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craig

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Everything posted by craig

  1. craig
    $145,500 over slot for Melendez, the 17-year-old 7th rounder from PR. Lots of projection for 6'3 165 17-year-old.
  2. craig
    Which bonus pool? From the previous-summer draft? Or would that count against the upcoming draft?
  3. craig
    https://theathletic.com/4678630/2023/07/10/cubs-draft-matt-shaw/ Kantrovitz. Longenhagen says "pure relief prospect". But Kantro's reference to curveball "really stood out" suggests that Cubs see a path as a starter. Combo of power fastball with ride, power slider, curveball, and the change that other sources have mentioned, that's obviously a pathway to being a rotation asset. Obviously the Cubs have had a lot of guys who work on lots of pitches but fail because they can't control any of them, that's totally Cubs typical. So Jaxon will probably be no better in rotation that Jensen or Luke Little or Palencia or Kohl Franklin or Riley Thompson or any of the wildmen. I'd like to believe, and I like going for some ceiling. But thus far, I have to agree with Longenhagen, that whatever capacity Cubs D+D pitch-lab stuff has had in boosting velo or pitch shape, it really hasn't shown much success in curing wildmen.
  4. craig
    Thanks, that makes sense, I'd forgotten about the rainout.
  5. craig
    Hodge used in relief. Is this the first time this year?
  6. craig
    Have we had guys younger than Moises in high-A? I think he's a few months younger than Caissie was when he broke with South Bend last year. Younger than Triantos, or Alcantara or PCA for their South Bend debuts. I think the immortal Aramis Ademan was some months older when he began at high-A, too. (I like to remember Aramis as a reminder that being super young for a league is nice, but only if you're good and you keep getting better, neither of which were true for him.) Gleyber Torres, was he maybe the last hitter younger than Moises to hit A+?
  7. craig
    90th percentile exit velocity is encouraging.
  8. craig
    Wow, 2 XBH for Howard, nice! Neither Tennessee nor SB are done as I write, but thus far great nights for all three of Howard (3/5,HR, 2B), Alcantara (5/5, 2HR), and Caissie (4/5, HR, 2BB). Fun!
  9. craig
    No XBH for Howard since game 1, and hitless back-to-back-to-back. 8K/0BB/1XBH thus far. Hope springs eternal.
  10. craig
    Wow. Nice! Would sure be fun if the international operations had a burst. Alzolay has been good, and Amaya with a HR today. Man would it be fun if Ballesteros, Rojas and Derniche are good.
  11. craig
    Man has Arias been hot. On his pitch count, sequencing 3-straight 5-inning games is impressive. He threw a lot of strikes tonight.
  12. craig
    That report has his velocity at only 90-92, and thats in his best game in 13 months. Is that where his velocity is always at? Or is it perhaps even softer when he's not feeling quite as great? Or does he often overthrow to get more velo, so maybe he's cutting back to something softer that maybe he can locate a little better? Am I misremembering? I thought two years ago when he was breaking out, that his fastball was considered excellent, and he was 93-95 then, plus with youth projection to perhaps get faster? Certainly when he was drafted, the scouting reports then weren't "projects to become a soft-toss 90-92 guy if things develop well." Hard to make it in the majors as both a soft-toss and command-challenged guy.
  13. craig
    Dom Hambley went 4 innings without a walk. Nice outing for a wildman.
  14. craig
    Those were some encouraging comments by the scout. " probably the cleanest arm and delivery I had seen all year." I love that, both for health/durability and also for control and repeatability. "He has a four-seam he can bully guys with. It has velo and life and rode up in the strike zone. It was a plus pitch,". I love that too. I've seen velocity reports, but In a world where every RHP throws at least mid-90's, I've wondered whether his fastball was above average, or had asset spin or movement. So nice to see a favorable eval. "So that’s three potential plus pitches in his arsenal." At draft there was talk of two-pitch guy, maybe ends up in relief. The scout touched on both change and curve; not sure which of those he was viewing as the 3rd potential plus pitch? I assume the curve?
