It's Skulina vs Loux at Extended Spring Training

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 2:43pm

Bryant Flete singled, doubled, walked twice, stole a base, and scored a run, Ricardo Marcano singled, tripled, and scored two runs, Adonis Paula ripped an RBI double and a single and drove-in another run with an RBI GO, and Ho-Young Son singled, doubled, stole a base, and scored a run, in Cubs Extended Spring Training Intrasquad game action this morning on Field #5 at Mesa CubTown at Riverview Park.

The game was called after 7-1/2 innings with the scored tied 3-3. 

Myrtle Beach RHSP Tyler Skulina and Iowa RHSP Barret Loux were the two starting pitchers in the game. Both were left behind in Mesa because they will not get their first scheduled start for another five or six days, and they needed to elevate their pitch counts to 80+ before their first start.

Loux was hit hard, allowing eight hits (five singles, two doubles, and a triple) in his 5.1 IP of work. Acquired from the Texas Rangers as a PTBNL in the 2012 Geovany Soto trade, Loux is attempting to come back after undergoing shoulder surgery post-2013 and UCL elbow ligament transplant surgery (TJS) last season. 

On the other hand, Skulina was really dealing, allowing just one run on three hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in five innings. 

Prior to the Intrasquad game, Frank Batista and Dylan Cease squared-off in a two-inning "sim" game on Field #4. 

Here is the box score from the intrasquad game, followed by the current Cubs Extended Spring Training Roster.   


SQUAD "A" LINEUP: 
X. Barret Loux, P: 1-1 (1-4 SH, 1B) 
NOTE: Loux batted 2nd in the bottom of the 2nd and 3rd innings 
1. Carlos Sepulveda, 2B: 1-4 (1B, L-7, K, 6-4-3 DP, PO)
2. Ho-Young Son, SS: 2-3 (F-9, 2B, 1B, R, SB)
3. Kevin Encarnacion, RF: 0-3 (F-7, K, F-7) 
4. Kevin Brown, CF: 0-1 (BB, K, BB, 2 R, SB)
5. Roney Alcala, 1B: 0-2 (F-7 SF, L-4, 4-3, 2 RBI)
6. Jhonny Pereda, C-DH: 1-3 (F-7, K, 1B, RBI)
7. Varonex Cuevas, 3B: 0-3 (K, K, F-8)
8. Carlos Jimenez, LF: 0-3 (K, P-6, 6-3) 
9. Tyler Pearson, DH-C: 1-3 (K, K, 1B) 
10. Roberto Vahlis, DH #2: 0-1 (K, BB) 
NOTE: SLOT WAS SKIPPED FIRST TIME THRU BATTING ORDER

SQUAD "B" LINEUP: 
1. Bryant Flete, SS: 2-2 (BB, 2B, 1B, BB, R, SB)
2. Frandy de la Rosa, 2B: 1-4 (K, 1B, K, K)
3. Kevonte Mitchell, CF: 0-4 (K, 6-4 FC, 6-3, K)
4. Eloy Jimenez, RF: 0-3 (3-1, BB, K, 3-U) 
5. Tyler Alamo, C-1B: 0-4  (L-9, 4-3, L-7, K) 
6a. Miguel Rico, 1B-C: 1-3 (1B, F-9, F-9, CS) 
6b. Eric Gonzalez, PH-C: 0-1 (6-3) 
7. Ricardo Marcano, LF: 2-3 (1B, P-6, 3B, 2 R) 
8. Adonis Paula, 3B: 2-3 (2B, 1B, 5-3, 2 RBI, PO) 
9. Tyler Skulina, P: NO AB

SQUAD "A" PITCHERS: 
1. Barret Loux: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R (3 ER), 2 BB, 4 K, 1 PO, 5/5 GO/FO, 80 pitches (53 strikes) 
2. Dillon Maples: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 16 pitches (9 strikes)
3. Sam Wilson: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/FO, 15 pitches (12 strikes) 

SQUAD "B" PITCHERS: 
1. Tyler Skulina: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1 BB, 7 K, 1/7 GO/FO, 81 pitches (56 strikes) 
2. David Garner: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 15 pitches (10 strikes) 
3. Corbin Hoffner: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 0 K, 1/2 GO/FO, 18 pitches (11 strikes)
4. Oscar de la Cruz: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 GIDP, 2/0 GO/FO, 16 pitches (9 strikes)

