Outshined_One

Here's a puff piece on 49th rounder Bryce Shafer.

His RBI single was on an 0-2 changeup about a foot outside. Great success!

7 BBs in 5 IP for Zambrano? Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaantastic.

It's LSD night in San Francisco. Jerry Garcia died 15 years ago today. Apparently Bill Walton will be in on the SF broadcast. Hopefully it'll make for some fun times.

To be blunt, it's not a good option. This team needs all the help it can get on offense, but I really don't see where that saved money could go to help the offense aside from 1B (unless Ramirez leaves).

Some combination of LaHair, Canzler, Hoffpauir, and Snyder probably could yield replacement level production out of 1B. However, that's not much of an upgrade from Lee this season, if at all.

Box Scores Iowa lost 7-4 Box Score CF J. Adduci 0/4, BB, RBI, K SS D. Barney 2/5, RBI 2B B. Scales 1/4, BB, R, RBI, HR (6), K 1B M. Hoffpauir 2/5, R, 2B (32), 2 K RF T. Wright 0/5, K LF B. LaHair 1/3, BB, RBI C W. Castillo 0/3, BB, R 3B M. Camp 1/2, 2 BB, R, 2B (12) PH B. Snyder 0/0, BB PH M. Smith 0/1, K SP HW Chen 4 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 2/2 K/BB, HR, 2 WP, 3-6 GO-FO RP J. Muyco 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, HR, 2-3 GO-FO RP B. Schlitter 2 scoreless, 3 H, 2/0 K/BB, 1-3 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 1 perfect, 2/0 K/BB Tennessee won 16-6 Box Score CF T. Campana 3/5, BB, 3 R, RBI, 2B (19), SB (40), PO (1B) RF B. Jackson 2/4, BB, R, 2 RBI 3B R. Canzler 2/4, BB, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2B (22), HR (17), K 1B M. Spencer 3/4, 2 R, RBI, 2 2B (12), E (4, missed catch) C S. Clevenger 2/4, 2 BB, 2 R, RBI, HR (2) LF B. Guyer 3/4, R, 4 RBI, 2 2B (27) 2B T. Thomas 2/5, R, 2 RBI, 2B (26), 2 K SS M. Gonzalez 2/5, R, RBI SP C Muschko 6.2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1/3 K/BB, HR, HBP, 12-7 GO-FO RP L. Sommer 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB, HR, 4-2 GO-FO Daytona won 4-2 Box Score CF J. Valdez 1/4, R, 2 K 3B DJ LeMahieu 2/3, BB, R 2B R. Flaherty 0/4, RBI, K 1B R. Ridling 1/4, K RF K. Burke 0/4, 2 K C M. Brenly 0/4, K LF G. Rohan 1/3, R, 2B (3) SS J. Lake 1/3, K SP R. Whitenack 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3/2 K/BB, HR, 9-5 GO-FO RP J. Beliveau 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 4/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO RP A. Maestri .1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB RP J. Leverton 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Peoria lost 6-4 Box Score SS HJ Lee 0/4, BB, 2 K 2B M. Cerda 1/4, BB, R, K LF DJ Fitzgerald 1/4, BB, K, CS (5) Assist (2B) 1B J. Bour 2/3, BB, K, HBP DH JH Ha 2/5, R, RBI RF N. Perez 2/5, 2 R, 2B (14), K CF A. Giansanti 2/5, 3 RBI, E (1, fielding) SP F. Batista 3.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4/2 K/BB, HR, 3-3 GO-FO RP J. Antigua 3.1 scoreless, 1 H, 4/1 K/BB, 2-3 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO Boise lost 2-1 Box Score SS E. Soto 0/3, BB, K 2B P. LePage 0/4, 2 K, E (5, throw) RF/LF J. Morelli 1/4, RBI, CS (2), PO (1B) LF R. Cuneo 1/3, 2B (2) 3B D. Harrington 0/2, K C M. Gibbs 0/3, K DH A. Alcantara 2/3, SB (4), PO (1B) SP B. Ebinger 5 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 7/0 K/BB, HR, 4-3 GO-FO RP C. Greathouse 3.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4/0 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO AZL Cubs lost 10-4 Box Score DH V. Bieneme 1/4, K, SB (12) SS W. Darvill 0/4, 2 K 2B PC Chen 2/4 3B D. Geiger 2/3, BB, R, RBI, 2B (5) C C. Noble 1/2, 2 BB, RBI SP H. Ackerman 2 scoreless, 3 H, 1/3 K/BB, 3-1 GO-FO RP A. Sosa 1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 0/3 K/BB, WP, 2-0 GO-FO RP A. Jimenez 1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP B. Shafer 1.2 scoreless, 1 H, 1/2 K/BB, 3-0 GO-FO RP J. Rodriguez 1 scoreless, 0 H, 2/1 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 lost Game 1 of their DH 5-4 Box Score CF O. Zapata 0/3, BB, K 2B/SS G. Amaya 3/4, 2 R SS M. Hernandez 0/0, HBP RF D. Arcila 1/2, BB, R, K, E (5, fielding) DSL Cubs 1 won Game 2 of their DH 3-0 Box Score CF O. Zapata 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (17) 2B/SS G. Amaya 1/4, 2 K, CS (7) SS M. Hernandez 0/1 RP R. Diplan 3 scoreless, 2 H, 1/0 K/BB, 2-6 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 7-5 Box Score 2B J. Rodriguez 1/5, RBI, K 1B G. Jimenez 0/1 OVERALL: 3-6

