Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-18-17

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa won 16-3 Box Score

 

DH M. Zagunis 0/3, 2 R, 3 BB, K

CF J. Hannemann 2/6, 2 R, 2B (5), 2 RBI, K

3B J. Candelario 2/4, 2 R, 2B (21), HR (8), 2 RBI, 2 BB, K

RF B. Rademacher 2/5, 2 R, 2B (11), 2 RBI, BB

C V. Caratini 0/3, R, RBI, BB, K

LF J. Andreoli 2/4, R, 2B (9), HR (5), 4 RBI, K, HBP

SP C. Kelly 6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 6-2 GO-FO, 89-61 pitches-strikes

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

 

Tennessee lost 10-2 Box Score

 

LF C. Burks 1/4

3B J. Vosler 1/3, R, HR (13), RBI, BB, K

DH I. Rice 0/4, 2 K

CF T. Martin 1/4, 3B (1)

SS C. Penalver 1/4, K

SP P. Morrison 6 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 HBP, 5-6 GO-FO, 93-61 pitches-strikes

RP D. Torrez 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 2-0 GO-FO

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

 

Myrtle Beach won 8-3 Box Score

 

2B B. Flete 2/5, R, RBI

LF E. Jimenez 1/4, R, HR (7), 2 RBI

3B J. Hodges 2/4, 2 R, 2B (17), HR (6), RBI, E (9, fielding)

CF E. Martinez 1/4, RBI

1B M. Rose 0/4, 3 K

C T. Alamo 2/3, 2 R, 2B (13), E (4, throw)

SP C. Bloomquist 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 5-2 GO-FO, 61-36 pitches-strikes

RP D. Mekkes 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 3-0 GO-FO

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

 

South Bend won 9-3 Box Score

 

SS Z. Short 1/3, 2B (17), BB, K, HBP

1B A. Mineo 1/5, 2 R, 2B (11)

DH I. Paredes 2/4, R, 2B (16), HR (4), 3 RBI, BB

RF C. Pieters 1/5, R, 2B (2), K

2B Y. Peguero 1/4, R, 2 K, SB (5)

C M. Cruz 1/3, R, BB

CF L. Ayala 1/3, R, RBI, BB, 2 SB (11)

SP B. Hudson 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 10-1 GO-FO, 91-58 pitches-strikes

 

Eugene won 6-1 Box Score

 

SS A. Ademan 1/5,R, 3B (1)

3B R. Narea 2/3,2 2 R, 2B (1), RBI, BB

DH M. Ayaya 1/4, K

1B H. Polanco 2/4, RBI

LF J. Martarano 2/4, RBI, K

RF J. Gonzalez 1/4, R, 3B (1), 2 K, outfield assist at second base

SP E. de los Rios 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 1 HBP, 6-3 GO-FO, 6-3 GO-FO

 

DSL Cubs 1 and 2 had the day off

[davell]

Why is Bloomquist starting a game? Alzolay, Hatch, Steele, Rucker, Kellogg.....Promotion, just want an extra guy for a turn, or injury?

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Why is Bloomquist starting a game? Alzolay, Hatch, Steele, Rucker, Kellogg.....Promotion, just want an extra guy for a turn, or injury?

 

I doubt it's a promotion because those are well publicized. It would normally be Alzolay's turn. There wasn't a doubleheader recently so it's not like they're trying to settle the rotation.

[CubsWin]

Had a chance to watch some of the Eugene games.

 

Assad was sitting 91-93 (mostly 93) deep into his 5 inning stint. He had one FB at 90 and one at 94. The breaking ball is nothing special. It's around the plate with some consistency but doesn't have a particularly hard break.

 

Bailey Clark is still rounding into form (he only had 2.2 IP in ExST), but he was 91-93 with a similar average breaking ball to Assad's. Control wasn't much of a problem for Clark. Command was another issue though he seemed to settle in as his start went along.

 

It's a shame 21-year-old OF Jose Gonzalez can't hit because he's made some nice plays in the OF including an excellent throw home with his momentum taking him into foul territory after cutting off a single. Amaya caught it on the fly and the throw was on the money but the runner just got his hand in passed the tag. Gonzalez definitely has some athleticism but not much of a hit tool.

