TCR Tuesday Notes

Some stuff I've been meaning to mention...

- Scout.com's top 5 hitting prospects at the moment...

  1. Jake Fox
  2. Josh Harrison
  3. Tony Thomas
  4. Brad Snyder
  5. Rebel Ridling

and on the pitching side...

  1. Dan McDaniel
  2. Jose Ascanio
  3. Ryan Searle
  4. Chris Archer
  5. Chris Carpenter

 - This article is a couple weeks old, but Craig Brown has figured out what is wrong wtih Derrek Lee from the comfort of his computer. While the data he presents courtesy of Fangraphs is interesting in of itself, you have to love the conclusion he conjured up.

For starters, he needs to lay off all pitches outside the strike zone
and focus only on those pitches that are over the plate - the pitches
where he can actually accomplish something productive.  Then, he needs
to concentrate on making solid contact.

So swing at strikes Derrek and make sure it's good contact when you do swing...a hitting coach in the making.

- Most of you have probably seen this one already, but History Channel did some morose show about life on Earth after all the people died. They imagined what would happen to Wrigley Field in the process.

 - Joe Aiello at VFTB  is asking Cubs fans to fill out his "Cubs Confidence Survey".

- Want all your Cubs news in one place (or any other team?), try Baseball Tribune.

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Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 11:22am
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Comments

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:05pm

"For starters, he needs to lay off all pitches outside the strike zone and focus only on those pitches that are over the plate - the pitches where he can actually accomplish something productive. Then, he needs to concentrate on making solid contact."

bwhahahahhahahahahahhahahahahahhahahaha.

oh man...wow.

Submitted by Wes
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:35pm

He should start a hitting clinic.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:36pm

Actually that is good advise for a player...one who is 8 years old and learning how to hit.

Yikes.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:39pm

I watched Rebel Ridling hit last Friday here in Ft. Wayne. He kind of reminds me of that guy nobody liked on that movie Supertroopers. I forget his name. Of course he wasn't quite as big. Anyways, man he pounced on a couple. The ball really jumps off his bat.

And I'm no scout, so I can't say if he's going to be any good or not, but Flaherty is a very well-built creature. He has a very baseball-ish build with muscly legs and forearms.

Submitted by Dr. aaron b
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:22pm

Farva?

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:09pm

Yea!

Submitted by toonsterwu
on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 2:33am

I just love the name. Rebel Ridling. Just an awesome athlete's name. He's showing better discipline this year ... well, today's 0 is bleh, but bad days happen. If he can get on a hot streak, I'd sure love to see what he can do in the upper levels. It'd be nice to have a power prospect ...

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:49pm

He has a very baseball-ish build with muscly legs and forearms.
---

...not going there. (link deleted)

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:33pm

Josh Vitters is not in the top 5?

Brad Snyder is a better hitting prospect?

Submitted by crunch
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:39pm

per their explanation, they only use raw numbers of performance (no age, ceiling, etc)...it's more of a "hot list"

"The fourth installment in our 2009 Prospect Power Rankings, these rankings are compiled and updated on a weekly basis throughout the season and are based solely on player performances (read: not age)."

Submitted by toonsterwu
on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 2:31am

as noted, it's more of a hot list. As for Snyder, I can't take him too seriously yet. Happy for the guy, but the K/BB is bleh and makes me think PCL (remember Jason Dubois struggling in the IL for, I think, Columbus, before coming back).

Submitted by Paul Noce
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:48pm

If Dempster gets suspended for not throwing at Braun's head, does that mean he gets a free pass to drill Braun in the noggin later? Wouldn't double jeopardy apply?

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 2:43pm

Did I just hear that right, Jenks is also being investigated for not hitting Ian Kinsler. He threw it right behind him. I mean if you are going to get in trouble for NOT hitting someone, next time you might as well just plunk him in the helmet and give 'em the ol' Adam Greenberg treatment. I'd be alright ridding the league of Ryan Braun for a few years.

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 2:45pm

And anyways, since when is it wrong to buzz a guy with some chin music? Everyone is getting too wussy, I say. Roberto Luongo approves.

Submitted by T-Dubs
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:28pm

Obligatory macho-ness to make up for your perverse fascination with Flaherty's physique?

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:08pm

hahaha... maybe subconsciously.

F'real, though, at the low-a level you can't really look at stats. What the kid does doesn't mean anything at this point, it's all about what they're capable of.

Submitted by jacos
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:45pm

Jenks told media it was a "purpose pitch".

Not very bright.

Submitted by Wes
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:34pm

Honestly, you won't be the only one who thinks that. If you're going to get suspended even if you don't hit somebody, guys are going to start wanting to get their money's worth from their suspension.