A friend of mine worked for the Newport Gulls and saw Brandon May in person. According to him, May should have a good enough bat to get him to the majors, but he has periodic issues with making contact and defense. Still, he really liked the Cubs taking him in the 36th round.

The box score for the pitchers reads like something out of AAA earlier this season. Their performance wasn't exactly unexpected.

I think Lee has a pretty good shot of cracking the Top 5 among that group, especially considering the fact that BA has been really, really high on him (to the point where I think they'll name him the Cubs' top prospect).

Box Scores Iowa won 9-6 Box Score CF S. Fuld 0/3, 2 BB, R, K, SB (18) SS D. Barney 1/5, R RF B. Snyder 1/4, R, K 1B M. Hoffpauir 4/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 2B (31), HR (20) 2B B. Scales 1/3, BB, 2 R, 2B (25) LF J. Adduci 0/2, 2 RBI C C. Robinson 1/4, 3 RBI, 2B (7) 3B M. Camp 1/2, 2 BB, R, RBI, HR (1), E (13, throw) PH B. LaHair 0/1, K PH T. Wright 0/1 SP JR Mathes 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3/1 K/BB, 2 HR, 10-6 GO-FO RP J. Gray 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 1-3 GO-FO RP D. Cales 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1-1 GO-FO Tennessee won 13-3 Box Score CF T. Campana 0/4, BB, R, SB (39) RF B. Jackson 2/3, 2 BB, 3 R, RBI, HR (4), K 3B R. Canzler 0/1, 2 BB, R, HBP, E (13, fielding) PH M. Spencer 0/1, K C S. Clevenger 1/3, 2 BB, 3 R, RBI LF B. Guyer 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (9), 2 SB (21) 2B T. Thomas 2/5, R, 3 RBI, 2B (25), HR (9), E (14, fielding) SP C. Rusin 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 4/0 K/BB, HBP, 9-2 GO-FO RP K. Smit 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO RP A. Shafer .1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB RP B. Parker 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Peoria won 4-0 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/3, BB, R, K, SB (30) CF L. Watkins 0/2, 2 BB, K 2B M. Cerda 1/3, BB, RBI 1B J. Bour 2/4, R, RBI DH B. May 2/4, R, 2B (1) LF N. Perez 0/4, RBI RF JH Ha 1/3, RBI SP R. Searle 6.2 scoreless, 4 H, 8/1 K/BB, 7-5 GO-FO RP S. Grife 2.1 scoreless, 1 H, 2/0 K/BB, 3-2 GO-FO Boise lost 15-4 Box Score RF C. Huseby 0/2, R, K 2B A. Alcantara 2/5, 2 RBI, 2B (3), K DH P. LePage 1/4, R, 2 K 1B R. Jones 1/4 3B D. Harrington 2/4, RBI, K LF R. Cuneo 1/3, BB, R, RBI, HR (1) SS E. Soto 0/4, 2 K C M. Gibbs 0/3, BB, 2 K CF KM Na 0/3, BB, R, 2 K, Assist (2B) SP D. Fitzgerald 2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1/0 K/BB, HBP, 1-2 GO-FO RP E. Jokisch 2 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 3 HR, 2-3 GO-FO RP M. Loosen 2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB, HR, 3-2 GO-FO RP J. Latham 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB, HR, 2-0 GO-FO RP A. Kurcz 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO AZL Cubs won 10-2 Box Score SS W. Darvill 2/4, BB, 3 R, K, 2 SB (5), HBP 2B PC Chen 3/5, BB, 2 R, RBI, 2B (2) DH R. Golden 1/3, RBI, K PR/DH V. Bieneme 0/3, K 3B D. Geiger 1/3, 2 BB, R, 2 RBI, 2B (4), K 1B S. Burruel 0/1 LF B. Springfield 0/5, 3 K C C. Romero 1/1, BB, R PH/C C. Noble 1/2, BB, R SP L. Liria 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8/1 K/BB, WP, 4-2 GO-FO RP M. Perez 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3/1 K/BB, HR, 5-4 GO-FO Daytona and the DSL teams with an off day OVERALL: 4-1