 

And, of course, Ademan and Amaya are as advertised defensively. Ademan is smooth and consistent with his throws every now and then off line, and Amaya is athletic with an accurate gun for an arm.

[CubsWin]

BTW, the quality of the broadcast (picture clarity, camera angles, how well the director chooses which shot to show to follow the action, the replays or lack thereof and the talent of the play-by-play guys) generally gets worse the further down the minor league level you go. There are exceptions, of course, and Eugene is one of them. In fact, the quality of the Emeralds broadcast is the best of any I've seen to date at any level. It's like the ghost of Arne Harris has taken over whoever is directing the Eugene broadcast. It's seamless and spot on. The play-by-play guy is the best, IMHO, of any of the Cubs affiliates.

[CubsWin]

It's interesting watching minor league baseball games. After watching major league games for over 40 years, you first notice everything that's not major league quality. The lack of exit velocity on the hits. Many of the "line drive" singles barely make it 20 feet into the OF. Fly balls just seem to die. The lack of good breaking balls. The lack of solid defensive play. Throws are quite often off line. Not a lot of athleticism out on the field. The differences really stand out at first.

 

But it makes the players that are good (or have a plus tool or two) really catch your eye. All of sudden you see a play, a pitch or a struck ball that you recognize as major league quality and you go, who is that?

[Aaron_Kennelly]

It's interesting watching minor league baseball games. After watching major league games for over 40 years, you first notice everything that's not major league quality. The lack of exit velocity on the hits. Many of the "line drive" singles barely make it 20 feet into the OF. Fly balls just seem to die. The lack of good breaking balls. The lack of solid defensive play. Throws are quite often off line. Not a lot of athleticism out on the field. The differences really stand out at first.

 

But it makes the players that are good (or have a plus tool or two) really catch your eye. All of sudden you see a play, a pitch or a struck ball that you recognize as major league quality and you go, who is that?

 

Yeah. I've noticed things like these after attending more minor league games the last few years. The special players really stand out. I'm better able to notice these things when watching non-Cub prospects, too. I think it has to do with having a cognitive bias with the Cubs prospects. I know who Eloy is and have seen video of him and read countless things about him. So watching him rip the ball doesn't register as much with me. But, when I saw Kyle Tucker last year, I knew immediately that he was different from the other guys.

 

You even notice the differences at AAA. When I saw Javy in Iowa the other year, it was easy to tell he was different from the way the ball jumped off his bat, and his arm strength, and just... everything. All the other guys looked like scrubs in comparison, even though Javy went 1-4 or something.

 

With the other guys, it's hard to tell who is actually a prospect or not, and to what degree of prospect-hood. They are just varying levels of suck.

 

The one biggie that's hard to get used to is fly balls dying. Meatball pitch left over the middle of the plate, batter gets all of it, hits it squarely, and... it doesn't even make it to the warning track in center.

[weis21]

It's interesting watching minor league baseball games. After watching major league games for over 40 years, you first notice everything that's not major league quality. The lack of exit velocity on the hits. Many of the "line drive" singles barely make it 20 feet into the OF. Fly balls just seem to die. The lack of good breaking balls. The lack of solid defensive play. Throws are quite often off line. Not a lot of athleticism out on the field. The differences really stand out at first.

 

But it makes the players that are good (or have a plus tool or two) really catch your eye. All of sudden you see a play, a pitch or a struck ball that you recognize as major league quality and you go, who is that?

Do you (or anybody really) have MiLB.tv (I guess it's called that?)? Is that how you're watching the games? What all Cubs affiliates are routinely broadcast on MiLB.tv? I'm considering giving it a go since I've kinda gotten bitten by the MiLB bug with the new team 30 min away (but still don't care about them - maybe I should but I'm all Cubs till the day I D-I-E)

[weis21]

Also, here is the poor-quality video of Eloy's double on Friday night. I have a better/closer footage of a later AB but he struck out in that one. But I'm happy to post it if anyone would like. The video quality is much, much better on my phone so I'm not sure why it's so terrible when I uploaded to Youtube. Also, please try to disregard the seemingly hundreds of people walking in front - I swear to God nobody actually sat in their seats they just aimlessly wandered about the park for the entirety of the game...

