CubsWin

Anyone know why Maples is so good this year? We know his K's are way up- why?... Has he learned a killer 2-seamer, 4-seamer is up to 96mph or something else? Thanks... I signed up for the MiLB.tv subscription this year and it's been really informative. It helps a lot to see these guys perform and understand better why they're putting up the numbers that they are. For instance, Kevonte Mitchell is a physical beast (6'4", 185 lbs.) and has hit some monster HRs this year (one rumored to have gone close to 500 feet). Ok, so the kid can run into one, why doesn't he hit safely more often? Why does he K so often? With the subscription, you get to see why. For a prospect-o-phile like myself, it's been well worth the price. As for Maples, he's always had the fastball velocity and wicked curve ball, but he kept getting injured and struggled with controlling those pitches. His body has matured now (he's in Arrieta-like shape), strong, filled out, not the high school kid the Cubs drafted. That seems to have helped him stay healthy. And since he's been able to stay on the field, his control has improved. One other key, was the work he did with Cubs pitching coach Anderson Tavares in South Bend last year. Tavares had him go back to pitching off his dominant curve ball which he now throws for strikes. He had been trying to set up hitters off of his 95 mph fastball but since his control of it wasn't as good as his curve (especially when he was struggling in previous seasons) his results suffered. Since reverting back, his numbers have really improved. Maples credits Tavares with restoring his confidence and trusting his stuff once again which in turn helped him improve his FB command some. Consistency is huge for a prospect, and he's been able to remain consistent all season with his control improving as he goes. That improvement as continued after his promotion as he's now putting up his best month in AA (a level he's never pitched at before) which is a considerably more difficult pitcher's environment than High-A. But what the ability to watch these games as really provided to is to see the movement of the pitches, see the hitter's reactions to them, how he handles adversity/performs under pressure and to hear the announcer's comments and velocity readings. The movement on his power curve is remarkable. Announcer's remarked that it has a 3100 rpm spin rate. Major league average is 2300 on a curve ball. I've never watched minor league games before, but had watched major league games for over 40 years. At first you noticed all the things that are different. The exit velocity on hits is much weaker. Pitchers stuff is pretty unimpressive even though they're getting guys out, etc. But then somebody does something that opens your eyes because it triggers what you're used to seeing in the majors. That's what Maples power curve is like. The Mobile BayBears announcer kept calling it a slider cuz he'd never seen a curveball like it. His fastball has good movement on it also. According to announcers, he's sitting 95-96 with it and touching 99. The only question remaining with Maples is can he keep this level of consistency throughout the rest of the season. He's looking dominant and has the numbers to prove it. But with only 7 IP at the AA level, I want to see him keep it up. The stuff is there, though. No doubt. There's room for improvement on his command of each of those pitches. The more often he can pinpoint them on the edges of the strike zone (which he's already doing with some consistency), the better his chances become of being able to be a very good major league reliever.

Here's a nice piece about 19th rounder Chris Singleton. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2718808-a-qa-with-cubs-draftee-chris-singleton-son-of-charleston-shooting-victim

I stepped in for Raisin a couple of times when he and his wife had a baby recently (mozel tov again, CR) and doing this every night is an incredible commitment and service he provides for us. This is a lot of work, y'all! And we definitely take it for granted. Thank you, Raisin!

What is Maples' stuff like these days? Is he actually a "thing" again as a potentially useful MLB reliever? Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk Yeah, he is. He's throwing a very heavy 94-95, with a very solid curve. He never did develop a third pitch, but he's got his 2 working very well. He's probably never going to have good command, but he's got set up type of stuff, when he's on. He's still got a ways to go, but my guess is he'll see Iowa this year, or at least the AFL, to see if he's worth protecting in the off season. He's been hitting upper 90s with semi-regularity as well. I heard a few calls of 96, one of 97 and one of 99 in the few outings I've seen and you rarely get velocity reports from some of these announcers on MiLB.tv.

