5/16 Minor League Discussion and Boxes

[davell]

Good lord. WE SUCK. South Bends game is already OVER lol.

 

Galindo homered. Nice to have him back.

 

Hudson with another excellent outing. 5 3 0 0 2 2, with 10/2 GO/FO.

[davell]

Alzolay is starting for MB today. Brooks is starting for Iowa.

 

Underwood is starting for Tennessee and they're in the 5th inning too lol.

 

Charcer Burks has a 3 run homer already.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Charcer Burks hit a HR too. It's only mid-May but so far, he's definitely been the biggest breakout prospect in the system this year.

 

ETA: Whoops. I started making this post before davell's second post.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Did Burks get hurt? He was defensively replaced in the 4th, there were two balls to the OF the previous inning but he didn't field either.

 

Hope it's nothing, he's up to .304/.414/.459/.873 with a 14.8% BB% and 18.5% K%

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Also, Duncan Robinson is off to an interesting if Bloomquistian start at South Bend: 33.2 IP, 25 H, 5 ER, 23/6 K/BB, 2 HR

[davell]

Well, it looks like there was an inside the park homer, followed by a delay. But, he evidently stayed in for the final two outs of the inning, before being replaced once they went back out in the field for the top of the 4th.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Well, it looks like there was an inside the park homer, followed by a delay. But, he evidently stayed in for the final two outs of the inning, before being replaced once they went back out in the field for the top of the 4th.

 

Oh good catch, I was looking at the Tennessee half of the inning for some reason.

[davell]

Underwood threw 103 pitches, to go 5 5 1 1 4 5. Its nice to see a few K's, but not at this lack of control and averaging 20+ pitches per inning.

 

On a side note, hearing MB's coach yesterday literally say that they're being taught to pitch to contact.....It makes it extremely hard for us to evaluate pitchers in a conventional way. I have to wonder if that's every stop or if its just MB? I'd assume everywhere, I think? But, working on different things at different stops makes sense too.

[David]

Underwood threw 103 pitches, to go 5 5 1 1 4 5. Its nice to see a few K's, but not at this lack of control and averaging 20+ pitches per inning.

 

On a side note, hearing MB's coach yesterday literally say that they're being taught to pitch to contact.....It makes it extremely hard for us to evaluate pitchers in a conventional way. I have to wonder if that's every stop or if its just MB? I'd assume everywhere, I think? But, working on different things at different stops makes sense too.

I would assume that that sort of philosophy is consistent throughout the system, but what particular philosophy is applied to a given player is dependent on their skillset.

[Tim]

Underwood threw 103 pitches, to go 5 5 1 1 4 5. Its nice to see a few K's, but not at this lack of control and averaging 20+ pitches per inning.

 

On a side note, hearing MB's coach yesterday literally say that they're being taught to pitch to contact.....It makes it extremely hard for us to evaluate pitchers in a conventional way. I have to wonder if that's every stop or if its just MB? I'd assume everywhere, I think? But, working on different things at different stops makes sense too.

Oh, great. They're turning our pitching development into a clone of the Twins.

 

blech

[craig]

Underwood threw 103 pitches, to go 5 5 1 1 4 5. Its nice to see a few K's, but not at this lack of control and averaging 20+ pitches per inning.

 

On a side note, hearing MB's coach yesterday literally say that they're being taught to pitch to contact.....It makes it extremely hard for us to evaluate pitchers in a conventional way. I have to wonder if that's every stop or if its just MB? I'd assume everywhere, I think? But, working on different things at different stops makes sense too.

 

What does that actually mean, I wonder? The pitcher throws the ball, the hitter hits it... So, does that mean:

1. Throw a lot of strikes and don't nibble?

2. Throw a lot of fastballs, for strikes, and not too many breaking balls?

3. Even if you get ahead 0-2, keep trying to throw strikes, maybe even fastball strikes, rather than throwing all chase pitch wannabes?

