CubsWin

The at bat for Paredes 2nd HR was especially impressive. He gets down 0-2 in the count on consecutive above average curve balls. Lays off a fastball in the dirt. Fouls off 3 or 4 more curve balls (one of which he drilled down the RF line deep but foul). Then drives a fastball on the outer 3rd over the RF wall with two men on and two outs. He remained patient down in the count. Didn't over swing. Didn't chase. Stayed alive. Then got a pitch he could drive and didn't miss it. At the same level and same age as Gleyber Torres, he's shown more power, the same walk rate and less swing and miss. He may not have as good a hit tool as Gleyber with an average that is currently 32 points lower, but Torres BABIP was 85 points higher (.373) so some luck may be involved there. Where the two prospects differ is defensively. There's little doubt that Gleyber can be a major league caliber SS. Paredes is much slower and less athletic than Torres who was described as smooth and lithe in his actions even before he was signed. But Paredes isn't a butcher defensively. He's not flashy and lacks range, but he makes the plays in front of him. He's thus far proved to be a capable SS, though it might not be his ideal position when all is said and done. Still, if his bat continues to shine relative to his age and level, keeping him at SS will only enhance his trade value as long as he remains average defensively.

Make that 2 HRs for Paredes. Now up to 7 on the season. Not bad for an 18-year-old thru a little over half of his first year in full season ball.

FWIW, both are marked in red at CCDT. Certainly not an official team designation with no announcements as of yet. 14th round prep SS Luis Vazquez would be the most likely recipient of any left over cash, but who knows... Here's the official list of signings: [tweet] [/tweet]Unfortunately no major surprises. We did get Vazquez. Hopefully we can bring Rasmussen and/or Conlon Nice. I'll take it.

He also wasn't sure on Velasquez who tweeted a picture of his locker in Mesa a couple of days ago. He's a busy man right now, though...

FWIW, both are marked in red at CCDT. Certainly not an official team designation with no announcements as of yet. 14th round prep SS Luis Vazquez would be the most likely recipient of any left over cash, but who knows...

From BA: Good attitude, work ethic and approach along with the classic pitcher's frame at 6'5". Took the initiative to get in better shape, fix a head whip and improve his mechanics. Sounds like the Cubs might be interested.

After starting his 0-for-17 in his first 4 professional games, DSL SS Christopher Morel has turned things around hitting .328/.446/.534 in 74 PAs with 4 doubles, a triple and 2 HRs along with a 13.5 K% and a 14.9 BB%. He's gotten on base in every game during that stretch except for two, and those were his first 2 games after missing 11 days with a slight injury. Morel started this season as a 17-year-old and turned 18 two weeks ago. He's listed at 6'0", 140 lbs. so he apparently has plenty of room to fill out his frame. AZ Phil reported that some Cubs brass said he reminded them of Starlin Castro. I have no idea how he's looked defensively at SS, but of the 21 games he's played, 19 of them have been at short. The other 2 were at 3B. When he was signed in 2015, he was listed as a 3B. He's worth watching.

We'll see how he fares once he returns to South Bend, but DJ Wilson's rehab is off to a good start. 3 G, 8 AB, 4 R, 4 H, 1 double, 3 HRs, 5 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K.

Posted yesterday by AZ Phil: I knew about Alzolay, Robinson and Payne, but the Albertos promotion was news to me.

With roughly 30 hours to go before the signing deadline, the only 3 players without any indication next to their names on CCDT are 27th rounder, junior college freshman RHP Darius Vines, 32nd rounder prep RHP Hunter Ruth and 34th rounder RHP Andrew Karp, junior out of University of Florida. Both Ruth (135th) and Karp (253rd) were ranked by BA, so they're most certainly not signing. There's a very slim chance Vines could still sign, though we likely would've heard at least something by now. Vines is 6'1", 180 lbs and 19 years old. He was drafted in the 32nd round out of high school by the Astros last year.

