craig

Do you think his HR-modesty is just going to be his profile? He's hitting gobs of singles, and his BABIP is over .450, which is kinda great for a slow man. Heh heh, I'm guessing the feet-on-dirt rule has been especially beneficial for him. Guessing as a contact singles-hitter type guy with no speed, that infielders would be way out on the grass when he cam to bat in earlier rules. But he's only at 2 HR, both in same game, and one of them was off a backup infielder, right? Not a lot of over-the-fence yet. Maybe that's still to come, maybe it's cold-weather baseball, or maybe HR-hitting just isn't really going to be a big plus for him ever. (Hopefully this will reverse-jinx him, and he'll hit one tomorrow and another by end of week.).

This is really interesting. Thanks for the link!

Sanders had one bad inning, otherwise he's been pretty good. There is promise in guys who throw strikes. And I think all the pitch-lab stuff works best for guys who have some control. Might also be that if he ever makes it, if he's a back-of-roster guy, maybe he'd throw a little harder in relief, too. Anyway, I'm optimistic that maybe he's got some possibilities. Very fun.

Jostin Florentino seems to be having some very good outings. Not a tall guy, per bbcube, only 6'0" listing. Has anybody gotten any observations on his stuff and potential?

Espinoza has composite 637 AB, with 18HR and 33 SB. That's not great, it's not terrible. Having just turned 22, and having lost a season to injury, who knows. But not too many guys have 18HR in their first 650 AB, so I'd like to imagine there might maybe be some power potential there. Most likely he'll get exposed as the season progresses, and most likely he's just a minor-league guy who'll never become significant. I was just kinda curious. We've got so few hitters in A/AA this year that it doesn't take much to catch some attention, I think!

Love that eyeball report on Wiggins. If you were watching Mule as well, how did he look, eyeball-wise? Pre-surge, there were reports of big-velocity. Does he still have notably-good velocity now? Or kinda good, but what RHP prospects don't have velocity these days, so his fastball looks good but not exceptional. Control look promising, or pretty eratic? on the length: I look forward to what you find and report. I admit I'm kinda curious whether it's really much different? The length seems so, yes. But, is it partly because guys are getting through more innings on fewer pitches? When you've got prospects like DJ Herz, Palencia, Luke Little, and Drew Gray starting, they were walking the world and burning a lot of pitches. Wiggins got through 5 on 75 pitches. Herz or Palencia would be lucky to get through 4 innings on 75 pitches. So I guess I'm kinda wondering if the pitch-counts are actually up significantly? Or whether part of it is some guys are just getting through innings quicker, and maybe not having as many guys on base? Some of our guys, like Armstrong, or Sanders-when-he's-on, they just throw a lot of strikes. So to extend my ramble: Is pitch-count really up? Versus just getting an extra inning from the same pitch counts? Perhaps related is a question of whether there is perhaps increased priority on throwing strikes? I could imagine different development philosophies. Work heavily on your 3rd/4th pitches, the ones that need improvement, not on your best one or two pitches? Versus priority on strike-throwing, and developing a strike-throwing mind-set? Nibble on the boundaries, versus challenge a little more? Prioritize K's, so if you ever get ahead 1-2, throw 3 chase pitches? Versus more priority on throwing strikes even with 2-strike counts? May also be that after some years of wildmen who never really mastered control, that they've oriented a bit more towards guys with more control, thinking that they can optimize pitch shapes and improve stuff for strike-throwers more easily than they can develop control for wildmen?

Do you guys know much about him, other than being Ludwing's brother? Among all the Latin guys who get seen and mentioned at backfields now and then, I don't recall mention of him in past, and I don't recall his name on top-30 lists or anything. But maybe I've missed some info on him?

Solid game for Armstrong, 6K/1BB in 5, took only 64 pitches, he throws a lot of strikes. Does Flexen have any stuff? had 3.61 and 3.76 ERA's as regular starter for seattle back in 21-22, so he wasn't terrible. Is he just a junk stuff guy? Or does he have legit big-league stuff, maybe?

I know his one HR was a down-the-pull-line one. Does he use the pull side much, or is he predominantly an opposite-field guy?

Valdez making enough contact to hit HR's would seem very fun. Think he's got the bat speed and the raw power to have good power. If pure hitting and contact can appear, he could get very interesting in due time.

Carico hit a HR today. No SB against either Carico or Moises today.

Burl pitched. 3 walks in 0.2 IP, so kind of in his former mode. Cristian with 3 singles and 3 steals.

