CubsWin

Why isn’t 3 HR in ~45 good? And 1 in ~55 the year before? Or at least why is that a huge wart and worry? Especially considering he's added several MPHs since last summer. Come on, guys. Everyone knows players stop developing at 18.

Yeah no, this never happened Don't use his own words against him, man. That's just unfair.

That was his first HR given up this year and didn’t seem to have a problem with them the last two years, what am I missing? Nothing.

Yeah, a nice little pitching duo tonight between him and Marquez. Will be interesting to watch.

Hey, toonster. When you say power sinker, do you have a velocity on that?

Through 8 innings, Amaya has once again thrown out 2 of the 3 attempted base stealers.

Outside of the 17-year-olds in the DSL worth watching: The Cubs may have found something in LHP Luis Rodriguez. Despite being 18, this is his first season in the DSL. Would love to know more about his stuff, but he's got okay size (6'1" 190 lbs.) and hasn't had a bad outing yet. In 6 appearances, his worst is a 4 inning, 2 hit, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K performance. Through 18.2 IP, he's allowed 8 H, 3 R (all earned), 2 BB and 20 Ks for a WHIP of 0.55, a BAA of .127 and an ERA of 1.47. Another non-17 year old I've been keeping an eye on is 6'6", 200 lbs. lefty Johan Lopez. He's a 19-year-old, but tall pitchers (especially tall lefties) tend to develop a little more slowly and this is his first season in pro ball. He's yet to have a bad outing as well. In 5 starts and 18.1 innings, he's allowed 11 hits, 4 ER, 10 BB against 21 Ks with a .172 BAA, 1.15 WHIP and 1.96 ERA. His height likely gives him an advantage in causing ground balls as his GO/AO is 4.50. Obvious SSS and DSL competition caveats apply, but guys to monitor going forward.

I don't know. That's a pretty nice complex down there in Mesa. They've got drinking fountains and a really nice weight room.

16-year-old Reivaj Garcia apparently doesn't like the number 1 very much. He's hit safely in 6 of his 8 games. In all 6 he's had multi-hit games. Prior to last night's game, Garcia hadn't attempted a stolen base despite being on 1st base so often. Last night he attempted to steal 3 times... and made it all 3 times. Apparently it's all or nothing with this kid. On a side note: Highly anecdotal, but the AZL Indians catcher threw out 2 of the other 3 attempted base stealers so maybe Garcia's got some speed...

Matt Frisbee (he better have an awesome slider with a name like that) came in to pitch the 8th inning against Eugene last night. He struck out the side and didn't give up a hit but he gave up a run because he walked Fernando Kelli. Kelli advanced to 2nd when the ball got away on a pick off attempt. He then stole 3B. After a two-out Jonathan Sierra walk, the Emeralds put on the double steal. Kelli stole home and Sierra was safe at 2nd. Note to opposing pitchers. Don't walk Fernando Kelli.

Also threw out 2 guys trying to steal while allowing 1. He's raised his season long caught stealing percentage to 32% after starting the year horribly.

That begs the question if midichlorians are pervasive throughout the cells of one's body, is it truly necessary to believe in one's self? Or are you equating believing in yourself to trusting the force? I would argue that the force is quite different than yourself. In fact, it might even be the polar opposite as to use the force one must connect with the energy that surrounds you, in essence everything that is not you. Using the force requires the realization that you are one with every other living thing, that there is no self. Thus, if one's midichlorians are indeed high, there's no need to believe in yourself.

Fernando Kelli is fast. We all know that. How fast? He hit a solid 3 bouncer to short and easily beat the throw to first. In retrospect, the SS should've charged the ball instead of waiting back knowing who was running, but it wasn't a slow dribbler. It was solidly struck. Any other runner and the SS gets him rather routinely.

