toonsterwu

Anyone have any clues on Beeler's velo early in the season? Haven't heard much ... is Nate around to help us out with that?

Rebel's a big powerful guy, with plenty of raw power. Enough athleticism to not be a mess in LF, but really, when he plays LF, that's more to try and expand his opportunities, and less an acknowledgement of his ability out there (IMO). He does bring a decent approach to the plate. If he can keep this up, he'll push himself forward. Last couple of years, though, his isolated power numbers have been very mediocre for a guy with raw power. craig - I agree, Arismendy's gotten on a bit of a roll lately with the bat and considering the paucity of talent in the lower levels positionally, he does stand out quite a bit. I am very intrigued with Jay Jackson's numbers (pitching wise, although the 3/3 looks nice). I think he's actually got more ground outs than fly outs on the year (by a few). I wonder if they finally got his mechanics worked out a bit, allowing him to get some more sink. Always had decent arm action, but never fully utilized the body. Of course, this may just be an early season fluke. I actually think McNutt's start looks ... solid. 7/0 GO/FO. For all the talk about LeMahieu adding power because of added muscle mass, my question/comment has always been that his swing plane is as big an issue. There's a bit more power, but nothing to get too excited over so far. That said, if he can stick at 2nd, I don't think the power will be that big an issue. With many of the older corner guys in AAA hitting well, and the young guys (relatively) at AA, Matt Spencer may get lost in the mix, but I still wouldn't mind seeing him get a look in Iowa at some point this year, being "groomed" as a potential corner backup type. He really had a decent-solid year in AA last year.

I'm too lazy to look through boxscores right now, but I'd be curious if Coello was struggling more the 2nd time through a lineup. He's not really a starter, and his stuff, from what I recall of his Boston days, is more one inning type material. I am mildly surprised that the org isn't giving Harman a longer look as a starter. He's got Rusin-ish stuff, and Rusin seems to have been given some rope.

Hasn't happened yet ... but they could wait another day or two, since Whitenack pitched Saturday. That said, who's getting dumped from the rotation? Seems awful early to dump anyone. Unless they are planning to kick someone to AAA (and the only one that makes a ton of sense is Dolis, with McNutt coming back from injury, Cabrera/Rusin/Raley not exactly deserving of promotions), but no one really seems that deserving of a move to AAA yet.

He's definitely a bit more than a Lalli type (I like Lalli, in terms of what he provides as a hard-working, willing to do anything guy, but little power at a corner position is never good). Right now, I'd put him along the lines of a Hoffpauir type. That said, I want to see if the power production stays - for all his raw power, he had a .160 ISOP last year. He's got a chance to make the bigs in some fashion ... particularly in a system as weak as our is with corner guys, but IMO, more of a wait and see type for now.

Go watch the Vandy game. As davell noted, a lot more talent in that game, particularly on Vandy's side (although Tennessee has a couple pieces to watch). Furthermore, there's a decent chance that Sonny Gray could be high on the Cubs radar this upcoming draft.

Another solid inning of work from Frank Batista as well. Undersized, but with the fastball/slider, he has a shot.

The AA club has to be one of the better offensive units in any league, relative to that league that is. Good start to the year for Scott Moore, particularly the 6:5 BB/K. At this stage of his career, best case is a Jeff Baker-ish type role, but I always liked him somewhat. Decent outing for Rusin. Sudden dearth of good prospect starting talent in the upper minors, so a guy like Rusin holds a tiny bit more interest. Searle has gotten off to a decent start this year. Any indication if his fastball velo has gotten better out of the pen? Although considering his repetoire, not the biggest deal. Jokisch has a surprisingly high number of walks and flyouts. Granted, early, and overall, a good start to the year.

In terms of Flaherty and being too big, I think the issue is his lower half, and specifically, his legs.

My hunch is that they are fairly set on Vitters going to first base, provided that someone can emerge at 3rd (namely, LeMahieu). If LeMahieu's power stroke develops, it wouldn't surprise me if they made third his, and just shifted Vitters to first full-time.

