Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 8-25-17

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa won 4-2 Box Score

 

Tennessee lost 6-2 Box Score

 

Myrtle Beach lost 10-5 Box Score

 

South Bend won 7-4 Box Score

 

Eugene won 8-3 Box Score

 

AZL Cubs won 5-4 Box Score

 

DSL Cubs 1 lost 5-3 Box Score

 

DSL Cubs 2 lost 5-3 Box Score

[davell]

Assad had a hell of an outing, going 6 1 0 0 2 9.

[CubsWin]

Assad had a hell of an outing, going 6 1 0 0 2 9.

And he did that against the best hitting team in the NWL.

 

FB was 93-95. The Eugene gun is "a tick or two slow" according to the broadcaster, so that would be anywhere from 94-97. Assad showed good placement of his FB tonight, often pounding the corners and elevating when called for. His curve was a strikeout pitch 4 times. Three of those times he would bounce it (by design) and get a swing and miss for the 3rd strike with catcher Will Remillard throwing down to 1st. The curve looked really good tonight. Remillard, by the way, looked great behind the plate. Really agile at blocking balls in the dirt and, despite coming off of TJS (his 2nd I believe), his throws were strong and accurate cutting down a runner trying to steal 3rd by 5 feet and nearly picking off a guy with a snap throw from his knees in the 7th inning.

 

Assad turned 20 a little less than a month ago, so inconsistency is to be expected. He's allowed 2 or fewer earned runs in 7 of his 12 starts (with 4 games in which he didn't allow any), but in 4 of his other 5 starts he's allowed 4 twice and 5 twice. What you hope to see as a young prospect gets more reps is that he becomes more consistent, and he pitches like he did tonight more frequently. If he can do that, the Cubs may have a legit MOR starting prospect on their hands. He's got the stuff and plenty of time to learn to repeat his ideal delivery.

 

It appears he's already starting to gain some of that desired consistency in the 2nd half of this season, however. After his 6th start on July 17th, he was getting hit to the tune of a .353 BAA. In his last 6 starts, he's dropped that to .265 on the year allowing a BAA well under the Mendoza line. Not surprisingly, his GO/AO has gone up over his last 6 as well.

 

First 6 - 29.2 IP, 42 H, 2 HR, 7 BB, 31 K, 5.16 ERA, 1.65 WHIP

Last 6 - 30.1 IP, 19 H, 0 HR, 12 BB, 36 K, 2.97 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 2.77 GO/AO