Here is a more detailed explanation on the Boise forfeit.

So...what the heck happened in Boise that caused a forfeit?

He stole home for that SB, to boot.

Box Scores Iowa won 7-3 Box Score CF S. Fuld 2/4, BB, 2 R, K, SB (17) SS D. Barney 3/5, R, 2 RBI, 3B (4), E (14, throw) DH B. Snyder 2/4, BB, RBI 1B M. Hoffpauir 1/4, RBI, 2 K RF T. Wright 0/4, R, HBP LF B. LaHair 0/4, 2 K 2B B. Scales 1/4, R, RBI, 3B (3), 2 K C W. Castillo 1/3, K, HBP, PB (8) 3B M. Camp 3/3, 2 R, RBI SP A. Bibens-Dirkx 6 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 5/1 K/BB, 2 HR, 7-4 GO-FO RP J. Stevens 1 perfect, 2-1 GO-FO RP S. Maine 1 perfect, 2-1 GO-FO RP M. Mateo 1 perfect, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO Tennessee won 9-2 Box Score LF T. Campana 2/5, R, RBI, K, SB (38) CF B. Jackson 2/4, BB, R, RBI, 2B (9), K, CS (3) 3B R. Canzler 2/4, BB, R, 2B (21) C R. Chirinos 2/3, BB, R, 2B (23) RF M. Spencer 1/3, BB, 2 R, K 2B T. Thomas 2/3, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (24), HBP SS M. Gonzalez 0/3, 2 RBI, E (19, missed catch) SS N. Samson 0/1 SP C. Carpenter 6 scoreless, 3 H, 8/2 K/BB, 8-2 GO-FO RP M. Carrillo 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, HR, 0-4 GO-FO RP L. Sommer 1 perfect, 2-1 GO-FO Daytona lost 4-2 Box Score 2B DJ LeMahieu 2/4, CS (7) 3B R. Flaherty 0/3, BB, K, E (16, fielding) 1B R. Ridling 1/4, 2 K RF K. Burke 0/4 DH M. Brenly 0/2, 2 BB, R LF G. Rohan 1/3 SS J. Lake 1/3 SP B. Raley 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6/1 K/BB, 3-10 GO-FO RP C. Siegfried .2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1-1 GO-FO RP O. Martinez .2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0/2 K/BB, HR, 0-2 GO-FO Peoria lost 9-8 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/6, K 2B L. Watkins 2/4, R, SB (18), HBP 3B M. Cerda 0/4, BB, E (13, fielding) 1B J. Bour 1/4, BB, 2 R, 2 K DH DJ Fitzgerald 0/4, BB, 2 R LF N. Perez 1/4, BB, R, RBI, 3 K RF JH Ha 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI CF A. Giansanti 1/4, 2 RBI, 2B (2), 2 K SP B. Wallach 3.1 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3/4 K/BB, HR, 2 WP, HBP, 4-4 GO-FO, E (4, pickoff) RP D. Keefe 2.1 scoreless, 2 H, 3/1 K/BB, 1-3 GO-FO RP Y. Gonzalez 2.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, Balk, 5-2 GO-FO RP M. De Leon 1 scoreless, 0 H, 1/1 K/BB, 1-1 GO-FO Boise forfeited their game due to playing conditions Box Score 2B A. Alcantara 0/1 DH P. LePage 0/1 SP E. Figueroa .2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO AZL Cubs lost 2-1 Box Score SS W. Darvill 1/4, R, SB (3) 2B PC Chen 2/3, BB, SB (4) DH R. Golden 0/3, 3 K, HBP, PO (1B) 3B D. Geiger 0/3, BB, 2 K C S. Burruel 1/3, K LF B. Springfield 0/3 RF V. Bieneme 0/1, K SP D. Beeler 3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 5-0 GO-FO RP R. Hartman 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP YL Wang 1 scoreless, 1 H, 0-1 GO-FO RP TA Wang 2 scoreless, 2 H, 2/0 K/BB, HBP, 3-1 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 lost 9-5 Box Score CF O. Zapata 1/5 SS G. Amaya 2/4, BB, R SP L. Villalba 2.1 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 3/3 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO RP R. Diplan 1.1 scoreless, 1 H, 3/1 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 4-0 Box Score 2B J. Rodriguez 1/2 1B G. Jimenez 0/3, 2 K OVERALL: 2-6

