CubsWin

There are some good numbers being put up by guys 19 and younger in the DSL so I thought I'd try to put together a line-up from the 2 rosters combined. 1. 2B Rochest Cruz (19) 169 ABs, .320/.421/.450, 8 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 2 HR, 27 BB, 21 K, 41 SB, 6 CS. (Just turned 19 on June 24th) 2. 3B Pedro Martinez (17) 161 ABs, .335/.418/.422, 3 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 1 HR, 21 BB, 17 K, 26 SB, 8 CS. 3. SS Fabian Pertuz (17) 145 ABs, .297/.429/.407, 5 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 1 HR, 29 BB, 21 K, 20 SB, 8 CS. 4. 1B Ervis Marchan (18) 181 ABs, .287/.365/.381, 10 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 1 HR, 22 BB, 14 K, 12 SB, 3 CS. 5. LF Alexander Ovalles (17) 76 ABs, .316/.430/.368, 4 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 HR, 16 BB, 14 K, 8 SB, 5 CS. 6. RF Carlos Morfa (17) 74 ABs, .270/.308/.541, 6 2Bs, 1 3Bs, 4 HR, 2 BB, 24 K, 2 SB, 0 CS. 7. C Miguel Fabrizio (17) 81 ABs, .309/.371/.420, 2 2Bs, 2 3Bs, 1 HR, 1 SB, 4 CS. 8. CF Ricardo Verenzuela (18) 164 ABs, .256/.371/.311, 3 2Bs, 3 3Bs, 0 HR, 27 BB, 30 K, 30 SB, 8 CS. 9. LHSP Luis Rodriguez (18) 4-0, 0.87 ERA, 41.1 IP, 23 H, 5 BB, 41 K, .160 BAA, 0.68 WHIP.

And sure enough, Roederer leads off the game with a triple and later scores, then follows that up with a HR! When I was in high school, we played this team in football that had identical twin brothers - one was an amazing receiver and the other was nothing special. Every once in awhile, the crappy twin would have a great game and the good one wouldn't do much. Everyone was pretty sure they were switching jerseys on those games to catch teams off guard, but it was never proven. So, I guess my question is...do they look alike? Well, they are on separate teams, so it's possible they've never been seen in the same room together...

In Des Moines, please no Maples No Maples, but Zastryzny gives up a hit in the 8th. Great game from Mills. His best in a while. 6 perfect with 4 Ks. Inspired by his brief call up?

In Des Moines, please no Maples Yes, thanks for the catch!

And sure enough, Roederer leads off the game with a triple and later scores, then follows that up with a HR!

Something...interesting is happening in Salt Lake City tonight. Shhh...

If you assume the price is right, by definition it is yes, isn't it? Or is the question whether you waste a roster spot on him? Yeah, I guess what I mean by that was would you rather spend a commensurate amount on someone like Wilson or overspend for Miller/Britton?

I tend to dismiss later round collegiate draft picks like Zack Short (17th), Matt Swarmer (19th), Trent Giambrone (25th) and last but not least, David Bote (18th) as organizational roster filler, but lately the Cubs scouting and developmental staff have, once again, been surprising me. That brings me to 2017 15th rounder Jared Young. It's likely Young isn't the greatest defensive 2B. While he was named 3rd team All-American at 2B in his junior season at Old Dominion, he's always been a bat first guy. He was drafted as a 2B and played there throughout his college career (except for some time on the mound in his freshman year at Minot State). He also played 2B almost exclusively in his first pro season in Eugene. (He did start and complete one full 9-inning game at SS for the Emeralds, but oddly, never had one defensive chance during that game.) This season, however, he's rotated between 1B, LF and DH. That's likely due to a combination of factors. The South Bend Cubs didn't really have a 1B and had several solid defensive MIFs in Rafael Narea, Jhonny Bethancourt, Yeiler Peguero and Christian Donahue. Of course, Myrtle Beach is also solid in it's middle infield with everyday starters Ademan at SS and Monasterio at 2B along with Peguero who was promoted to High-A in mid-May. So Young, who is a much more agile defender at 1B than Tyler Alamo, is mostly playing 1B/LF with some DH in order to get his superior bat in the line-up. He's produced a slash of .315/.374/.510 with 16 doubles, 6 triples and 13 HRs in two leagues considered fairly pitcher friendly this season. He's also shown development. After a terrible month of May (.229/.288/.352 with 24 Ks in 119 PAs), he hit .340/.393/.570 in June and .455/.480/.682 in July with 16 Ks in 137 PAs before being promoted to Myrtle Beach. Since the promotion, he's kept right on going, hitting .321/.396/.462 with 14 Ks and 8 BB in 91 PAs. He might not be able to handle SS, but has shown the versatility to play 2B, 1B and LF thus far. He just turned 23 on July 9th so he's slightly above age appropriate but as a college draftee, that's pretty much on schedule, especially if he starts next season in AA. All that said, is it time to consider Jared Young next in line to David Bote? His bat seems clearly superior to Zack Short and Trent Giambrone already though those guys have the ability to play SS.