SQUAD "A" ERRORS: NONE 

SQUAD "B" ERRORS: 1 
P Oscar de la Cruz - E-1 (errant throw on pick-off attempt at 1st base allowed runner to advance to 2nd)

SQUAD "A" CATCHERS DEFENSE: 
1. Jhonny Pereda: 1-1 CS 
2. Tyler Pearson: 0-1 CS 

SQUAD "B" CATCHERS DEFENSE: 
1. Tyler Alamo: 0-1 CS, 1 PO
2. Miguel Rico: 0-1 CS 

ATTENDANCE: 8 

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 80's 

  
2015 CUBS EXTENDED SPRING TRAINING ROSTER: 61+5

Last updated 4-7-2015

NOTE: The Extended Spring Training (EXST) group (AKA "Eugene/Mesa") is formed during Minor League Camp. This group consists of players who are the replacement cadre for the full season affiliates, players deemed not ready for full-season leagues, and injured players.

PITCHERS: 37+2
Adbert Alzolay
Pedro Araujo
Frank Batista
Jordan Brink
Jesus Camargo
Marcelo Carreno (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB - post-2013 shoulder surgery)
Jesus Castillo
Dylan Cease  (ACTIVE REHAB - 2014 TJS) 
Oscar de la Cruz
* Andin Diaz
Greyfer Eregua
Scott Frazier
David Garner
Trevor Graham 
Taner Griggs
Luis Hernandez
Corbin Hoffner
Pierce Johnson (INACTIVE - lat strain)
John Michael Knighton 
Daniel Lewis 
Mark Malave (ex-C)
Dillon Maples
Brad Markey 
Trey Masek (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB - 2014 shoulder surgery)
Trey McNutt (INACTIVE - 2014 shoulder surgery)
Yomar Morel
Erling Moreno (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB - 2014 TJS)
* Ariel Ovando (ex-OF)
* Jose Paulino
Hector Perez
Austin Reed (ACTIVE REHAB - 2014 TJS)
* Carson Sands 
Alex Santana
* Justin Steele
Michael Wagner
Ben Wells 
Austyn Willis
* Sam Wilson
Jose Zapata

CATCHERS: 7+1
Tyler Alamo (also has been playing 1B)
Eric Gonzalez
* Jordan Hankins (ex-3B)
Tyler Pearson 
Jhonny Pereda
Will Remillard (INACTIVE - 2015 TJS) 
Miguel Rico (ex-3B)
Roberto Vahlis

INFIELDERS: 10+2
# Roney Alcala
* Danny Canela (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB)
# Varonex Cuevas
# Frandy de la Rosa
* Bryant Flete 
Carlos Jimenez
Joey Martarano (INACTIVE - attending college)
Adonis Paula 
Tim Saunders (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB)
* Carlos Sepulveda
Ho-Young Son 
* Logan Watkins (INACTIVE - torn achilles tendon) 

OUTFIELDERS: 7
* Kevin Brown
* Kevin Encarnacion (formerly a switch-hitter, he is now hitting only LH)
Calvin Graves (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB)
Jae-Hoon Ha (LIMITED ACTIVITY REHAB)
Eloy Jimenez
Kevonte Mitchell
* Ricardo Marcano

GAME MANAGERS: 
Carmelo Martinez (AZL Cubs Manager)
Gary Van Tol (Eugene Manager)

COACHES: 
Oscar Bernard (AZL Cubs Hitting Coach)
Tom Beyers (Assistant Minor League Hitting Coordinator)
Nate Maldonado (Mesa Rehab Assistant Coach)
Ricardo Medina (Eugene Hitting Coach)
Terrmel Sledge (Eugene Assistant Coach)
Anderson Tavares (Eugene Pitching Coach) 
Rick Tronerud (Mesa Rehab Pitching Coach)
Ron Villone (AZL Cubs Pitching Coach) 
Ty Wright (AZL Cubs Assistant Coach)

STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACHES 
Sean Folan (AZL Cubs)
Ryan Nordvedt (Eugene)

ATHLETIC TRAINERS: 
Chuck Baughman (Assistant Minor League Training Coordinator - Mesa Rehab) 
Mike McNulty (Eugene) 
Toby Williams (AZL Cubs)


Tags: 
Cubs Extended Spring Training
Tyler Skulina
Barret Loux
Bryant Flete
Ho-Young Son
Ricardo Marcano
Adonis Paula

Comments

Submitted by Hagsag  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 3:28pm  
AZ PHIL, after checking the Rosters of the four minor league teams,and the Extended Roster, it looks like the Cubs have bid so long to : P- Anthony Carter, Daniel Bard, Jorge DeLeon,Jose Rosario, Lars Huijer, and Matt Brazis. C- Taylor Teagarden and Jordan Hankins. Did I miss anybody?

