CubsWin

Some of the top names still available: Stanford RHP Tristan Beck Prep RHP Tanner Burns Prep SS Brady McConnell Prep CF Garrett Mitchell Prep LHP Jake Eder Prep LHP Daniel Cabrera Arkansas RHP Blayne Knight Prep RHP Bryce Bonnin Missouri RHP Bryce Montes de Oca Prep RHP Kyle Hurt (ominous name for a pitcher...)

If those guesses are remotely accurate, the Cubs could have/should have taken Enlow at the end of round 2. He was taken 8 picks later by the Twins who everyone knew still had plenty of money to play with after taking Lewis 1st overall because they could underslot him. I don't know what Enlow's demands are so perhaps the math wouldn't have worked out and the Cubs knew it. But, damn, Little, Lange and Enlow would've been a nice haul...

Zack Short hit a walk off HR in the bottom of the 13th to win it for South Bend. It was a big win to pull out for the Cubs as it kept them a half game out of 2nd place which would have them qualifying for the playoffs. It was Short's 6th HR of the season. He's walked more than he's struck out and has an OBP over .400 and an OPS around .820 while providing solid defense at 2B, SS and 3B. He's also 13 out of 18 in stolen bases. He just turned 22 two weeks ago.

Alzolay throwing 96 mph fastballs with good movement and very good control. Will mix in a decent slider/curveball every now and then to keep hitters honest. He's working quickly, confidently and with ease. The pitch mix is heavily FB as they haven't been able to make meaningful contact on it yet.

Yes, Luis Gonzalez is still available. Yeah, the Cubs passed on SS Nick Allen and RHP Blayne Enlow at the end of the 2nd round. Must be signability concerns meaning neither would sign for around $1.5 - $1.7 million. That's the amount I think the Cubs could've conceivably come up with between the $900,000 slot value of their 2nd round pick, $370,000 in allowable bonus overages and $300,000 - $500,000 saved by underslotting some college seniors in rounds 5-10. I like Nick Allen, but give me Blayne Enlow (a upside prep RHP) along with Little and Lange and call it a successful draft. That would've been two safer college arms and a solid shot at developing a homegrown TOR arm. It's still possible they can underslot Abbott and overslot their 3rd or 4th round pick. They were able to do this in 2015 when they overslotted DJ Wilson stealing him away from fulfilling his commitment to Vanderbilt. The question remains, though, after 29 3rd round picks, who will be left worth overslotting at #105? Damn. Wow...you and I are completely on the same wavelength. Like to a scary degree. Simpatico as they say! I really like B. Enlow too and was also thinking Little, Lange and Enlow would be a very solid draft haul. Yeah I was doing the math and trying to figure out how much the Cubs could save to try to sign either N. Allen or B. Enlow. Like I really wanted the Cubs to draft Enlow, but he's probably too expensive. Good post CubsWin. Also, why are you still up and/or do you usually get up at this time? Actually, I have no idea what time zone you're in lol. I'm in California. Night owl. And I'm very sad to hear that you are burdened with a similar thinking capacity as mine. Must be tough. Us clods gotta stick together though...

