CubsWin

The inside the park HR was a well struck fly ball that Burks didn't see at first. He probably would've caught it, but lost it in the sun or just got a late break. Almost caught up to it but ran into the wall at pretty much top speed. There's padding on the walls in Tennessee, but it's concrete behind it. He jogged over to the ball (not at full speed, seemingly a little dazed) and threw it back in but the guy who hit it had great speed and scored easily. The manager, trainer and several players gathered around Burks in the outfield. Couldn't tell what the injury was exactly. They weren't looking at any one part of his body. He seemed to shake it off, but they obviously took him out after the inning ended. It could've just been pre-cautionary, or they were running a concussion protocol. He did hit the wall awkwardly so it could be a knee or back injury. We should learn more soon I'd expect. FYI, Burks was placed on the DL on Wednesday. Thanks, Raisin. Yeah, I heard. Bummer, but I didn't hear what for. Did you?

No. If he's on the mound, then cool. But, they're looking at other guys for the most part. Might as well take a few notes. But, he's not even a top 30 prospect in a middling system. If there was ANY buzz whatsoever on him, BA, BP, FG, or Law would have actually ranked him. Sickels, has him inside his list, but hes a stats guy and had actually pegged him to break out. He didnt, not a shock. No ones clamoring to get him into their system. He can be a Rashad Crawford type of 4th piece in a deal, as can 15-20 other guys we've got in that 25-45ish area of our system. At least Crawford had some athleticism and upside, though.

It's a shame Cease twisted his ankle because he looked better tonight than he had all season. The fastball command was really good. The curve continued to be knee-buckling. His first 4 outs were Ks for a reason. He was painting. The runs that scored really weren't even of his doing. The lead off walk is on him, but the two hits he gave up were bloopers that landed in between everybody. They were called for up in the zone by Mineo, and Cease hit his spot. The batters swung and, despite being jammed, managed to bloop the ball out into short center in between 3 defenders... twice. Then, on yet another 0-2 count (Cease had gotten there on a 95 mph FB on the black and a wicked curve), Mineo called for another curve ball but down out of the zone to see if he could induce a chase. Cease put it right on the money, bouncing it. Mineo was ready for it and it hit square in his chest protector, but he couldn't quite keep in front of him. It only rolled away about 6 feet, but Mineo couldn't find it and the runner advanced making it 1st and 3rd. On the next pitch, Lansing executed the double steal. Mineo should've never thrown the ball to 2B, but he did and the guy on 3rd scored easily. Cease didn't get hit hard at all. Struck out 4 in 1.2 IP and was hitting his spots better than he had all year. Let's hope his ankle is fine and he won't miss a start because he was on his game tonight.

Paredes is heating up! Nice! And don't worry about Hatch. He's just following instructions and pitching to contact... :|

Trending up? Some Cubs pitching is coming alive in the month of May. Each of these pitchers have improved their numbers from the month of April. Clifton - 3 G, 17.2 IP, 16 H, 6 BB, 19 K, .242 BAA, 1.53 ERA, 1.25 WHIP De La Cruz - 2 G, 13 IP, 8 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .178 BAA, 0.69 ERA, 0.62 WHIP Hudson - 3 G, 16 IP, 11 H, 6 BB, 11 K, .196 BAA, 1.13 ERA. 1.06 WHIP, 29 GO - 5 AO Torrez - 4 G - 8.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 K, .077 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.24 WHIP Maples - 4 G, 9 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 10 K, .156 BAA, 2.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP Brooks - 4 G, 6 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 10 K, .105 BAA, 0.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP, 3 for 3 in save opportunities

