Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 4-17-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. St. Paul, 12:08 pm
Knoxville vs. Chattanooga, 6:00 pm
South Bend at West Michigan, 5:35 pm
Myrtle Beach at Augusta, 6:05 pm

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Iowa: LHP Jordan Wicks (12.2 IP, 3.55 ERA, 3.24 FIP, 11 K, 6 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Will Sanders (9.2 IP, 0.93 ERA, 2.52 FIP, 9 K, 3 BB)
South Bend: RHP Jaxon Wiggins (7.1 IP, 1.23 ERA, 4.08 FIP, 8 K, 6 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Nazier Mulé (5 IP, 1.80 ERA, 3.17 FIP, 5 K, 2 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

 

[Jason Ross]

I'd guess a Jordan WIcks for Luke Little swap incoming. 

[Bertz]

21 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I'd guess a Jordan WIcks for Luke Little swap incoming. 

100%

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Rcal10]

38 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I'd guess a Jordan WIcks for Luke Little swap incoming. 

Even before Little pitched yesterday I was hoping Wicks was the 2nd arm coming up with Palencia. I have never been a fan of Little and don’t understand why many are. Sure, if he figures out how to throw strikes, he could be good. But so far he has yet to do that in his entire career, including the minors. 

[Rcal10]

Wicks to piggyback Rea on Friday….. maybe🤷

[mul21]

4 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

Wicks to piggyback Rea on Friday….. maybe🤷

I think he starts and they get as much as they can out of him and then figure it out from there. Rea is listed as the starter but how valuable would it have been to have him available yesterday to eat a couple innings instead of having Little go out there and horsefeathers the bed?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

15 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I think he starts and they get as much as they can out of him and then figure it out from there. Rea is listed as the starter but how valuable would it have been to have him available yesterday to eat a couple innings instead of having Little go out there and horsefeathers the bed?

I'm guessing they just use Wicks for that Rea role, at least as long as Rea is effective.  Wicks also gives them another lefty to match up with since Thielbar has been inconsistent, and they can be a bit more aggressive with the off days.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

In the first, Ballesteros walked and Long hit a double to center (109.4 EV, 412 ft - somehow not a home run) but they sandwiched that around all of Triantos, Caissie and Alcantara getting out.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Jason Ross]

Wiggins cruising. 4IP, 6K, 2BB, 1ER

Mule looking strong, 2 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 BB

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

5 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Wiggins cruising. 4IP, 6K, 2BB, 1ER

Mule looking strong, 2 IP, 1 K, 0 H, 0 BB

Thinking Wiggins is done at 75 pitches:

5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 1 HR

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Cole Mathis hit his first pro HR.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Alexey Lumpuy just hit his first stateside homer.

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

It's been 33 plate appearances since Ballesteros last struck out.

[Jason Ross]

This guy is the real deal. I'll say it now: at the end of the year, I think there's a real chance he will be a top-10 organizational guy across the board with room to be a bit higher. This was a grade-A PA all-around and his swing has come so far in a short amount of time. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Jason Ross]

Random observation, and please, someone either agree or disagree with me: does it seem as though Cub pitching prospects are going longer than they have in the past? Mule went back out for a 5th but got over 70 pitches. Horton went 5 yesterday. Wiggins went 5 and 70 pitches today.

In past year, the Cubs top pitching prospects went more 3-4 innings, especially at the dawn of the season. Yet, this year, it feels like we're getting more IP and more pitches in general. Maybe a Zombro thing?

Or maybe I'm just imaging things.

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

It's been 33 plate appearances since Ballesteros last struck out.

I'll do a deeper dive tomorrow so I can include today's game but eyeballing his FG page he's currently above average in every peripheral you can think of except chase rate and pull rate, and both those are only slightly worse than average.

And always worth remembering that if he was a college kid he'd be in this year's draft.  So decent chance he gets a taste of MLB before his peers get a single pro at bat.

[Jason Ross]

14 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I'll do a deeper dive tomorrow so I can include today's game but eyeballing his FG page he's currently above average in every peripheral you can think of except chase rate and pull rate, and both those are only slightly worse than average.

And always worth remembering that if he was a college kid he'd be in this year's draft.  So decent chance he gets a taste of MLB before his peers get a single pro at bat.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

34 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Random observation, and please, someone either agree or disagree with me: does it seem as though Cub pitching prospects are going longer than they have in the past? Mule went back out for a 5th but got over 70 pitches. Horton went 5 yesterday. Wiggins went 5 and 70 pitches today.

In past year, the Cubs top pitching prospects went more 3-4 innings, especially at the dawn of the season. Yet, this year, it feels like we're getting more IP and more pitches in general. Maybe a Zombro thing?

Or maybe I'm just imaging things.

Yep, I noticed the same thing. And they’re letting pitchers try to get out of jams as their pitch count gets into the 60s and 70s. 

And we aren’t the only ones thinking this: