CubsWin

The Iowa Cubs are destroying Reno Aces P Matt Bushman through two. Almora is 2-for-2 with a single, a triple and a RBI. Contreras is 1-for-2 with a triple and a RBI. Vogelbach with a RBI double. And Alcantara is 2-for-2 with a single and a 3-run HR. Iowa leads 8-0.

So the fact that Contreras wasn't selected in the Rule 5 draft two years ago counts against him today but Edwards' most recent BB/9 (6.7 last year and 5.6 this year) shouldn't count against him? And you're going to say this on his birthday?? How dare you! Look, I'm a big fan of Carl's Jr. I think he can make a good pro and his guacamole bacon burger is top notch. I hope his performance of late means he's regained his control but it's only been 5 games since he walked 3 guys in one inning. He's always been difficult to hit, but you can't walk guys at that rate and be a valuable member of a pen in the majors. Meanwhile, in Contreras' most recent 611 ABs (AA, AZ Fall League and AAA this year), he has 202 hits, 47 doubles, 4 triples, 14 HRs, 80 BB, 84 Ks with a .331 avg and a .412 obp. How much more of a sample size does one need?

April Showers Bring May Flowers Ryan Williams - In his last 6 starts (all except his AAA debut): 4-0, 2.27, 35.2 IP, 31 H, 10 BB, 26 K, 1.15 WHIP. He's 2-0, 1.80, 20 IP, 16 H, 3 BB, 16 K, 0.95 in 3 May starts. Carl Edwards, Jr. - In his last 5 appearances (since 4/28): 1-0, 0.00, 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 9 K. Albert Almora - Has a 10 game hitting streak in which he's hit .362 with 3 doubles and 2 triples but not drawn a single walk. At least his K% is low during that span and if you're hitting .362 (and raising your SLG to from .460 to .488), do we really care if you go a stretch without taking a walk? Willson Contreras - The Iowa Cubs have played a game every day so far in May, and Willson has gotten on base in every one with 15 hits and 8 walks (against just 5 Ks) in 13 games. It's not just walks and singles either. His SLG at the end of April was .410. After 2 doubles and 3 HRs this month, he's raised it to .500. Dan Vogelbach - After walking 57 times to 61 strikeouts last year in AA, Dan got off to a rough start in AAA striking out 13 times with just 2 walks in his first 9 games. Since then, he's K'd 19 times and drawn 15 walks. He's hitting .324 with 4 HRs, 5 BB and 6 Ks in his last 10 games. Vic Caratini - In nine May games, he's hitting .333/.462/.433 with 8 BB and 7 Ks. As a 22-year-old in AA, he's already a year young for his league and much younger than the average catcher at that level. He's the 2nd youngest catcher in the Southern League. Only Jacob Nottingham (Brewers) is younger, but he's currently hitting .210/.275/.290 with 8 BB against 25 Ks. Mark Zagunis - He's heating up along with the weather hitting .286/.400/.476 in May with 2 doubles and 2 HRs. He's known for his excellent K/BB ratio, and that's holding true this season with 18 BB to 25 Ks. Last year, in High-A, he walked 80 times and struck out 86. Gerardo Concepcion - His season has been one long encouraging trend. In 19.2 IP (over AA & AAA now), he's allowed 5 hits, no runs (earned or otherwise), walked 4 while striking out 20. His scoreless streak, including the last 5 appearances of 2015, extends back to August 22nd. Gleyber Torres - Started the season horribly hitting .113/.266/.226 in his first 14 games, striking out in every one for a total of 20. In the 17 games since, he's hit .338/.371/.569 with 4 SBs without getting caught. Jason Vosler - After getting off to a great start hitting .311/.402/.392 in April, Vosler's topping that in the 1st half of May with a .405/.442/.676 slash, 5 doubles and 1 HR. As an age appropriate player in High-A (he'll be 22 until Sept. 6th), Jason is opening some eyes. The Cubs developmental staff LOVES him. Trevor Clifton - He turned 21 two days ago but has been pitching in High-A all season. He was drafted as a raw prep arm but has improved his mechanics and come a long way. He still struggles to command his 95 mph FB and above average breaking ball, but things might be coming together for him. Since the calendar flipped to May, he's 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA allowing 10 hits in 11 IP with 18 Ks and just 3 walks. Eddy Julio Martinez - The most expensive IFA signing this season got off to an inauspicious start striking out 17 times in his first 16 games without drawing a walk and hitting .235/.246/.353. The hitting hasn't taken off yet, but he's improved that K/BB ratio striking out 13 times while drawing 8 walks since. Martinez has shown some pop, however, leading South Bend with 4 HRs Eloy Jimenez - For a 19-year-old in the Midwest League, Eloy has acquitted himself nicely thus far. He still is learning to control the strike zone, but he hit .284/.326/.420 in April with 6 doubles and a HR in 20 games. In 11 May games, he's up his production to .317/.333/.512 with 5 doubles and a HR. James Norwood - An elbow strain stunted his development after being selected in the 7th round in 2014. James has a mid-90s FB that he's struggled to control in his first 2 seasons. The Cubs moved him to the pen this year, but he got off to a rough start giving up 6 ER in his first 5 IP. Since then, he's been stellar. In his next 8.1 IP, he's allowed 1 ER on 7 H, 0 BB and 11 Ks. Carson Sands - He had a rough April walking 7 with just 7 Ks in 14.1 IP and a 6.28 ERA. He's won both May starts, pitching 11 shoutout innings, giving up 8 hits and 3 walks with 7 Ks for a BAA of .211. Justin Steele - As bad as Sands' start was, Steele's was worse. His April ERA of 9.49 was driven by a BAA of .414. 8 walks in 12.1 IP contributed to a 2.59 WHIP last month. He must have made an adjustment because since the new month arrived, he's 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA with 10 Ks and 3 walks in 8 IP. In April, guys were getting the ball in the air hitting a lot of line drives and 11 fly ball outs to just 10 on the ground. In his 2 starts in May, he's caused 14 ground ball outs to just 1 in the air and a BAA of .219.