Submitted by Rob Richardson
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:54pm

He wasn't suspended. He was fined $750.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4161824

Submitted by navigator
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:10pm

The whole JENKS incident calls STEVE STONE's acumen as a baseball analyst into question. In this case he was totally wrong. It wasn't the first time.

Anyone interested should watch this taking into account Jenks' admission that he was throwing at the batter. (http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4515761).

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:22pm

clearly Hawk Harrelson has been a bad influence...

Submitted by Jeff_Pico
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:55pm

So is Hawk going to admit he doesn't know what the devil is going on?

I guess he's still waiting for that Cubs/White Sox game to be turned over on appeal.

But yeah it seemed logical that they wouldn't want to hit Kinsler as the tying run, so they were probably just going with 'conventional wisdom' on that one.

Submitted by Q-Ball
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:25pm

Question: Anyone else agree with these statements?

Fukudome isn't just average in CF; he is GOOD

Fontenot isn't a crap fielder; he is DECENT

Our best pitcher out of the 'pen right now is ANGEL GUZMAN.

Tell me I am wrong, but I hope GEO SOTO doesn't join the long list of rookies who had a career year out of the box.....Jerome Walton, Bobby Crosby, Angel Berroa, Ben Grieve, Pat Listach, and who could forget Joe Charboneau

Submitted by Ryno
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:12pm

I guess that's possible. I mean his success came out of nowhere, didn't it? I mean he was decent in Iowa, but no one expected him to have the year he had last year.

Submitted by Old and Blue
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:42pm

Can Jake Fox catch? Oh, that's right. No he can't.

Submitted by Charlie
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:50pm

If Soto doesn't pull it together it's because he forgets how to swing the bat. There was no magic about what he did the last two years; he swung at pitches in the zone, took pitches out of the zone, and when he swung, he drove the bat with his legs and extended it through the zone.

Submitted by Rob G.
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:49pm

Soriano, Theriot, Fukudome, Lee, Bradley, Fontenot, Soto, Miles, Harden tonight

Z will open series next Friday at San Diego, rehab start this weekend with Daytona.

Dempster tomorrow, then Wells and Marshall on Saturday.

Submitted by Mister Whipple
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:05pm

That lineup sucks.

Submitted by Cubster
on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 11:06pm

Dempster tomorrow, then Wells and Marshall on Saturday.
----
(I'm sure you meant) Lillyhammer tomorrow (vs Young), then D/W/M.

Gaudin thursday vs Dempster.

Zambrano's start in Daytona? Sounds like fun in the sun.

Hope he looks sharp:

http://www.skiltech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Scre...

Submitted by toonsterwu
on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 2:41am

The hot list is interesting, but it is what it is. Overall, I think the most pleasant surprise this year has been how awesome Tony Thomas has been offensively. I think he's sort of gone under the radar a bit. He's been flat out awesome, outside of the SB%, but it was clear that he wasn't a prototypical leadoff type (if he makes it, I like him better as a 6/7 type hitter, but 2 I could live with ... if he makes it). Granted, gametracker isn't the best to make a deep assessment, but it seems like he's battling on pitches and showing more patience and judgment. His partner in crime, Darwin Barney, has had a very solid offensive season. I haven't been able to follow closely enough, but the errors for both those guys stands out, so that is worrisome, but gotta be pleased with those two.

I think Harrison is somewhat similar to Mike Fontenot, but as a college bat, I'm not sure how much we should read on his numbers. He should do well at Peoria. I'd love to see him up a level. That said, so many 2nd baseman options (Flaherty, Thomas, Lake perhaps - he's gotten it going a bit of late as well) in the system, and not sure he can handle CF.

I'm decently pleased with the pitching side of the equation. I'm a big fan of our last class, and it looks like Jay Jackson maybe rounding into form (knock on wood). Casey Coleman had a couple rough starts, but showed well against WTN. I love McDaniel and hope he can continue developing (we sure did push a lot of arms, Leverton's hit a rough patch, as has Russell). Searle's been nice - I didn't know what to make of him after the harsh BA critique of him. Carpenter and Archer both have to get more control, but while this isn't 2003 pitching depth, I think we're slowly rebuilding that side of the system, which had fallen but wasn't as noticed due to our system's positional issues.

Submitted by Romero
on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 9:00am

Russell has been great out of the bullpen, fwiw. I don't think he's been scored upon since he's been taken out of the rotation.

Submitted by toonsterwu
on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 11:51am

yeah, he's been solid. I remember some folks thought, out of college, that he would be a pen arm. I like the fact that we tried him as a starter. Just somewhat disappointed that, so far, it didn't seem to take, although I can't help but think he was rushed. That said, I'm just a guy typing on a msg board.

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