Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-29-22

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Game (All Times Central):

 

Iowa vs Columbus, 12:08 pm

Tennessee vs Rocket City, 6:15 pm

South Bend at Beloit, 6:35 pm

Myrtle Beach vs Charleston, 6:05 pm

DSL Cubs Blue at DSL Pirates Black, 10:00 am

 

The ACL Cubs and DSL Cubs Red have the day off

 

Probable Starters:

 

Iowa: RHP Robert Gsellman

Tennessee: RHP Javier Assad

South Bend: LHP Jordan Wicks

Myrtle Beach: RHP Luis Devers

[CubinNY]

Kevin Made with a ding for MB

[Bertz]

Luis Devers with 9 Ks and 0 BBs in five innings. Only let two balls out of the infield, though one was over the fence

 

He, Made, and Alcantara all feel pretty ready for SB. I imagine at this point the main things keeping them at Myrtle are the proximity to the draft and trade deadline, and the additional roster machinations those will require?

[Bertz]

Cole Roederer up to .315/.415/.389 at Tenn. No power so far but hopefully that's just normal dong streakiness.

 

Also there pretty much has to be a trade or two in the next 9 months using some of the MiLB outfield depth. As of right now, this would appear to be the system's outfield situation at each level on OD next year:

 

MLB: Happ*-Morel*-Seiya*; Nelly* and Ortega* in reserve

AAA: Roederer*-Davis*-Canario*; Darius Hill* in reserve

AA: Pinango*-PCA-Caissie; Nwogu in reserve

A+: ???-Franklin-Alcantara*; nothing all that fun in reserve

A: Not much to see here...Ismael Mena I guess?

 

Asterisks mean a guy already is on or must be added to the 40 man this winter. Morel can (and ideally primarily would) play the infield, but that's still 10 OFers needing to be on the 40 man. Feels like you need to trade Happ or Ortega, AND use one of Nelly/Roederer/Pinango/Canario in a buy trade. Maybe even two of those four?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't think you need to lose much sleep about protecting Pinango, the tools/upside aren't loud enough given his level and present production. Probably can say similar things about Roederer and Hill, though you can at least squint and see the argument if Roederer steps on the gas or Hill keeps flirting with .400 at AAA.

 

But yes, trade Happ, and if you can without paying pennies on the dollar, choosing between Velazquez and Canario would be helpful.

[craig]

Bertz, a few weeks ago I'd noted that Made hadn't really shown much XBH power. Man, he's gone on a power surge since. Really nice. He's a couple months younger than Alcantara.

 

In the clip, he looks pretty well built now. Not sure he really needs to fill out much further, but the Cubs development people can evaluate that.

[We Got The Whole 9]

I don't think you need to lose much sleep about protecting Pinango, the tools/upside aren't loud enough given his level and present production. Probably can say similar things about Roederer and Hill, though you can at least squint and see the argument if Roederer steps on the gas or Hill keeps flirting with .400 at AAA.

 

But yes, trade Happ, and if you can without paying pennies on the dollar, choosing between Velazquez and Canario would be helpful.

Do you protect Slaughter? I believe he's eligible.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't think you need to lose much sleep about protecting Pinango, the tools/upside aren't loud enough given his level and present production. Probably can say similar things about Roederer and Hill, though you can at least squint and see the argument if Roederer steps on the gas or Hill keeps flirting with .400 at AAA.

 

But yes, trade Happ, and if you can without paying pennies on the dollar, choosing between Velazquez and Canario would be helpful.

Do you protect Slaughter? I believe he's eligible.

 

I would think of him and Hill pretty similarly, in that you don't make any plans at the deadline with them in mind, and cross that bridge when you get to it. In both cases they were obviously unrosterable until about 6 weeks ago or so, and while players can make adjustments and aren't completely beholden to their past, it's prudent to see how the final couple months of the season play out. Hill for example doesn't even need to play all that poorly to end the season with a line like .320/.350/.450, which is a good line but not one you worry much about insisting on a 40 man spot for a LF only profile. Slaughter's .476 wOBA (!) has more room for error, especially if he's at all playable at 3B/2B, and it'll come down to how sustainable he shows his simultaneous power spike and big drop in K rate is.

[Bertz]

Bertz, a few weeks ago I'd noted that Made hadn't really shown much XBH power. Man, he's gone on a power surge since. Really nice. He's a couple months younger than Alcantara.