A literal ground ball machine too. Very promising results recently, I'd love to hear a report on his stuff though. Watched every pitch. I love having MiLB.com's tv subscription. The announcer only gave his velocity once and it was 89 on the FB. The curve is good, but he wasn't hitting his spots with it very often. His FB command was better than his curve's, and he kept it low and generally around the plate. The low, well placed FB induced a ton of ground outs yet again. He's 6'8" and throws from a fairly high 3/4 slot. He's definitely throwing the ball down to the catcher's glove at a steeper angle than most others. He's clearly very lanky, just turned 20 nine days ago so he has a chance to add strength and perhaps velocity as a result, but he doesn't appear to be a guy who will ever over power anyone at this stage. The good news is that even at this early stage he's showing he can command the fastball and induce ground balls. If he can develop his ability to throw his curve for strikes more consistently and get his velocity up to where he can sit at 92-93 with good command, he could be a good major league commodity. Clearly, he's got a ways to go to get there, but he seems to have the tools to do it. Side note: Paredes looked fluid at SS. I didn't get a sense of his range as balls were mostly hit right to him. Zack Short made several athletic plays at 2B. He seems to have to ability to play 2B, SS and 3B at least average or better.

Oh good catch, I was looking at the Tennessee half of the inning for some reason. The inside the park HR was a well struck fly ball that Burks didn't see at first. He probably would've caught it, but lost it in the sun or just got a late break. Almost caught up to it but ran into the wall at pretty much top speed. There's padding on the walls in Tennessee, but it's concrete behind it. He jogged over to the ball (not at full speed, seemingly a little dazed) and threw it back in but the guy who hit it had great speed and scored easily. The manager, trainer and several players gathered around Burks in the outfield. Couldn't tell what the injury was exactly. They weren't looking at any one part of his body. He seemed to shake it off, but they obviously took him out after the inning ended. It could've just been pre-cautionary, or they were running a concussion protocol. He did hit the wall awkwardly so it could be a knee or back injury. We should learn more soon I'd expect.

If the Cubs braintrust thinks Gray will/can rebound, then hell yeah.

Couple of fun facts: Myrtle Beach 1B Matt Rose got his first walk of the season today (in his 26th game). He had previously struckout 20 times without a single base on balls. South Bend C/1B Jhonny Pereda had an impressive streak broken yesterday. Pereda had gotten a hit in 16 straight games and 22 out of the last 23 before going 0-4 on Saturday.

Scheduled Games (All Times Central): Iowa at Salt Lake, 2:05pm Tennessee vs. Montgomery, 2:00pm Myrtle Beach vs. Lynchburg, 2:05pm Myrtle Beach vs. Lynchburg, TBA (Game Two) Probable Starters: Iowa: RHP Jake Buchanan (29.2 IP, 5.76 ERA, 5.92 FIP, 4.92 xFIP, 24 K, 14 BB) Tennessee:RHP Trevor Clifton (32 IP, 2.25 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 3.79 xFIP, 28 K, 11 BB) Myrtle Beach: RHP Oscar De La Cruz (29.1 IP, 3.68 ERA, 4.50 FIP, 4.73 xFIP, 26 K, 8 BB) Myrtle Beach: (Game Two) RHP Casey Bloomquist (26.1 IP, 4.78 ERA, 2.84 FIP, 3.71 xFIP, 20 K, 6 BB) South Bend: Off Day

Rehabbing in Mesa.

That's great news! Did you name him yet? Clark? Addison? Bryzzo?

Thanks, weis! All thoughts are with Raisin and his wife. Can't wait to hear whether it's a boy or a girl and that everyone's okay!

