Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-7-17

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (All Times Central):

 

Iowa lost 10-1 Box Score

 

CF J. Andreoli 0/4, K

2B C. Young 0/4, E (6, fielding)

3B J. Candelario 0/3

1B V. Caratini 1/3

RF B. Rademacher 2/2

RF I. Happ 1/2, RBI

SP W. Perez 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 1 HR, 9-1 GO-FO, 93-58 pitches-strikes

RP Z. Rosscup 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO

RP P. Johnson 1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 0-1 GO-FO

RP J. Leathersich 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP, 0-1 GO-FO

 

Tennessee won game one 9-2 (7 innings) Box Score

 

LF C. Burks 1/3, RBI

CF J. Hannemann 0/4, R, K

2B D. Bote 2/3, R, 2B (8), K, HBP

3B J. Vosler 1/2, 2 R, RBI, BB

C I. Rice 2/3, 2 R, HR (3), 4 RBI

SS C. Penalver 1/3, 2 K

RF Je. Baez 2/3, R, 2B (2), RBI, outfield assist at second base

SP Z. Hedges 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 5-3 GO-FO, 95-65 pitches-strikes; batting: 1/3, R, 2B (1), 2 RBI

 

Tennessee lost game two 3-0 Box Score

 

LF C. Burks 3/4, K, CS (3)

CF J. Hannemann 0/2, BB, HBP

2B D. Bote 0/3, K

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

SP J. Pugliese 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 6-3 GO-FO, 59-41 pitches-strikes

RP D. Torrez 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-2 GO-FO

 

Myrtle Beach lost 12-6 Box Score

 

2B C. Sepulveda 1/5, R, E (1, fielding)

DH PJ Higgins 1/4, K

RF E. Martinez 2/5, R, RBI, 2 K

1B M. Rose 1/5, R, 2B (6), K

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

C T. Alamo 2/4, R, K

SP R. Kellogg 4 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 5 HR, 4-1 GO-FO, 80-53 pitches-strikes

RP J. Norwood 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, 1-1 GO-FO

RP C. Bloomquist 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2-1 GO-FO

 

South Bend lost 11-9 Box Score

 

C A. Mineo 0/4, BB

LF K. Mitchell 1/4, RBI

1B J. Pereda 3/4, 2 R, 2 2B (5), RBI, BB

2B Y. Peguero 1/3, R, 2 BB

SS I. Paredes 2/4, 2 R, HBP

DH DJ Wilson 2/4, R, 2 RBI, BB, K

SP J. Paulino 3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 WP, 4-1 GO-FO, 77-48 pitches-strikes, pickoff at first base

RP D. Mekkes 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 1-0 GO-FO

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Ian Happ activated off the Iowa DL.

[Thrilho]

Ian Rice is on fire, with today's grand slam making it 3 HR in 4 games. Heading into the game he was at .298/.459/.491 with a 23% BB vs 20.3% K rate. Hopefully he keeps up these offensive results so a prospect evaluator takes enough interest to give me a report on his defense. He's the Smokies primary catcher and they've got a team ERA of 3.78, which is second to last in the league. Not a great look, but sure how much of that is on him. There are some guys who have started out the season pretty well, like today's starter Zach Hedges, Clifton, and Daury Torres.

 

That walk rate has consistently been way above average though, he's dialed back the Ks after starting out with a lot, and he's tapping back into the power. Would be cool if he had at least passable defense, because I think he's going to hit.

Edited May 7, 2017 by Thrilho

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Hedges has 12 K's in 12 IP in his last 2 outings, this is his season line now: 34.2 IP, 34 H, 23/5 K/BB, 2.08 ERA, 2 HR

[Thrilho]

Hedges has 12 K's in 12 IP in his last 2 outings, this is his season line now: 34.2 IP, 34 H, 23/5 K/BB, 2.08 ERA, 2 HR

I edited my post to throw a Hedges reference in there without seeing yours. But he's looking good, getting the Ks. I know Rice has caught a couple of his other good starts too. I still defer to others on his projectability/stuff, but I like how Hedges looks based on the numbers.

[davell]

Ian Rice is on fire, with today's grand slam making it 3 HR in 4 games. Heading into the game he was at .298/.459/.491 with a 23% BB vs 20.3% K rate. Hopefully he keeps up these offensive results so a prospect evaluator takes enough interest to give me a report on his defense. He's the Smokies primary catcher and they've got a team ERA of 3.78, which is second to last in the league. Not a great look, but sure how much of that is on him. There are some guys who have started out the season pretty well, like today's starter Zach Hedges, Clifton, and Daury Torres.

 

That walk rate has consistently been way above average though, he's dialed back the Ks after starting out with a lot, and he's tapping back into the power. Would be cool if he had at least passable defense, because I think he's going to hit.

 

His defense at C is supposedly VERY weak.

[Thrilho]

Ian Rice is on fire, with today's grand slam making it 3 HR in 4 games. Heading into the game he was at .298/.459/.491 with a 23% BB vs 20.3% K rate. Hopefully he keeps up these offensive results so a prospect evaluator takes enough interest to give me a report on his defense. He's the Smokies primary catcher and they've got a team ERA of 3.78, which is second to last in the league. Not a great look, but sure how much of that is on him. There are some guys who have started out the season pretty well, like today's starter Zach Hedges, Clifton, and Daury Torres.