Out of the pen, he's shown some added velocity. Possible middle reliever in my book, but he's got some development left for sure.

From AZ Phil's report on the ExST game today.

Contreras has been exciting. Caratini is becoming exciting.

Going once. Going twice...

Duno. Why? Don't you think you should find out? No, that's his name. Angel Duno. When the initial of his first name was "I", he played third. But he changed it when he became a pitcher. In case you're wondering who's on first, it's Chris Iriart.

Per AZ Phil: When the Cubs signed him the only article I could find was in Spanish. When I did the google translation, it said that some scouts thought Albertos was in the top 3 IFA pitchers available this year. Google translations can be quite muddled sometimes so I wasn't sure if they meant Mexican League prospects or all IFAs. Turns out the translation may have been right. #CubsScoutsAreGood

Duno. Why?

Bryan Hudson pitched 3 shut out innings in ExST today allowing 2 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. He and Cease have had back-to-back solid performances. I found this comment from AZ Phil at thecubreporter.com interesting...

He'll start in Eugene. Has a shot at a promotion if he does well by the end of the season especially if South Bend makes the playoffs. Heck, if he keeps pitching like this, the Cubs could surprise us and just promote him straight to South Bend. The main reason why he starts in Eugene is thought to be keeping his innings in check and the Cubs history of moving their prep arms slowly, one level at a time. Because of his innings history and recent surgery, I just don't see how the Cubs will surprise us and push him to South Bend this year. And given his erratic control, it isn't the worst decision even if health and innings jumps weren't a concern. I agree. That's why it would be a surprise! :D The only reason why I think it's possible is that they can control his innings as easily in South Bend as they can in Eugene. If they feel he'd benefit in some way from facing the advanced hitting, why not? Still the most likely result is he'll start in Eugene with a shot at a late promotion, especially if South Bend is in the playoff hunt.

Love it.

He'll start in Eugene. Has a shot at a promotion if he does well by the end of the season especially if South Bend makes the playoffs. Heck, if he keeps pitching like this, the Cubs could surprise us and just promote him straight to South Bend. The main reason why he starts in Eugene is thought to be keeping his innings in check and the Cubs history of moving their prep arms slowly, one level at a time.

Gleyber-bomb! Let's get him going.

#1: Gleyber Torres #2: Willson Contreras #3: Albert Almora #4: Ian Happ #5: Billy McKinney #6: Eloy Jimenez #7: Dylan Cease #8: Jeimer Candelario #9: Duane Underwood #10: Carl Edwards Jr. #11: Eddy Julio Martinez #12: Oscar De La Cruz #13: Pierce Johnson #14: Victor Caratini #15: Mark Zagunis #16: Donnie Dewees #17: Bryan Hudson #18: Dan Vogelbach #19: Chesny Young #20: DJ Wilson #21: Jake Stinnett

Paul Blackburn was added. There are 5 hitters and 19 pitchers currently nominated. Feel free to come up with any names you'd like added to the list though I don't think we can go much deeper...

#1: Gleyber Torres #2: Willson Contreras #3: Albert Almora #4: Ian Happ #5: Billy McKinney #6: Eloy Jimenez #7: Dylan Cease #8: Jeimer Candelario #9: Duane Underwood #10: Carl Edwards Jr. #11: Eddy Julio Martinez #12: Oscar De La Cruz #13: Pierce Johnson #14: Victor Caratini #15: Mark Zagunis #16: Donnie Dewees #17: Bryan Hudson #18: Dan Vogelbach #19: Chesny Young #20: DJ Wilson