4. Don't overthrow your fastball?

 

I'd guess some of the priorities might be quite different in AA/AAA versus low minors. But I'd guess what's valued in A+ would also be valued in lower levels.

[craig]

Nice to see Hudson accumulating effective outings. He had the one bad outing, 7 runs.

 

But in his other four starts, he's allowed 4 runs total. Not too bad.

[davell]

Nice to see Hudson accumulating effective outings. He had the one bad outing, 7 runs.

 

But in his other four starts, he's allowed 4 runs total. Not too bad.

 

A literal ground ball machine too. Very promising results recently, I'd love to hear a report on his stuff though.

[davell]

Underwood threw 103 pitches, to go 5 5 1 1 4 5. Its nice to see a few K's, but not at this lack of control and averaging 20+ pitches per inning.

 

On a side note, hearing MB's coach yesterday literally say that they're being taught to pitch to contact.....It makes it extremely hard for us to evaluate pitchers in a conventional way. I have to wonder if that's every stop or if its just MB? I'd assume everywhere, I think? But, working on different things at different stops makes sense too.

 

What does that actually mean, I wonder? The pitcher throws the ball, the hitter hits it... So, does that mean:

1. Throw a lot of strikes and don't nibble?

2. Throw a lot of fastballs, for strikes, and not too many breaking balls?

3. Even if you get ahead 0-2, keep trying to throw strikes, maybe even fastball strikes, rather than throwing all chase pitch wannabes?

4. Don't overthrow your fastball?

 

I'd guess some of the priorities might be quite different in AA/AAA versus low minors. But I'd guess what's valued in A+ would also be valued in lower levels.

 

Yeah, its hard to figure out exactly what it means, but I agree with you that its probably different things at each level. Theo has said each prospect has individualized things to work on each year, so stat scouting is impossible to do, in all honesty. Its why I like hearing reports on the stuff. A lack of K's doesn't bother me at all if I hear a guy has a plus pitch, or multiple above average offerings, etc. The reports in past years on a guy like Underwood that throws hard, but no control or command, and lacks movement too- that's an issue.

[davell]

Oh, and Sepulveda to the DL, Brooks gets promoted to Tennessee(ahead of Maples) and Rucker gets moved to MB(ahead of Mekkes)

[We Got The Whole 9]

Good horsefeathers. The reports on Brooks' stuff have been pretty glowing. Maples' turn will come soon after.

[We Got The Whole 9]

But Montgomery got a bright spot from Grant Kay who became the first member of the Butter and Blue to hit an inside-the-park home run since Juniel Querecuto did it in September of 2015. Kay hit his off the right-center field wall that Burks ran into, allowing the designated hitter to come all the way around and score as the ball caromed back into play in the third.

 

Hope Burks is able to get back out there tomorrow

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Oh, and Sepulveda to the DL, Brooks gets promoted to Tennessee(ahead of Maples) and Rucker gets moved to MB(ahead of Mekkes)

 

About time for Brooks and Rucker.

 

Markey should get bumped up to AAA soon too. Guess he'll be in the wave of promotions with Mekkes and Maples, whenever that happens.

[davell]

Alzolay goes 7 3 4 4 1 7. Decent, but was perfect after the second inning.

[CubsWin]

Well, it looks like there was an inside the park homer, followed by a delay. But, he evidently stayed in for the final two outs of the inning, before being replaced once they went back out in the field for the top of the 4th.

 

Oh good catch, I was looking at the Tennessee half of the inning for some reason.

The inside the park HR was a well struck fly ball that Burks didn't see at first. He probably would've caught it, but lost it in the sun or just got a late break. Almost caught up to it but ran into the wall at pretty much top speed. There's padding on the walls in Tennessee, but it's concrete behind it. He jogged over to the ball (not at full speed, seemingly a little dazed) and threw it back in but the guy who hit it had great speed and scored easily.

 

The manager, trainer and several players gathered around Burks in the outfield. Couldn't tell what the injury was exactly. They weren't looking at any one part of his body. He seemed to shake it off, but they obviously took him out after the inning ended. It could've just been pre-cautionary, or they were running a concussion protocol. He did hit the wall awkwardly so it could be a knee or back injury.

