Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 4-9-19

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa lost 4-3 Box Score

 

LF-2B T. Giamrbone 1/5, R, 2 K

CF I. Happ 2/4, R, RBI, BB, 2B (3)

2B Z. Short 0/0, HBP, E (2, fielding) - left game in 4th inning, 2 innings after HBP

C T. Davis 0/3

SP D. Robinson 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 7-5 GO-FO, 73-53 pitches-strikes

RP D. Maples 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO, 30-10 pitches-strikes

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

 

Tennessee had the day off

 

Myrtle Beach lost 5-4 Box Score

 

CF DJ Wilson 1/3, RBI, 2 BB, 2B (1)

RF J. Herron 0/3, R, 2 BB, K

C M. Amaya 1/4, BB, K, 2B (2)

DH L. Reynolds 2/4, R, K, HBP

LF K. Mitchell 2/5, R, RBI, BB, K

2B A. Ademan 1/2, 2 RBI, BB, HBP

SP L. Lugo 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1-5 GO-FO, 74-49 pitches-strikes

 

 

South Bend won 6-1 Box Score

 

LF DJ Artis 2/4, R, BB, 2 2B (2)

DH F. Mejía 1/2, K - left game with injury

CF N. Velázquez 1/4, RBI, K, CS (1)

RF J. Sierra 1/4, R, K, SB (1)

SS R. Narea 1/3, R, BB, K

SP B. Márquez 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K, 2 HBP, 1-0 GO-FO, 59-37 pitches-strikes

RP J. Passantino 3.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2-4 GO-FO, 56-41 pitches-strikes

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

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

 

 

 

 

Please don’t get hurt.

[CubsWin]

Ernst's account is a little more glowing than I would give Marquez after watching the game. A lot of the strikes he recorded were fastballs out of the zone that were chased by Low-A hitters.

 

The upside is definitely there, and the inconsistency he showed is almost to be expected from a 20-year-old, but there was a wide gap from when he was on to when he wasn't. When he missed, he wasn't even close. He threw his change-up once which he will need if he's going to remain a starter as he approaches the bigs. And he definitely lost velocity on his FB after the 2nd inning, throwing mostly 91-92 in the 4th.

 

Again, this isn't out of the ordinary, but there's a LOT of development left for Brailyn before he becomes a viable major league pitcher. Now this was just his first start, and he isn't even fully stretched out yet, so a more fulsome picture will be available in May and beyond, but IF what I saw today is generally who he is right now, I wouldn't expect him to move quickly.

 

That said, when a player is this young, he's got time to refine and repeat his mechanics and build strength/stamina, so with the assumption he'll gain consistency over time, what I'm mostly looking for is how good is he when he's on. And he was really, really good when he was. The slider works well. When the FB was below the belt, it was controlled well, though I wouldn't say commanded. He threw plenty over the heart of the plate, but hard enough to where Low-A hitters couldn't catch up.

 

No reason to not be moderately excited about him, but (with the awareness that this was only his first start) he needs to gain quite a bit of consistency if he's going to be a top 100 prospect by season's end.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Hrubes20]

Very intrigued by the Bryan Smith write up on Marquez over at BN. He's saying that Marquez is throwing plenty of 2-seamers, which are obviously the lower velocity ones. Something to monitor going forward. That's about as good of a first full season start as you could hope for in chilly weather and having been limited in ST.

 

Bryan Smith is doing solid work over there at BN. A HUGE improvement over the guy they had before. I legitimately didn't even read their prospect articles when he was the one writing them.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Very intrigued by the Bryan Smith write up on Marquez over at BN. He's saying that Marquez is throwing plenty of 2-seamers, which are obviously the lower velocity ones. Something to monitor going forward. That's about as good of a first full season start as you could hope for in chilly weather and having been limited in ST.

 

Bryan Smith is doing solid work over there at BN. A HUGE improvement over the guy they had before. I legitimately didn't even read their prospect articles when he was the one writing them.

 

The two biggest Cubs-related updgrades this offseason were adding Jordan Bastian to Cubs.com and Bryan Smith to BN.

[Cubswin11]

Very intrigued by the Bryan Smith write up on Marquez over at BN. He's saying that Marquez is throwing plenty of 2-seamers, which are obviously the lower velocity ones. Something to monitor going forward. That's about as good of a first full season start as you could hope for in chilly weather and having been limited in ST.

 

Bryan Smith is doing solid work over there at BN. A HUGE improvement over the guy they had before. I legitimately didn't even read their prospect articles when he was the one writing them.

Upgrading to Bryan Smith (Cubs Prospects on Twitter) over that Luke Blaze idiot they use to have is incalculable.

[CubsWin]

Very intrigued by the Bryan Smith write up on Marquez over at BN. He's saying that Marquez is throwing plenty of 2-seamers, which are obviously the lower velocity ones. Something to monitor going forward. That's about as good of a first full season start as you could hope for in chilly weather and having been limited in ST.

 

Bryan Smith is doing solid work over there at BN. A HUGE improvement over the guy they had before. I legitimately didn't even read their prospect articles when he was the one writing them.

Upgrading to Bryan Smith (Cubs Prospects on Twitter) over that Luke Blaze idiot they use to have is incalculable.

Yup! Luke suuuuucked.

 

Good to hear that Marquez is throwing a two-seamer. I'll be looking out for the movement on it. Though my untrained eye might miss it like those Low-A hitters...