Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-3-17

[Donzo]

The last three starts for Hatch: 16.2IP, 14H, 2ER, 4BB, 22K.

 

OK, I'm understanding some of the hype now.

[davell]

The last three starts for Hatch: 16.2IP, 14H, 2ER, 4BB, 22K.

 

OK, I'm understanding some of the hype now.

 

Same here. I was hung up on the 7 starts prior to that, where he went 28 innings, allowed 34 hits and walked 19 guys. He was K'ing guys too, but he was putting lots of guys on base and literally made it thru 5 innings once in those 7 starts(he'd only had one other start to that point). I thought the stuff wasn't quite ready for High A. Since he was laboring thru so many pitches to get the amount of outs he was getting.

 

At any rate, he's straightened things out in a big way. Plus, his stuff seems to be better than what I was expecting out of him too. It won't surprise me if he gets a cup of coffee in Tennessee later this summer.

[davell]

It took forever for milb to update the DSL game stats from Saturday night. Obviously, its hard to take much from complex ball, under any circumstance. But, there's maybe a few things to pay attention to.....

 

First, the DSL 1 team is supposedly much better than the DSL 2 squad, according to Arguello.

 

I'd think the opening day pitchers are supposed to be relatively highly thought of.

 

Danis Correa, who is 17, received a 225,000 bonus last year, and went 5 3 1 0 0 0, for the DSL2 team yesterday.

 

Yovanny Cruz, who is also 17, went 3 3 1 0 0 4, for the DSL1 team.

 

The hitting I'd concentrate on are guys they've got in the first 4 spots of the lineup card.

 

For DSL2, CF Ricardo Venezuela is in CF and was batting leadoff. He went 1-4, and is 17 and received a 300,000 bonus last year. Josue Huma played SS, is also 17, and received a 140,000 last year. He went 1-3. Orien Nunez played 2B and is surprisingly on this squad. He received 100,000 in 2015 and put up fairly solid numbers last year in the DSL, at .278/.344/.394. He was in EXST, but got sent back, to get playing time. The guy batting 4th is older.

 

For DSL1, CF Fernando Kelli led off. He's toolsy, but had a poor year and is back in the DSL to refine his game. He's 18, needs to be solid this year. 1-5 yesterday. Luis Diaz is 18, played 2B, and received a 300,000 bonus in 2015. He's been to EXST too. We're well off, up the middle, or he'd likely be in Arizona. He went 1-5 yesterday. Christopher Morel is 18 and played SS. He was hurt last year, but was signed for 800,000 in 2015, while hurt. He's obviously well thought of, so he's definitely worth following. Has elicited some Starlin comps from Cubs guys. And he went 0-4 yesterday. Carlos Pacheco played CF and is 17. He got 100,000 last year and went 1-4 with a homer yesterday.

 

The starting pitching will be worth paying attention to, if its younger, outside of just opening day. Anyone 17-18, that's playing well actually. But, I do think they give you a few hints with things and these guys are likely the ones to follow.

 

Henderson Perez, a C, got 1.25M in 2015. I think he's still down there too, but didn't play. With that bonus, he's worth following obviously. But, guys with small bonuses frequently wind up as the best signings too, so its a trapshoot, to say the least.

[Donzo]

I was hung up on the 7 starts prior to that, where he went 28 innings, allowed 34 hits and walked 19 guys. He was K'ing guys too, but he was putting lots of guys on base and literally made it thru 5 innings once in those 7 starts(he'd only had one other start to that point). I thought the stuff wasn't quite ready for High A. Since he was laboring thru so many pitches to get the amount of outs he was getting.

 

At any rate, he's straightened things out in a big way. Plus, his stuff seems to be better than what I was expecting out of him too. It won't surprise me if he gets a cup of coffee in Tennessee later this summer.

 

He worked it out. It appears he has some mental toughness to him.

 

According to his scouting report at Cubs.com, he has a lot of stuff going for. When it comes to all the peripheral stuff (besides injury history), he rates a + on all of it.

 

It looks like his stuff is very good. They rated his fastball a 60, hitting 96mph, while generating a lot of ground balls. So far this year, that all checks out. When he had the 13K game, the report was his fastball was 94-97mph. Oddly, he had some bad luck on hit balls that night. Eight balls were in play and six of them went for hits.

[Donzo]

Generates groundballs like a muh too and was racking those and Ks up even before this little run. Top pitching prospect in the system/tallest midget, there's at least a solid case.

 

Yep, that's good stuff.

 

I still think Cease is the #1 PP, but Hatch is right there.