CubsWin

Here's an interesting name to watch. South Bend right-handed reliever Jhon Romero (a squatty but strong 5'11", 195 lbs.) has had a unique progression to his pro career thus far. After starting his pro career late (signing as a 19-year-old), he pitched just 10.1 innings over two seasons in the DSL, and he didn't pitch particularly well giving up 11 hits and 5 earned runs. I don't know if injury led to his lack of usage or what, but after a forgettable first two seasons he was brought stateside for the start of the 2017 season. It's not surprising for a 22-year-old to get promoted from the DSL even after not performing all that well, but what he's done since his promotion is unique. As expected, he started in Mesa pitching just one hitless inning before being promoted to Eugene. For the Emeralds, he held batters to a .151 AVG allowing 8 hits and 3 ER (0 HR) in 15 innings striking out 19 and walking 5 while inducing ground ball outs at a clip of a 2.25 GO/AO. He was brought up to South Bend on July 19th and has allowed just 2 hits, no walks and 9 Ks in 6.1 scoreless innings. So far this season: 22.1 IP, 10 H, 6 BB, 28 K, 1.21 ERA, .132 BAA, 0.72 WHIP, 1.53 GO/AO In his last appearance, Romero threw his FB at 93 and showed an impressively sharp curveball. He doesn't appear to be have the stuff of a sure-fire major league relief prospect, but he's got a chance. And to have come out of nowhere like he has this season makes him all the more fun to follow.

Cubs Den founder and minor league analyst John Arguello passed away from brain cancer today. His blog was a breath of fresh air especially during the Cubs long overdue rebuild and kept Cubs fans interested and aware of what was coming. He lived in Mesa the last couple years of his life. The move from the Chicago area was not driven by his focus on the Cubs minor league system, however. He lucked out when his wife's job transferred her there. Unfortunately, his luck ran out soon thereafter as he was diagnosed with lymphoma. He battled hard against the disease and got support from the Cubs organization along the way. He was a fixture at the backfields and many of the Cubs players, coaches and front office personnel got to know him. Aramis Ademan gave him a signed bat among other gestures of good will. He eventually would beat lymphoma, but only months after announcing it had gone into remission, he had a new battle on his hands. The lymphoma had passed through the blood/brain barrier, and he was now facing a rare form of brain cancer. John was remarkably open and honest about his struggles. Gracious in victory and, I'm sure now, gracious in defeat. As many new pundits do, John faced some doubts and derision as Cubs Den gained in popularity and fans started saying "who is this guy?" and "this guy doesn't have any sources!". But John proved true. No analyst is perfect, but more often than not, John's predictions came to pass. He was touting Willson Contreras long before any other prospect guy. His post in Mesa allowed him to talk to development personnel, and he got many a heads up from them on certain prospects. Rob Zastryzny looked like a bust, but John reported a breakthrough with his curveball and, sure enough, Zastryzny put together a strong 2nd half in 2016 and joined the Cubs for their championship run. Earlier in 2016, John mentioned how Cubs coaches loved Jason Vosler and said to keep an eye on him. Sure enough, next season Vosler had put himself on the map. And those are just a few examples. John was good. And on top of that, he was a talented and thoughtful writer. He will be missed.

I wonder if this will be their last start as a Cub from either of them. Or both... #hugwatch

Soooo...it's pretty fun that all of this is describing a 6'4" 18 YO LHP who has already thrown nearly 80 successful IP in the pros at 17 and 18 with some games left to pitch this year. Yep! That's good stuff! Keep that comin', Brailyn.

Ooh, do tell! How does it work?

I didn't know Kellogg was spelled R-U-C-K-E-R. Learn something new every day.

Two things: 1. My point 2 was wrong. He mentioned Rucker, yes. But he ALSO mentioned Hatch, as a sinker/slider guy. 2. Cubswin: You watched Tseng pitch a couple of starts ago, when he had a good outing. Does MacLeod's reference to Tseng with a 90-93 fastball seem representative from what you saw/recall? Or is that a little scouting-director exaggeration/hype? Or maybe "90-93" is really more what he tops at most starts, as opposed to where he typically throws his fastball most starts? Or does that 90-93 seem in line with what you saw? Or is it just not even hardly relevant? If he's throwing 90 pitches, and 35 are curveballs, 25 are cutters, 15 are changes, and only 15 are regular fastballs, do you even notice them and does it matter much if they are coming in at 90 versus 92 or 93? Or if there are 25 cutters, 10 2-seamers, and five 4-seam fastballs, how can you even notice or remember? Getting velo reports is it and miss when relying on the play-by-play announcer to mention them. From what I remember, he threw a good amount of fastballs and curves. The mentioned velocities were 89 and 90, but there certainly could've been others thrown harder than that. Out of 90 pitches 2 or 3 get velocity reports. What made Tseng effective was his command of those pitches. When you're throwing your off speed pitches for strikes and getting swings and misses, a 90 mph FB on the black will get the job done, at least in AAA. He reminded of Kyle Hendricks. Not in the types of pitches he throws but in that if his command is on, he can be effective. If Kyle is leaving things up and over the plate, he'll get hit. I suspect it's the same for Tseng. Now, as it does with most pitchers, it comes down to how consistently can he pitch with that good command.

