Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-4-24

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Omaha, 3:08 pm
Tennessee vs. Biloxi, 6:00 pm
South Bend at Lansing, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach at Salem, 6:05 pm
ACL Cubs vs. ACL Angels, 1:00 pm - season opener

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Cade Horton (at AA: 16.1 IP, 1.10 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 18 K, 2 BB) - AAA debut
Tennessee: TBD
South Bend: RHP Luis Devers (11 IP, 9.82 ERA, 4.37 FIP, 10 K, 9 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Juan Bello (14.2 IP, 1.84 ERA, 3.31 FIP, 21 K, 9 BB)
ACL Cubs: RHP Yenrri Rojas (2022 at ACL Cubs: 35 IP, 6.94 ERA, 6.34 FIP, 25 K, 17 BB)

[CubinNY]

Definitely going to watch Hoton

[Hrubes20]

Mule gets the opener for the ACL. 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

That'll do, Mule: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5/1 K/BB

[Hrubes20]

2 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

That'll do, Mule: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5/1 K/BB

I’m waiting for the typical ACL box score nonsense and the correction that it wasn’t Mule in inning 2 or something.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Derniche Valdez with a triple and a walk. Ángel Cepeda with a single. José Escobar with a single and a double.

[Hrubes20]

Horton walks the first AAA hitter he faces, then gets the next 3 with a K. Working right around 93. K was on a nasty slider

[Hrubes20]

Wheels fall off for Horton in 2nd. Can’t throw a strike to save his life.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

3 minutes ago, Hrubes20 said:

Wheels fall off for Horton in 2nd. Can’t throw a strike to save his life.

Got out of it with 2 runs surrendered but probably done.

[Hrubes20]

I love that they sent Horton back out for the 3rd after that abysmal 2nd inning. 1-2-3 with 3 Ks.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 minutes ago, Hrubes20 said:

I love that they sent Horton back out for the 3rd after that abysmal 2nd inning. 1-2-3 with 3 Ks.

Nice to see him battle back. Funny line for him.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wow, Horton back for the 4th.

[Hrubes20]

1 minute ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Wow, Horton back for the 4th.

Was about to say that as well. Was at 63 pitches through 3. Kid gloves coming off.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Love how he worked around that second.

Final line: 4 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 WP, 77-44 pitches-strikes

 

[KCCub]

 

[Bertz]

17 minutes ago, KCCub said:

 

Thought this was interesting in the comments

If he's switched to a cut-ride fastball a la Justin Steele that would maybe excuse the velo drop.  It's also just one outing in slightly chilly settings but the velo being south of 94 definitely caught my eye in a bad way.

 

[Bertz]

My guy Sam McWilliams got knocked around too, tough day pitching all around in that game.

[KCCub]

12 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Thought this was interesting in the comments

If he's switched to a cut-ride fastball a la Justin Steele that would maybe excuse the velo drop.  It's also just one outing in slightly chilly settings but the velo being south of 94 definitely caught my eye in a bad way.

 

It’s going to be an interesting follow to see what becomes of the statcast audit. Also, has anyone seen what his max velo was?

[Bertz]

47 minutes ago, KCCub said:

It’s going to be an interesting follow to see what becomes of the statcast audit. Also, has anyone seen what his max velo was?

94.9 looks like

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=5/4/2024&gamePk=753152&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=playerBreakdown&sportId=11

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

friendship ended with Matt Shaw, now Moises Ballesteros is my best friend

[Irrelevant Dude]

1 hour ago, Bertz said:

94.9 looks like

That seems... At least slightly concerning?  I thought he usually tops out around 97?

[Cubs420psd]

So is Matt Shaw actually good or was he just a college hitter beating up on the low minors?

 

If I remember correctly he started hot at double A last season and then fell off towards the end of the year too

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

3 minutes ago, Cubs420psd said:

So is Matt Shaw actually good or was he just a college hitter beating up on the low minors?

 

If I remember correctly he started hot at double A last season and then fell off towards the end of the year too

 

Shaw has had a poor couple weeks, but he still has like a 130 wRC+ career mark at the AA level.  We don't have to reconsider our opinion of a player's quality every 10 days.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1 hour ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

friendship ended with Matt Shaw, now Moises Ballesteros is my best friend

Don’t forget power hitter Pedro Ramírez. 

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]