Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-2-19

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Box Scores:

 

Iowa won 8-6 Box Score

 

Tennessee won game one 5-1 Box Score

 

Tennessee won game two 5-2 Box Score

 

Myrtle Beach lost 5-3 Box Score

 

South Bend lost 10-1 Box Score

[CubsWin]

The Cubs front office has repeatedly and openly acknowledged their faults in scouting and developing pitchers in their first few years of existence. I agree. It's clear the results have not been good. That said, they seem to be coming close to turning that around.

 

Often the forgotten man, Trevor Clifton is off to a strong start in AAA. He's 23 (will turn 24 in 9 days) and his season line reads:

 

16.2 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 9 BB, 24 K, 1.08 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, .155 BAA, 3.39 FIP, xFIP 4.08.

 

It's a very small sample. His xFIP isn't that great and his BABIP is due to rise at .242, so it's likely his numbers will regress towards his career averages, but how far I don't know. We've seen recent out-of-nowhere breakouts before for this organization (Contreras, Bote, etc.) but they've all been hitters to date. And this wouldn't strictly qualify as out-of-nowhere as Clifton has had solid seasons at HIgh A and AA prior.

 

As Raisin posted in yesterday's thread, one such breakout could be happening with another 23-year-old Tyson Miller (who turns 24 at the end of July). His BABIP is absurdly low at .191, but we have to take into account that BABIP in the minors can often simply show that a prospect is dominating that level and is ready for promotion. I don't think we are there yet with Miller. It's too early, but if this keeps up for another 4-6 weeks, the sample size gets big enough to justify challenging him in AAA. Miller's season line:

 

25.1 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 25 K, 1.07 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, .138 BAA, 2.15 FIP, 3.48 xFIP.

 

Call me crazy, but I like pitchers who are difficult to hit. So far this year, Clifton and Miller have been exactly that.

 

(I'll take a moment to pat myself on the back for choosing Tyson Miller and James Norwood as my 2018 breakout candidates. Don't worry I get more wrong than I do right...)

 

Then there's 23-year-old Cory Abbott, who will be 23 all season. Mr. Consistent has put ERAs of 2.47 in 47.1 IP in Low A, 2.53 in 67.2 IP in High A , and 2.86 in 28.1 IP thus far in AA. Under Theo, the Cubs have picked a lot of disappointing pitchers in the 2nd round (Underwood, Zastryzny and Stinnett) but Abbott has hopefully reversed that trend. His season line:

 

28.1 IP, 28 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 5 BB, 28 K, 2.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .259 BAA, 3.33 FIP, 3.18 xFIP.

 

That's 3 starters, AA or higher who are off to promising/dominant starts this year. We'll see how they look come June, but for now, they give us hope that the Cubs are not as terrible at drafting and developing pitchers as the prevailing theory suggests.

 

There's also a longer list of guys with a chance like Adbert Alzolay, Matt Swarmer, Keegan Thompson, Justin Steele, Thomas Hatch, Oscar De La Cruz, Bryan Hudson, Paul Richan, Brailyn Marquez, Riley Thompson, Cam Sanders, Yovanny Cruz, Jeremiah Estrada, Danis Correa, Richard Gallardo and others who can emerge in the coming months further re-writing this notion of institutional failure.

Edited May 2, 2019 by CubsWin

[Bertz]

Roederer hit his first dong. Coming on the heels of this:

 

 

He's gonna be a good one

[We Got The Whole 9]

Roederer hit his first dong. Coming on the heels of this:

 

 

He's gonna be a good one

Also from Smith

 

Clifton and Miller probably strike me as the two most obvious guys to benefit this offseason from the Cubs additions to their pitching infrastructure. Clifton’s cutter and FB spin rate look improved, Miller adding this curveball now to his mix. Clearly unlocked a lot for both.

 

Anyone know which specific additions to the infrastructure he could be referring to?

[Cubswin11]

Roederer hit his first dong. Coming on the heels of this:

 

 

He's gonna be a good one

Also from Smith

 

Clifton and Miller probably strike me as the two most obvious guys to benefit this offseason from the Cubs additions to their pitching infrastructure. Clifton’s cutter and FB spin rate look improved, Miller adding this curveball now to his mix. Clearly unlocked a lot for both.

 

Anyone know which specific additions to the infrastructure he could be referring to?

Is it that pitching lab they built in Arizona? We also added/replaced some of the coaching/trainers/staff throughout the org that seem to be more forward thinking and analytically inclined. We hired that former player (who’s name escapes me) who has like a biomechanics degree from MIT as example.

 

Edit: I was thinking of Craig Breslow, he’s “Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations” and he went to Yale and has degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Cubswin11

[We Got The Whole 9]

Roederer hit his first dong. Coming on the heels of this:

 

 

He's gonna be a good one

Also from Smith

 

Clifton and Miller probably strike me as the two most obvious guys to benefit this offseason from the Cubs additions to their pitching infrastructure. Clifton’s cutter and FB spin rate look improved, Miller adding this curveball now to his mix. Clearly unlocked a lot for both.

 

Anyone know which specific additions to the infrastructure he could be referring to?

Is it that pitching lab they built in Arizona? We also added/replaced some of the coaching/trainers/staff through the org that seem to be more forward thinking and analytically inclines. We also hired than former player (who’s name escapes me) who has like a biomechanics degree from MIT as example.

 

Edit: I was thinking of Craig Breslow, he’s “Director of Strategic Initiatives for Baseball Operations” and he went to Yale and has degrees in molecular biophysics and biochemistry.