Great discussion, y'all. Thanks! Javier Assad matched Adrian Morejon pitch for pitch giving up 1 hit in 6 innings with no walks and 4 K on 67 pitches thus far. Morejon was brilliant again. I fear he's the one who got away.

BTW, in Rucker's start yesterday he was sitting 94 may touched higher and lower but that 94 was consistently on the black. If you can locate 94, you're going to get a lot of High-A guys out very easily. He also showed a change up with very good movement down and running back in to right-handers. He only threw it a couple times. Missed high with it once and it was muscled out into LF for a hit. He has a pretty good breaking ball that got swings and misses. I never got a velo reading on it but it looks like a slurve to me. In that I mean it's not a big breaker like most curves. It's has a shallower, sharper break but it has a little hump to it coming out of his hand. Most really good sliders look like fastballs until they suddenly break. This wasn't that, but it was effective at least against Carolina League hitters. His wind up is so unassuming. He doesn't seem to load up. There's very little effort (which explains his excellent control) and yet he's throwing 93-96. I usually don't get too excited about guys until they dominate AA, but the fact that he's doing what he's doing as an 11th round draft pick adds a level of excitement for me. Pro career: 85.1 IP, 60 H, 4 HR, 14 BB, 106 K, 1.58 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, 2.62 FIP, 3.17 xFIP. I'll take that start from any prospect, but I think next year in AA will be far more telling. If he can get more consistent with his change up, the Cubs may have something they can use. And speaking of change ups, Jesus Camargo has a really good one. He doesn't really seem to wow you with anything else, but so far he's flat out dominating the NWL with it. He was pretty good in June, but since the calendar flipped to July... 2-0, 0.86 ERA, 21 IP, 11 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 24 K. With his stuff (or lack thereof) he's a prove it at every level guy, but he's proving in Eugene right now. Another find from Mexico.

Are Rucker and Alzolay the Cubs top two pitching prospects right now? Discuss.

Yes! Ademan has been a pleasant surprise with the bat thus far. He's certainly a slick fielder and will stick at SS. With him, Paredes, Amaya and Albertos, that's a nice core of 18-year-olds for the Cubs to rebuild their farm system around. Of course, there's still 11 days to go before the trade deadline...

I don't know. Pat Light was also in the car, and he's 6'5", 220. He might have called shotgun for the leg room...

This is hilarious. Dan Vogelbach and 3 other Mariners AAA guys were forced to take a $683 Uber ride to make their game in Albuquerque. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2722362-mariners-minor-leaguers-take-7-hour-uber-trip-from-arizona-to-new-mexico?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial I hope it was an UberXL. Can you imagine squeezing into the backseat with Vogelbach for a 7-hour ride?

Perhaps I didn't communicate clearly. He threw the FB for strikes, many of them swinging, but when he did get the call it wasn't in the hitting zone. It was fairly consistently on the black. He commanded the pitch well. Throwing it off the plate down and in and getting swings and misses, starting in the zone and having it run back on the hands to RHH or just generally keeping it low. The curve he was unafraid of throwing it right over the heart of the plate. The hitters generally laid off of it and it would fall in for a strike. Or he would start it in the dead center of the hitting zone looking a meaty fastball and it would dive down to just below the knees. It would get called strikes and swings and misses on that pitch. The change was effective also. He had all 3 pitches working.

CeeeeeeeeeeTeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!! I've not heard of any changes to his repertoire. Averagish stuff across the board, but with above average command. He's still just 22, so he's just getting smarter, is about all I've got. He's putting himself onto the 40 man after the season. Should be our 7th, 8th, 9th starter next year..... Just finished watching Tseng's game. FB at 90 with either good placement or good movement. Showed arm side run into RHH. Rarely threw the FB over the plate. Either on the corners or down. He commanded a very good curve in the mid-70s all night. Sharp downward break. He threw it for strikes consistently while wasting a couple down and away with 0-2 or 1-2 counts. Got a lot of swings and misses on it. He wasn't to throw the curve over the heart of the plate, either starting it up and having it break down to the center of the zone or starting at the belt and having it break down just below the knees and getting the call. His CU was on last night at least (this is my 1st time seeing him). It was his least used pitch of the three, but he wasn't hiding it. Not only does it change speed, obviously, but it had darting action down and in to RHH. Didn't get a velo reading on his change up. Obviously I was seeing him at his best, and he was facing a AAA Nashville team that far and away leads the PCL in Ks (which certainly helped him get as many as he did) and is second to last in AVG, but he reminded me of Kyle Hendricks with his ability to locate, the darting/diving action on his change up and just over all style and approach. He kept his most hittable pitch (his 90 mph FB) out of the zone and showed good control throughout the night. I suspect, like Hendricks, when he's leaving pitches up and/or in the zone, he gets hit because he lacks any overpowering stuff. When he's on, he can be a solid BOR starter. The question remains how consistently can he pitch like he did last night...