Some other noteworthy ExST lines from AZ Phil: * ARAMIS ADEMAN (SS) - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Domincan Republic) 270/337/371 98 PA (28 GAMES) 24-89 - 2 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 15 RUNS, 6 BB (6% walk-rate), 10 K (10% K-rate), 3 HBP, 2 GIDP, 4 SB (1 CS), 1 PO ERRORS: 11 RAFAEL NAREA (SS-2B-3B) - Age 19 - 2014 IFA (Venezuela) 294/422/368 83 PA (26 GAMES) 20-69 - 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 16 RUNS, 11 BB (13% walk-rate), 3 K (4% K-rate), 4 HBP, 2 GIDP, 12 SB (1 CS), 3 PO ERRORS: 10 (five E-3, four E-6, and one E-4) NOTE: Led team in stolen bases and tied for team lead in walks # JOSE GUTIERREZ (CF-LF) - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Venezuela) 362/422/569 64 PA (20 GAMES) 21-58 - 4 2B, 4 3B, 0 HR, 10 RBI, 9 RUNS, 6 BB (9% walk-rate), 12 K (19% K-rate), 3 GIDP, 3 SB (2 CS), 1 PO ERRORS: 1 (E-7) OUTFIELD ASSISTS: 2 NOTE: Tied for team lead in triples JAVIER ASSAD - Age 19 - 2015 IFA (Mexico) 2.55 ERA - 1.09 WHIP - .229 OppBA 24.2 IP, 19 H, 9 R (7 ER), 8 BB, 26 K, 1 HR, 3 WP, 4 PO, 23/15 GO/AO 9.5 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 63% strikes, 13.8 PITCHES-PER-INNING 9 GAMES JOSE ALBERTOS - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Mexico) 2.93 ERA - 1.57 WHIP - .220 OppBA 15.1 IP, 11 H, 7 R (5 ER), 13 BB, 6 K, 1 HBP, 4 WP, 4 GIDP, 23/10 GO/AO 3.5 K/9, 7.6 BB/9, 52% strikes, 14.5 PITCHES-PER INNING 1 ERROR 6 GAMES Aaaand there were some pretty bad ones, too. # YONATHAN PERLAZA (2B-3B) - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Venezuela) 079/222/105 45 PA (15 GAMES) 3-38 - 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 4 RUNS, 5 BB, (11% walk-rate), 10 K (22 % K-rate), 2 HBP, 1 GIDP, 1 PO ERRORS: 7 (all E-5) * FAUSTINO CARRERA - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Mexico) 5.00 ERA - 1.83 WHIP - .325 OppBA 18.0 IP, 25 H, 10 R (10 ER), 8 BB, 9 K, 1 HBP, 2 HR, 1 WP, 3 PO, 3 GIDP, 20/23 GO/AO 4.5 K/9, 4.0 BB/9, 54% strikes, 14.4 PITCHES-PER-INNING 9 GAMES * BRAILYN MARQUEZ - Age 18 - 2015 IFA (Dominican Republic) 9.53 ERA - 2.91 WHIP - .429 OppBA 11.1 IP, 21 H, 12 R (12 ER), 12 BB, 5 K, 1 HR, 3 WP, 2 GIDP, 14/9 GO/AO 4.0 K/9, 9.5 BB/9, 55% strikes, 18.5 PITCHES-PER-INNING 7 GAMES All these guys are very young, so this is more for general info and tracking purposes than anything truly predictive. Bring on short season ball!

Yes, Luis Gonzalez is still available. Yeah, the Cubs passed on SS Nick Allen and RHP Blayne Enlow at the end of the 2nd round. Must be signability concerns meaning neither would sign for around $1.5 - $1.7 million. That's the amount I think the Cubs could've conceivably come up with between the $900,000 slot value of their 2nd round pick, $370,000 in allowable bonus overages and $300,000 - $500,000 saved by underslotting some college seniors in rounds 5-10. I like Nick Allen, but give me Blayne Enlow (a upside prep RHP) along with Little and Lange and call it a successful draft. That would've been two safer college arms and a solid shot at developing a homegrown TOR arm. It's still possible they can underslot Abbott and overslot their 3rd or 4th round pick. They were able to do this in 2015 when they overslotted DJ Wilson stealing him away from fulfilling his commitment to Vanderbilt. The question remains, though, after 29 3rd round picks, who will be left worth overslotting at #105?

University C Riley Adams (ranked 72nd overall by BA) and Oregon State RHP Jake Thompson (ranked 83rd overall by BA) are still on the board and were both previously drafted by this Cubs front office. Adams was the Cubs 37th round selection in 2014, and Thompson was taken in the 34th round the year before.

Shorter? Isn't he 6'3"? I'm with you on both likely as bullpen arms though. Of course, college arms available at 27 and 30 aren't going to be slam dunks. MLB.com has Lange listed at 6'4".

Rucker's FB was 91-95 (mostly 93-95) with good movement and was commanded quite well. The breaking stuff was less consistent and not thrown very often as the FB was so effective. The HR Rucker gave up was on a hanging curveball.

Eloy's HR landed well outside Pelican's Park. Got a meatball at 89, belt high, inner half. It was gone the moment it hit the bat.

As is not uncommon (in fact it's a pretty good bet that a player will struggle at first following a promotion), both Maples and Mekkes weren't their typical shutdown selves. Maples gave up an infield hit and a double to allow a run in his first AA appearance. He still struck out 2 in his one inning of work and didn't walk a batter. Mekkes gave up 3 hits and walked 2 in an inning and a third while striking out 1.

Eugene's official roster hasn't been released yet, but based on those final line-ups, it appears the Emeralds will have at least 2 18-year-old hitting prospects (Ademan and Amaya) and at least 3 19-year-olds (Narea, Kwon and Polanco). In addition, 18-year-old Jose Albertos will lead the Emeralds staff and will be joined by 19-year-old Javier Assad. Mesa will also have at least 3 18-year-old hitting prospects in Sierra, Perlaza and Gutierrez with Orion Nunez (currently in the DSL) possibly being called up soon. Mesa is also expected to have 4 18-year-old pitching prospects (all considered starters at this point) in Marquez, Y. Perez, Carrera and Ocampo with 19-year-old Hector Garcia also in the group. (There's been some talk of Marquez starting in Eugene.)

