Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 7-11-26

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. St. Paul, 6:08 pm
Knoxville vs. Biloxi, 6:00 pm
South Bend at Cedar Rapids, 6:35 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Fredricksburg, 6:05 pm
ACL Cubs vs. ACL Athletics, 1:00 pm
DSL Cubs Blue vs. DSL Orioles Orange, 10:00 am
DSL Cubs Red at DSL Arizona Black, 10:00 am

Probable Starters:

Iowa: RHP Will Sanders (40.1 IP, 4.46 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 48 K, 15 BB)
Knoxville: RHP Jace Beck (54.2 IP, 2.96 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 93 K, 29 BB)
South Bend: RHP Alfredo Romero (51 IP, 4.94 ERA, 5.79 FIP, 45 K, 38 BB)
Myrtle Beach: RHP Noah Edders (43 IP, 3.77 ERA, 4.23 FIP, 43 K, 13 BB)

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

Taillon is starting one of these games, Craig didn't mention the affiliate though

[Bertz]

My goodness Jace Beck 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[Bertz]

Four Eyes is 2/2 with a triple and a sac fly

I'm watching him really closely now, what a fascinating story

[Bertz]

Angel Cepeda dong!

He's really turning it on, great to see him get his legs under him at this level.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

I know Beck's results have been incredible but I wish we knew the shapes ans velo

[Bertz]

9 minutes ago, Tangled Up in Plaid said:

I know Beck's results have been incredible but I wish we knew the shapes ans velo

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=4/24/2026&gamePk=816517&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=playerBreakdown&sportId=11&liveAb=#816517

He actually was at Iowa for two games randomly in April.  The linked game above he threw 54 pitches, so presumably he's pretty close to this as a full SP.  95.3, with 17 inches of IVB and 6 inches of gloveside run.  I'm not a pitch shape expert but I believe that's good vert and average horizontal movement.  

And it all plays up because of the stupid amount of extension he gets for being so tall.  That's the differentiator here.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

26 minutes ago, Bertz said:

Angel Cepeda dong!

He's really turning it on, great to see him get his legs under him at this level.

Cepeda’s homer is in here:

 

[Bertz]

Jose Silva just randomly showing up one day with no one knowing who he is or what his deal is and casually OPSing 1.000 as a 19 year old.  What the hell.

[CubinNY]

Is it me or are the Cubs having a really good year on the farm?

[Jason Ross]

13 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Is it me or are the Cubs having a really good year on the farm?

Very good. There was fear entering the year that the Cubs had a bottom-5 or so farm system. Right now, I think they're middle of the pack. That's because of breakouts and development. Should give everyone a good feeling as they continue to promote and trades prospects that they are capable of replacing what they lose. 

Obviously we'd all like more pitching coming through, but even there the Cubs have found a few bubblers. Hard to be anything but pleased. Johnny Long (who is on fire right now) and James Triantos are like the biggest disappointments so far. 

[Rcal10]

37 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Very good. There was fear entering the year that the Cubs had a bottom-5 or so farm system. Right now, I think they're middle of the pack. That's because of breakouts and development. Should give everyone a good feeling as they continue to promote and trades prospects that they are capable of replacing what they lose. 

Obviously we'd all like more pitching coming through, but even there the Cubs have found a few bubblers. Hard to be anything but pleased. Johnny Long (who is on fire right now) and James Triantos are like the biggest disappointments so far. 

That is great. I mean listing Triantos as one of there biggest disappointments and the guy is actually hitting over .300 means the system is doing amazing. I would like to see more power from him and he isn’t taking a jump up. But if he is one of their biggest disappointments that is a great minor league year for the organization. 

[Jason Ross]

7 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

That is great. I mean listing Triantos as one of there biggest disappointments and the guy is actually hitting over .300 means the system is doing amazing. I would like to see more power from him and he isn’t taking a jump up. But if he is one of their biggest disappointments that is a great minor league year for the organization. 

Yeah. Triantos being a little under a 100 wRC+ hitter in Iowa isn't the worst "disappointment" all things considered. You can probably add Wiggins/Conrad injuries to the list too, but both are back now. Those things go to show how good it's been when that's the knock. 

There are other individuals that maybe one person likes over another you can point to as a bummer, but broad spectrum? Everyone at the top of the rankings has had some positives, and even Long is hitting now (maybe he just got healthy) and Triantos has maintained the look of a possible bench player. It's really been a good year so far. 

[Outshined_One]

1 hour ago, CubinNY said:

Is it me or are the Cubs having a really good year on the farm?

Piggybacking on @Jason Ross, what's helped this season is (1) we've seen one huge breakout (Hartshorn) and multiple positive developments on the hitting side of things (Kepley, Conrad coming back healthy, Ayers coming out of nowhere as a potential Top 100 prospect, etc.); (2) the pitching depth in this system is *finally* coming around with guys like Wing, McGwire, Kipp, Caple, and Beck all making major progress; and (3) the players who boarded the struggle bus this season have been guys who are blocked or seen as redundant (Triantos, Long, etc.).

Where the system was trending towards a downswing this time last season, the trajectory definitely looks much better now. They're not a Top 10 system, but that also could change if they get someone like Sorrell or Bailey in next week and they start mashing.

[Bertz]

2 hours ago, Jason Ross said:

Very good. There was fear entering the year that the Cubs had a bottom-5 or so farm system. Right now, I think they're middle of the pack. That's because of breakouts and development. Should give everyone a good feeling as they continue to promote and trades prospects that they are capable of replacing what they lose. 

Obviously we'd all like more pitching coming through, but even there the Cubs have found a few bubblers. Hard to be anything but pleased. Johnny Long (who is on fire right now) and James Triantos are like the biggest disappointments so far. 

And worth really underscoring they are an averageish farm right now after graduating Mo (consenus top 50 prospect), Alcantara (divisive but top 50 on FG and with Klaw), and Pedro Ramirez (clear top 100 guy at the time of his callup).

Wiggins and Conrad's injuries have been the biggest negative story on the farm this year, beyond that like you said it's been Long/Triantos faceplanting.  Way way way more good news than bad.