Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-4-24

[Outshined_One]

3 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

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

If Mo can stick at catcher, he will have a really, really good case to be the #1 prospect in this system and a Top 10 prospect in MLB. That bat is almost otherworldly.

[NorthsideAvenger]

9 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

We don't have to reconsider our opinion of a player's quality every 10 days.

Thank you. Adversity for a young player is a good thing.

[Jason Ross]

So, one thing i find interesting about the Horton velocity thing:

1. Keegan Thompson in Triple-A sees a velo decrease. Comes to MLB...velo back.

2. Steele rehab velo was down. 

3. Horton shows up in Iowa. Velo is down.

I'm not saying they're connected, just something interesting. 

[Bertz]

12 hours ago, Irrelevant Dude said:

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

I don't thinknit is until it happens a fee more times.  There's probably some nerves for his first AAA start, it was a bit cold, and he stretched out to a new season high in pitches.  Also clearly the command wasn't there yesterday which is probably related to the velo being down a tick.

He is supposed to have more velo than he had yesterday so it is something to keep an eye on.  He's not quite Brown velo wise but he should be sitting at like 95 and change I believe..

[KCCub]

1 hour ago, 1908_Cubs said:

So, one thing i find interesting about the Horton velocity thing:

1. Keegan Thompson in Triple-A sees a velo decrease. Comes to MLB...velo back.

2. Steele rehab velo was down. 

3. Horton shows up in Iowa. Velo is down.

I'm not saying they're connected, just something interesting. 

Same thing happened with Kyle Bradish in his rehab starts. Everyone was concerned with his velo being down because of his elbow injury. Then he made his first mlb start this year on Thurs and velo was back to normal. 

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

The IVB and the extension stand out the most to me for Horton. Kinda low on both.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Mulé and Valdez looked as impressive as their box score lines: https://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/279162#comment-279162

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.thecubreporter.com/comment/279164#comment-279164

Quote

Although he is still a two-pitch pitcher (FB/SL), Naz Mule's FB velo has been increasing with every outing as he gets stronger and stronger. I would say he projects a lot like Michael Arias, which is to say a "high-leverage" RP. If so, he could move VERY fast through the pipeline. In fact, it would appear that he is just about ready to get moved-up to Myrtle Beach (TBD). 

Mule was scratched from his scheduled start in the Cubs last EXST game at Giants Thursday night so he could start the first ACL game Saturday morning at Angels. That pushed Yenrri Rojas (who was supposed to start the ACL opener on Saturday) to a piggy-back role behind Mule, but Rojas still went 4.1 IP. 

Also, both Jaxon Wiggins and Ethan Roberts threw "live" BP again in the stadium Friday afternoon, so they should be game-ready, probably for next Friday night at Sloan Park versus Guardians (Roberts is throwing just one inning per outing while Wiggins is throwing two innings, so Roberts might get into a game before Wiggins does). 

Otherwise, Freilyn Silverio / Wilme More will likely piggy-back Tuesday night versus Padres at Sloan Park, and Luis Martinez-Gomez will very likely start the game versus Dodgers on Thursday night at Sloan. 

Y. Rojas was clearly the Cubs #1 SP and Martinez-Gomez was the Cubs #2 SP (in terms of game performance) at EXST (and Luis A. Reyes was very good too in a multi-inning RP role), although Naz Mule and Miguel Cruz (who was virtually unhittable at EXST) were actually considered to be the Cubs pitching prospects at EXST with the highest "ceilings." (The 6'4 235 20-year old Cruz was also the Cubs top pitching prospect in the DSL in 2023, and he may have the best pure "stuff" among the pitchers at ACL Cubs, although he has a LOT of difficulty commanding it and so throwing strikes and walks are a big problem for him). 

 

[mul21]

On 5/5/2024 at 7:26 AM, 1908_Cubs said:

So, one thing i find interesting about the Horton velocity thing:

1. Keegan Thompson in Triple-A sees a velo decrease. Comes to MLB...velo back.

2. Steele rehab velo was down. 

3. Horton shows up in Iowa. Velo is down.

I'm not saying they're connected, just something interesting. 

Are you thinking this is an organizational/strategy thing or that guns are slow?

[Jason Ross]

24 minutes ago, mul21 said:

Are you thinking this is an organizational/strategy thing or that guns are slow?

Both. Either, really. I think it's interesting that we've seen a reoccurring pattern that players head to Iowa and their velo drops. This hasn't been something we've seen in the past, but something that feels like it's happening specifically now. The "why" could be either of those things, or it could be coincidence. But I've noticed what seems like a slight pattern occurring and it's certainly got my ears perked.

[jumbo]

On 5/4/2024 at 5:12 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

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

 

I think we can all agree that uniform should take the blame for a couple walks and an earned run. Take that off his line

[Bertz]

Eno's model (which is what lives on Fangraphs) were more bullish on Horton's first start even with the velo being down a tick.

[Jason Ross]

37 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Eno's model (which is what lives on Fangraphs) were more bullish on Horton's first start even with the velo being down a tick.

I love Eno so I'm glad to see this.