Hmm, pretty awesome stuff. I hadn't realized we made these changes. Could definitely be a major factor in how were getting these breakouts and I've felt like our pitching has taken a noticeable step forward on the farm.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[itisallpartoftheplan]

 

Russell stripped of his Chicago Cubs helmet.

 

I never knew that rule about the helmets/hats while on rehab.

[CubsWin]

Keep forgetting about Alzolay. It'd be really nice if he can stay healthy at AAA and put up excellent numbers becoming a viable major league pen option this year.

 

With Maples already up, Edwards, Alzolay, Happ and Russell in AAA and Clifton potentially emerging as an option (though he'd have to be added to the 40-man), that would be some amazing AAA depth for a team that's already deep at the major league level. The Cubs could handle underperformance from any optionable players (Almora, Schwarber, Ryan, etc.) and/or any injuries without losing too much performance. Heck, the players coming up might even produce better!

[CubsWin]

 

Russell stripped of his Chicago Cubs helmet.

 

I never knew that rule about the helmets/hats while on rehab.

Ha! That's awesome. I never knew about that rule either. Welcome to AAA, Addy...

[CubsWin]

From the posts above and his hot streak of late, it looks like Roederer will not go the route of Velazquez and be demoted to Eugene once their season starts. It will be nice to have a true 19 year old in full season ball once again following in the footsteps of Ademan and Amaya. Keep em comin', Cubs.

[CubsWin]

Delvin Zinn is hitting .419 over his last 10 games and I still don't care.

[We Got The Whole 9]

All the talk is about Happ but why is Dewees chopped liver? Dude is raking, has no contact issues, and is a natural CF. Feels like a dude we will trade or release and watch as he becomes a better CF than anyone on our roster.

[Cubswin11]

All the talk is about Happ but why is Dewees chopped liver? Dude is raking, has no contact issues, and is a natural CF. Feels like a dude we will trade or release and watch as he becomes a better CF than anyone on our roster.

Maybe something has clicked, but he’s been a below average to a tick above (going by wRC+) at every stop in the minors outside of this start to the year, a repeat of AAA. He looks like a AAAA guy to me, at best.

[Regular Show]

All the talk is about Happ but why is Dewees chopped liver? Dude is raking, has no contact issues, and is a natural CF. Feels like a dude we will trade or release and watch as he becomes a better CF than anyone on our roster.

 

Seriously? We're talking about Dewees?

 

If KC thought anything of him they wouldn't have traded him back to us for basically a non-prospect (Stephen Ridings) that I had to lookup just now lol. KC is rebuilding right now and wouldn't make this trade if they thought he was any good. He's nothing special and just part of our effort to bolster our depth at AA/AAA.

[We Got The Whole 9]

All the talk is about Happ but why is Dewees chopped liver? Dude is raking, has no contact issues, and is a natural CF. Feels like a dude we will trade or release and watch as he becomes a better CF than anyone on our roster.

 

Seriously? We're talking about Dewees?

 

If KC thought anything of him they wouldn't have traded him back to us for basically a non-prospect (Stephen Ridings) that I had to lookup just now lol. KC is rebuilding right now and wouldn't make this trade if they thought he was any good. He's nothing special and just part of our effort to bolster our depth at AA/AAA.

I'm just saying that I don't like any of our options at CF (unless Heyward continues to wOBA over 400 and compensate for what looks like below-average defense; Almora can't get on base; Happ is not a natural there) and if he continues to hit and get on base at a high clip and Happ gets another chance and turns back into the hole that the league turned him into, then I would like to see Dewees get a look. I really don't care if teams have cast him aside. There are numerous examples of players bouncing around before they were given a shot and they have turned out successful careers at dirt-cheap cost. Think of guys like Muncy, Taylor, Beckham, Voit, etc etc

 

I'm not clamoring for him but I will be watching to see if he maintains or maybe even improves as the year goes along.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

All the talk is about Happ but why is Dewees chopped liver? Dude is raking, has no contact issues, and is a natural CF. Feels like a dude we will trade or release and watch as he becomes a better CF than anyone on our roster.

 

Seriously? We're talking about Dewees?

 

If KC thought anything of him they wouldn't have traded him back to us for basically a non-prospect (Stephen Ridings) that I had to lookup just now lol. KC is rebuilding right now and wouldn't make this trade if they thought he was any good. He's nothing special and just part of our effort to bolster our depth at AA/AAA.

I'm just saying that I don't like any of our options at CF (unless Heyward continues to wOBA over 400 and compensate for what looks like below-average defense; Almora can't get on base; Happ is not a natural there) and if he continues to hit and get on base at a high clip and Happ gets another chance and turns back into the hole that the league turned him into, then I would like to see Dewees get a look. I really don't care if teams have cast him aside. There are numerous examples of players bouncing around before they were given a shot and they have turned out successful careers at dirt-cheap cost. Think of guys like Muncy, Taylor, Beckham, Voit, etc etc

 

I'm not clamoring for him but I will be watching to see if he maintains or maybe even improves as the year goes along.

 

Dewees isn't that great in center.

[dfnowak]

Anyone know why Hoerner was taken out after his 2nd AB (ground out) in the 3rd inning yesterday? Maybe they only wanted him to get in a couple of ABs?

[We Got The Whole 9]

Anyone know why Hoerner was taken out after his 2nd AB (ground out) in the 3rd inning yesterday? Maybe they only wanted him to get in a couple of ABs?

It was a continuation of a suspended game. He didn't play yesterday.

[We Got The Whole 9]

Steele threw 4 innings of 1 hit ball yesterday and had a sparkling 45 pitch: 35 strike ratio.