Box Scores: Iowa lost 5-4 in 11 innings Box Score CF J. Anderoli 1/5, R, BB, 3 K 2B C. Young 2/5, R, K LF M. Zagunis 1/3, R, 2 BB C V. Caratini 1/5, RBI, 2 K SP S. Frankoff 6 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 7-5 GO-FO, 89-52 pitches-strikes Tennessee lost 3-1 Box Score LF C. Burks 1/3, 1 BB, 2 K CF J. Hannemann 0/3, 1 BB, 1 K, SB (4) DH I. Rice 0/4, 1 K 3B J. Vosler 2/4, R LF Je. Baez 0/3, BB SS C. Penalver 1/4, RBI 2B A. Ely 0/4, 2 K (For TT) SP J.H. Tseng 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 10-5 GO-FO, 91-54 pitches-strikes RP D. Torrez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1-1 GO-FO Myrtle Beach was rained out. Scheduled to be made up 5/14. Eloy Jimenez reinstated from DL was slated to bat 4th. South Bend won 4-0 Box Score 3B Z. Short 1/3, R, BB, K RF B. Cummins 0/3, 3 K (Siler Sombrero?) 2B Y. Peguero 2/3, R, BB C A. Mineo 0/2, 2 BB, K DH W. Galindo 1/4, 2 RBI, 3 K 1B J. Pereda 0/4 SS I. Paredes 1/4, R, K LF K. Mitchell 2/4, R, 2B (5), HR (4), 2 RBI, K CF DJ Wilson 1/4, 2B (5), 2 K SP J. Paulino 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 7-4 GO-FO, 74-50 pitches-strikes RP W. Short 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1-0 GO-FO

Kinda missed the point. My point was he didn't even need to bring up what you had written earlier about Kellogg. Alzolay taking a no-hitter into the 7th is reason enough to back up calling it an excellent outing. I only noted Kellogg's line to show that the two performances were so different, there's no comparison necessary. After all, you didn't compare the two performances... It's very hard to see the point when you open by making a comparison only to close with saying it's not a comparison. Then, I think if I'm reading this right, claim that I'm the one making the comparison? This is all very nonsensical and I *still* do not understand what is so controversial about not being impressed by a 7 IP/3 K/3 BB outing against A ball hitters. Even with the understanding that myself and my #hottakes are a bit of a pariah in these threads, this is dumb and another thing I would not consider excellent. I don't think you're reading this right. In the last sentence of the post you're responding to I said you didn't compare the two performances. The guy who's posting I was responding to did. So that's why I included it as a way to show the two performances were so different that there was no need to even reference it. Alzolay's near no-hitter was an excellent enough performance regardless of his 3 walks. It's not controversial at all for you not to be impressed by Alzolay's performance. I just disagree. That's all. I hope that clears things up.

2 IP, 7 H, 5 R (all earned), 2 BB, 3K. Now with an ERA over 6 on the year. Very disappointing thus far. A lot of people had him in the Cubs top 15 prospects, some in the top 10. It's early yet, but damn...

You literally just did a comparison. If the bar for excellence is topping a 5 HR outing for a pitcher, then I will repeat that standards are higher. I can not even conceive of what is so controversial about stating that a 1:1 K:BB, just 3 Ks in 7, against an A ball lineup is unimpressive. Kinda missed the point. My point was he didn't even need to bring up what you had written earlier about Kellogg. Alzolay taking a no-hitter into the 7th is reason enough to back up calling it an excellent outing. I only noted Kellogg's line to show that the two performances were so different, there's no comparison necessary. After all, you didn't compare the two performances...

Few things... - a 1:1 K:B outing against A level competition is not what an excellent minor league outing is made of. Standards are high! The other day, you were taking positives from an outing in which Ryan Kellogg served up 5 home runs. 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 3 BB, 3 K where the dude had a no-hitter going into the 7th and final inning. Or 4 IP, 7 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 5 HR, 2 BB, 7 K. I'd say the first is pretty excellent and not even by comparison.

He also induced 11 ground ball outs vs. 1 fly ball out. When you add in his previous outing on May 5th, that's 19 GO and 3 AO with 9 Ks and 4 BBs in 9 innings of work. Obviously his two April starts were terrible, so this is very much a wait and see situation, but inconsistency from a guy who was 19 three days ago and is seeing his first action in full season ball is not unsurprising. It would be nice if he could re-establish himself as a top 15 prospect with the organization.