Yup. It was up and working last night, but not right now. What are you specifically looking for from AZ Phil?

Andy Weber went 0-5 last night so presumably Cole Roederer will have multiple base hits tonight...

Unless milb.com had a glitch, P Yunior Perez played 2B last night. Could be a position switch, a one time thing or a mistake. Still no confirmation if Carlos Morfa is actually being turned into a catcher or not.

I don't know if that velocity from 4 years ago is going to return (it could), but if he's gonna have a monster K day, it's likely going to be because of the excellent change up he was showing earlier this season.

You guys realize I said Trevor Cahill-esque CAREER, right? They aren't anywhere near the same type of pitcher and I would never compare the two in those terms. You could substitute Trevor Cahill for Clayton Richard, Dustin McGowan, Jeff Locke, Chad Gaudin, etc. Basically any pitcher that got some big league innings making some starts at the back end of a rotation and also in middle relief. Cahill is probably on the highest end of that though, as he threw 200 innings for the Dbacks in 2012. That's probably not happening for Robinson. Okay. I see what you meant. I could be wrong, but my thing is I don't even see Robinson making the majors. At least not without some steps forward in avoiding giving up such solid contact. He had a good year last year in a pitcher's league. AA is the proving ground for pitchers and he's getting hit at .289 clip. Maybe it's just a bad month. Maybe the league is catching up to him, but in 6 July starts he's been bad. 31.2 IP, 41 H, 17 ER, 3 HR, 8 BB, 20 K, .323 BAA, 1.55 WHIP, 4.83 ERA. For me, he's going to have to figure things out and show some development to not get knocked around in a hitter's league like the PCL next year. That's still possible. Pitchers continue to learn and improve past the age of 24, but time isn't on his side and neither are his current numbers. Without any kind of out pitch that I'm aware of, his margin for error (much like Tseng) is very slim.

Yeah I think Kirby Yates might be the only reliever on the block who would have an acquisition cost that causes any consternation. Yeah I’m still hoping for 1 of Yates, Pressly or Conley. And holding out hope for something big out of left field Pressly already traded to the Astros, but I like the other two!

Pirates get Keone Kela for solid lefty pitching prospect Taylor Hearn (ranked 7th in the Pirates system per MLB) and a PTBNL.

Ha! The AZL Cubs2 game is delayed because of wind. Haboob warning?

Man, Underwood has been a tease this season. His last 3 starts: 15 IP, 13 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, 1.07 WHIP, 1.80 ERA. His previous 4 starts: 21.1 IP, 31 H, 15 ER, 11 BB, 16 K, 1.97 WHIP, 6.33 ERA. Consistency is key, and he ain't got it yet.