Very pleased with Struck's start to the year. With some of the moves involving our top arms (trade of Archer, Carpenter to pen, Jackson possible pen but also injured, and McNutt's blister), we needed some arms to step up, and along with Whitenack, they are, so far, doing that. Granted, it's really early right now, but it's a positive sign. Furthermore, with Rusin and Cabrera's struggles, along with Dolis possibly moving to the pen at some point in 2011, both guys have a shot to be in AA as a starter at some point this year if they keep it up.

I didn't realize Leverton and Marcos Perez got cut. Was mildly intrigued with both, but both were headed towards lefty system pen arms, and there are plenty of those in the system already. Like Shafer, Leverton had a solid year out of the pen, but with average stuff and almost 25, it's understandable. Don't know much about Trinidad, but off the numbers, eh. Alvaro Ramirez was 24 last year and scuffling in Low A.

Thats Marmol numbers there. It's also a college arm against a bunch of youngsters. Much as I am intrigued with Hayden, I wouldn't read too much into his numbers in Peoria, unless they are bad. your impression of low A ball is wrong. simpson was born in 1989. all but two of the chiefs' hitters (burruel and alacantara) were born in 1989 or before. the team they faced today, cedar rapids, has just two hitters born in 1990 with the rest born in 1989 or earlier. in fact, i would guess that simpson might be around a year younger than the average player in the midwest league. Sorry, maybe I should've clarified/not used the word youngster. I 'm speaking to the fact that the kids in Low A are typically a) Less experienced/polished b) Have less ability It's generally acknowledged by scouts that a good college arm with some polish should be able to go into Low A ball and perform well, particularly, in Simpson's case, a college arm with advanced secondary pitches. Yes, the numbers are nice from today. I just wouldn't get too excited yet. It's more troublesome when a college arm with secondary pitches and some polish struggles against the "youngster" in Low A. As for average age, yes, off the top, 21/22 is about the average age for Low A ball.

Thats Marmol numbers there. It's also a college arm against a bunch of youngsters. Much as I am intrigued with Hayden, I wouldn't read too much into his numbers in Peoria, unless they are bad. That is a little harsh. I don't see any problem with letting him build his confidence and hopefully dominate A ball for a month or so before being promoted. Those numbers are good for any pitcher and very encouraging. Huh? What's harsh? I think him going to Peoria was fine. I think that was the right move considering how much time he missed. I'm simply saying that I wouldn't read too much into his positive numbers in Low A, which I think is fair when talking about a first round college arm vs. youngsters in Low A.

Still a bit frustrated that Watkins and Cerda together forces Cerda to 3rd. I'd like to see Matt get an extended run at 2nd to see if he can be a solid defensive 2nd baseman. I'm also hoping that Lake at the bottom of the lineup was more an opening day thing. I'd like to see him hit a bit higher than that. As for playing short, well, there isn't anyone there forcing him off the spot. They can always move him later (and he does have the tools to stick at short).

Thats Marmol numbers there. It's also a college arm against a bunch of youngsters. Much as I am intrigued with Hayden, I wouldn't read too much into his numbers in Peoria, unless they are bad.

I found it funny that LeMahieu, a guy who, coming into this season, had little power, was batting 3rd, and Brett Jackson, a guy who has some power, is leading off, but here hopes that DJ turns it around, and here hopes that Brett continues working on cutting down his K's. Matt Spencer is a bit old for AA (25), but I really wonder if he can put together a top season and force his way into AAA by midseason. He had a solid AA campaign last year.

Sure feels weird to see Lou Montanez's name in a Cubs MiLB boxscore again ... and in the upper levels at that.

