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craig

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Everything posted by craig

  1. craig
    Arias got through his first inning on 15 pitches, 1-2-3.
  2. craig
    Would love for some of the Latin pitchers to emerge, that would be great. Tom, did Bello have surgery last season, or some lesser injury? Erian Hernandez was really good, too. 5K in 2.1 IP.
  3. craig
    Keep track as season progresses for how many of Shaw's HR's are RF shots.
  4. craig
    Edwards! That's fun. Not to pull the plug too soon, but I'm thinking having an alternative to Almonte might be nice.
  5. craig
  6. craig
    Yeah, Iowa is pretty roster-fill oriented. Tennessee is really stacked with a lot of name prospects. I wonder if they kinda like the idea of keeping a super-team together, and have a bunch of those guys stay together and win together? A lineup with Ballesteros, McGeary, Triantos, Shaw, Murray, Caissie, Franklin, Alcantara, that could be really stacked.
  7. craig
    Not sure how final or current this is, but Tennessee roster. https://www.milb.com/tennessee/roster It looks maybe not final? Has about 20 pitchers. Most of the interesting names are as expected. Of note to me: Arias is listed. I'd wondered if he'd return to South Bend, given his 5.8 ERA and 1.7 WHIP. Burl lists as "injured: full season". Jack Patterson is listed, without any such "injured" listing. Hunter Bigge is there, he's another guy I'd thought might be at Iowa.
  8. craig
    Brennen is listed. Would guys in injured lists be listed, as "active"? Ethan Roberts and Brad Wieck are both listed. Would love it for those guys who have gone through such extended injuries if they both came back healthy and effective, and earned their way back to the major leagues. Already been mentioned that Caissie didn't make it. Or Shaw or Horton, obviously. Or BJ Murray, or McGeary. I'd expected Murray would make it. If Murray, Shaw, and Triantos are all at AA, I wonder how 3B will get divvied up? I admit I'd hoped Murray would get full-time Iowa, Shaw full-time Tennessee, and they'd just sent Triantos back to South bend to work full-time on 3B defense, until Shaw either earned a promotion or decisively played his way off of 3rd.
  9. craig
    I think Keegan is an easy de-roster option, if they need a 40-man spot.
  10. craig
    AZ Phil:
  11. craig
    Tom, to go back to the Rivera discussion. He got $725K, so obviously we shouldn't assume stardom. But that's more than guys like Sanders, Hope, Carico, Rosario, Melendez; Birdsell; Franklin; Luke Little, all guys drafted with hopes that they'd turn into major league contributors. Definitely drafted for more than minor-league roster-fill. 1908, my impression is that his defense is very good. Good enough for big-league SS, or 2B, or 3B. *IF* he can hit enough to be a major leaguer, his defense will be an asset, especially if serving in a utility role. So yeah, Tom, as you said he was and should be viewed as a prospect. Might become a major leaguer, but no compelling expectation that he should become an excellent one. *IF* he was to turn into a good big-league utility guy, but never an asset starter, that would hardly profile as a "fail" pick. And if he never reaches the majors at all, most 3rd-rounders or sub-million guys never do. I do think old senior-signs are especially vulnerable to "weeper". Rivera will turn 24 before the World Series. Teen picks like Paciola, Rosario, Melendez, they get a couple of years to try to figure it out. But if Rivera can't hit this year, he won't get much leash to remain viewed as a prospect.
  12. craig
    Nice discussion here, guys. Interesting to read your thoughts and names. As mentioned, a lot of names have already been suggested, so kinda hard to come up with new. But: Bats: Sleeper: Kalmer Keeper: Vasquez Weeper: McGeary Pitchers: Sleeper: Sanders, Koen Moreno, Hunter Bigge Keeper: Luis Rujano, Birdsell Weeper: Nobody! Everybody is going to thrive and improve!!!! It's the Cubs!
  13. craig
    I don't know what he'll become, and your underslot reasoning is excellent. But I do think from the Cubs view, getting a ML prospect with a 3rd round $725K guy is definitely their purpose. Don't think they are spending $725K and 3rd rounder to get Levi Jordan organizational guys. Who knows what he'll turn into, I surely don't. But pretty sure they thought his senior-year hitting had a chance to reflect a guy who'll hit as a pro.
  14. craig
    Oops! My apology, and my very bad error! I was looking bbcube, but the 34% was his teensy-sample Low-minors states. He was 23%, 24%, and 25% during his 3 college seasons https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/232980/
  15. craig
    Carico K% in college: 12%. Trice 34% Trice faced better pitching for sure, but not what he'll see consistently in pros. Most high-K guys in college have contact problems in pros. Many guys who do not have contact problems in college will in the pros, so it's not like Carico is safe either. We'll see.
  16. craig
    Carico >>> Trice in my book. Trice learning a new position. Trice is a K-factory.
