Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 7-4-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Omaha, 7:05 pm
Knoxville at Rocket City, 6:00 pm
South Bend at Peoria, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach at Charleston, 6:05 pm
ACL Cubs at ACL Rockies, 1:00 pm
DSL Cubs Blue at DSL Pirates Gold, 10:00 am
DSL Cubs Red vs. DSL Arizona Black, 10:00 am

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Iowa: RHP Kenta Maeda (35 IP, 7.20 ERA, 6.10 FIP, 22 K, 20 BB)
Knoxville: TBD - maybe Tyler Schlaffer? (at South Bend: 59.1 IP, 4.10 ERA, 4.52 FIP, 60 K, 28 BB)
South Bend: RHP Erian Rodríguez (32.1 IP, 3.06 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 29 K, 10 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Jostin Florentino (15.2 IP, 3.45 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 16 K, 7 BB)

[Bertz]

Chris Kachmar is starting for Iowa  instead of Maeda.  I wonder if this is just reverb from the Wicks move, or if Maeda's heading up to MLB to potentially provide some length if things go south in tomorrow's bullpen game.

Jostin Florentino is shoving again for Myrtle.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

José Escobar with a double and homer.

OPS up to .724.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Jostin threw 88 pitches.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Fun AA debut: 

97 pitches!

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Now that we know Rojas isn't going to the Futures Game I don't really understand why he's still in South Bend

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Jonny Long with another dong

I've been pretty patient with Turner, but it's probably about time

[CaliforniaRaisin]

15 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Jonny Long with another dong

I've been pretty patient with Turner, but it's probably about time

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Ty Southisene went 0/1 with 4 walks and 3 runs.

[muntjack]

Caissie 3/4 with a 2B, BB, 0 K

I think he's reaching that next level. 

[Jason Ross]

12 hours ago, Bertz said:

Now that we know Rojas isn't going to the Futures Game I don't really understand why he's still in South Bend

I talked with Trueblood and what he told me was that the Cubs are likely showcasing players at levels right now with the TDL moving along. In levels where they can crush, they can essentially bump their numbers and look better versus taking a hit on the level up. 

From what I gathered, we should probably expect most prospects to stay where they are for a few weeks. Post TDL feels like the big bump.

[Bobson Dugnutt]

23 minutes ago, muntjack said:

Caissie 3/4 with a 2B, BB, 0 K

I think he's reaching that next level. 

The strikeouts have gone way down over the past 3 weeks. 16% in his last 54 PAs.

[Bertz]

19 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

I talked with Trueblood and what he told me was that the Cubs are likely showcasing players at levels right now with the TDL moving along. In levels where they can crush, they can essentially bump their numbers and look better versus taking a hit on the level up. 

From what I gathered, we should probably expect most prospects to stay where they are for a few weeks. Post TDL feels like the big bump.

Interesting.  My topline reaction would be that Rojas shouldn't be for sale so he shouldn't be part of these games, though I understand how irrational that is.

It's also interesting because some teams (looking at you, Padres) have tried to game trade value the opposite way by getting everyone into a super favorable age relative to their league, so that even if they struggle you can say "but he's only 20".

[Jason Ross]

5 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Interesting.  My topline reaction would be that Rojas shouldn't be for sale so he shouldn't be part of these games, though I understand how irrational that is.

It's also interesting because some teams (looking at you, Padres) have tried to game trade value the opposite way by getting everyone into a super favorable age relative to their league, so that even if they struggle you can say "but he's only 20".

Yeah, I thought it was interesting as well. My thought was that the Cubs were almost trying to "hide" some players; using the "Well Ryan Gallagher is only doing well against High-A pitchers!" as the argument to hide them against lower levels and had suggested that on the podcast two weeks ago, so when Matt said the opposite, I found it interesting. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

10 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

I talked with Trueblood and what he told me was that the Cubs are likely showcasing players at levels right now with the TDL moving along. In levels where they can crush, they can essentially bump their numbers and look better versus taking a hit on the level up. 

From what I gathered, we should probably expect most prospects to stay where they are for a few weeks. Post TDL feels like the big bump.

 

9 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Yeah, I thought it was interesting as well. My thought was that the Cubs were almost trying to "hide" some players; using the "Well Ryan Gallagher is only doing well against High-A pitchers!" as the argument to hide them against lower levels and had suggested that on the podcast two weeks ago, so when Matt said the opposite, I found it interesting. 

Yes, this was my assumption as to why an older guy like Ryan Gallagher hasn’t been promoted.

Also think they’re gaming the young guys like Lovich and Southisene the other way, like the Padres do.

[gflore34]

11 hours ago, muntjack said:

Caissie 3/4 with a 2B, BB, 0 K

I think he's reaching that next level. 

Cassie and Wiggins are the prospects I'd to see the Cubs keep, the rest of them - Alcantara, Long, Triantos, Ballesteros, even Ben Brown - have at them Jed.  Use, them to get some pitching help.

[muntjack]

Agree,  though if Ballesteros is involved, it needs to be for a #1.