Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-30-17

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa won 3-1 Box Score

 

CF J. Andreoli 0/4, 2 K

2B C. Young 1/4, R, K

LF M. Zagunis 1/3, R, HR (8), RBI, 2 K

3B-1B J. Candelario 1/4, 2B (17)

RF-3B S. Bruno 1/3, R, HR (4), RBI

SP S. Perakslis 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1-5 GO-FO, 52-30 pitches0strikes

RP D. Rollins 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, 3-0 GO-FO

RP D. Berg 0.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1-0 GO-FO

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

 

Tennessee lost 8-3 Box Score

 

RF Je. Baez 0/4, BB

LF C. Burks 1/5, 2 K

2B D. Bote 0/5, 4 K

3B J. Vosler 0/3, K, HBP

C I. Rice 2/4, R, 3B (1), RBI

CF J. Hannemann 1/3, R, 2B (9), RBI, BB

SS A. Ely 1/4, 2B (8), 2 K

SP Z. Hedges 5 IP, 13 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 11-1 GO-FO, 73-52 pitches-strikes

RP C. Brooks 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 0-2 GO-FO

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

 

Myrtle Beach had the day off

 

South Bend won 9-2 Box Score

 

SS Z. Short 1/4, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2 K

2B Y. Peguero 1/5, R, 2B (9), RBI, K

C A. Mineo 1/3, RBI, 2 K, HBP, SB (1)

3B W. Galindo 1/3, 2 BB, K

DH I. Paredes 2/5, R, K

PH-LF K. Mitchell 1/2, R, RBI, SB (4)

SP E. Moreno 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 5-0 GO-FO, 43-31 pitches-strikes - 2nd start of the season, first since April 10th (DL)

RP T. Miller 4 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 6-3 GO-FO, 55-40 pitches-strikes

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

[davell]

Zagunis hit a HR today. And Caratini pinch hit, which is great, considering the initial report sounded really bad.

[Cubswin11]

Zagunis hit a HR today. And Caratini pinch hit, which is great, considering the initial report sounded really bad.

Zagunis tapping in to more power while maintaining the great BB rate and acceptable BA (.250s) is intriguing

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Zagunis hit a HR today. And Caratini pinch hit, which is great, considering the initial report sounded really bad.

 

That's really good news. I was envisioning Caratini missing the rest of the year or something close to it.

[davell]

The biggest knock on Zagunis is he wasn't going to hit for power. He had a flat swing and eventually the OBP would take a hit, as upper level guys know how to pitch and he's not a scary AB.

 

Well....He's in AAA, he's walking more than ever and he's got 8 HR in 190 PA. He also has 9 doubles. Last year, he put up a .274/.360/.486 line in AAA, with a 10.4% walk rate and a 19.9% K rate. In 211 PA, he had 12 doubles, 4 triples, and 6 HR.

 

That's turned into 9 doubles and 8 HR in 21 less PA. So, he's short 3 doubles and 4 triples, and he's up 2 homers. He's also K'd 3 times more in 21 less PA's. But he's also walked 12 MORE times in that same period.

 

If you cherry pick and take away his first 9 games away(3-31, 1 2B, 6 BB, and 12K), his numbers look way better than they already are.

 

Its obvious he's sacrificing a bit of contact for added pop, but his eye is so discerning, he's still getting on base a ton. If anything, it appears as if he's going to walk MORE, while selling out for a bit more power.

 

He's solid enough defensively on a corner. The knock was the bat wouldn't play there on a first division team. He was supposed to be a low end 4th OF or a solid 4th guy.

 

That said, I think its fairly realistic to look at him as a guy who can go .250/.360/.440 in the majors. Is that truly a second division starter? I think he's to the stage where that 10ish homers in the bigs, has turned into 15-18.

 

I'm starting to get why the FO made the Youk comment. I'm sure there's plenty of teams out there that'd give him a shot as a regular in LF.(horsefeathers, I'm not even 100% convinced we shouldn't). At any rate, Zagunis is trade bait. And likely more valuable than we were thinking.

[Cubswin11]

The biggest knock on Zagunis is he wasn't going to hit for power. He had a flat swing and eventually the OBP would take a hit, as upper level guys know how to pitch and he's not a scary AB.

 

Well....He's in AAA, he's walking more than ever and he's got 8 HR in 190 PA. He also has 9 doubles. Last year, he put up a .274/.360/.486 line in AAA, with a 10.4% walk rate and a 19.9% K rate. In 211 PA, he had 12 doubles, 4 triples, and 6 HR.

 

That's turned into 9 doubles and 8 HR in 21 less PA. So, he's short 3 doubles and 4 triples, and he's up 2 homers. He's also K'd 3 times more in 21 less PA's. But he's also walked 12 MORE times in that same period.

 

If you cherry pick and take away his first 9 games away(3-31, 1 2B, 6 BB, and 12K), his numbers look way better than they already are.

 

Its obvious he's sacrificing a bit of contact for added pop, but his eye is so discerning, he's still getting on base a ton. If anything, it appears as if he's going to walk MORE, while selling out for a bit more power.

 

He's solid enough defensively on a corner. The knock was the bat wouldn't play there on a first division team. He was supposed to be a low end 4th OF or a solid 4th guy.

 

That said, I think its fairly realistic to look at him as a guy who can go .250/.360/.440 in the majors. Is that truly a second division starter? I think he's to the stage where that 10ish homers in the bigs, has turned into 15-18.