He should be fine as a hitter going forward. Probably just over-matched early on and adjusting. Not uncommon for an 18 year old in the MWL who skipped a level to get there. I think he'd make at least an average 3B defensively. We'll see how his power develops. Shouldn't be any worse power-wise than Candelario as a ceiling. Less than 50/50 shot at sticking at SS, though. He's pretty slow. But hey, Peralta managed to do it, so he's not without precedent... 2B is probably/likely his best long term fit with the Cubs if he's as good a hitter as he might be. The way I see it is that most of the Cubs lineup, especially the homegrown guys, is filled with guys who totally definitely were not supposed to be able to handle their primary position on the ML roster, most often due to size. Russell and Baez are supposed to be playing 3B, Bryant an OF or really bad 3B, even Heyward in CF a little bit. Four other starters - Rizzo, Zobrist, Contreras, Schwarber - are all far and away bat players. The bat is just way more of a determining factor than having the perfect size or body type or speed, if a player's bat is not negatively impacted and they won't kill you defensively at a spot then that's their max value position. Playing SS for the vast majority of prospects in the minors is more about finding and testing the limits. The org will calibrate defensive position, over time as necessary, to max the bat. That's part of why it's seen as a plus for a guy to start off up the middle as a pro, more to fall back on before someone's tagging you a DH where you have to hit like a DH. Yeah I can def see 2B too.

The talk always goes to the 18 YO body and defense, but also consistently in Paredes writeups (not just Arguello, but the higher sources as well) is that he has a natural rhythm as a hitter that helps him consistently barrel the ball and make hard contact. Keep hitting and they'll work it out on defense, there's clearly defensive tools and skills to work with (arm, footwork). He should be fine as a hitter going forward. Probably just over-matched early on and adjusting. Not uncommon for an 18 year old in the MWL who skipped a level to get there. I think he'd make at least an average 3B defensively. We'll see how his power develops. Shouldn't be any worse power-wise than Candelario as a ceiling. Less than 50/50 shot at sticking at SS, though. He's pretty slow. But hey, Peralta managed to do it, so he's not without precedent...

His performance thus far certainly warrants it, but 16.1 innings isn't that much. That said, 16.1 innings of consistent performance carries a bit more weight. He's only really had one poor outing and it wasn't that bad. The main reason I could see the Cubs not promote him soon is the walks. But he can work on that in Myrtle Beach just as easily as he can in South Bend. If/when he does get moved up, I hope the corresponding move will be Maples to AA and Markey to AAA. If not him then Brooks, but on the odd chance Maples has finally figured it out, the Cubs need to see what he can do against AA (and even AAA) hitters because he's rule 5 eligible and Brooks isn't.

I've read it a couple of different places myself, but the last time I heard was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago. So the broadcasters said explicitly during the broadcast that he wasn't good on defense? Then, was anything you've read recent? I've looked around and haven't found anything. He was left out of most top 30s despite a decent offensive year so figured the opinions weren't great but his absence from those rankings meant there weren't any write ups available. A quick look at bbref says his caught stealing rate has been pretty abismal so I'd be willing to write him off as a guy without a position if I had some tear down scouting reports, but the walks and power are pretty enticing. Yeah the bat seems pretty solid thus far.

I've read it a couple of different places myself, but the last time I heard was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago. So the broadcasters said explicitly during the broadcast that he wasn't good on defense? Then, was anything you've read recent? I've looked around and haven't found anything. He was left out of most top 30s despite a decent offensive year so figured the opinions weren't great but his absence from those rankings meant there weren't any write ups available. A quick look at bbref says his caught stealing rate has been pretty abismal so I'd be willing to write him off as a guy without a position if I had some tear down scouting reports, but the walks and power are pretty enticing. Sorry was updating the post while you were writing this one. Check above.

His defense at C is supposedly VERY weak. Where'd you see that? I've read it a couple of different places myself, Arguello over at Cubs Den being one of them. He wrote of Rice possibly having the bat to justify playing at 1st base though. But the last time I heard it was during a broadcast of the Tennessee Smokies game from the Smokies announcers themselves a couple of days ago. They talked about his footwork and arm not being very good. Don't know if that means his receiving is okay or not. His stats seem to bare this out, however. He's thrown out just 7 of 81 base stealing attempts but has allowed just one passed ball in 505 innings of work.