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:39pm  

The rosters that have been officially released for the Cubs "full season" affiliates will require further pruning. They are basically the same 27 or 28-man rosters I posted here on Saturday, but they are not the final 25. 

All minor league team active lists must be down to 25 players by Thursday, so additional moves will have to be made over the next 24-36 hours. Vague "soft-tissue" injuries resulting in a DL assignment ("calf injury" is the best one) are inevitable. 

Also, while release waivers are not required when a club releases a minor league player, sometimes the paperwork is delayed by a day or two while the club tries to find out if there is any trade interest. (This happened with Tony Zych last week, when he got traded instead of released).

And sometimes a minor league player will get "loaned" to a team in the Mexican League. The Cubs have done that most every year since about 2008, but this arrangement takes a few days to happen because it requires approval from the MLB Commissioner's office. The Cubs hosted a game against Los Toros de Tijuana at Minor League Camp about three weks ago, so don't be surprised if a Cub minor leaguers ends up temporaily in Tijuana (and hopefully NOT in the Tijuana Jail, as per the Kingston Trio!)  

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 8:50pm  

HAGSAG: Confirmed RHP Lars Huijer (acquired from Seattle for LHP Mike Kickham last January) has retired. 

Cubs are still hoping to loan a pitcher or two to a Mexican League team. It was Frank Batista last year, and it could be him again this year since he's at Extended Spring Training and he's not injured. 

Submitted by Wrigley Rat  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 10:01pm  
Batista to the rotation: "Tennessee's rotation is a mix of team veterans and newcomers. Frank Batista moves from his job as closer to starter. He's joined by Corey Black, Ivan Pineyro and Felix Pena from last year's team and Rob Zastryzny from High-A." http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/still-plenty-o...

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 9:00am  

W-RAT: Black, Zastryzny, Pineyro, and Pena have been the core Tennessee rotation for the last ten days, but Frank Batista has not been part of the group. 

Batista did throw about 40 pitches in a "sim" game yesterday on Riverview Field #4, so I would think that if he doesn't go to the Mexican League, that he will likely be the "piggy-back" with C. J. Edwards (who is not yet able to throw more than 45-50 pitches, either) at AA.

Andres Santiago or Jeffry Antigua would have been the other options to piggy-back with Edwards, so if Batista is being stretched-out to piggy-back at AA, the Cubs might just release Santiago or Antigua prior to Thursday. 

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 3:39pm  

HAGSAG: Jordan Hankins is definitely at Extended Spring Training. 

Matt Brazis threw "lights-out" yesterday vs Angels in Tempe. 

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 4:17pm  
is it too late to get max scherzer rather than jon lester?

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 6:49pm  
He didn't have much of anything, after having a dead arm the last two weeks. He did have some giddyup on his fastball. The outing really wasn't all that horrible, considering he had nothing else working for him. I can't stand the idea of high priced free agent pitchers, but I'm not all that worried. The thing that stuck out for me was on the broadcast they showed the huge falloff of throws to first during the last few years. It's like he developed Steve Blass Disease for first base throws. Really weird. Can somebody go to change.org and petition ESPN to remove that idiotic pitch frame box? Or whatever they call it? Thanks.

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 9:31pm  
Old & Blue: "The thing that stuck out for me was on the broadcast they showed the huge falloff of throws to first during the last few years. It's like he developed Steve Blass Disease for first base throws. Really weird." I agree it is very weird and I didn't know it was so drastic until watching the broadcast last night. In the NL, he is going to pay a greater price as shown in game 1, so hopefully he can figure it out.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 7:26am  
The Cubs are stats happy. Surely they knew about this. So you'd think they've had him working on that in spring training but if I remember the only times he threw to first he pretty much bounced it in and/or threw way short. That doesn't mean that he wasn't doing drills, I guess. I'm not privvy to their regimen. Nobody tells me anything.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 7:55am  
he jogs toward the base and tosses...a lot of the time underhanded. that's his style. it's hard to watch a guy run to 3rd with 0 or 1 outs from 2nd while lester jogs the ball over the 1st baseman for an underhanded toss...but, that's lester. it's one of those "you're at this level and they still let you do that, huh?" things that's never been properly addressed.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 10:10pm  
fwiw, he was throwing a no-hitter in the 6th when i wrote that. weird 6th...gave up a couple runs after dan uggla royally screwed up by bailing on a popup which i.desmond tried to field and ended up with an error for the effort. i'd rather have scherzer over lester, but i'm happy to have either. i wasn't concerned with the loss of a 2nd round pick/loot, too.