I mean at his current ~3 k/9 rate absolutely not (SSS I know), but guys have been able to have success in the 5-6 k/9 range that's he's been at the past 2 years and average in his MILB career. Mike Leake and Mike Pelfrey are two guys, looking at Fangraphs, that may be decent comps for him. The comps might not be as good as you think. Pelfrey while the same age as Blackburn (22) in AA had a K/9 of over 10 and did so the year prior in High-A. He had one full-ish season at AAA (74 IP) and it dropped to 6.8. His MLB career K/9 is 5.1. Leake basically went straight to the majors. He pitched in 6 games in the Arizona Fall League and started with the Reds the next season. It's hard to find a MLB starter that has a low career K/9 (there are better stats to go by but this is the one mentioned earlier in the discussion so I'll stick with it) that didn't have a higher K/9 while in the minors, especially the lower levels. That said, Blackburn has a had a solid minor league career. He seems to get the most out of his stuff (i.e. pitchability) which was mentioned as one of the reasons why Theo & Jed drafted him in 2012. Not every pitcher needs to get it done the same way, but it's rare to find guys with K/9s around 6 in the lower levels that wind up being effective starters in the bigs. This Cubs developmental staff has been full of surprises lately with guys taking huge steps forward the last couple of seasons. So I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the season, Blackburn has upped his K-rate from the previous season. He did so between Low-A (5.8 K/9) and High-A (6.3 K/9) while improving his BB/9 a notch from 2.4 to 2.2. Right now it's at 4.4 with a BB/9 of 1.5. If he follows the same incremental improvement trajectory and finishes this season with 6.8 and 2.0 as a 22 year old in AA, I'll take it.

Sorry, I thought he was. He'll be added to the next poll.

Young Z and Juan Cruz were both hitting 100 & highly regarded. Angel Guzman was high 90s, with wicked control & offspeed stuff. I remember there was talk he wasnt far off from Prior in 03. Yeah, man, Juan Cruz. I remember being able to bring it. I'll have to trust you on young Z. I only remember his velo from when he was in the majors which were more mid-90s. I remember following Cruz in the weekly updates of minor league stats in the Sunday paper. Now, we've every metric we ever wanted at our fingertips. Amazing.

...with better offspeeds too. BA was pretty into Guzman. https://www.baseballamerica.com/today/features/03top10s/cubs.html 91-96 is a far cry from consistently 96-98 touching 100.

#1: Gleyber Torres #2: Willson Contreras #3: Albert Almora #4: Ian Happ #5: Billy McKinney #6: Eloy Jimenez #7: Dylan Cease #8: Jeimer Candelario #9: Duane Underwood #10: Carl Edwards Jr. #11: Eddy Julio Martinez #12: Oscar De La Cruz #13: Pierce Johnson #14: Victor Caratini #15: Mark Zagunis #16: Donnie Dewees #17: Bryan Hudson #18: Dan Vogelbach #19: Chesny Young

Yeah, saw those over at Cubs Den. Good stuff, CR. Thanks for posting them here. When was the last Cubs pitching prospect with Cease's velocity and ceiling? Kerry Wood? They're different. Wood had his wipe out slider but Cease's CB is pretty devastating when on and can certainly be an out-pitch. Prior was a superior, more complete prospect but was more mid-90s with his FB...

Since only one game was played today, I figured I'd post the ExST box score by AZ Phil. Cease with 3 innings of 1-hit, 6 K ball (3 walks though). There was an Erling Moreno sighting as well. Last year's DSL hitting star, Yeiler Peguero had a good game. And who'd Wladimir Galindo piss off today...? CUBS LINEUP: 1a. Shane Victorino, DH #1: 2-2 (1B, 1B) 1b. Michael Foster, PH-DH: 1-3 (F-8, 1B, K, R, SB) 2. Robert Garcia, RF: 1-4 (5-3 SH, F-8, K, 4-3, 1B, R, RBI, SB) 3. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 1-2 (K, BB, BB, 1B, BB, R, RBI, CS) 4. Wladimir Galindo, 3B: 0-3 (HBP, P-5, K, F-9, HBP, RBI) 5. Chris Pieters, 1B: 2-5 (P-6, 2B, F-8, FC, 1B, 2 RBI) 6a. Jhonny Pereda, C-DH: 0-3 (K, F-7, K) 6b. Vimael Machin, PH-DH 0-1 (BB. K) 7. Yeiler Peguero, 2B-SS: 2-3 (2B, BB, 2B, 1-3, PO) NOTE: SLOT WAS SKIPPED FIFTH TIME THRU BATTING ORDER 8a. Kevin Zamudio, DH-C: 0-3 (L-4, K, L-6) 8b. Eric Gonzalez, PH-C: 0-1 (HBP, L-8, R) 9a. Yonathan Perlaza, SS: 0-2 (4-3, K, BB) 9b. Edgar Rondon, 2B: 0-1 (BB, F-7) 10a. Luis Ayala, LF: 1-3 (6-3, 1B, K, CS) 10b. Jonathan Sierra, LF: 0-2 (6-4 FC, 4-3, R) CUBS PITCHERS: 1. Dylan Cease: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 BB, 6 K, 1/1 GO/AO, 51 pitches (31 strikes) 2. Aaron Crow: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/0 GO/AO, 18 pitches (9 strikes) 3. Erling Moreno: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 2/1 GO/AO, 25 pitches (17 strikes) 4. Mark Malave: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 0/2 GO/AO, 20 pitches (15 strikes) 5. Enrique de los Rios: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 1/2 GO/AO, 27 pitches (21 strikes) 6. John Michael Knighton: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 1/3 GO/AO, 22 pitches (17 strikes)