Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 8-6-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa at St. Paul, 1:07 pm
Knoxville vs. Biloxi, 6:00 pm
South Bend vs. Ft. Wayne, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Fredericksburg, 6:05 pm

Both DSL teams have the day off

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Javier Assad (rehab)
Knoxville: RHP Grant Kipp
South Bend: RHP Erian Rodríguez 
Myrtle Beach: RHP Naz Mulé

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Donzo]

Any Idea in Assad's fastball today?

If he was hitting 94 mph he's ready for Chicago.

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

2 minutes ago, Donzo said:

Any Idea in Assad's fastball today?

If he was hitting 94 mph he's ready for Chicago.

 

He hit 95 plenty of times.

[Donzo]

Just now, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

He hit 95 plenty of times.

Nice!

I'm thinking he slides into Horton's spot next Tuesday. No one wants to lose Horton, but he just needs to stop pitching for a bit. He's at 108.1-innings for the year, which is 20-innings higher than his previous career high and 74-innings more than last year.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

6 minutes ago, Donzo said:

Nice!

I'm thinking he slides into Horton's spot next Tuesday. No one wants to lose Horton, but he just needs to stop pitching for a bit. He's at 108.1-innings for the year, which is 20-innings higher than his previous career high and 74-innings more than last year.

I think for better or worse the Cubs are tracking Horton's workload at a more granular level than innings, I don't think there's going to be a huge shutdown coming for him.

 

That said there *might* be an opportunity to get him a bit of a blow if they wanted to go that route.  You could option him tomorrow, have him be the 26th man for the Brewers double header, and then call him back up for the stretch for his next turn after that.  He'd only miss one start so he won't have to build back up the endurance, and with the return of Assad and Taillon imminent plus 2 off days Thursday and Monday you aren't risking anyone else going on short rest to compensate.  You just need to be willing to cycle through a few Iowa relievers in the meantime.

[Neuby]

8 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think for better or worse the Cubs are tracking Horton's workload at a more granular level than innings, I don't think there's going to be a huge shutdown coming for him.

 

That said there *might* be an opportunity to get him a bit of a blow if they wanted to go that route.  You could option him tomorrow, have him be the 26th man for the Brewers double header, and then call him back up for the stretch for his next turn after that.  He'd only miss one start so he won't have to build back up the endurance, and with the return of Assad and Taillon imminent plus 2 off days Thursday and Monday you aren't risking anyone else going on short rest to compensate.  You just need to be willing to cycle through a few Iowa relievers in the meantime.

I wish I trusted are front office to make efficient roster moves but we did have Brujan on the bench all season.

[Donzo]

22 minutes ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think for better or worse the Cubs are tracking Horton's workload at a more granular level than innings, I don't think there's going to be a huge shutdown coming for him.

With his history innings are an issue. Yeah, the process is more nuanced now than a flat old school shutdown.

I also had the same thought on his schedule. August 18th, September 1st then take it start by start.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

He hit 95 plenty of times.

 

[Bertz]

Ariel Armas on base 3 more times tonight (and it's only the 5th).

I think he's a back of the top 30 guy for me.  If he hits at all he's a big leaguer and he's been hitting for a few months now.

[Bertz]

11 hours ago, Bertz said:

Ariel Armas on base 3 more times tonight (and it's only the 5th).

I think he's a back of the top 30 guy for me.  If he hits at all he's a big leaguer and he's been hitting for a few months now.

Since June 1st:

.250/.335/.410, 109 wRC+

From a guy who was considered the best defensive catcher in last year's draft.  The ceiling probably isn't super high, something like Yan Gomes, but I think he's a thing.

[Rcal10]

12 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

 

I think he gets one more start in the minors and is back for the Brewers series. I think after that series, if the gap isn’t closed to 2 and the Cubs don’t hold the tie breaker the Cubs may shut Horton down for a bit and just let Assad take his starts. Maybe Horton comes back the last week of September and then pitches in the playoffs. 

[mul21]

14 hours ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I think for better or worse the Cubs are tracking Horton's workload at a more granular level than innings, I don't think there's going to be a huge shutdown coming for him.

 

That said there *might* be an opportunity to get him a bit of a blow if they wanted to go that route.  You could option him tomorrow, have him be the 26th man for the Brewers double header, and then call him back up for the stretch for his next turn after that.  He'd only miss one start so he won't have to build back up the endurance, and with the return of Assad and Taillon imminent plus 2 off days Thursday and Monday you aren't risking anyone else going on short rest to compensate.  You just need to be willing to cycle through a few Iowa relievers in the meantime.

I wonder if they'll do something like use him as an opener and give him like 2-3 innings per start to keep him on the every 5 day routine and have Assad get the rest of the bulk for that game.

[Bertz]

Jefferson Rojas has played 17 games at AA.  The first 8 he got his ass kicked, the latter 9 he's hitting .242/.390/.364 with more walks than K's.  Because of the dire straits around offense in the Southern League that's a 133 wRC+.  He's the 5th youngest player in AA this year.

[Bertz]

31 minutes ago, mul21 said:

I wonder if they'll do something like use him as an opener and give him like 2-3 innings per start to keep him on the every 5 day routine and have Assad get the rest of the bulk for that game.

The White Sox sort of did this with Crochet last year, only quibble is it was more like 3-4 innings, but it appears to have worked out swimmingly.  He threw 146 innings after never topping 65 before in college or the minors and has had no ill effects this season.

[Rcal10]

22 minutes ago, Bertz said:

The White Sox sort of did this with Crochet last year, only quibble is it was more like 3-4 innings, but it appears to have worked out swimmingly.  He threw 146 innings after never topping 65 before in college or the minors and has had no ill effects this season.

I could see something like this. But if the Cubs go deep into the playoffs Horton would probably be needed to pitch a few more than the 146. 🤷

[mul21]

21 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

I could see something like this. But if the Cubs go deep into the playoffs Horton would probably be needed to pitch a few more than the 146. 🤷

Sure, but if you limit him to 2-3 innings for like 8 more starts over the course of the season, you've significantly reduced the stress on his arm and you're less likely to see an issue if you let him go 5 innings in a max of 3-4 postseason starts.

[CaliforniaRaisin]