Brett Anderson had a solid rehab start in Mesa today. Miguel Amaya went 1-for-3 and drove in 2 of the Cubs 5 runs. Here's how good Amaya has been lately. AZ Phil gave Amaya a compliment without even mentioning his name. For those who don't know, Phil meticulously writes up a recap and box score of every ExST game over at thecubreporter.com and almost always mentions the players that drove in runs and/or had an exceptional day. Amaya drove in 40% of the Cubs runs today, and Phil thought it un-exceptional enough that he didn't mention him in his recap. Like, eh, 1-for-3 with 2 RBI is actually a pretty forgettable day for Amaya now...

Pretty sure Alec Mills injured his ankle.

17-year-old SS Christopher Morel started off his DSL debut going 0-for-17. In his last 3 games he's gone 5-for-12 with a double, a triple and a HR.

I wouldn't count on Oscar. But, getting Alzolay or Hatch would still be very cool. saw Hatch last go-round (wasn't impressed - but obviously only one game). Hoping for Alzolay this time. Plan to go to 2-3 of the 4 game set if possible. Jealous. Have fun! And let's know your thoughts on who you see!

Next up on the promotion watch list is Duncan Robinson, but that will likely have to wait until there's a corresponding promotion of someone currently in the Pelicans rotation especially with Rucker being stretched out and joining their rotation while De La Cruz is on the DL. Each of Hatch, Kellogg and Alzolay are in consideration, but there's no clear argument for promoting any one them immediately. Hatch seems the most likely after his last 4 starts resulted in 22.1 IP, 18 H, 3 ER, 6 BB (6.7%), 26 K (29.2%), .217 BAA, 1.07 WHIP, 1.21 ERA, 2.05 FIP with a very normal .316 BABIP but a high, perhaps somewhat lucky 83.3% strand rate. The Smokies have room to add someone to their rotation. Underwood could be moved to the pen though I tend to think the Cubs will be patient (perhaps too patient) with him. Tseng has logged 177 innings at that level and is pitching well. Zach Hedges is 24, has 112.2 IP in AA and is a lower priority prospect who could be moved either to the pen or AAA to make room for someone like Hatch. If it falls this way, the 2nd half would feel quite different than it has in many years as far as Cubs pitching prospects are concerned. AA Clifton Hatch Tseng (Underwood) (Morrison) High-A De La Cruz Alzolay Steele Robinson Rucker (Kellogg) Low-A Cease (who could see time in High-A in the 2nd half) Moreno Hudson Peyton (T. Miller) (Rondon) ...with Paulino possibly moved to the pen. There's a little upside in there but certainly a lot more depth than the Cubs have had in a long time. Add in the incoming draft class and some of the guys from short season ball and that's a decent foundation moving forward.

Ha! They just delayed the announcement a day on us!

Hatch continues to roll thru 5. This would make 3 consecutive highly effective starts for Hatch if he finishes this out.

Early returns, but yeah. Was just coming here to post exactly that. On the season: 2 G, 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K. He's 6'1", 190 lbs. and 17.

Mekkes to Myrtle, I presume? Doesn't look like it. Some dude named Pearson is being activated. I even had Mekkes to Myrtle already written and deleted it. Tyler Pearson. Catcher. Welp, Mekkes will be promoted soon, I'm sure. Cubs have a growing list of viable major league relief prospects and most of them are in AA. Daury Torrez Craig Brooks Dillon Maples Ryan McNeil Brad Markey ...are all in AA. That's not a bad bullpen for the Smokies especially when you throw in guys like Pugliese (who doesn't have the stuff of the previous guys but has great numbers as a reliever this year - 0.84 WHIP, .161 BAA, a K per inning and a 0.47 ERA) and David Garner who's been solid. Michael Rucker, now in High A, is being stretched out, but he's been lights out. Pedro Araujo is up to his old tricks and Mekkes is Mekkesing. Sadly, both Pierce Johnson and Felix Pena are struggling in AAA and Jake Stinnett (who I still think would be best out of the pen) is injured so the Cubs will need this latest crop of relievers to step up and prove themselves in AAA, if and when the get there. Of course, this isn't the entirety of relief options. Many of the Cubs minor league starters can/will be moved to the pen at the upper levels. I am interested to see what Underwood can do out of the pen. Jose Paulino and Manuel Rondon have struggled in the rotation this year but have long been seen as future pen arms. Justin Steele may also be destined to be a reliever. I've kind of developed a man crush on Wade Davis and would love to see the Cubs pony up the money to extend him. Having a group of arms that might be able to fill in the bottom half of the bullpen at league minimum would certainly help the Cubs do that.

Mekkes to Myrtle, I presume?

Brett Anderson to the 60-day DL. That was frankoffin' predictable. Move makes room for Frankoff to join the 40-man roster.

Sierra was on the Mesa AZL team for that intrasquad game. Still unclear whether he starts in Eugene. My hunch is no. Had a 2B and 2 Ks for Mesa today.