 

In the clip, he looks pretty well built now. Not sure he really needs to fill out much further, but the Cubs development people can evaluate that.

 

He's extremely young, which I sometimes forget since he was in full season ball last year. If he got promoted today, he'd be the second youngest player currently in High A. Actually the Cubs are set to broadly dominate the youth movement at High A. Let's say Alcantara and Made get moved up on Tuesday. In terms of age the Cubs would have:

 

#2 - Kevin Made

#4 - Kevin Alcantara

#5 - Owen Caissie

#12 - Yohendrick Pinango

#15 - Pete Crow-Armstrong

 

Just a really strong crop of teens and just turned 20 year olds. Too bad Ed Howard, who isn't much older than PCA, isn't still part of this discussion at the moment.

[sneakypower]

Wicks with 29% Ks and 6% BBs through 246 BF…Pretty impressive considering he went from one mediocre spin to two with command, multiple velocities, and shapes. He’s not shy about using them either, any count too

yeah have to say he's acquitting himself pretty well, but i'd like to know more about the high H/9 which is in stark contrast to his more dominant teammate

 

[attachment=0]mwl.JPG[/attachment]

unfortunately there's really not much prospect firepower in the MWL to compare him to statistically though

[Tryptamine]

Wicks with 29% Ks and 6% BBs through 246 BF…Pretty impressive considering he went from one mediocre spin to two with command, multiple velocities, and shapes. He’s not shy about using them either, any count too

yeah have to say he's acquitting himself pretty well, but i'd like to know more about the high H/9 which is in stark contrast to his more dominant teammate

 

[attachment=0]mwl.JPG[/attachment]

unfortunately there's really not much prospect firepower in the MWL to compare him to statistically though

 

Dax Fulton is about the only recognizable name up there, at least for me.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Wicks with 29% Ks and 6% BBs through 246 BF…Pretty impressive considering he went from one mediocre spin to two with command, multiple velocities, and shapes. He’s not shy about using them either, any count too

yeah have to say he's acquitting himself pretty well, but i'd like to know more about the high H/9 which is in stark contrast to his more dominant teammate

 

[attachment=0]mwl.JPG[/attachment]

unfortunately there's really not much prospect firepower in the MWL to compare him to statistically though

 

There's definitely concerns there, though scanning his game log I'm wondering how much is him getting yanked a little early due to single inning pitch count and/or early season buildup. There's a chicken/egg dynamic to this, but when he goes 4+ IP the H/9 comes down a lot, and if you look at the pitch counts it's not as if he's throwing the same 75 pitches and only getting through 2.2 in his bad outings. Maybe if he had kept going in those he would've gotten shelled more, or maybe he would've been able to balance that out a bit were it not for the workload shackles.

[We Got The Whole 9]

I don't think you need to lose much sleep about protecting Pinango, the tools/upside aren't loud enough given his level and present production. Probably can say similar things about Roederer and Hill, though you can at least squint and see the argument if Roederer steps on the gas or Hill keeps flirting with .400 at AAA.

 

But yes, trade Happ, and if you can without paying pennies on the dollar, choosing between Velazquez and Canario would be helpful.

Do you protect Slaughter? I believe he's eligible.

 

I would think of him and Hill pretty similarly, in that you don't make any plans at the deadline with them in mind, and cross that bridge when you get to it. In both cases they were obviously unrosterable until about 6 weeks ago or so, and while players can make adjustments and aren't completely beholden to their past, it's prudent to see how the final couple months of the season play out. Hill for example doesn't even need to play all that poorly to end the season with a line like .320/.350/.450, which is a good line but not one you worry much about insisting on a 40 man spot for a LF only profile. Slaughter's .476 wOBA (!) has more room for error, especially if he's at all playable at 3B/2B, and it'll come down to how sustainable he shows his simultaneous power spike and big drop in K rate is.

The big drop in Ks is really intriguing; coupled with the power spike it makes me feel like they've made a pretty significant adjustment and he has taken to it well. I like what Brett pointed out, that his last 4 HR came on non-fastballs. From the videos I've seen he is swinging confidently and with intention to do damage. That alone could be new to him. He didn't show significant power at any point in college or the pros. His approach probably wasn't geared toward it. I think he's really intriguing; 6'3 200 former WR for LSU who's stealing bags at 90% and emerging power. I think they will protect him. Obviously he's not gonna crush it like this but even with some downturn there's a lot to like there.