Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-1-26

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa at St. Paul, 6:37 pm
Knoxville at Rocket City, 6:35 pm
South Bend vs. Ft. Wayne, 6:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Columbia, 6:05 pm

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Connor Noland (22.2 IP, 6.75 ERA, 6.93 FIP, 14 K, 9 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Jake Knapp (14.2 IP, 7.36 ERA, 6.77 FIP, 14 K, 10 BB)
South Bend: RHP Brooks Caple (18.2 IP, 2.89 ERA, 2.88 FIP, 24 K, 3 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Mason McGwire (12 IP, 1.50 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 18 K, 5 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Good, I prefer getting Palencia an outing at Iowa before coming up.  You just know if they activated him straight off we'd immediately play a tight 1 run game today with no margin for rust

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

"He's in Arizona, he's starting to throw, we're working back, I won't give you a timeframe" is all Bruce could get out of Jed about Wiggins.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

It was a grind for Caple but he had a scoreless outing.

Thought McGwire might get a 5th (and his run could have been unearned).

[Bertz]

I know the contact numbers have dropped into the danger zone, and AAA is very hitter friendly, but Kevin Alcantara is a 23 year old plus (plus plus?) defensive centerfielder and currently on a 54 homer pace.

Like even if he's rookie year Christopher Morel at the plate the conversation feels a hell of a lot different when you remember that his glove is ~20 runs per year better?

[Bertz]

I know he's not his brother but Alexis Hernandez is supposed to be relatively tooled up, right?  Like if he starts producing we should get excited?

[Bertz]

It hasn't translated into boffo production yet but Mathis' peripheral numbers are sterling even after the jump to SB.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I don't know if there was a hot gun or Daniel had extra juice, but he had multiple 101s and even a 102.

[JBears79]

Man, I'm starting to get excited about Ayers. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

2 hours ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I don't know if there was a hot gun or Daniel had extra juice, but he had multiple 101s and even a 102.

The guns aren't hot at AAA. It's Statcast.

[Neuby]

14 hours ago, Bertz said:

I know the contact numbers have dropped into the danger zone, and AAA is very hitter friendly, but Kevin Alcantara is a 23 year old plus (plus plus?) defensive centerfielder and currently on a 54 homer pace.

Like even if he's rookie year Christopher Morel at the plate the conversation feels a hell of a lot different when you remember that his glove is ~20 runs per year better?

I thought recent reports had Alcantara profiling more as RF than a plus plus center fielder anymore? The power showing up makes up for it either way.

[Bertz]

5 minutes ago, Neuby said:

I thought recent reports had Alcantara profiling more as RF than a plus plus center fielder anymore? The power showing up makes up for it either way.

That's just because of Pete.  In pretty much any org besides here or Boston he's a no doubt CF.  This is what FG said about him over the offseason

Quote

Everything we said about Alcántara’s defense in last year’s glowing report holds true. He’s a plus runner with plus range and ball skills, and he plays with a delightful lack of inhibition near the wall. He’s gotten very good at the minutiae of the position, like deke’ing baserunners or running to a spot to position himself to throw before he’s collected the baseball. With Pete Crow-Armstrong around, Alcántara is more likely to be a potential Gold Glove corner outfielder in Chicago, but here he’s evaluated as a center fielder because that’s the best spot to deploy him in a vacuum and where he’d likely play if the Cubs wind up trading him.

Here's MLB

Quote

Alcántara possesses a rare combination of size and athleticism, and while he's slow out of the batter's box, he features plus speed once he accelerates. He could become at least a 20/20 player if he looked to steal more bases and he covers wide swaths of ground in center field. He won't play center with Pete Crow-Armstrong in Chicago, but his solid arm strength will make him an asset in right field.

And here's Keith Law

Quote

Presently, he’s a plus runner and defender in center — not that the Cubs need a center fielder right now — who might lose a half-grade or so as he gets bigger.