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 10:26pm  
I agree I would rather have Scherzer too. But Lester brings many intangibles that should benefit the Cubs they way they are currently configured. But I don't think they could have gone wrong with either. Also, if you look at the contracts, the Lester contract is much, much better for the Cubs.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 7:28am  
Yeah, Lester should be fine, as long as he's healthy. I'm not too worried about the dead arm thing since he had decent velocity. But anytime anyone says "dead" and "arm" in the same sentence as your $150 million pitcher, my ears do perk up a little, no matter how routine they make it sound.

Submitted by craig  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 4:29pm  
Phil, do you know anything about what's wrong with Pierce Johnson?

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:06pm  

CRAIG: Pierce Johnson was suddenly and completely shut-down sometime early last week and he has disappeared from Riverview. I don't know what happened, but usually when a pitcher completely disappears like that it means he is seeing a specialist somewhere.

I do know that one of the Cubs minor league pitchers or position players had TJS last week, but I'm not sure which one it was. It was NOT Pierce Johnson, though.  

Because Johnson was shut-down and with Dallas Beeler not having thrown since pitchers & catchers reported to big league camp in mid-February, Barret Loux has rapidly increased his pitch count up to 80 (he was at 40+ just ten days ago), and now Loux is in the Iowa rotation (looks like he is the #4 or #5 starter, behind Jokisch, Roach, and Pimentel). Drake Britton is supposed to get stretched-out to be a starter at Iowa, but he might have to have a "piggy-backer" (maybe Yoanner Negrin) throwing in games with him until he can get his pitch count up to 80+. 

So the Iowa starting rotation is kind of in a state of flux right now, and at Tennessee C. J. Edwards still can't throw more than 45 pitches per game, so somebody will have to piggy-back with him, too.   

 

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 4:40pm  
for those with cable/sat/etc...it's "free preview" period for MLB EI

Submitted by Charlie  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 5:25pm  
Phil, how has Kevin Encarnacion looked?

Submitted by Arizona Phil  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:02pm  

CHARLIE: Because of the right shoulder injury and third degree burns he received on his right arm in that Dominican car crash post-2013, Encarnacion can no longer switch-hit, so he is learning to hit LH against LHP, which isn't that easy to do if you've never done it that way before. He started doing it at Instructs last fall, and he is still working on it.  

Submitted by Charlie  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:13pm  
Thanks! Rooting for him.

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 5:55pm  
d.gordon is so fast he turned a bunt single into an out by tripping over his own feet out of the batter's box. blazing...

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:11pm  
-edit- ugg, ESPN exclusive game/timeslot...no wonder there was such odd scheduling for games today. woo...TV...the reason we have stuff like this. dat money, tho...

Submitted by John Beasley  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 7:48pm  
TRIBE-STROS DOOD!!!!!!!!!12

Submitted by Carlito  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 8:01pm  
Shoot! I'm sure I am 3/44 as hell on this but how the hell did the Sox get Drabek from Toronto? His stock pummeled? Was he TJS?

Submitted by crunch  on Mon, 04/06/2015 - 9:09pm  
i missed that too...evidently TOR placed him on waivers not long ago (march 27) and the wsox claimed him.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 1:14pm  

Sweeney released.

Padres looking for a shortstop...Addison Russell ready yet? :)

Submitted by Carlito  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 1:25pm  
Hey! Don't talk that way about our cleanup hitter!!

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 1:45pm  
Since I haven't been on here in awhile, I am curious as to what people think about what the Cubs are going to do with SS, 2B and 3B. Do you think Castro will be traded or moved positions (2B or 3B)? Will Bryant end up in LF or 3B? Everything I have read seems like Russell is the best SS, so I can't imagine that they ask him to move. Interested to hearing what people think. I am sure it has been discussed a lot, so if you don't want to comment, that's cool, but I am sincerely interested in hearing.