 

We should learn more soon I'd expect.

[CubsWin]

Nice to see Hudson accumulating effective outings. He had the one bad outing, 7 runs.

 

But in his other four starts, he's allowed 4 runs total. Not too bad.

 

A literal ground ball machine too. Very promising results recently, I'd love to hear a report on his stuff though.

Watched every pitch. I love having MiLB.com's tv subscription. The announcer only gave his velocity once and it was 89 on the FB. The curve is good, but he wasn't hitting his spots with it very often. His FB command was better than his curve's, and he kept it low and generally around the plate.

 

The low, well placed FB induced a ton of ground outs yet again. He's 6'8" and throws from a fairly high 3/4 slot. He's definitely throwing the ball down to the catcher's glove at a steeper angle than most others. He's clearly very lanky, just turned 20 nine days ago so he has a chance to add strength and perhaps velocity as a result, but he doesn't appear to be a guy who will ever over power anyone at this stage.

 

The good news is that even at this early stage he's showing he can command the fastball and induce ground balls. If he can develop his ability to throw his curve for strikes more consistently and get his velocity up to where he can sit at 92-93 with good command, he could be a good major league commodity. Clearly, he's got a ways to go to get there, but he seems to have the tools to do it.

 

Side note: Paredes looked fluid at SS. I didn't get a sense of his range as balls were mostly hit right to him. Zack Short made several athletic plays at 2B. He seems to have to ability to play 2B, SS and 3B at least average or better.

[CubsWin]

Trending up? Some Cubs pitching is coming alive in the month of May. Each of these pitchers have improved their numbers from the month of April.

 

Clifton - 3 G, 17.2 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 19 K, .242 BAA, 1.53 ERA, 1.25 WHIP

De La Cruz - 2 G, 13 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .178 BAA, 0.69 ERA, 0.62 WHIP

Hudson - 3 G, 16 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 11 K, .196 BAA, 1.13 ERA. 1.06 WHIP, 29 GO - 5 AO

 

Torrez - 4 G - 8.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .077 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.24 WHIP

Maples - 4 G, 9 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K, .156 BAA, 2.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP

Brooks - 4 G, 6 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 K, .105 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 for 3 in save opportunities

[Little Slide Rooter]

Is there rekindled hope for Dillon Maples, or is it just another 25 year old dominating 21-22 year olds kind of a thing?

[Tim]

Is there rekindled hope for Dillon Maples, or is it just another 25 year old dominating 21-22 year olds kind of a thing?

Faint hope, which is a significant increase from past years.

[craig]

....

Watched every pitch. I love having MiLB.com's tv subscription. The announcer only gave his velocity once and it was 89 on the FB. The curve is good, but he wasn't hitting his spots with it very often. His FB command was better than his curve's, and he kept it low and generally around the plate. ....

 

The good news is that even at this early stage he's showing he can command the fastball and induce ground balls. If he can develop his ability to throw his curve for strikes more consistently and get his velocity up to where he can sit at 92-93 with good command, he could be a good major league commodity. Clearly, he's got a ways to go to get there, but he seems to have the tools to do it.

 

Side note: Paredes looked fluid at SS. I didn't get a sense of his range as balls were mostly hit right to him. Zack Short made several athletic plays at 2B. He seems to have to ability to play 2B, SS and 3B at least average or better.

 

Thanks for scouting notes. Very helpful. Helpful to actually have viewed the action.

 

Yeah, obviously 89 isn't very fast, so that's going to be a finesse guy. But also possible that a guy can add some velocity after just hitting age 20; and a guy can get more confidence and comfort in his delivery, and throw a little harder; obviously in relief too. It's a prospect and a project. Seems like the real long guys can have more challenges with consistent delivery and with breaking pitch. Hopefully in time his curve will get better. Going to be a long road for him, I'm guessing, even if things do have a happy ending.