It's certainly a lot weaker than it used to be. I guess it comes down to what you consider weak and the confidence you have in guys at the lower levels. To have 3 prospects on a trajectory to be MLB starters (at the upper levels) isn't great, but I have such confidence in the Cubs developmental philosophy and staff that I'm now beginning to trust guys will emerge (Contreras, Candelario, Burks, etc.) and the guys at the lower levels on a starter's trajectory (Paredes, Amaya, Ademan, etc.) will make good. And I totally get what you're saying about why it is this weak. It's amazing that a team would be able to graduate MLB starters like Bryant, Baez, Russell, Schwarber, Contreras, Almora and Happ in the last 3 seasons and still have anything left in the cupboard. I came up in my ignorance hoping on Cubs prospects like Scott Thompson, Ty Griffin, Drew Hall, Derrick May, Gary Scott, Ryan Hawblitzel, Kevin Orie, Quincy Carter, Dave Kelton, Luis Montanez, Bobby Hill, Felix Pie, Hee Seop Choi and on and on. Ouch. Double ouch. I now live in an era where when the Cubs get their hands on a talented prospect, they seemingly know how to develop him and the chances of him becoming a decent to good major leaguer are way better than before. Again, it doesn't seem fair, does it...

This is awesome news! Just what I'd been hoping for and kind of beginning to see in the games I've watched.

In no particular order: Dylan Cease Brendan Little Alex Lange Thomas Hatch Adbert Alzolay Jose Albertos Trevor Clifton Oscar De La Cruz Michael Rucker Justin Steele ...make up a nice group of 10 solid starting pitching prospects for the Cubs right now. And there's a decent secondary group behind them: Jen-Ho Tseng Alec Mills Cory Abbott Erling Moreno Bryan Hudson Javier Assad Brailyn Marquez Keegan Thompson Yunior Perez Duane Underwood ...that's 10 more from which someone might emerge and, depending on your individual prospect assessments, I'm sure you could add a few more to that group. So the Cubs are no longer bereft of pitching prospects. And they still have a decent group of hitting prospects to boot: Eloy Jimenez Jeimer Candelario Victor Caratini Mark Zagunis Charcer Burks Jason Vosler Isaac Paredes Wladimir Galindo Miguel Amaya Aramis Ademan ...there are others you may like more (David Bote, Zack Short, DJ Wilson, Jonathan Sierra, etc.), but that's a solid group of 10 hitters. This list isn't as good as it used to be, but the cupboard's far from bare. Not to mention the Cubs can fill a starting line-up with talented major league hitters all but 1 of which is 25 or under: C - Contreras (25) 1B - Rizzo (27) 2B - Baez (24) SS - Russell (23) 3B - Bryant (25) LF - Schwarber (24) CF - Almora (23) RF - Happ (22) ...talk about homegrown. 6 of those 8 have only ever played in the Cubs organization. And as bullpens have grown in importance, the Cubs have a solid group of relief prospects forming: Daury Torrez Dillon Maples Craig Brooks Ryan McNeil Brad Markey ...are all in AA with Dakota Mekkes and Pedro Araujo dominating in High-A. And, of course, many of the starting pitching prospects will move to the pen as well. There's only a handful of top end talent in that group, but that's still a top 15-ish organization with some helium at the lower levels. If one of Little or Lange are named in the top 100 and guys like Amaya, Albertos and Hatch (and possibly others) can join Jimenez and Cease in that group, that's a solid organization with good depth to go with one of the best (and youngest) teams in the majors. It doesn't seem fair, does it...

Technically, last pick in the 1st round this year was #27. He got slot for the 30th pick which was the Cubs compensation pick, but if you go by 30 teams in the league, then the 30th pick slot fits that logic.

All 6 of Hudson's strikeouts came on the CB which he was spotting well. No FB velo reports from the Loons broadcasters but they did mention (oddly) Hudson's CB velocity 3 times. 74, 75, 77. He very often started an at bat with a CB for a strike and again all 6 of his Ks were on the curve (5 swinging).

Four 18-year-olds and two 19-year-olds in the AZL Cubs line-up. That's a young team. Of course, the draftees are still to come.

I was surprised to see that as well. I thought his timetable to return was a lot later.

Consistently good performance is meaningful for a prospect. It seems to indicate sustainable performance as a player moves up and solid approach at the plate/ability to repeat mechanics on the mound. We saw this in the breakout year of Willson Contreras, and we are seeing it now with Charcer Burks. His slash line on April 24th was .305/.414/.492. After last night's DH (46 games later), it stood at .309/.401/.464. And that was after an 0-for-3, no walk performance that broke an 18-game on base streak. It was his first game in June that he failed to reach base. He previously had a 17-game on base streak from April 15th to May 3rd when he went 0-for-4. He has yet to go 2 games in a row without getting on base and has only gone hitless 2 games in a row 3 times, all in the month of April. After not getting on base last night, Burks has a hit and a walk in his 1st 3 PAs tonight.