Golden back in the lineup for the AZL Cubs and Austin Reed with a so-so outing.

Might as well ask this here in the vague hopes of getting an answer. Based on the players who are there now, do the Cubs have any guys in Mesa or Boise who will make BA's Top 20 lists for their respective leagues?

If you go back through the NSBB Prospect Rankings from the offseason, you'll notice none of us had McNutt in our Top 20s. McNutt's prospect status prior to this season was clouded by a few things... 1) Some of the pre-draft reports on McNutt were nondescript. The Cubs lucked out on drafting him because the area scout who initially saw him quit and his replacement saw McNutt later in the year, when his stuff was much improved, but very few scouts had seen him with the improved stuff. 2) McNutt's numbers were fairly pedestrian between Mesa and Boise. He'd walked 12 guys in a little over 27 innings and was bounced between starting and relief. A guy like that doesn't stand out. 3) I think it was BA that mentioned he was working in the mid to high 90s with a plus breaking pitch. That got him on most people's radars to the point where he was listed in our Top 30s, but that kind of profile sounds more like a future relief pitcher than starter. A lot of people had him as a breakout candidate, to be fair.

Sickels' Pre-Season Cubs Top 20 Prospects in Review

Hot Sheet chat

BA has a subscriber-only piece on the Cubs' late round finds, particularly Justin Bour and Trey McNutt. It's mostly Fleita gushing without much info. Like this:

Two Cubs were mentioned in this week's Hot Sheet.