Carpenter has had injuries problems as a starter. Not sure it wouldn't hurt. To the best of my knowledge, he's only had one injury as a starter. His collegiate injuries came about from a basketball game and the side effects that came from it. Now, whether or not he had the control and the changeup to stay as a starter is a fair question. I'm also still not a huge fan of Carpenter going with a 4-seamer out of the pen when his sink was his best thing. Agreed. I love MLB, but I can't follow MLB 162 games a year (particularly reading online responses, some of which get ridiculous over 1 game). I'm far more intrigued with certain aspects of MiLB at the beginning of the year than I am with MLB. For me, the thing I'm looking forward to this year is to see how the young arm's progress. Unfortunately, some of the intriguing arms won't be with a full-season club to start the year, but there's still enough to look forward to. I'm also curious about some of the youngsters in the lower levels, like Geiger and Darvill, along with more notable names like Golden. We need the pipeline to continue to develop, particularly when the current top tier (McNutt/BJax) get called up.

Where'd you hear that Carpenter is going 4-seamer instead of 2-seamer? I agree that seems unwise. I hope that's exaggerated or misleading. Given that he's only about a dozen innings of relief, a few here in camp and a dozen or so in AFL, we don't really have much pitching to draw from, and none outside of Arizona. Once he gets out of Arizona, where it's dry and maybe his 2-seamer doesn't sink much anyway, I wonder if he won't mix in his fair share of 2-seamers. That's a fair response that I don't really have much to say to right now. It's quite possible that being in Arizona for Fall League and spring had him going with 4-seamers more, and that's what I'm basing it off of (as the reports out of Fall League (haven't really paid attention this spring) said he was going to the 4-seamer a lot, IIRC).

Carpenter has had injuries problems as a starter. Not sure it wouldn't hurt. To the best of my knowledge, he's only had one injury as a starter. His collegiate injuries came about from a basketball game and the side effects that came from it. Now, whether or not he had the control and the changeup to stay as a starter is a fair question. I'm also still not a huge fan of Carpenter going with a 4-seamer out of the pen when his sink was his best thing.

I'm fairly surprised that Antigua isn't in the rotation in Peoria. To be fair, it's not like he has more upside than the other lefties, and the righties all clearly have better upside than Antigua. Wonder if Serrano settles down this year and grabs a spot in the rotation in the 2nd half, although I'm not expecting it (just that the hype on him was high enough that he's been disappointing so far). There's a part of me that thinks we are better off pushing Rhee into the pen and seeing if he can just let it rip. I know their were folks that always thought, due to his frame, that he was destined for pen duty. I wonder if he might get some closing duty (although looking at that roster, I'd turn it over to Frank Batista). Considering the big league rotation issues and the injury to Jay Jackson at AAA, I really wish they'd stretch Carpenter out again. Even if you don't think his future is in the rotation, it doesn't hurt right now.

As a side note, even though Struck was 39th round, he did get top 10 round money (I'm too lazy to check what it actually is, probably top 5 round money). IIRC, Raisin noted that Struck's bonus was higher than McNutt's. I'm pretty bullish on Struck, low 90's, has a chance to inch up a bit more, good athlete, solid breaking and change combination, although it could improve. That said, performance has to meet the stuff. I'd guess Whitenack, Struck, Wallach, Kurcz as solidly in the rotation, with some combination of Rhee and a lefty for the last spot, or some sort of piggybacking.

One guy that I'm hoping gets into the rotation is Graham Hicks. I thought he was the most intriguing asset that we got from the Nats in the Gorzelanny deal. He had a solid year in Low A in the Nationals system. It's possible the kid could still grow some more, but as of now, low 90's with a decent slider/change combination. That said, a lot of arms battling for spots. Antigua/Simpson/Beeler/Kirk seem like locks for piggyback duty. I'd imagine Lopez would be, but considering the reports this spring have been so spotty, it wouldn't stun me if he was used in the pen. That said, I anticipate he'll be a part of the piggybacking rotational duty. Not much intrigue on the positional front overall, although it could be a decent lineup for Low A. That said, the one thing I am curious about is whether or not Alcantara can take the next step and become a solid middle infield prospect. AzPhil sure talks up his defensive ability (and as an aside, that could be an excellent defensive positional grouping).

IIRC, Bristow looked really bad, so I assume he's still rehabbing his shoulder(?) (or was it an elbow?) injury. One of the bigger disappointments of the last year for me.