CubsWin

Not great, but it looks like the stuff is there with 2 Ks per inning.

Kellogg impressive thru 5. If he can keep it going that would be 2 good ones in a row. "You win tomorrow, that's called a winning streak. It has happened before."

CF Trey Martin has played 3 consecutive games in ExST and should be ready to rejoin the Smokies soon.

Hits seem kinda rare for Adelman, though. Maybe a Barney type? I don't know what his spring stats are, but he's being looked at as a guy with extra base pop and 10-12 HR potential, with a solid hit tool. I don't have his entire ExST numbers, but over his last 12 games, he's hitting .257 (10-for-39) with 5 runs, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 2 hbp, 6 Ks and a SB. And apparently dazzling defense on a fairly regular basis...

If his walk % doesn't come down in the 2nd half, that would certainly be cause for concern. What I find encouraging is that, as is common when first starting a new level, his strikeouts were up (K'ing 12 times in his first 12 games), but since then he's had more walks than Ks. From April 20th thru tonight, he's hit .307 with an OBP of .420 with a 15.9 BB% and 15.2 K%. The projected power numbers for this season aren't great, but not bad for a guy who provides excellent defense in LF and is average in CF. Provided he keeps hitting this well, if he's not in people's top 75-125 prospects by season's end, I suspect it would be because of the lack of solid power. Regardless of how people rank him, it sure is nice to see potential jumps in value/performance from guys like Alzolay, Burks, Vosler and even Caratini and Candelario early on. Heck, you could even add Craig Brooks, Maples and Galindo to that list. It's a long season. Let's see if they can keep it up...

Vosler was hitless in his first 6 starts (though he did draw 7 walks). Since April 14th, he's hit .324/.398/.592 with a 19.9 K% and 8.7 BB%. So you could say it was a "singular" hot streak just that it's lasted a month and a half... He did hit 6 of his 10 HRs in a span of a week, however. And did sit at 7 total for a while making me wonder if the new found power was an aberration. But he's now hit 3 more in the last 5 games matching his previous season high of 10 set back in 2015. It took him 433 PAs that year. This year he's done it in 193. Can he keep it up and hit 20 HRs as an age appropriate 3B in AA? Can he finish the year with a slash along the lines of .290/.390/.490? I doubt it. But the longer this goes, the more it seems I doubt him at my own peril. If he does produce well the rest of the year, the Cubs will have a choice on their hands as he is Rule 5 eligible this winter. Perhaps, his emergence (if indeed this continues) will make it all the easier to part with Candelario in the right deal knowing they've got a decent COF to replace him. (Not that that would be that hard of a decision to begin with). Since he mentioned it very early in the season, perhaps Longenhagen was going on old info. Burks came in with 15 pounds of added muscle this spring.

And the Pelicans walk it off on a HR by Matt Rose. That's his 9th of the season.

And Jerry Mathers as... The Beaver.

Welp, Jonathan Mayo's latest mock draft on MLB.com has Carlson going to the Cubs at 30. BA's got him ranked 14th and MLB 15th, so if he falls that would be fine with me. Here's MLB.com's scouting report for reference:

Good to see Caratini back and hitting going 2-for-4 tonight. He started hot and got hotter in May. As a switch hitter, he's hitting equally well from either side of the plate thus far with a very small sample from the right side. Solid, switching hitting catchers are a nice thing to have, but I wonder if the Cubs would go with such an inexperienced and defensively mediocre back-up in a championship window. 3B Jason Vosler has been pretty consistent this season. .258/.375/.545 in April and .311/.394/.489 in May. And he starts June off with his 9th HR, one off of his career high. He'll be 23 all season, so he's age appropriate for his level and only had 92 ABs in AA last season. If (big if) he keeps performing at this level, he may force the Cubs to roster him as he's Rule 5 eligible this off season. His lack of defensive versatility, however, may make him more trade bait than roster decision unless Candelario is dealt. CF Luis Ayala had a rough first month in Low-A after making the jump from playing in the AZL last year. He hit .250/.282/.309 with 3 walks and 18 Ks in just 68 AB in April. His May, however, was a complete reversal slashing .302/.384/.512 with 10 walks and 17 Ks in 86 AB with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 2 HRs. Is this development or just a hot month? We'll see, but his BABIP was only 13 points better in May. Ayala is an age appropriate 21 and won't turn 22 until December.

Here's hoping Kellogg can keep it up despite middling stuff.

I watched his return performance last night and he looked good. He didn't luck his way into a 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K line. Unfortunately, the away announcers didn't mention any velocity readings.