  15. craig
    Wrong thread, but yesterday I'd asked for thoughts on Aliendo's defense. Cubs in NY wasn't especially positive, and foresaw him as kind of an organizational guy and fringe-major leaguer. (Quote below). I recall in past Tom with a comment that he's too small. Curiously enough, BA and Callis have somewhat more enthusiastic perspective on his defense. I don't think they spend a lot of time on kinda obscure prospects like Aliendo, though, so grain-of-salt etc.. Just kinda interesting how different sources can perceive guys somewhat differently. Baseball America on Aliendo defense: Jim Callis/Pipeline on Aliendo defense:
  16. craig
    Iowa game is weird. Tie game, bottom of the 10th, bases loaded with only one out. Perhaps one pitch from the game being done, but it's delayed by rain.
  17. craig
    Thanks for your observations, NY. I really appreciate that a lot. Bummer, because I'd had the sense as you mentioned, that he's popular and has good personality qualities that the Cubs seem to prioritize. So I'd hoped that if pitchers love him, and if he proves to be a good hitter, that being kinda average in terms of catch-and-throw and actually catching/receiving might be enough to allow for a successful career. Sorry to hear that the actual physical aspects of catching are sub-par. Disappointing news, but your observations are helpful.
  18. craig
    Scouting question: Aliendo is 7/37 in CS/SB, ~16%. I don't know how to find the league SB-success rate, but just going through the individual teams, there are a couple of exceptions but most teams have SB-success in the 79%-83% range. So, Aliendo is a couple of % below league-norm in throwing guys out. Scouting-wise, does he look clunky/slow on his pop-times? Does his arm-strength look sub-par, or his accuracy? How about as a receiver, does he look clunky and like a guy who will unnecessarily allow an unusual amounts of passed balls and wild pitches? I'm just kinda wondering whether his catch-and-throw capacity is a problem, and whether his receiving capacity is a problem, in terms of his prospect-hood? Or if he's pretty much just fine; maybe some of the tall wildmen pitchers don't give him a chance? Or maybe his receiving is excellent, and he's great with all the soft stuff; so even if his arm is unexceptional it's not at all a show-stopper for becoming a good big-league catcher?
  19. craig
    Frankling lifted after 5 innings, but at only 53 pitches. I think he got through the 4th at only 37 pitches. 2 walks, 1 wild pitch, and 1 single is it. The strike-throwing version of Franklin is pretty interesting.
  20. craig
    When Cassie gets them, he sometimes really hits them! Interesting that yesterday was on a pitch, top of the strike zone or else a little above it, this one a low strike.
  21. craig
    Ferris looks like a pretty big guy. Kinda weird in those clips, turns his back and walks away after a couple of those swinging K's, even when the ball is bouncing free and Ballesteros is scrambling to recover it and throw the guys out. Not sure I recall big-league pitchers doing that.
  22. craig
    Oquendo with 5K in 2 perfect innings. Two innings without a walk!
  23. craig
    Wicks with 5 HR in 41 innings, he was a bomber last year too. I'm guessing that might just always be part of the profile, you take the good with alittle bad?? A guy throwing a lot of breaking-ball strikes, and will probably always inevitably hang a few? Or maybe a guy without a big fastball, as a strike-throwing guy he has the courage to throw a lot for strikes; but some will inevitably get a little too much of the plate? Or, maybe some of his under-development pitches just have some mistakes, but in time those mistakes will get fewer?
  24. craig
    Yeah, I wonder about that? I suspect the 6-day rotation combined with no-Monday games provides some flexibility. Skip a start, and make sure a 1st-year-pro is super rested and never pitches a tired inning? Or is that maybe an opportunity for some developmental stuff? 12-day cycle, get several side-sessions in between box score starts, and maybe work on tweaking or adding something? Spring training goes so fast, maybe guy worked on some new or adjusted pitch, but didn't actually use it in first month of games? But maybe with 3-4 side-sessions to work on it, you come back after the 12 days and start using something new? Draft scouting suggested he was mostly fastball/slider, and change wasn't used much, and then only to lefties. Maybe touched that up some? Or maybe cutter of some kind added?
  25. craig
    Why was Herz not with a club?
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