Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-3-17

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa PPD - Rain

 

Tennessee won 2-1 Box Score

 

LF C. Burks 0/4, K

CF J. Hannemann 1/4, R, HR (1), RBI, K

2B D. Bote 0/3, BB, 2 K

3B J. Vosler 0/2, HBP

C I. Rice 3/3, R, 2B (5), HR (1), RBI

SP T. Clifton 5.2 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 WP, 4-5 GO-FO, 103-66 pitches-strikes

RP A. Acevedo 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 4-1 GO-FO

 

Myrtle Beach won 4-3 Box Score

 

2B B. Flete 0/4, 2 K

DH PJ Higgins 0/4

RF E. Martinez 1/4, R, 2 K

C T. Alamo 0/3, BB, K

3B J. Hodges 1/4, 2B (8), 2 K

CF R. Garcia 1/3, 2 RBI, SB (4)

SP A. Alzolay 1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1-1 GO-FO, 61-37 pitches-strikes

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

RP C. Brooks 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 2-1 GO-FO

 

South Bend won 6-2 Box Score

 

3B Z. Short 1/3, R, BB, K, 3 E (10, fielding, throw, throw)

2B Y. Peguero 1/4, RBI, 2 K, CS (4)

RF C. Pieters 2/4, 2 R, 2 K, SB (3)

LF K. Mitchell 3/4, 3 R, 2 2B (4), RBI, 2 SB (3)

SS I. Paredes 0/4, RBI, E (1, throw)

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

SP T. Miller 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 4-8 GO-FO, 88-58 pitches-strikes

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

[Donzo]

Pitchers having a good day.

 

Clifton 5IP, 4H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K

 

Miller 6IP, 3H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K

 

Mekkes in a slump, he gave up anther hit... He's older, I imagine he'll be in Myrtle Beach pretty soon.

[davell]

AZPhil mentioned a few days ago that Ademan and Amaya are the two best position prospects to come thru EXST since Eloy and Torres.

[davell]

Clifton has come a long way since we drafted him. To me, he's the best bet of any pitcher in our minors, to become an actual part of our future rotation. My hope is he pitches well enough to get 10 starts or so in Iowa this year.

[CubsWin]

Probably their most potentially impactful SP prospect is, at best, ExST in Marquez (or Carrera, maybe Ocampo or a Perez) if not currently outside the org.

Do you have a summer home in the Dominican Republic? You sure are high on those guys even though they've yet to throw a pitch in a stateside game.

 

So long as we're talking the most potentially impactful, I'll go with Cease. He currently throws 5-8 mph faster than any of the 4 you mentioned with a plus hammer curve he commands well. To date, we've seen no reason to believe any of those guys have the potential to develop stuff to close to that. But hey, the less we know about a guy, the more we can dream on their potential, so more power to ya.

 

If we're talking about the greatest probability of making an impact, I'll go with Butler or Clifton. But I see their impact as being somewhat limited.

[Bear Cub]

It looks like Daury Torrez has adjusted to bullpen duty. ERA is now .062.

[davell]

From a potential impact standpoint, it'd be Cease, Albertos, and De La Cruz, in that order, for me. Far and away ahead of anyone else. Their chances of getting there are why I think Clifton is the best shot we have.

[craig]

de la Cruz really hasn't shown anything thus far. Thus far, seems something's missing.

 

Looking at current Cub team, there is real value in anti-awful. Granted, next year might a different look once again. But the combo of a great offense, great defense, and a really good bullpen reduces the need for great rotation pitchers.

 

Right now, if a starter can get through 5-6 innings while allowing 2-3 runs, that's not at all excellent performance; but more days than not that will be sufficient for the team to win.

 

Clifton doesn't seem to be dominating any games, neither killer-K rate, hard-to-hit, or anti-HR. But relative to Lackey and Anderson, the bar isn't very high.

 

I can easily imagine the Cubs having some seasons where they use non-dominant guys as rotation fillers. As they are doing now with Anderson, and did two years ago with Haren and Wada and Richard.

[CubsWin]

Do you have a summer home in the Dominican Republic? You sure are high on those guys even though they've yet to throw a pitch in a stateside game.

 

So long as we're talking the most potentially impactful, I'll go with Cease. He currently throws 5-8 mph faster than any of the 4 you mentioned with a plus hammer curve he commands well. To date, we've seen no reason to believe any of those guys have the potential to develop stuff to close to that. But hey, the less we know about a guy, the more we can dream on their potential, so more power to ya.

 

If we're talking about the greatest probability of making an impact, I'll go with Butler or Clifton. But I see their impact as being somewhat limited.

 

It has less to do with what isn't available and more to do with what is.

 

The way I see it is that right now the consensus *best* shot at a homegrown, cheap ace starter will be 4 years removed from TJ surgery next year, has plenty of issues with control and command, and will still have to move through AA and AAA. In the grand scheme of TOR . Clifton's been more competent and good rather than great throughout the minors, doesn't have the skillset barring some kind of dramatic and unforeseeable leap forward. He checks the boxes as far as being in shape, staying healthy, logging the innings, but command and control issues bring him down too. I'm out on him too as a TOR guy on a perennial WS contender, and he's got alot going for him as pitching prospects go especially in this system. de la Cruz is coming off missing almost a full season to an arm injury and also has his own fastball command issues that leave his ball up and home runnable. I've said even when I was the high guy on de la Cruz here that he was more Ivan Nova than...iunno, Adam Wainwright, and am still about there with him as far as overall ceiling. These are the top guys of a sordid lot in full season ball.

 

Meanwhile, all the info that *is* available about these IFAs is very positive except the Albertos injury. Even then Albertos' injury was a non-surgery issue, which soundly beats the alternative. That he threw any stateside pro innings at all at 17 puts him well ahead of the majority at his age. He has 1+ year to throw 20.2 innings, which would match Dylan Cease's innings total through age 19. Brailyn Marquez's fastball was rated by Kiley McDaniel, just before being hired by a ML club, as having one of the 3 highest ceilings among the 2015 IFAs he ranked for FanGraphs. Marquez was one of the handful hardest throwers in the class, and easily the hardest throwing LH. Carrera was a star CF and SP for Mexico's junior international teams. He and Marquez had two of the more successful age 17 debuts in time for the Cubs, especially on the pitching front. Ocampo and Perez a notch or three below those guys, who are a notch below Albertos, but Ocampo especially flashed some skills last summer.

 

I'm not *actually* all that optimistic about any pitcher in the system as far as finding a playoff/WS/first division/TOR/workhorse etc caliber SP. I also like Mills more than Butler.

I too like Mills. The upside probably isn't as high as Butler, but I like his profile. I should've included him in the group of Clifton and Butler as those most likely to make an impact, though probably a limited one. I sure would like for both Mills and Butler to get healthy soon. I need to see more of them over time.

 

You didn't include Albertos in your original list of the 4 IFA pitchers you liked as having the most potential impact. If you had, your comment would've made more sense to me.

 

The fact that you used the word "potentially" impactful, is what makes me go with Cease. I agree with all the worrying factors you mentioned with him. But, for me, if you're talking "potential" impact, that means ceiling. If all things go right, (fill in the blank) will make the greatest impact. Perhaps, you used that word as meaning most likely to reach some sort of TOR ceiling. If so, I get your reasoning. I don't agree yet. Too many unknowns for me, but I see where you're coming from.