Box Scores Iowa won 11-6 Box Score CF J. Adduci 1/5, K SS D. Barney 1/5, K RF B. Snyder 3/4, BB, 3 R, RBI, HR (18) DH M. Hoffpauir 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (19), K LF T. Wright 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B (6) 1B B. LaHair 2/4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (19) 3B M. Smith 2/3, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (7) PH/2B B. Scales 0/2, K C C. Robinson 1/4, K 2B/3B M. Camp 0/1, 3 BB SP J. Jackson 6.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5/1 K/BB, 3 HR, 6-7 GO-FO RP J. Muyco 1.1 perfect, 1-3 GO-FO RP B. Schlitter 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1/2 K/BB, 1-0 GO-FO Tennessee won 6-1 Box Score CF T. Campana 2/5, 3 RBI, K, E (5, fielding) DH B. Jackson 0/4, BB, SB (12) 3B R. Canzler 0/4, BB, R C R. Chirinos 2/4, BB, R, RBI, K RF M. Spencer 1/5, R, 2 K LF B. Guyer 1/3, 2 R, RBI, 2B (25), SB (19), HBP 2B T. Thomas 1/4, R, K SS J. Mota 1/4, RBI, 2B (2), K SP R. Dolis 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB, 9-4 GO-FO RP R. Buchter 2 scoreless, 0 H, 2/1 K/BB, HBP, 3-1 GO-FO RP A. Shafer 2 perfect, 2/0 K/BB, 0-3 GO-FO Daytona won 3-2 Box Score 2B DJ LeMahieu 2/4, R 3B R. Flaherty 2/4, R, RBI DH R. Ridling 3/4, R, 2 RBI, HR (11) RF K. Burke 0/4, K C M. Brenly 0/4 1B J. Opitz 1/4, E (7, fielding) LF G. Rohan 1/4, 2B (2) SS J. Lake 0/4, 3 K SP T. McNutt 6 scoreless, 3 H, 7/0 K/BB, WP, 5-5 GO-FO RP C. Lambert 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 0/1 K/BB, 2-2 GO-FO RP J. Leverton 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 0-1 GO-FO RP M. Perconte .2 scoreless, 0 H, 2/2 K/BB Peoria won 3-1 Box Score SS HJ Lee 1/4, BB, 2B (18) 2B L. Watkins 0/4, BB, K LF DJ Fitzgerald 1/4, BB, K 1B J. Bour 1/4, R DH B. May 2/4, R, K RF JH Ha 2/4, R, 3 RBI, HR (5) CF A. Giantsanti 0/3, K, SB (1), HBP SP M. Hatley 2 scoreless, 2 H, HBP, 4-2 GO-FO RP N. Struck 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5/6 K/BB, 4-5 GO-FO Boise lost 12-5 Box Score SS E. Soto 3/5, R, K 2B P. LePage 2/5, 2B (13), K 1B R. Jones 0/3, RBI, 2 K, HBP LF J. Morelli 0/4, K 3B A. Alcantara 2/4, R, RBI, HR (2) DH D. Harrington 1/4, R, 2B (2) C M. Gibbs 2/4, R, RBI CF KM Na 2/4, R, RBI, 3B (1), K, Assist (Home) SP A. Kirk 3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 4-3 GO-FO RP L. Suarez 3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 3/2 K/BB, 2 HR, 4-2 GO-FO, 2 E (2, pickoff x 2) RP E. Rice 1.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB, 0-2 GO-FO AZL Cubs won 7-6 Box Score 2B V. Bieneme 0/2, BB, 2 K, E (5, throw) SS W. Darvill 1/4, R, RBI, SB (2) DH R. Golden 2/4, 2 R, K, SB (1) 3B D. Geiger 2/3, RBI, K, CS (1), 3 E (5, fielding x 2, throw) C C. Noble 0/4, R, 2 K LF B. Springfield 1/4, R, RBI, HR (1) SP A. Reed 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB, WP, 8-3 GO-FO RP J. Zeller 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 4-2 GO-FO RP C. Hams 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1/1 K/BB, HR, 5-0 GO-FO RP C. Richardson 1 scoreless, 1 H, 1/0 K/BB, 2-0 GO-FO DSL Cubs 1 won 7-2 Box Score CF O. Zapata 1/5, BB, 2 RBI 3B G. Amaya 0/4, 2 K SS M. Hernandez 1/3, R, RBI, K, HBP RF D. Arcila 0/3, 2 BB, 2 R, K RP A. Colinas 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 4/0 K/BB, 1-2 GO-FO DSL Cubs 2 lost 8-2 Box Score SS J. Rodriguez 0/4, K, E (15, fielding) 1B G. Jimenez 0/4, 2 K OVERALL: 6-2

Wow, Eric Arnett sucks in the MWL this season. I remember hoping he would fall to the Cubs in 2009 and was disappointed the Brewers snapped him up.

It was part of the deal they worked out with him. The White Sox moved him into the bullpen because of concerns about his workload this past year and agreed to call him up at some point during the year to pitch out of the pen. Next season, he moves back to the rotation. At the major league level? Probably not, but if he impresses the team during his stint in the majors this year, I imagine he'd get a look.