Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-22-18

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa lost 5-4 Box Score

 

CF L. Adams 1/3, R, 3B (1), BB, 2 K, CS (1)

SS M. Freeman 1/3, R, 2B (7), RBI, BB

DH M. Zagunis 1/4, RBI, 2 K

1B E. Navarro 0/4

3B D. Bote 0/2, R, 2 BB, 2 K

C T. Davis 0/3, RBI, BB; defense: pickoff at third base, 0/1 CS

SP L. Farrell 5 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 5-1 GO-FO, 84-53 pitches-strikes

RP R. Zastryzny 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 1-0 GO-FO

RP A. Bass 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 0-1 GO-FO

 

Tennessee had the day off

 

Myrtle Beach lost 8-2 Box Score

 

2B A. Monasterio 1/4, R, BB, K

DH PJ Higgins 2/4, BB

C J. Pereda 0/4, BB, K

3B W. Galindo 1/4, R, K

LF K. Mitchell 0/3, BB, 2 K

SS A. Ademan 1/4, K

SP B. Hudson 1+ IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 3 HBP, 1-0 GO-FO, 43-17 pitches-strikes - faced 8 batters in the 2nd

RP J. Romero 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO

 

South Bend won 9-1 Box Score

 

SS J. Bethencourt 2/5, 2 R, K, SB (5)

1B J. Young 2/3, R, RBI, BB, K

3B A. Filiere 0/3, R, RBI, 2 BB, E (12, throw)

DH M. Amaya 3/3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB

LF N. Velázquez 2/4, RBI, K

RF B. Hughes 1/4, 2 RBI

SP J. Assad 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 5-4 GO-FO, 94-59 pitches-strikes, balk, E (2, pickoff)

RP E. de los Rios 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO

[CubsWin]

Nice day for Amaya and Assad who’s been pretty consistently good for about a year now despite non-special stuff. He’s a wait and see how he does at the upper levels guy, but so far so good.

 

Amaya sure helped his OBP today reaching base all 5 times.

[UK]

Nice day for Amaya and Assad who’s been pretty consistently good for about a year now despite non-special stuff. He’s a wait and see how he does at the upper levels guy, but so far so good.

 

Amaya sure helped his OBP today reaching base all 5 times.

 

I was hoping the improved conditioning would've improved the velo somewhat ala Strasburg (obviously not to that degree) but his velo appears to be the same (touching 93, sitting 89-91). with a feel for 4 pitches. Any uptick in velo and they might have another possible 4/5 guy.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Albertos was finally sent down to Mesa.

[CubsWin]

Nice day for Amaya and Assad who’s been pretty consistently good for about a year now despite non-special stuff. He’s a wait and see how he does at the upper levels guy, but so far so good.

 

Amaya sure helped his OBP today reaching base all 5 times.

 

I was hoping the improved conditioning would've improved the velo somewhat ala Strasburg (obviously not to that degree) but his velo appears to be the same (touching 93, sitting 89-91). with a feel for 4 pitches. Any uptick in velo and they might have another possible 4/5 guy.

Yeah, that's my thinking as well.

 

His 2.06 ERA might be a bit misleading as his strand rate is abnormally high thus far. The K rate is down but so are his walks. If his last 2 starts are any indication, and I have my doubts about that, the K rate should rebound as he's struck out 13 against 0 walks in 12.2 innings.

 

He's still just 20 so there's time for him to improve his conditioning (he looks to have lost some body fat this off season) and add some velocity.

[CubsWin]

AZ Phil, who keeps a sharp eye on Cubs prospects down in Mesa, lists SS and C as the Cubs deepest positions. He lists Aramis Ademan, Christopher Morel and Luis Vasquez as the top 3 in the organization at short and Miguel Amaya, Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez as the top 3 behind the plate.

 

Here's the post from Phil:

 

In another organization or maybe in another year Alexander Guerra might have made the Lo-A affiliate's Opening Day roster, but with Cubs top catching prospect Miguel Amaya at South Bend, and with the Cubs wanting to give Guerra an opportunity to get adapted to the U. S., Extended Spring Training and then Eugene seems like the prudent path of choice.

 

But Guerra is definitely the most-polished and most-advanced catcher of the ten who are at EXST right now, although Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez have higher ceilings (in fact Soto and Perez are the #2 and #3 catching prospects in the system).