He might just be executing his pitches better. #development I was hoping for some added velo obviously. Or even just a damn velo report on him lol. I'll watch today's game later and see what they say. In previous games, I haven't noticed my difference in velo but his breaking ball seemed to be hitting spots a little more often. He's got a good curveball. MWL hitters struggle with it when it's placed well, at least. Don't know how it will play against better competition, but he's got time on his side.

If it's not coincidental, what would those dots lead to? My Sherlock skills tells me it ain't no coinkydink. Right, but what do you think it means? That he had a deal in place with the Cubs and the Yankees swooped in?

He might just be executing his pitches better. #development

If it's not coincidental, what would those dots lead to?

That's a savings of $258,000 to go with the $173,300 underslot from Little and the overage bonus of $372,745 for a total of $804,845 for the Cubs to play with. Top 10 picks yet unsigned: 1a. RHP Alex Lange ($2,184,300 slot) - BA ranked 34th 5. OF Nelson Velasquez ($285,800 slot) - BA ranked 202nd 6. RHP Jeremiah Estrada ($222,600 slot) - BA ranked 121st For those that don't want to do the math, that leaves $3,497,545 to signs 3 guys and possibly some overslots in rounds 11-16.

I watched every pitch he threw, but as the game was on the road, the announcer never gave one velo report.

Hatch's efficiency has been excellent his last 2 starts going 8 innings on 85 pitches and 7 innings on 84 tonight. He's induced 13 ground outs to 6 fly ball out and a combined 13 Ks over those same 2 starts. His FB was really good tonight. Sat 94-95 with tailing action and pretty good command. He's apparently got a really good change up. Pelican's pitching coach Anderson Tavares said Hatch has the best CU he's seen in the Carolina League this season. The breaking ball looked average to me. Didn't fool a lot of guys with it. It was clear that he can get High-A hitters out with his FB. We'll see how he does in AA. It's likely he'll have to improve his breaking stuff at some point to continue this kind of success at the upper levels. Plenty of time for that to happen, though. Dude's only pitched in 14 professional games.

Yep, you gotta put the incoming draftees somewhere.

After lighting up ExST, Miguel Amaya has gotten off to a slow start with the bat in his stateside debut, but he still threw out 40% of would be base stealers tonight and has gunned down 7 of 15 on the young season.

The "scouts take" on Cubs picks from The Athletic (really nothing new):

Yovanny Cruz was up to his new tricks again today. 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. The 17-year-old, 6'1", 190 lbs. RHP has a season line of 4 G, 16 IP, 16 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 17 K.

FWIW, according to a blog called The Clemson Insider, Meredith has confirmed he will attend Clemson. CCDT now has him marked in orange. Nothing set in stone yet obviously. That leaves Prep RHP Hunter Ruth as the highest BA ranked prospect (135) yet to communicate his intentions to sign. Perhaps he's the back up plan to Estrada. Honestly, it probably means Estrada has agreed to a number. But, I remember a quote from Meredith saying if the Cubs met his number on the last day, he'd drop what he's doing and sign. No idea how often kids have enrolled and then went pro a few weeks later.....But, I could see it happening here. As for Ruth, I really liked him going into the draft. Perhaps there's a shot he'd rather rehab with a professional team than thru his college? Very wishful thinking on my end, because you'd figure he'd have been an early round pick, if that was the case.....But yeah, he definitely COULD be the Estrada backup plan. I'd be a bit surprised though if his number isn't higher than Meredith's though. In the end, I'm just wanting to see some numbers on our guys, so we can get a slightly better idea of what's going to happen. Me too. I read the same quotes about Meredith, so it might mean that the Cubs came to an agreement with Estrada. Let's hope so. It's highly unlikely the Cubs wouldn't have taken him that high without knowing what it would take to sign him and that they'd be able to meet it. They do so with all their top 10 picks, calling a few rounds before they plan on taking a guy and double checking he'll still sign for the amount discussed. They (and all other teams) have it all planned out. I'm not too concerned about not signing Estrada, but, like you, I'm holding out hope they can sign as many of the junior college and prep guys as possible.

FWIW, according to a blog called The Clemson Insider, Meredith has confirmed he will attend Clemson. CCDT now has him marked in orange. Nothing set in stone yet obviously. That leaves Prep RHP Hunter Ruth as the highest BA ranked prospect (135) yet to communicate his intentions to sign. Perhaps he's the back up plan to Estrada.