Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-22-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa at Nashville, 2:05 pm
Knoxville at Biloxi, 5:05 pm
South Bend vs, Lake County, 1:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Fayetteville, 5:35 pm

The ACL and DSL Cubs teams have the day off

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Iowa: RHP Kenta Maeda (22 IP, 10.23 ERA, 6.62 FIP, 13 K, 15 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Chris Kachmar (62.2 IP, 4.60 ERA, 3.84 FIP, 63 K, 25 BB)
South Bend: RHP Kenten Egbert (48.2 IP, 5.73 ERA, 4.33 FIP, 30 K, 13 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Jostin Florentino (9.2 IP, 5.59 ERA, 3.83 FIP, 8 K, 5 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

2 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Lovich HR

[profisme]

1 hour ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Lovich HR

Is it possible he is a Tyler Colvin floor who might actually be a stud? I don’t know what his defense looks like so just curious if anyone out there has insight?

[Outshined_One]

2 minutes ago, profisme said:

Is it possible he is a Tyler Colvin floor who might actually be a stud? I don’t know what his defense looks like so just curious if anyone out there has insight?

He was an athletic bean pole when drafted last year who also was a raw LHP in high school. The arm is clearly there for him to end up in RF, but I haven't seen anything about if he has the speed/routes to end up in CF.

He has a long way to go developmentally, but the early results are promising.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Lovich HR

 

[profisme]

3 hours ago, Outshined_One said:

He was an athletic bean pole when drafted last year who also was a raw LHP in high school. The arm is clearly there for him to end up in RF, but I haven't seen anything about if he has the speed/routes to end up in CF.

He has a long way to go developmentally, but the early results are promising.

Thank you. His build and stance remind me of a young Yelich. That would be acceptable.

[JBears79]

Really liking the early returns on Lovich. Hes exciting. Another offseason of adding muscle and I can see him really breaking out

[craig]

Pure developmental guy.  Who knows.  Turns 20 at start of August. 

At Myrtle, he's kinda got some mostly ugly numbers: 

• 18K/1HR
• 18K/3BB
• 5.0 GO/AO on balls in play
• K-rate over 50%,  18K/32AB.  

So, we'll see.  Young guys can develop.  Hope he does.  Some don't, and a lot of guys with contact problems don't grow out of that.  

Patience and hope.  

[Jason Ross]

58 minutes ago, craig said:

Pure developmental guy.  Who knows.  Turns 20 at start of August. 

At Myrtle, he's kinda got some mostly ugly numbers: 

• 18K/1HR
• 18K/3BB
• 5.0 GO/AO on balls in play
• K-rate over 50%,  18K/32AB.  

So, we'll see.  Young guys can develop.  Hope he does.  Some don't, and a lot of guys with contact problems don't grow out of that.  

Patience and hope.  

I think this is a pretty unfair assessment. He has 35 PA's so far in Myrtle, hasn't been in the system for even a full year yet, and is very much in the mold of "developmental prospect". He's not coming from, say an SEC school, but a midwest prep-program (so not even super-high-level pre-ball). 

Let's get past 35 PA's before we diagnose what his issues are. Instead, I'd recommend focusing on a couple of other things:
1. The Cubs tend to select a hand-picked overslot player in the 11th round. Zyhir Hope was a similar pick.
2. Lovach was slated to go to Arkansas, which has been one of the better baseball programs of recent times. 
3. His body is very much a "work in progress". 
4. This is the first time he's ever focused solely on hitting, he was a two-way prospect up to the draft

I think he's a good developmental prospect who hit better in Arizona than I expected and made it to Myrtle faster than I expected. I thought he was going to spend the entire year with the Complex team and be locked into a weight room. Clearly the org was happy enough with his .362 wOBA and 20 K% in Arizona to move him up. There's real upside here. I suspect he will be more of a "slow burner", and think the jump will take place not in 2025, but in 2026 regardless.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

7 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

I think this is a pretty unfair assessment. He has 35 PA's so far in Myrtle, hasn't been in the system for even a full year yet, and is very much in the mold of "developmental prospect". He's not coming from, say an SEC school, but a midwest prep-program (so not even super-high-level pre-ball). 

Let's get past 35 PA's before we diagnose what his issues are. Instead, I'd recommend focusing on a couple of other things:
1. The Cubs tend to select a hand-picked overslot player in the 11th round. Zyhir Hope was a similar pick.
2. Lovach was slated to go to Arkansas, which has been one of the better baseball programs of recent times. 
3. His body is very much a "work in progress". 
4. This is the first time he's ever focused solely on hitting, he was a two-way prospect up to the draft

I think he's a good developmental prospect who hit better in Arizona than I expected and made it to Myrtle faster than I expected. I thought he was going to spend the entire year with the Complex team and be locked into a weight room. Clearly the org was happy enough with his .362 wOBA and 20 K% in Arizona to move him up. There's real upside here. I suspect he will be more of a "slow burner", and think the jump will take place not in 2025, but in 2026 regardless.

It honestly feels like Lovich is like Southisene - not much to prove in the ACL but (possibly, in the case of Lovich since it's still early) not ready for the Carolina League, especially from a strength perspective. 

[Bertz]

4 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

It honestly feels like Lovich is like Southisene - not much to prove in the ACL but (possibly, in the case of Lovich since it's still early) not ready for the Carolina League, especially from a strength perspective. 

Yeah I think in this relatively new world where there's nothing between Complex Leagues and Low A we probably need to afford more grace to guys their first month or two in full season ball than we would have five years ago.