 

BTW, catcher (M. Amaya, Soto, and Perez) and shortstop (Ademan, Morel, and Vazquez) are the Cubs two positions of depth in the pipeline, although it's very unlikely any of them will surface in Chicago before 2021-22. Which is why the Cubs might want to target college position-players in the draft (although taking the BPA is never really a bad approach in the higher rounds).

 

He went on to discuss other catchers in the system:

 

Erick Castillo and Jhonny Pereda were considered the Cubs two best defensive catchers coming into the 2018 season, and like E. Castillo, it appeared that Pereda would move somewhat deliberately through the system as a defense-first back-up guy, maybe eventually topping out at AA.

 

When Pereda was at EXST a couple of years ago, he would usually catch the MLB and AAA rehab guys because his receiving skills were so polished. He also has a plus-arm.

 

But offensively he had a tendency to sort of punch the ball (the classic "singles hitter" stroke) and maybe take an occasional walk, but he has apparently had a break-out 2018 season (at least so far) offensively at Myrtle Beach. If this hitting improvement is genuine and continues going forward, he has "jumped the shark" and would project as an MLB back-up catcher. He could even be a candidate to get selected by a rebuilding team (MIA, SD, CHW, KC, DET, CIN, et al) in next December's Rule 5 Draft, although I don't see the Cubs adding him to the 40 to prevent that from happening.

 

Even though he is repeating Myrtle Beach, P.J. Higgins' athleticism and competitive fire have been compared to J. T. Realmuto. And because Higgins was an infielder and only an occasional catcher in college, there has been a bit of a transition for him to full-time catcher. But he actually is a decent prospect.

[CubsWin]

Speaking of. Morel hit a 3-run HR, and Perez went 2-for-4 with a RBI and a run scored in ExST today.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Bryan Hudson had a horrible 2nd:

 

Lynchburg Top of the 2nd

 

Trenton Brooks hit by pitch.

Li-Jen Chu hit by pitch. Trenton Brooks to 2nd.

Emmanuel Tapia walks. Trenton Brooks to 3rd. Li-Jen Chu to 2nd.

Jodd Carter walks. Trenton Brooks scores. Li-Jen Chu to 3rd. Emmanuel Tapia to 2nd.

Dillon Persinger singles on a ground ball to second baseman Andruw Monasterio. Li-Jen Chu scores. Emmanuel Tapia to 3rd. Jodd Carter to 2nd.

Mitch Longo singles on a line drive to right fielder Daniel Spingola. Emmanuel Tapia scores. Jodd Carter scores. Dillon Persinger to 3rd.

Luke Wakamatsu walks. Mitch Longo to 2nd.

Conner Capel hit by pitch. Dillon Persinger scores. Mitch Longo to 3rd. Luke Wakamatsu to 2nd.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

AZ Phil, who keeps a sharp eye on Cubs prospects down in Mesa, lists SS and C as the Cubs deepest positions. He lists Aramis Ademan, Christopher Morel and Luis Vasquez as the top 3 in the organization at short and Miguel Amaya, Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez as the top 3 behind the plate.

 

Here's the post from Phil:

 

In another organization or maybe in another year Alexander Guerra might have made the Lo-A affiliate's Opening Day roster, but with Cubs top catching prospect Miguel Amaya at South Bend, and with the Cubs wanting to give Guerra an opportunity to get adapted to the U. S., Extended Spring Training and then Eugene seems like the prudent path of choice.

 

But Guerra is definitely the most-polished and most-advanced catcher of the ten who are at EXST right now, although Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez have higher ceilings (in fact Soto and Perez are the #2 and #3 catching prospects in the system).

 

BTW, catcher (M. Amaya, Soto, and Perez) and shortstop (Ademan, Morel, and Vazquez) are the Cubs two positions of depth in the pipeline, although it's very unlikely any of them will surface in Chicago before 2021-22. Which is why the Cubs might want to target college position-players in the draft (although taking the BPA is never really a bad approach in the higher rounds).

 

He went on to discuss other catchers in the system:

 

Erick Castillo and Jhonny Pereda were considered the Cubs two best defensive catchers coming into the 2018 season, and like E. Castillo, it appeared that Pereda would move somewhat deliberately through the system as a defense-first back-up guy, maybe eventually topping out at AA.