 

That walk rate has consistently been way above average though, he's dialed back the Ks after starting out with a lot, and he's tapping back into the power. Would be cool if he had at least passable defense, because I think he's going to hit.

 

His defense at C is supposedly VERY weak.

Where'd you see that?

[CubsWin]

Ian Rice is on fire, with today's grand slam making it 3 HR in 4 games. Heading into the game he was at .298/.459/.491 with a 23% BB vs 20.3% K rate. Hopefully he keeps up these offensive results so a prospect evaluator takes enough interest to give me a report on his defense. He's the Smokies primary catcher and they've got a team ERA of 3.78, which is second to last in the league. Not a great look, but sure how much of that is on him. There are some guys who have started out the season pretty well, like today's starter Zach Hedges, Clifton, and Daury Torres.

 

That walk rate has consistently been way above average though, he's dialed back the Ks after starting out with a lot, and he's tapping back into the power. Would be cool if he had at least passable defense, because I think he's going to hit.

 

His defense at C is supposedly VERY weak.

Where'd you see that?

I've read it a couple of different places myself, Arguello over at Cubs Den being one of them. He wrote of Rice possibly having the bat to justify playing at 1st base though. But the last time I heard it was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago.

 

They talked about his footwork and arm not being very good. Don't know if that means his receiving is okay or not. His stats seem to bare this out, however. He's thrown out just 7 of 81 base stealing attempts but has allowed just one passed ball in 505 innings of work.

Edited May 7, 2017 by CubsWin

[Thrilho]

 

His defense at C is supposedly VERY weak.

Where'd you see that?

I've read it a couple of different places myself, but the last time I heard was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago.

So the broadcasters said explicitly during the broadcast that he wasn't good on defense? Then, was anything you've read recent? I've looked around and haven't found anything. He was left out of most top 30s despite a decent offensive year so figured the opinions weren't great but his absence from those rankings meant there weren't any write ups available.

 

A quick look at bbref says his caught stealing rate has been pretty abismal so I'd be willing to write him off as a guy without a position if I had some tear down scouting reports, but the walks and power are pretty enticing.

[CubsWin]

Where'd you see that?

I've read it a couple of different places myself, but the last time I heard was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago.

So the broadcasters said explicitly during the broadcast that he wasn't good on defense? Then, was anything you've read recent? I've looked around and haven't found anything. He was left out of most top 30s despite a decent offensive year so figured the opinions weren't great but his absence from those rankings meant there weren't any write ups available.

 

A quick look at bbref says his caught stealing rate has been pretty abismal so I'd be willing to write him off as a guy without a position if I had some tear down scouting reports, but the walks and power are pretty enticing.

Sorry was updating the post while you were writing this one. Check above.

[CubsWin]

Where'd you see that?

I've read it a couple of different places myself, but the last time I heard was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago.

So the broadcasters said explicitly during the broadcast that he wasn't good on defense? Then, was anything you've read recent? I've looked around and haven't found anything. He was left out of most top 30s despite a decent offensive year so figured the opinions weren't great but his absence from those rankings meant there weren't any write ups available.

 

A quick look at bbref says his caught stealing rate has been pretty abismal so I'd be willing to write him off as a guy without a position if I had some tear down scouting reports, but the walks and power are pretty enticing.

Yeah the bat seems pretty solid thus far.

[Thrilho]

Cool, your edit answered a lot more about what the broadcasters said. Having a bad arm is one of those problems that's pretty tough to solve with additional work. Still going to hold out some optimism though until somebody tells me for sure that he's junk and always will be behind the plate.

[davell]

CW said the same things I've heard. Again, the bat may play somewhere. If anything, that's enough to put him in our top 25 or so, if he hits well in AA.

 

Mekkes gave up a hit in 2 innings, striking out 4. Please move him up.

[CubsWin]

CW said the same things I've heard. Again, the bat may play somewhere. If anything, that's enough to put him in our top 25 or so, if he hits well in AA.

 

Mekkes gave up a hit in 2 innings, striking out 4. Please move him up.

His performance thus far certainly warrants it, but 16.1 innings isn't that much. That said, 16.1 innings of consistent performance carries a bit more weight. He's only really had one poor outing and it wasn't that bad. The main reason I could see the Cubs not promote him soon is the walks. But he can work on that in Myrtle Beach just as easily as he can in South Bend.

 

If/when he does get moved up, I hope the corresponding move will be Maples to AA and Markey to AAA. If not him then Brooks, but on the odd chance Maples has finally figured it out, the Cubs need to see what he can do against AA (and even AAA) hitters because he's rule 5 eligible and Brooks isn't.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Hedges doesn't get talked about much, but he's been very good the last couple years. I like him as a poor/homeless man's Hendricks. The strikeouts are going to be the most important thing for him with me. He seems to have a firm grasp on the control/ground ball/weak contact aspects. If he can keep his strikeout-rate reasonably high at the upper levels, I'll be a fan.

 

I love what Ian Rice and Vosler are showing at the plate. It sucks that Rice can't actually catch. But it's nice to have some guys showing a presence at the plate at the upper levels, even if they are just random guys, hovering outside our top 10.

 

I see Kyle Tucker hit a couple homers against Myrtle Beach today. I really liked him when I saw him last year.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Also, I love Mekkes. Let's see what he's got against some tougher competition.