Submitted by dcf  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 2:21pm  
lf Bryant 3b baez ss Russell 2b Castro Lots of options. I could easily see trying to move one of those in return for other needs. Personally, I'd be more inclined to try to keep Russell and Bryant than the other two, but a lot could happen. I read someplace Russell at one point weighed 225 or so, and then lost weight, so he might outgrow SS in the long run.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 2:24pm  
russell SS seems to be set in stone without anyone actually setting it in stone...and bryant to LF seems inevitable even if he plays a bit of 3rd on his way there. i wish i had enough faith in baez to even envision him back in the bigs as a multi-season regular...

Submitted by dcf  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:49pm  
what has surprised me a little about Baez is that a lot of baseball guys (like Maddon) seem to be genuinely impressed by his ability to handle the middle infield defensively, run the bases, etc. If he could lessen the Ks, he could be really interesting. Even with higher Ks than you'd like, could he be effective at 2b as a 7 or 8 (or, with Maddon, 9) hitter with something like a 90 OPS+? Teams have accepted less from a defense first player from that spot before. Sort of like a cross between Rob Deer and Darwin Barney, except Baez's defense is not that good and he'd need to walk a lot more before he'd be like Deer.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:22pm  
he's still so young and could very well be a regular...i'm just not high on what i'm seeing right now and i dunno if it will come while he's still under cubs club control. i think we're gonna be hearing his name for quite a while (decade+). a power hitting 2nd/SS will always have a place in the game as long as they can at least sniff .300 ob% and maintain good D.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:24pm  
Are there no service time worries with Russell?

Submitted by Rob Richardson  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:27pm  
Russell may be more willing to sign a deal than Bryant.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:29pm  
just musing... but i think bryant is more of a "franchise" player and keeping him around as long as possible as cheaply as possible is probably important. being a SS, russell will also end up costing a ton of loot if he realizes his hit/D expectations, but he's more of a very high-end luxury "hanley ramirez type" rather than a guy you want to anchor your hitting crew. ive not heard a word about how they plan on managing him, though.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:45pm  
Baez or Castro will be traded. Schwarber dark horse for third in 2017. /Cult of Olt

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:25pm  
schwarb at 3rd...given his arm, good call. given his bat, the issue could be pushed by 2016/2017. that said, he seems very dedicated to giving C a shot and the club seems willing to let him as long as he puts his work in. he may be working over his head, but he's willing to work on being that guy. he looked really comfortable this spring behind the plate.

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 1:35pm  
Tonight's game postponed. UGH!

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 2:03pm  
laaaaaaame.

Submitted by Rob Richardson  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 2:57pm  
It means that Bryant will play in the make up game.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:05pm  
does it really make sense to keep bryant down waiting 2 weeks for the AAA season to begin? they could bring him up to work on that very very very important D issue then send him down when the AAA season starts in 10 days. he's wasting away for weeks when he could be working on that major issue keeping him from a full time assignment in the bigs! i mean, it IS about the defense, not the service time right? =p

Submitted by Rob G.  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:17pm  

Iowa season starts Thursday.

Submitted by crunch  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 4:11pm  
ah yeah...10 days from now is the home opener.

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:19pm  
It does baffle me that Theo keeps sticking with that line and not admit the real reason is service time. Everyone knows it. Would he get in trouble with MLB or MLBPA if he admitted it publicly?

Submitted by Rob Richardson  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:35pm  
Yes.

Submitted by Charlie  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:03pm  
That's like +.3 WAR right there.

Submitted by mannytrillo  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 3:22pm  
Good point Rob Richardson. It could be down to 8 games that Bryant will miss, but likely 11 as I think they will bring him up on Monday (4/20) on the road for his first game.

Submitted by billybucks  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 8:02pm  
Hmmmm... this postponement could get investigated. I live in downtown Chicago and the weather tonight is better than for the opener -- and they cancelled the game in the early afternoon? Methinks the Bryant Countdown Clock may have come into play.

Submitted by jacos  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 9:39pm  
And no bleachers and terlots for a Cardinal game that will be made up in July or Sept

Submitted by Hagsag  on Tue, 04/07/2015 - 2:52pm  
I saw a picture on Facebook of Johan Matos, Jenner Emeterio, and Jose Paniagua arriving in Phoenix for Extended Spring Training from the Dominican.