The Cubs have some interesting decisions to make coming up concerning 40-man additions. Eloy Jimenez Trevor Clifton Mark Zagunis Chesny Young Oscar De La Cruz Charcer Burks Daury Torrez Adbert Alzolay Jen-Ho Tseng Zach Hedges Brad Markey and to a lesser extent Dillon Maples Jose Paulino Seth Frankoff ...are all available to be selected in the upcoming Rule 5 draft. However, there are plenty of guys currently on the 40-man that could go. Some of them will be out of options come next season which will make the Cubs decision a little easier. Brett Anderson Aaron Brooks (Out of options) Zac Rosscup (Out of options) Brian Duensing (Right to refuse assignment) Dylan Floro (Right to elect FA if outrighted) Justin Grimm Jack Leathersich Felix Pena Rob Zastryzny Jose Rosario Jacob Hannemann ...as well as other 25-man rostered players that will be free agents Jake Arrieta John Lackey Miguel Montero Jon Jay Wade Davis Koji Uehara __________________________________________________________ Eloy, Trevor and Oscar should be locks along with Zagunis (who seems a likely trade target). Plenty of guys left need to continue to prove themselves over the course of the season. Should most of them continue to do well, the Cubs could be faced with the choice of having less experienced depth on their 40-man than they may otherwise like. I would consider that a good problem to have.

Nice. Heck, double nice.

Polanco is probably the guy you were thinking of. He hit .322/.351/.390 in Mesa last year. He was 19 when the rookie league season started. He'll turn 20 in 2 weeks. He played 8 games at catcher last year, but I think you're right that the Cubs are trying him again there this season. At least at ExST to see how he does. Zamudio hit .237/.291/.421 but showed decent power leading the team in HRs with 4. He was 18 for most of the season, turned 19 in August. He was also tied for the team lead in doubles with 14 and had by far more Ks than anyone else on the roster with 48. AZ Phil has both Polanco and Zamudio currently listed amongst the catchers in ExST on his depth chart.

The bat is very surprising this early on for Amaya. Those reports boosted him into my current top 10. Very excited. I like the peripherals on Paredes and he's doing it in Low-A as an 18 year old. His improvement from April to May is encouraging. I agree with you on Sierra and a red shirt year. I like his chances because of the Cubs success in developing hitters under this FO. Best case scenario is he follows a development path along the lines of Jimenez but a year behind age per level. The muscle mass added by Assad (per Arguello) is encouraging not just from a velocity/performance improvement stand point but also a professional dedication point of view. I'm interested to see how he fares against NWL competition as 19/20 year old. I like his chances to become a rotation mainstay throughout his minor league career at least until AAA.

Robinson's May: 27 IP, 17 H, 3 ER, 24/2 K/BB That has my attention. Speaking of Rucker, it's interesting that they're starting to stretch him out a bit more after his promotion, 3.1 IP each of his last 2 appearnaces. I noticed that, too. Intriguing. Does anyone have any reports on Robinson's and Rucker's stuff? They're numbers are very strong, but they're both 23 going against A-ball hitters...

Amaya once again threw out those stupid enough to run on him. 2-for-2 today with caught stealing. Also 1-for-3 at the plate with a single, walk and 2 runs scored.

Braylin Marquez unfortunately struggled again. He's got plenty of time though to develop. No word on his stuff yet. Last heard was working high 80s-low 90s.

Good to see Trey Martin is on mend in his rehab stint in Mesa. He got off to a strong start in AA before the injury. Delvin Zinn also made his debut after missing time with stress fracture in his right foot. Jonathan Sierra has been heating up of late, and Assad has had some very strong outings as well. Javier is expected to be in the Eugene rotation along with Albertos. AZ Phil also noted Rafael Narea's play of late.

For an 18-year-old, Paredes is doing just fine for his first full go in Low-A. I expect he'll improve as the season goes along. With him, Amaya, Ademan and Albertos, the Cubs have a nice group of 18-year-olds going forward. All are likely in my top 15.

He's been hitting 95 per Iowa announcers and the breaking stuff has passed the eye test. At least my eye test whatever that's worth...

DJ Wilson is on the DL. It's possible they might just be stashing him but he'd likely be in ExST if the Cubs felt he needed the work.

Thanks, Dave. I noticed how quickly he was working the last game. I had the same thought. It's the no huddle defense!

Yeah, Burks wouldn't make my top ten either. He'd be in the 11-20 though. It's early, but for right now, my top 10 probably sits at: 1. Jimenez 2. Happ 3. Candelario 4. Cease 5. De La Cruz 6. Clifton 7. Caratini 8. Zagunis 9. Amaya 10. Albertos To be fair, Cubsclapp said "around top of 10." I went through a rough top 15 and landed on Burks at 12. Mos def. I don't think anyone was misinterpreting Cubsclapp's words. Just stating their opinions as to where they'd place him. I think you can make a valid argument for having him anywhere 8-18 right now depending on what you value and how highly you think of other prospects. And as davell said, if he keeps up this level of performance the rest of the season (.800+ OPS), he will likely be in a lot of top 10 lists by season's end.