 

[Tim]

Also, here is the poor-quality video of Eloy's double on Friday night. I have a better/closer footage of a later AB but he struck out in that one. But I'm happy to post it if anyone would like. The video quality is much, much better on my phone so I'm not sure why it's so terrible when I uploaded to Youtube. Also, please try to disregard the seemingly hundreds of people walking in front - I swear to God nobody actually sat in their seats they just aimlessly wandered about the park for the entirety of the game...

 

Thanks!

 

Got one word for you, though: landscape

 

:)

[weis21]

probably a stupid question but do you mean just turning my phone sideways or is there some sort of mode to set it?

[Tim]

probably a stupid question but do you mean just turning my phone sideways or is there some sort of mode to set it?

Just turn it sideways

[weis21]

probably a stupid question but do you mean just turning my phone sideways or is there some sort of mode to set it?

Just turn it sideways

Lol thanks. I'll get some more footage during the pre-July 4 series and be sure to landscape it

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Eloy HR

[weis21]

Eloy HR

damnit - i wish I could have seen it

[Tim]

Bryan Hudson with another good start today.

[Gilby]

Went to the Iowa game today. There were a lot of good AB's including a Candelario dong.

 

My biggest takeaway though is Soler is still very handsome and still very bad. He had 3 pretty terrible strikeouts on sliders way out of the zone.

[CubsWin]

It's interesting watching minor league baseball games. After watching major league games for over 40 years, you first notice everything that's not major league quality. The lack of exit velocity on the hits. Many of the "line drive" singles barely make it 20 feet into the OF. Fly balls just seem to die. The lack of good breaking balls. The lack of solid defensive play. Throws are quite often off line. Not a lot of athleticism out on the field. The differences really stand out at first.

 

But it makes the players that are good (or have a plus tool or two) really catch your eye. All of sudden you see a play, a pitch or a struck ball that you recognize as major league quality and you go, who is that?

Do you (or anybody really) have MiLB.tv (I guess it's called that?)? Is that how you're watching the games? What all Cubs affiliates are routinely broadcast on MiLB.tv? I'm considering giving it a go since I've kinda gotten bitten by the MiLB bug with the new team 30 min away (but still don't care about them - maybe I should but I'm all Cubs till the day I D-I-E)

Yes, I bought MiLB.tv this year and am loving it. All Cubs affiliate home games are broadcast from short season Eugene on up. There are other team's affiliates that broadcast their home games (and thus Cubs road games) but not all of them. Most if not all AAA and AA teams do, but it's hit or miss in both A ball levels.

 

If you do purchase it, the difference between the quality of some of the broadcasts is pretty stark and sometimes laughable. I'm still amazed (mostly by comparison) how good the Eugene broadcasts are. If you end up getting the subscription, you'll see what I mean.

[Jaxbro]

Mekkes gets the win for MB after 2 innings of hitless ball. One walk, 2 strikeouts. 26 pitches/ 18 strikes

[cubsclapp]

It's interesting watching minor league baseball games. After watching major league games for over 40 years, you first notice everything that's not major league quality. The lack of exit velocity on the hits. Many of the "line drive" singles barely make it 20 feet into the OF. Fly balls just seem to die. The lack of good breaking balls. The lack of solid defensive play. Throws are quite often off line. Not a lot of athleticism out on the field. The differences really stand out at first.

 

But it makes the players that are good (or have a plus tool or two) really catch your eye. All of sudden you see a play, a pitch or a struck ball that you recognize as major league quality and you go, who is that?

Do you (or anybody really) have MiLB.tv (I guess it's called that?)? Is that how you're watching the games? What all Cubs affiliates are routinely broadcast on MiLB.tv? I'm considering giving it a go since I've kinda gotten bitten by the MiLB bug with the new team 30 min away (but still don't care about them - maybe I should but I'm all Cubs till the day I D-I-E)

 

I had it for two years during our rebuild. Like I would recommend it to a White Sox or Braves fan or something now. I was enjoying tuning in for the Baez or Bryant ABs over the major league team. It also made me convinced Armando Rivero was going to be a stud though and that didn't exactly pan out.

[Gmoney08]

If you already have MLB gameday how much extra is it to add the minor leagues?