Submitted by Rob Richardson  on Thu, 04/09/2015 - 3:29pm  
Cubs prospect Javier Baez takes leave after sister's death http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball...

Submitted by dcf  on Thu, 04/09/2015 - 4:42pm  
His sister had suffered from spina bifida, and the family's desire to seek treatment in the US was apparently the reason why they moved to the US from Puerto Rico. http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2015-04...

Recent comments

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The first 600 characters of the last 16 comments, click "View" to see rest of comment.
  • Charlie 6 hours 8 min ago (view)

    This is baseball.

    This is the sport we like.

     
  • crunch 8 hours 4 min ago (view)

    top 9th, 1 out, men on 1st/2nd...alec mills steps to the plate.

    they're down by 13 runs.  i want to end this, too.

     
  • Wrigley Rat 9 hours 11 min ago (view)

    Really good stuff here from Marty Pevey (Iowa Cubs Manager, Acting Manager of South Bend): https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/bas...

     
  • Eric S 10 hours 1 min ago (view)

    If Chatwood can provide two excellent starts for each turkey I can live with that

     
  • crunch 10 hours 6 min ago (view)

    i dont like august 6th, 2020 chatwood.

    i've liked other recent versions, though.

     
  • Arizona Phil 10 hours 12 min ago (view)

    Without an actual minor league season to use for evaluation purposes, I think the likely Cubs 40-man roster adds on 11/20 will be from this group and probably in this order (and no more than seven, possibly eight): 

     
  • crunch 10 hours 26 min ago (view)

    this digital crowd is creepy as hell.  at least it's not for the whole game.

     
  • Arizona Phil 13 hours 33 min ago (view)

    The Cubs have signed veteran RHRP Kelvin Herrera to a minor league contract and he has been added to the Cubs MLB Club Player Pool and has been assigned to the Cubs Practice Squad in South Bend.  

    Herrera was released by the White Sox last Sunday, so he should be ready to roll right away if he is needed. 

     
  • bradsbeard 14 hours 41 min ago (view)

    Tommy Birch with the Des Moines Register just interviewed Martin Peavy about what's going on at South Bend. Some intriguing updates on some of the prospects down there as well as details about what they are doing. They could really use Short for scrimmage purposes  

     
  • Eric S 15 hours 54 min ago (view)

    Thanks, AZ Phil!

     
  • Arizona Phil 16 hours 27 min ago (view)

    BRADSBEARD: I doubt that any club will go below 14 pitchers (with at least nine relievers), and the Cubs could go up to 15 (or 16) pitchers once Jose Quintana (and Brad Wieck) return, especially if the Cubs eventually go with a six-man rotation (as I suspect they will, given the heavy work-load the SP will need to provide what with the questionable bullpen).

     
  • bradsbeard 16 hours 33 min ago (view)

    Interesting. That's good to know for roster construction purposes. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 16 hours 52 min ago (view)

    ERIC S: Other than assigning one catcher (who can serve as a bullpen catcher) to the Taxi Squad at home game, the Taxi Squad can only be used on road trips  

    On the Cubs trip to Cincinnati last week, the Cubs definitely carried catcher Jose Lobaton, INF-OF Hernan Perez, and an unnamed pitcher (probably Colin Rea, because he was recalled while the Cubs were still in Cincinnati).

     
  • Arizona Phil 17 hours 51 min ago (view)

    BRADSBEARDE: The limit on the number of pitchers who can be on a club's MLB Active List roster (which was going to be 13 on a 26-man roster if CoViD-19 hadn't happened) has been suspended and so clubs can carry as many pitcherrs as they wish in 2020. 

     
  • Arizona Phil 17 hours 54 min ago (view)

    The thing with Zack Short not being assigned to the Cubs MLB Club Player Pool (and to the Practice Squad) is odd, because he would have been one of only two legit MLB-ready (or near MLB-ready) shortstops on the Practice Squad (utility man Hernan Perez being the other one). So now al they have is H. Perez.  

    It can't be because of roster limit concerns because they could have left off Christopher Morel or ine of the younger pitchers to make room for Z. Short. 

     
  • bradsbeard 17 hours 59 min ago (view)

    Not Phil and I don't know what the South Bend guys are doing besides scrimaging or live BP. But I do know Short is not there (I'm still not sure why he's not there other than trying not to use up all the roster space available).

     
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