CubsWin

De La Cruz giving up a lot of hard contact early...

Apparently Keegan Thompson is getting the start instead of Clark for Myrtle Beach today.

I agree. For reference: The Eugene Emeralds play their first game one week from today (6/15) while the debut for the AZL is 6/18.

Cubs played an intrasquad game today in ExST. Brailyn Marquez: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 7 K, 1 HR, 1 GIDP, 2/5 GO/AO, 73 pitches (53 strikes) Christopher Morel, SS: 1-3 (E-6, HR, F-7, R, RBI) Fernando Kelli, CF: 1-4 (4-3 K, 5-3, 3B, R, RBI) Jonathan Sierra, DH: 1-4 (K, 3-1, K, 1B) Carlos Pacheco, LF: 2-3 (BB, 5-3, 2B, 2B, R, PO)

I don't know how anyone can form such a clear opinion about a draft class after a couple days, but all there is to do now is wait 3 years and see if you're right...

Ademan 2-for-3 with a HR so far. He looks to be figuring things out a bit lately walking 7 times against 6 Ks in his last 10 games.

Keith Law's comments on the Cubs top picks: The write-up on Roberts sounds intriguing...

Hecht in the 9th: 3 curves, 3 strikes. Out number 1. FB spiked at 88. Swing and a miss on another great curve. Next pitch lined sharply to CF. Zach Davis came in at first and nearly over ran it, having to leap up to make the grab at the last second. Out number 2. Last batter, strike looking on another great curve, strike looking on yet another great curve. The battle ensued after that with Hecht nibbling and the batter fouling off some pitches. Hecht missed with a FB at 89 to make it 3-2, but got him looking on another curve that was questionable but framed nicely by Amaya for the 3rd out and the no-hitter.

Darn. But understandable as Lacy was at 96 pitches. Hecht throws a 1-2-3 8th. 8 combined no-hit innings. Interestingly, Lacy and Hecht taken back-to-back in last year's draft (11th and 12th rounds). Watched his inning. Nice sharp breaking curve ball at 82. That's a pro pitch. Don't know anything about his FB velo yet. He's held hitters to a .172 avg coming into this game.

Through 7 now. EDIT: Lacy is done after 7. Ben Hecht will pitch the 8th. Darn. But understandable as Lacy was at 96 pitches.

I don't know that I can... 89-91 FB with tailing action which he likes to start over the plate and run it in on right-handers, but hitters still pull it due to it's lack of velocity. He compliments his FB with an average curve (76-77 mph) and an average to above average low 80s slider. He's more consistent with the slider it seems, but both look good when they're on. He also has a change, but he didn't throw it very often in the game I watched. He's fairly consistently around the plate with all his pitches as his walk total indicates. The performance of the breaking balls is good enough to get Low-A hitters out. Lots of swings and misses and ugly check swings on the curve and slider.

Brendon Little has been the definition of consistently inconsistent to the extreme this year. He has literally had a terrible final stat line followed by a very good one followed by a terrible one all year. 4 ER, O ER, 4 ER, 0 ER, 5 ER, 0 ER, 5 ER, 0 ER, 7 ER and 1 ER in tonight's start. The good news is when he's on, he's been really good (at least against Low A hitters) and as with most younger prospects consistency often comes with more reps. But, damn, really?

Ha! The stadium gun for South Bend might be a bit off today. Fort Wayne TinCaps starter Mason Thompson has been throwing his FB in the low 90s all game. Then he popped one for 99, then 101 which was surprising but not out of the realm of human capability. The next inning, the scoreboard said he threw one at 117 mph. Yeah, no.

Bote with his 8th HR.

Clifton is joining him. Good. Send Swarmer to replace him. That would be a very welcome development with Cory Abbott taking Swarmer's spot. Selfishly, I'm glad Clifton (or any pitching prospect) goes to Iowa because the Smokies broadcasts are basically useless for learning any scouting information. Iowa has the velocity for every pitch right on the screen. With the addition of Clifton, the Cubs will have 4 home grown, starting pitching prospects in AAA all 23 years old. I can't remember the last time that happened.

Clifton is joining him.

After a very slow start to the season, Jason Vosler has really turned it on and appears ready to join the David Bote tier of prospect. Probably a notch below and a different type of hitter, but of a similar quality and age.

Nice!

Man is it weird seeing prospects born in the 2000s. I feel so old (of course, I am old...). You were close on Fernandez. He's 4th youngest. That prize goes to CF Brailin Pena who led off in the DSL2 season opener. He was born May 2nd, 2001. That means a month ago, he was 16! All in all, there are 22 players born in the 2000s on the Dominican squads. Heck the manager of DSL1 is in his 20s. I'm old...

AZ Phil has Reivaj Garcia in ExST.

Do we have any velocity or scouting reports on him this summer? Is his velocity average enough to be a reasonably legit prospect? Having him put up some really nice games reminds me that it will be nice to have three 2nd-round picks on Monday. 92-94, T97 last time out.

Just checked, he’s listed as the starter tomorrow on milb.com. Fingers crossed.

Swarmer missing his normal spot in the rotation. Anybody heard anything?

Albertos still re-working his delivery. 5 walks and 5 wild pitches in 2 innings today.

Alzolay today: Unfortunately, it's easy to see the difference between him and every other Cubs starting pitching prospect. He looked great, obviously, thru the first 3 innings. Was different but effective in the 4th. May have just been pitching to the scouting report but velocity was down 2-3 mph and sharpness of his curve was a little less but still good. Before his second to last pitch, Alzolay showed discomfort and it looked like he attempted to stretch out his right lat. Two pitches later, the batter flied out to center and that was that. FB: 93-95 with ability locate on the edges. Some with nice arm side run without losing velocity. Induced ground balls on ones kept low. FB was 91 in the 4th. Not thrown as often. Don't know if that was due to pitching to the scouting report or discomfort. Curve: 79-82, sharp breaking 12-6 shape. Consistently thrown for strikes both taking and swinging. Batters made contact with his curve once popping it up to the catcher. Change up: 84-85, only saw two in the first 3 innings. Both were up above the belt and broke down at the end. In the 4th, he threw some good ones. Kept them low at 81-82 (though his velocity was down a tick or two that whole inning) with drop and fade back towards the right hand batter's box. Left another one up at 82 which was hit weakly on the ground for an out.