So I believe he has no true "plus" pitch. His fastball is in the low-90's and his best pitch is probably his curveball. Throws strikes and has 4 or 5 pitches. I read he was working on a cutter. Not sure how good or effective it is. I think he learned that pitch from pitching coach (and former MLB pitcher) Brian Lawrence while he was in South Bend. His profile is that of a BOR starter. His stuff isn't great and that's probably why he hasn't been listed on national prospect lists for the Cubs' system. I think he could end up being similar to Luke Farrell as a guy we call up next year as a spot starter. I know that isn't exciting, but there is value in having someone like that. This is my understanding as well. You're probably looking at a Trevor Cahill-esque career if things bounce right. That's pretty fantastic for a 9th round pick who came over 100K underslot as a senior sign. IMO, they'd have to bounce perfectly every day for that to happen. Cahill held AA batters to a .190 AVG at the age of 20 and has held major leaguers to a .254 BAA with much better ground ball numbers. Robinson has allowed a roughly .290 BAA to date in AA at the age of 24. Cahill's stuff prior to injury and after is better than Robinson's. I don't see a comparison.

He has some pretty good numbers there, what kind of stuff does he have/throw? So I believe he has no true "plus" pitch. His fastball is in the low-90's and his best pitch is probably his curveball. Throws strikes and has 4 or 5 pitches. I read he was working on a cutter. Not sure how good or effective it is. I think he learned that pitch from pitching coach (and former MLB pitcher) Brian Lawrence while he was in South Bend. His profile is that of a BOR starter. His stuff isn't great and that's probably why he hasn't been listed on national prospect lists for the Cubs' system. I think he could end up being similar to Luke Farrell as a guy we call up next year as a spot starter. I know that isn't exciting, but there is value in having someone like that. I see Robinson a little differently. It's probably semantics, but I would say Robinson absolute ceiling is that of a BOR instead of his profile, but you may mean the same thing. The numbers show Luke Farrell is a better pitcher right now than Robinson which is to be expected given that he's 2.5 years older. But Farrell has a mid-90s FB plus decent secondaries. AAA hitters are batting .213 against him and he's held major leaguers to a .244 BAA. AA hitters are batting .286 against Robinson not including today's game in which he gave up 7 hits in 5 innings. I just don't see a successful future for a guy getting hit that hard in AA even if he limits his walks. There's little use being in the zone if your stuff/command isn't good enough to not give up hits at such a high rate. I would compare him to Tseng without an above average change up. When Tseng is commanding his fastball and has his change working, he can shut down a team. If he's even a little off with his command, he's very hittable. With the Cubs AAA projected depth of starters next season (Alzolay, Farrell, Clifton and Underwood), I doubt Robinson is getting a call to spot start any time soon.

Um, Ocampo walked 2. And this is a joke post, right? Two's probably a record between those two. Bruzual with none! Yes, but it was over just 1.1 IP. So, just to be clear, these aren't joke posts?

So, that's a no then...

Two seamer at 89, Four seamer at 91-92, T93. Slider at 82-84. Also throws a curve and a change. He's generally around the plate. Keeps the FB low and can pinpoint it on the outer edges at times. The change was often left up but has arm side run with drift. What was most clear while watching this game is that Amaya is already a good framer of pitches. Better than Contreras, though that's not saying much.

Um, Ocampo walked 2. And this is a joke post, right?

Obviously you wait and see how he does the rest of the season and in the playoffs, but if you had to make the decision today, would you resign Justin Wilson assuming the price is right? After a horrible first 3 weeks in May (and since May 26th), Wilson has a 2.88 ERA, a slash of .200/.301/.288, and 35 Ks, 12 BBs in 22.1 IP. His 79.6% strand rate is not great, but decent. He obviously possess higher than average velocity and spin rate. The best (and more expensive) FA options this coming off season are Andrew Miller (34) and Zach Britton (31). Other FAs that are more on par with Wilson are Jake Diekman (32) and Tony Sipp (35). I honestly don't know what I would do. Your thoughts?

One possible lefty I should mention is Kyle Ryan. If I've done my research right, he should have at least one option left (maybe more if he isn't added to the 40-man and called up this year). Ryan has been a semi-useful major league reliever for Detroit in the past but has suffered from injuries in the past (he's been placed on the DL once this season but only the 7-day variety). He doesn't blow you away with velocity, but is getting ground balls at an elite rate this year (62.9%) in Iowa and has posted effective numbers as a reliever (2.88 ERA, .237 BAA, 23 Ks, 5 BBs in 25 IP). Rob Zastryzny will have an option left next season, but he's been fairly ineffective. I can see the Cubs moving on from him if they need to open up a spot on the 40-man.