 

I'm starting to get why the FO made the Youk comment. I'm sure there's plenty of teams out there that'd give him a shot as a regular in LF.(horsefeathers, I'm not even 100% convinced we shouldn't). At any rate, Zagunis is trade bait. And likely more valuable than we were thinking.

These are pretty much my thoughts on him as well. I think he could be close to a regular LF'er, but hopefully he can at least be a lefty platoon partner next year for Schwarber or Heyward (or even this year). There's a pretty solid major league player in Zagunis if everything clicks. I know we have Caritini as a future backup catcher (maybe a bit more), but it's too bad Zagunis couldn't stay at catcher. That bat as a backup C that could also play the OF would be a nice piece to have on the roster.

[davell]

Damn, Erling Moreno says hi with a 4 1 0 0 1 4 line on 43(31 strikes) pitches for SB tonight. 5/0 GO/FO too.

[davell]

Zack Hedges, not so great tonight.....1 9 7 7 0 0. I'm hoping he's done. But, that was on 34 pitches.

[Tim]

Zack Hedges, not so great tonight.....1 9 7 7 0 0. I'm hoping he's done. But, that was on 34 pitches.

At least he kept his K/BB ratio in tact.

[davell]

Zack Hedges, not so great tonight.....1 9 7 7 0 0. I'm hoping he's done. But, that was on 34 pitches.

At least he kept his K/BB ratio in tact.

 

I spoke too soon. He's still going lol. Scoreless 2nd anyway.

[craig]

Zagunis ...

He's solid enough defensively on a corner. ...

 

I wonder about that. Have you seen him, or gotten good reports? I'd never seen the guy until spring training TV game. In that particular game, he looked like a liability defensively. Seemed kind of slow, dropped a ball that he got his glove on, and that I think would have been a pretty easy catch for somebody who wasn't as slow. Then seemed to have a hard time getting down to field a single in front of him, kind of fumbled it around.

 

I was surprised by what a burly-chested top-heavy guy he was. Physically looked like one of the stronger wrestler-looking bodies on the team, more like Schwarber than a normal baseball guy.

 

But, that was just a couple of plays, so who knows, and I'm no scout.

 

But wasn't what I was expecting. I had these memories of supposedly running well and having base-stealing potential (he never actually did); talk about him perhaps playing some 2B (he never did); perhaps playing some CF (he hardly ever did). And of course the reports of lacking HR power. So I was surprised he looked more like a DH-slugger than like a fast limited-power utility guy.

[davell]

I definitely ain't a scout. I looked up a report or two, they acted like he's not a liability out there. And honestly, as long as he's just passable, the bat is probably good enough to play most days, IMO.

[davell]

Zack Hedges, not so great tonight.....1 9 7 7 0 0. I'm hoping he's done. But, that was on 34 pitches.

At least he kept his K/BB ratio in tact.

 

 

Amazingly enough, it STAYED in tact. 5 13 8 8 0 0 lol

[CubsWin]

Damn, Erling Moreno says hi with a 4 1 0 0 1 4 line on 43(31 strikes) pitches for SB tonight. 5/0 GO/FO too.

Nice. Heck, double nice.

[Aaron_Kennelly]

Zagunis ...

He's solid enough defensively on a corner. ...

 

I wonder about that. Have you seen him, or gotten good reports? I'd never seen the guy until spring training TV game. In that particular game, he looked like a liability defensively. Seemed kind of slow, dropped a ball that he got his glove on, and that I think would have been a pretty easy catch for somebody who wasn't as slow. Then seemed to have a hard time getting down to field a single in front of him, kind of fumbled it around.

 

I was surprised by what a burly-chested top-heavy guy he was. Physically looked like one of the stronger wrestler-looking bodies on the team, more like Schwarber than a normal baseball guy.

 

But, that was just a couple of plays, so who knows, and I'm no scout.

 

But wasn't what I was expecting. I had these memories of supposedly running well and having base-stealing potential (he never actually did); talk about him perhaps playing some 2B (he never did); perhaps playing some CF (he hardly ever did). And of course the reports of lacking HR power. So I was surprised he looked more like a DH-slugger than like a fast limited-power utility guy.

 

I saw him in Iowa last year. I don't remember much of him defensively. There wasn't anything that stood out one way or the other, though. I was struck by how thick he was when I saw him, too. He's definitely got a big upper half.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Arizona Phil[/url]"]Cubs 2016 5th round draft pick RHP Bailey Clark made his 2017 game debut today, after spending the 2016-17 school year finishing his degree at Duke University. As a result, he missed post-2016 AZ Instructs and has been limited in his availability for 2017 Minor League Camp and Extended Spring Training as well. Now that he is ready to pitch in EXST games, he will likely be stretched-out as a starter over the next couple of weeks, and if all goes well, he very well could be the 5th man in the Eugene starting rotation when the NWL begins play next month. (After easily retiring the first two batters he faced on an F-7 and a K-swinging, Clark threw eight of his last ten pitches for balls and was unable to retire the side before being relieved).

 

Bailey Clark: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 0/1 GO/AO, 18 pitches (9 strikes)

[cubsclapp]

Zagunis' splits this year are insanely close:

 

vs lefties: .250/.404/.472

vs righties: .254/.406/.474

 

Last year he was actually far, far better vs righties at Iowa:

 

vs lefties: .196/.226/.304

vs righties: .309/.416/.569