Kwang-Min Kwon has been showing the daring and baseball instincts that are usually only associated with Javy Baez lately. He's 6'2", 210 lbs., and when he was signed was thought of as a power-hitting 1B/OF. I don't know what's gotten into him but a couple of games ago, he was dancing off of first like Jackie Robinson daring the pitcher to throw over which he did several times with Kwon just getting back to the bag each time. He eventually stole 2B. In this game, he hit a liner into shallow center. The CFer trapped the ball (according to the ump) and while he was holding up his glove to say he made the catch, Kwon, who never slowed down after rounding 1B, slid into 2B narrowly avoiding the tag. A batter later, he took off for 3B while the pitcher still had the ball on the mound. He got about half way there before the pitcher realized it. He threw to the thirdbaseman who wasn't at the bag yet and Kwon slid in safely. I don't know if this is the "Cubs Way" or not, but he sure looks like he's having fun...

Yeah, his start is most intriguing. The newfound selectivity at the plate (and the fact that it's been paired with good production) is quite the nice development. On a side note, in the games that I've watched, he's looked pretty rough in RF defensively (balls bouncing off his glove that he should've caught easily, bad reads/routes). Of course, he's got plenty of time to improve.

Wow, what a horsefeathery last few days for the Cubs organization, major league on down. [bbvideo=560,315] [/bbvideo]

That presumes Weber gets slot.

At about the mid-point of the season, I'd have Alzolay (injury notwithstanding) and Lange in the top tier of pitching prospects with everyone else in a big debatable morass after that. I guess De La Cruz's upside might set himself apart in a 2nd tier but I can see a clear argument on the other side. Albertos is a huge question mark. Little is young and has some upside but hasn't put it together yet and is still waiting on his change up to develop. Clifton has shown improvement, is throwing 94-95 on his 4-seamer, 91-92 on his two seamer and some average secondaries but still walks a lot of guys. The reports on Swarmer's stuff are encouraging but he's a little late in his development curve as he'll turn 25 in 3 months. Keegan Thompson has put up some good numbers but against High-A batters and with a lackluster repertoire of pitches. Abbott's peripherals have been very encouraging and he shown good velo, but he's done it against Low-A guys. Bailey Clark has some electric stuff but he's currently injured. Tyson Miller and Tyler Thomas have surprised but they're not what I would call exciting. Neither are Rucker, Robinson, Underwood, Uelman or Lacy. Brailyn Marquez was impressive in his first start but that's one start and he's a long ways away. With these kinds of numbers, there's a likelihood someone will take a step forward and distinguish themselves. I look forward to some clarity in this group in the 2nd half. For me, I've got my eye on Abbott and Miller. Who do you see emerging from the pack?

Thomas has had one start in which he's allowed more than 2 ER and walked more 2. And it was the same game. 11 games, 9 really good ones. (He had two back-to-back, May 3rd and 9th that weren't great). There's something to be said for consistency as a prospect. In his last 5 starts, 28 IP, 14 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 29 K, 2.25 ERA, 0.68 WHIP. He's right there in the same tier as Lacy. 6 months younger, just as deserving of a call up and no place to put him. I like this new problem the Cubs have. Very few TOR possibilities but plenty of depth of guys with a chance.

I guess that's progress for Albertos. What injury was Moreno dealing with? To my understanding, this specific stint in Mesa was about re-tooling his mechanics to avoid future injuries. Moreno had spend a lot of time on the DL throughout his minor league career and the Cubs thought they saw a way to keep him healthier by rebuilding his motion. This also appears to be what they're doing with Albertos, but I'm less clear on that.

Sort of. Fennell was signed as a UDFA, but he's the first June 2018 acquisition to see game action...

And bad Albertos is back in his 2nd inning of work.

With how badly he was struggling with his command in South Bend and AZ Phil's reports that those difficulties continued in Mesa (chunking FBs in the dirt, missing badly, walking guys, HBPs), it actually notable that Albertos didn't allow a hit, didn't walk anyone and got a K in a 1-2-3 first inning.

AZ Phil has had some good reports on Erling Moreno this spring in his efforts to re-tool his mechanics. Tonight's start AZL Cubs 2 will be his first game action of the season. Interested to see how he fares.

Oh, and by the way, Raisin is so prolific in facilitating this forum for all of us that I wanted to remind everyone that this is his sandbox and we're just pooping in it. Thank you, Navin, for all you do.