Sanders 55/43 pitches-strikes. Being able to throw strikes without getting them blasted has value.

Having both Frisch and Burl Callaway on rosters, kinds crazy. Did I see Koen Moreno anywhere?

Sam Armstrong pitched 4 innings in Cubs ex game yesterday, 6K 1 walk 1 hit. Probably facing all minor leaguers, so not sure it means much for big-league potential. Do you guys think he has any big-league possibilities? I think it's possible? When a guy can command two pitches, fastball and slider, I think he's got a chance. And I often tend to think that guys who can command their fastball, those are the guys most likely to be able to pitch-lab their way and invent something new that they need? When guys are wild to start, they can pitch-lab their way to new pitch shapes and such, but they usually will be wild and inconsistent with new pitches, just like they are wild and inconsistent with original fastball. But guys who can control two pitches, they can sometimes learn to develop, optimize and control a third pitch.

Would be really fun if Yander Maria worked out.

Thanks for shared thoughts, Bertz and others. Why I love discussion boards.

Thanks for observations on Mathis. That would be fun if he turns out to be a true-blue hitter.

Interesting reference to "big boy power". Did you see that in some camp TV AB's? I saw a handful, mostly driving balls through the infield type stuff, don't think I saw anything that got as deep as where a normal outfielder would play. I thought he looked kinda small, didn't look very physical. (Obviously guys can add strength after age 21, but he may just be a slender physique always...). More than Madrigal power, but may be that 1908's 12-17 HR's projection may be more generous than conservative?

Yeah, how fun would that be if Wiggins turned out to be really good. yeah, I'd assume Lumpuy for Myrtle. See what he can do.

Is Brody McCollough injured as usual?

Yeah, will be interesting to see if the Cubs can develop some of the younger guys into meaningful prospects. We could become a bottom-5 farm very quickly, perhaps. Would really love to hit on a couple of guys. With Moises soon to graduate, would love to see somebody from the Latin kids emerge as a significant prospect. And from the high-school draft picks.

I like that Cole Mathis was listed. If he's healthy enough to already be in a game, that speaks well to his post-surgery recovery. Nice, nice, nice!!!

That's a great observation, Bertz. I wonder if that might not depend a little bit about the caliber of that last bench guy? Vasquez was an auto-out, .083 average, K'd half his AB. We've had some really bad bench production. OBP's Vasquez-Wisdom-Mervis-Madrigal-Mastrobuoni .143-.237-.148-.280-.245 OBP. Some really easy-out bench guys to start with, and then when injury necessitates calling up somebody who's even worse like Vasquez, no surprise that a manager trying to win games doesn't play them much. I'm kinda hoping that this year the bench depth will be of a higher caliber, and maybe the last guy can still give competitive AB's and have anti-awful OBP/OPS? Whether that be guys at start of season, or injury-necessitated callups? What if Workman is able to keep his OBP up over .310 and his OPS up near .700? Brujan is a career .531 OPS, .622 last year. Even that worthlessness is still better than Madrigal/Mastrobuoni/Vasquez, and maybe he's ready to step it up a little bit, and be a >.650-OPS type guy? Wouldn't it be nice if, when they do need to call somebody up, Alcantara/Caissie/Cowles/Triantos/Moises are ready to give competitive big-league AB, and look variably anti-awful maybe-even-good if/when needed? Obviously guys can look great in Mesa, getting lots of AB's, and facing mostly minor-league pitchers. Maybe Workman will get blown away by major-league pitchers in 50-degree Wrigley, when he's not getting many AB, and when life without a hit in the last week (or more) is messing with his head. Brujan might be just another Madrigal. Alcantara might make Wisdom look like a contact-hitter. But man, given how many PA usually end up going to non-starters, it could make a huge impact on the offense if non-starters aren't auto-outs. Hoping hoping hoping.

You're a believer! Hopefully his 3.65 xFIP over 26 innings while making adjustments, hopefully those adjustments lock in and make him a good pitcher now and in future. Four pathways possible: He makes it and he's good. He makes it and he's bad. He gets sent down. You're a believer: If he's as good as you think, and obviously a big-league worthy guy, he should dominate in AAA. If so, he'll be back soon enough. He gets send down. But doesn't really do that well. To me the question isn't really where he starts. It's whether he's actually good. If he's good, he'll be with the Cubs either all year or most of it. That would be great. I hope so. I just hope he's made some adjustments that make him into a sustainably good pitcher who will help the Cubs.