  17. craig
    That was a really good read. Brown seems like sharp guy. The decision to bag the slider is interesting and significant. Guys often spend some time tinkering before settling in with what actually works for them. Hopefully he'll eventually come out of the "tinkering" period and have the command to do well with his fastball-curve-change. His command has been questioned. But he acted like like his command has never been bad until last year after the injury. Hopefully he'll be healthy this year, more consistent, and the command won't be that problematic? Asked about role, he said "starter". That was expected, I think. We'll see if beginning the year as starter lasts longer than it did last summer for Palencia and Little. But man, given the age on Hendricks, Taillon, and how little remaining control the Cubs have on them and Imanage, there sure could be opportunities for internal rotation guys in the upcoming couple of years, *IF* Brown could justify getting a shot.
  18. craig
    Thanks. That's some evidence. A 45/50 in right seems pretty decent.
  19. craig
    Thanks, Tom. Just wondering if you had any basis for your opinion. So you think he can play CF, I think he's sub-par defensively in both corners and probably unplayable in center. Just a forum to share opinions. Neither of us have shared evidence that our views are correct or informed, and there haven't been many scouting observations on his defense since he filled out. He did play a couple of games in center only 2 seasons ago, and in 2021 he played almost a third of his games in center; even after his callup to Iowa he played 4 games in center. So back in those days, his CF was evidently considered anti-awful enough to be a part-time minor-league CFer. Would be super nice if he could emerge as an average or above-average corner outfielder. And probably lots easier to accelerate and run in the outfield if his back isn't cranky. Would be fun if both defense and power and contact all emerged as major-league this season.
  20. craig
    Brennen needs to play baseball and get some experience hitting healthy, and ideally have some success. Give him a bunch of healthy AB's, and see if he can hit. That's not going to happen sitting on the end of the bench in Wrigley. Let him play every day at Iowa, and see if he can hit. Hopefully he will, he'll hit like a major leaguer, and he'll earn interest as a major leaguer or as a trade target. Tom, you view him as a good every-position defensive outfielder, CF included. Is there analytics support for that? Or your eyeball scouting? I admit I'm very skeptical, especially the capacity to play CF. He is *SO* big, he just looks too big and slow to be a good defensive OFer. Nor have I gotten the impression that he gets unusually good reads. Hope I'm wrong, and that he gets some healthy opportunity to play some good OF this season.
  21. craig
    On Franklin, Law noted that "Hitters teed off on his fastball last year, slugging over .550 on the pitch in Double A." He may be kinda fast, sometimes. But that's really bad. Hard to have high ceiling with a bad fastball. Not sure how fixable that is. Tom is a believer that wildmen can improve control with practice; I'm kinda skeptical, kinda feel like guys who lack the fine motor skills to locate a fastball semi-consistently at age 20 or 23 probably won't learn that at 24. But, admittedly that may be too simplistic. For example, sometimes a guy's arm slot or arm speed telegraph fastball versus offspeed, and they can sometimes tweak that and improve disguise. Law says "The Cubs are trying to give him a two-seamer so he can get away from the hard contact on the four-seamer." Maybe that will help and change things? But yeah, it just seems like it's kinda hard to work around both a badly ineffective fastball and bad control. Hope he does it somehow.
  22. craig
    Such an intriguing pick. Will be super interesting to see how he fares at Myrtle. Such a big jump in pitching talent that he'll face, who knows how that will go. But fun to dream that he's just a really smart, good hitter and that he'll keep hitting even as the velocity jumps. Defense is a huge question too, obviously. But would be so fun if he emerged as a viable catcher defensively. Would be super fun if both he and Ballesteros strengthen their defensive reputations this season, and both have win-win seasons both defensively and hitting.
  23. craig
    Correct. Wicks only made 1/3 of the top-100's, so he's not eligible. And Busch isn't eligible due to trade. It's kinda funky how Wicks is off most lists altogether, but the couple of lists that he did make, he made top-50 in both. Wide variety of perspectives on most non-elite prospects.
  24. craig
    HS talent like Alfonsin Rosario or Zyhir Hope will not choose college over pro because they are being denied 30 PA. If so, they are probably too dumb for college anyway! No pitcher is going to decide based on 5 innings in Arizona league. And any fan or pro scout who is "largely evaluating" some new draftee by 5 innings or 30 PA in Arizona August is not a very wise or sophisticated evaluator. This makes zero difference on their career or their pros-and-cons about signing. Insignificant. Moving the draft from June to July, that's the move that had already obviated the relevance of the summer league for new draftees. I wish they hadn't made that change, but they did.
  25. craig
    I wonder if this might also be nice for carryover guys and draftees? I'm guessing that guys who have hanging around since March, all the rhythms maybe get disrupted when the new draftees start rolling in? Perhaps this way, the newly drafted guys can get all the primary attention they need, and the coaches can focus their time on the newly drafted guys. Other guys can stay and get help too; or maybe some will take a break, and go back and visit their family in the Dominican or whatever; or go fishing with grandpa in Wisconsin, or whatever?
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