 

When Pereda was at EXST a couple of years ago, he would usually catch the MLB and AAA rehab guys because his receiving skills were so polished. He also has a plus-arm.

 

But offensively he had a tendency to sort of punch the ball (the classic "singles hitter" stroke) and maybe take an occasional walk, but he has apparently had a break-out 2018 season (at least so far) offensively at Myrtle Beach. If this hitting improvement is genuine and continues going forward, he has "jumped the shark" and would project as an MLB back-up catcher. He could even be a candidate to get selected by a rebuilding team (MIA, SD, CHW, KC, DET, CIN, et al) in next December's Rule 5 Draft, although I don't see the Cubs adding him to the 40 to prevent that from happening.

 

Even though he is repeating Myrtle Beach, P.J. Higgins' athleticism and competitive fire have been compared to J. T. Realmuto. And because Higgins was an infielder and only an occasional catcher in college, there has been a bit of a transition for him to full-time catcher. But he actually is a decent prospect.

 

I know we don't have 2018 stats for Soto and Perez and have to rely solely on eyewitness reports but I have a hard time believing Pereda is not a top 3 catching prospect in this organization when he's good defensively and this year, has 145 PA of .800 OPS at age 22 at high-A.

[CubsWin]

AZ Phil, who keeps a sharp eye on Cubs prospects down in Mesa, lists SS and C as the Cubs deepest positions. He lists Aramis Ademan, Christopher Morel and Luis Vasquez as the top 3 in the organization at short and Miguel Amaya, Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez as the top 3 behind the plate.

 

Here's the post from Phil:

 

In another organization or maybe in another year Alexander Guerra might have made the Lo-A affiliate's Opening Day roster, but with Cubs top catching prospect Miguel Amaya at South Bend, and with the Cubs wanting to give Guerra an opportunity to get adapted to the U. S., Extended Spring Training and then Eugene seems like the prudent path of choice.

 

But Guerra is definitely the most-polished and most-advanced catcher of the ten who are at EXST right now, although Jonathan Soto and Henderson Perez have higher ceilings (in fact Soto and Perez are the #2 and #3 catching prospects in the system).

 

BTW, catcher (M. Amaya, Soto, and Perez) and shortstop (Ademan, Morel, and Vazquez) are the Cubs two positions of depth in the pipeline, although it's very unlikely any of them will surface in Chicago before 2021-22. Which is why the Cubs might want to target college position-players in the draft (although taking the BPA is never really a bad approach in the higher rounds).

 

He went on to discuss other catchers in the system:

 

Erick Castillo and Jhonny Pereda were considered the Cubs two best defensive catchers coming into the 2018 season, and like E. Castillo, it appeared that Pereda would move somewhat deliberately through the system as a defense-first back-up guy, maybe eventually topping out at AA.

 

When Pereda was at EXST a couple of years ago, he would usually catch the MLB and AAA rehab guys because his receiving skills were so polished. He also has a plus-arm.

 

But offensively he had a tendency to sort of punch the ball (the classic "singles hitter" stroke) and maybe take an occasional walk, but he has apparently had a break-out 2018 season (at least so far) offensively at Myrtle Beach. If this hitting improvement is genuine and continues going forward, he has "jumped the shark" and would project as an MLB back-up catcher. He could even be a candidate to get selected by a rebuilding team (MIA, SD, CHW, KC, DET, CIN, et al) in next December's Rule 5 Draft, although I don't see the Cubs adding him to the 40 to prevent that from happening.

 

Even though he is repeating Myrtle Beach, P.J. Higgins' athleticism and competitive fire have been compared to J. T. Realmuto. And because Higgins was an infielder and only an occasional catcher in college, there has been a bit of a transition for him to full-time catcher. But he actually is a decent prospect.

 

I know we don't have 2018 stats for Soto and Perez and have to rely solely on eyewitness reports but I have a hard time believing Pereda is not a top 3 catching prospect in this organization when he's good defensively and this year, has 145 PA of .800 OPS at age 22 at high-A.

Well, Phil hasn't had eyes on Pereda for a few years now and is watching Soto and Perez every day, so there's likely a lack of recent intel on Pereda as well as some possible recency bias there.