Nice. According CCDT, it appears the Cubs will sign 24 of their top 25 picks with 14th round prep SS Luis Vazquez now indicating he will sign. The lone top 25 pick not to sign is another prep SS, 22nd rounder Skyler Messenger. Assuming those marked as likely to sign actually do (and they will), the Cubs will have signed 29 of their 41 picks. It's a pretty experienced draft. Only 6 of the 29 are under 21 years old. 3 junior college pitchers - 1st rounder LHP Brendan Little (20) - 17th rounder RHP Peyton Remy (20) - 24th rounder RHP Braxton Light 3 prep players (2 hitters, 1 pitcher) - 6th rounder OF Nelson Velazquez (18) - 7th rounder RHP Jeremiah Estrada (18) - 14th rounder SS Luis Vazquez (17) 14 college juniors (8 pitchers, 6 hitters) - 1st round comp RHP Alex Lange - 2nd rounder RHP Cory Abbott - 4th rounder RHP Erich Uelman - 7th rounder LHP Ricky Thomas - 11th rounder RHP Rollie Lacy - 12th rounder RHP Ben Hecht - 23rd rounder RHP Brady Miller - 40th rounder RHP Jeff Passantino - 8th rounder 3B Austin Filiere - 13th rounder 2B Austin Upshaw (20) - 15th rounder 2B Jared Young - 16th rounder CF Brandon Hughes - 19th rounder CF Chris Singleton - 31st rounder IF Ramsey Ramano 9 college seniors (7 pitchers, 2 hitters) - 3rd rounder RHP Keegan Thompson - 10th rounder RHP Brian Glowicki - 18th rounder RHP Casey Ryan - 20th rounder RHP Brendan King - 21st rounder RHP Sean Barry - 25th rounder RHP Mitch Stophel - 29th rounder RHP Jacob Steffens - 9th rounder OF Chris Carrier - 30th rounder 2B Cam Balego

Miguel Amaya caught all 20 innings of Eugene's extra innings marathon. Oh, to be 18 again. In case you were wondering, he was given the next day off. Boise attempted to steal 6 times. Interestingly, Amaya threw out 4 of them, but the 2 successful attempts happened when Amaya overthrew the base. Seems like if he hits his target, they're gonna be out! On the season, he's thrown out 11 of 20 attempted steals. He's gunned down 35 of 71 over his short career.

For those wondering, Pelicans announcer said Oscar De La Cruz injured his shoulder while warming up on May 31st. Said it wasn't serious, though De La Cruz has been on the shelf for over a month now. Shoulder injuries, no bueno. Also, Jimenez was removed after twisting his right ankle sliding into 3rd last night. He stayed in the game and jogged home after an Alamo line drive single to drive him in, but he was gimpy coming home. Could be as minor as Bryant's twisted ankle that kept him out a couple. Who knows exactly, but it didn't appear serious by any stretch.

Brailyn Marquez with an encouraging piggyback start. 4 IP, 1 H, 2 R (unearned), 2 BB, 8 K. Keep that comin', big fella!

Nice. Ask and ye shall receive!

It wasn't ever found out exactly. I think he got injured on a defensive play. He was listed on the DL. If it were for poor play, he would've showed up in ExST games and then gotten in games right when the short-season teams started.

Time to flip him and Hedges. With over 200 IP in AA and his performance of late, I'd like to see that.

All's well that ends well. DJ Wilson is making his 1st rehab start tonight for the Mesa Cubs. Looking forward to see what Albertos does. Perlaza and Sierra off to decent starts as well.

And he will be all season. I find that's right in line with the average age for High-A college draftees. So, I'm okay with his current placement. I would feel better if he saw time in AA before the season ends, however. Of course, that all depends on the benchmarks the Cubs have for him in his personalized development plan. Don't know what they're looking for. Greater FB command? Here's hoping he hits those benchmarks, and we get to see him in Tennessee before too long.

17-year-old DSL RHP Yovanny Cruz completed his 5th strong start out of 6 today going 6 innings allowing 1 hit, no runs, 1 walk while striking out 5 and inducing 8 ground ball outs to just 1 in the air. He had 4 solid starts to begin his pro career after getting rocked for 10 hits and 5 runs in his last outing. His season totals now stand at 27 IP, 24 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 26 K. That's a WHIP of 1.00 and an ERA of 2.67.

CCDT now has the Cubs officially signing 24 players with 4 more players expected to sign (and perhaps have but not announced officially), compensation pick Alex Lange, 6th rounder Nelson Velasquez, 7th rounder Jeremiah Estrada and 23rd rounder Brady Miller, a 6'2", 21-year-old RHP out of Western Oregon University.

Per CCDT, 11th rounder RHP Rollie Lacy and 12th rounder RHP Ben Hecht have officially signed for $125,000 each. They're both college juniors but in name only as Hecht is 22 and Lacy is just 2 weeks away from turning 22. Lacy was the Friday night starter for Creighton while Hecht was a reliever for Wichita State. Here's a bit on Lacy: This is an excerpt from an article about Ben Hecht linked at CCDT:

It's good to see these draft picks getting to the NWL, but he had 2 games in the AZL before his promotion to Eugene.

Another tape measure shot. Apparently, lightning struck in the distance as Schwarber's 2nd HR was flying thru the night sky. [bbvideo=560,315]http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=1559302883&sid=milb[/bbvideo]

17-year-old LHP Jonathan Bruzual (the Cubs most highly touted prospect from the weak "penalty" class last year) put up a good line today. 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R (earned), 2 BB, 7 Ks.