At the half way point in the DSL season, in my opinion these are the guys that have distinguished themselves thus far: DSL 1 CF - Fernando Kelli (18, turns 19 in 2 weeks) .366/.475/.527, 9 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 17 BB, 26 K, 28 SB, 6 CS in 131 ABs. C - Henderson Perez (18, turns 19 next June) .273/.400/.379, 1 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 13 BB, 16 K in 66 ABs. SS - Christopher Morel (18, turns 19 next June) .240/.347/.385, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 14 BB, 17 K in 104 ABs. OF - Carlos Pacheco (18, turns 19 next April) .243/.405/.432, 2 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 30 BB, 33 K in 111 ABs. RHP - Yovanny Cruz (17, turns 18 in 3 weeks) .294 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .231 BAA, 31 K, 5 BB in 33.2 IP. DSL 2 IF - Orion Nunez (18, turns 19 in September) .317/.385/.381, 6 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 14 BB, 8 K, 15 SB, 7 CS in 126 ABs. C - Jonathan Soto (turned 19 a week ago) .321/.393/.434, 3 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 13 BB, 12 K in 106 ABs. LHP - Didier Vargas (18, turns 19 next March) 0.62 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .165 BAA, 20 K, 13 BB in 29.0 IP.

I have the same feeling. Perhaps it's just wishful thinking, but with Quintana in the fold, I have no problem with going after a few more pieces especially if they have some team control left. There's a lot of buzz around Alzolay right now and for good reason. He's definitely an asset I can see a lot of other GMs desiring. A package of Alzolay, Candelario and one or two of Caratini, Zagunis, Clifton, Hatch, Burks, etc. could bring back something quite useful. Maybe even 2 useful pieces (with a veteran back-up catcher being one of them). The problem is none of those guys are top prospects so it all depends on what other GMs are willing to part with. That package is a broad, high floor type offer that could be blown away by other teams without the Cubs being able to counter offer unless they include someone good off the 25-man roster.

Especially with a lot of the 2015 IFA haul starting stateside this season. None of the noteworthy guys in the DSL will be in the top 25, but it's nice to see them doing well. We are back to identifying interesting 17 and 18 year olds and monitoring their progress again after an incredibly well executed rebuild. The fact that the Cubs very likely won't have a need for position players for the next 4-5 years and, after acquiring Quintana, their need for young pitching has a chance to be filled from within (given the presence of Little, Alzolay, Lange, Hatch, etc.), the fact that so much of the upside exists in Mesa and Eugene is about right. It's more obvious now than ever that the 2015 IFA class was a part of the plan. Now some of them just need to make good...

Along with 11th rounder Rollie Lacy and 40th rounder Jeff Passantino for Mesa.

Yep. That and he's hit incredibly well for about two months now. Couple that with him doing that at age 18 in full season ball and he's clearly in that "top" group. If we can even use that word now...

I don't really have a strong sense of the order but with Eloy and Dylan gone and Happ officially no longer a prospect, I think my new top 11 would include (in no particular order): Alzolay Little Lange Paredes Hatch Candelario Albertos Ademan Amaya Caratini Burks

is that because we’re down to only 10? Yup!

Welp, I think Zach Hedges just made my new top 10...

Good to see. I'd be interested to hear where his velocity was at. The Smokies broadcast is notoriously bad, both with the video and sound quality and announcing, so I didnt expect the announcers to be aware that people would be watching Hendricks' first rehab start and be interested in such information . Unsurprisingly, they only reported two velocity readings. Both were on change-ups. One was 82, the other 83.

Agreed. I just came up with a list and had Paredes at 12. Obviously I only put a couple minutes of thought into it, but it shows he's no slam dunk for the top 10. 1. Eloy Jimenez 2. Dylan Cease 3. Adbert Alzolay 4. Brendon Little 5. Alex Lange 6. Jose Albertos 7. Thomas Hatch 8. Charcer Burks 9. Jeimer Candelario 10. Victor Caratini 11. Mark Zagunis 12. Isaac Paredes Wow. All pitchers 2 thru 7. How times have changed. That said, there's a lot of subjectivity in any top ten ranking in this organization right now. We could see a lot of valid variation amongst people's rankings this year.