviously it depends on whose rankings it is, but I imagine everyone will (should) have him somewhere in the top 30. Maybe someone will sneak him into the top 10. I can't imagine there are many 2016 draft picks in the top 30 and we've seen a lot of graduations, so that will help Contreras.

[Tim]

And Contreras with a triple and a walk.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Remember in the spring that people were wondering if A.J. Reed was going to make the Astros out of spring training? At the least people figured that he'd be ready and waiting if the other options floundered. As it turns out, AAA is harder than the California and Texas league, and Reed is hitting .244/.348/.471/.819, and at Fresno.

 

I point that out to make a comparison to Vogelbach, who didnt' have the A+/AA outbreak that Reed did, is now hitting .314/.431/.536/.987 in the same AAA league. His bounceback year is probably the most underreported positive development in the system.

[CubsWin]

And Contreras with a triple and a walk.

That makes it an 18-game hitting streak. In which time, he's hit .389 with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 6 HRs, 22 RBI, 9 BB/16 K in 72 AB.

 

I hope he's improving his framing, working with pitchers, game-calling and controlling his emotions because the Cubs (or any team for that matter) could use his bat, especially from the catcher's position.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

And Contreras with a triple and a walk.

That makes it an 18-game hitting streak. In which time, he's hit .389 with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 6 HRs, 22 RBI, 9 BB/16 K in 72 AB.

 

I hope he's improving his framing, working with pitchers, game-calling and controlling his emotions because the Cubs (or any team for that matter) could use his bat, especially from the catcher's position.

 

I was at the Iowa game on Saturday. As for controlling his emotions, there were two different Contreras PAs where the ump made a bad strike call. In the first one, Contreras was visibly frustrated and stepped out of the box to compose himself. It looked like he had a few words with the ump. The same thing happened on the other PA, and then there was a little kerfuffle as the ump had some words with someone in the Cubs' dugout, presumably the manager, Pevey.

 

I was really impressed with the way Contreras plays, though. His playing style reminds me of Javy -- full throttle all the time. There was a game last week, when Len commented that Javy is looking to make a quadruple-play on every play. And that was basically Contreras, in a nutshell. He had one guy picked off at first, but the first baseman turned the wrong way and applied a horrible tag. He would have been out, if he had just dropped his glove straight down. Then, there were a couple other times Contreras thought about showing off his arm. For instance, after blocking a ball in the dirt, he hopped up looking to throw behind the runner at first. He was trying to insert himself into the action whenever possible. He wants to show off his arm. But, he wasn't reckless. He was just looking for opportunities.

 

Contreras really impressed me on this one play, though. The bases were loaded with one out, and the hitter, James Jones, dropped down a bunt. It was a bad bunt and only rolled 5-10 feet out in front of the plate. It had a little English on it, though, and was rolling foul. Contreras got up quickly and fielded the ball right before it went foul, took a couple steps back and stepped on home plate and fired to first for a double play. The play wasn't too terribly difficult to make. But, he showed a good understanding of the situation -- surveying the field and making several plays flawlessly and in a short time frame. From my vantage point, it was unexpected to see the bunt, and I was concentrating on the ball and whether it was going to go foul or not, and I was wondering if Contreras should even field it. I wasn't even paying attention to the runner on third and had basically conceded the run in my mind. But, Contreras acted quickly, took charge, made the play and fired a rocket to first to nab the runner. And suddenly the inning was over, and I wondered how the hell all that happened so quickly. It seemed much easier than it should have been.

 

At the plate, I was impressed, too. He's got a beautiful swing. And his approach is impeccable. He was patient, he showed a great great eye, and he jumped all over balls in the zone. It's a really smooth, effortless swing. He hit a double that jumped off his bat and sailed over the center fielder. He went back up the middle for a base hit. It was everything you'd hope to see from him. He also showed bunt in two ABs. I was like, "What the hell is this big masher doing, trying to bunt for a hit?" I wanted to see him swing the bat. But, looking back on it, what kind of catcher is confident enough in his athleticism that he thinks he can bunt for a hit? A badass catcher, that's who.

 

As for his receiving, he looked fine to me. He shows a nice target and presents a soft, easy landing. Nothing herky-jerky. He looked smooth back there, like an actual catcher. There were a number of close calls that he didn't get, though. Maybe it's a byproduct of Iowa's pitching sucking. Or maybe he's just not good at framing. There's a difference between receiving and framing. There's an art there. A sleight of hand is required. Maybe he just is unable to sell things. I couldn't really tell very well from my vantage point. I remain hope that he can at least be not-horrible at framing once he gets a chance to work with some better pitchers and receives some more instruction and guidance from guys like Ross and Montero. Everything else looks fine with his defense.

 

As for the other guys, I liked Zagunis a lot. He's got a thicker frame than I imagined. He hit the ball pretty hard, too. It's a nice, quick line drive swing. He runs well.

 

Jeimer looked good at the plate, too. Great approach, nice-looking swing.

 

Aaron Brooks was sitting 90-92 with the fastball. His command was off-and-on. He looked really good in the first inning. And then he had a little trouble finding the zone later on. He was able to get some ground balls. But he had one pitch that did him in, when a guy barreled one up for a three-run homer. I thought Brooks looked alright, overall, though. He just wasn't consistent with his stuff.

 

Armando Rivero came in and looked really impressive in the 8th. His fastball was 93-94, and mostly was at 94. He blew some high heat past a guy. He was able to locate well. And he showed a really nasty, heavy slider. He looked really impressive in mowing guys down in the 8th. His command wasn't as good in the 9th, though, and he wasn't able to get his fastball up to 94 as often, and he looked completely different.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Vogelbach had the night off on Saturday when I was there, which was disappointing. But, man, he's a big dude. It's not like he's a fat tub of lard, though. Granted, he is pretty fat. But he's got big, broad shoulders, and he's muscular. He's just got a big, strong upper half, a lot like Schwarber. I know, he's not anywhere near the athlete that Schwarber is or anything. And it probably doesn't mean anything, if he's just gonna DH. But, there is a distinction that can be made between just being fat and being big and strong. He's not as pudgy as he was when he was drafted.

 

The highlight of the night for me was when the drunken idiot right behind me decided that he needed to start heckling people. He was yelling very loudly while Joey Gallo was at bat... "Hey batter, batter..." And then Gallo swung through a couple balls and his intensity and volume picked up, and then, "thwap," Gallo walloped one about 450 feet off the scoreboard in right-center. He shut up pretty quickly and everyone in our section turned and looked at him and several people began mocking him.

[sneakypower]

meanwhile, Mitch Moreland & Prince Fielder have a 84 and 54 wRC+, respectively