Rockies Rallies Result in a Win and a Tie at Riverview Park

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 4:24pm

Dillon Thomas blooped a two-out two-run double between three Cub defenders in short right-field in the top of the 5th as the Rockies edged the Cubs 3-2 on Field #5, and Denzel Richardson belted an RBI triple and a single and scored a run to help the Rockies rally from a 4-1 deficit to tie the Cubs 4-4 on Field #6, in Cactus League Extended Spring Training split-squad doubleheader action this morning at the Under Armour Performance Center at Riverview Park in Mesa, AZ.

In EXST Cubs roster news, Elliot Soto has completed his 50-game "Drug of Abuse" suspension and has been assigned to AA Tennessee. In 18 Cactus League Extended Spring Training games (68 PA), Soto hit 333/397/417 with 6/9 BB/K, one double, two triples, 3 SB (0 CS), 12 RUNS, and 5 RBI, while playing outstanding defense at SS. 

Also, INF Giuseppe Papaccio has been sent back to Cubs Extended Spring Training from Daytona, and 1B Danny Canela has been sent to Cubs Extended Spring Training from Kane County. Both players were assigned to Squad "A" in the split squad doubleheader, with INF Varonex Cuevas and OF Shamil Ubiera moving from Squad "A" to Squad "B."    

And LHP Andin Diaz (hasn't pitched in a Cactus League EXST game since April 23rd) has been assigned to the DSL Cubs, who will begin their 2014 season tomorrow morning versus the DSL Marlins. The 21-year old Diaz spent the previous two seasons pitching in the DSL, but had his career sidetracked for a while by a 50-game PED suspension in August 2012 that carried over into 2013.

Here are the abridged box scores from today's games (Cubs players only):



FIELD #5

SQUAD "A" LINEUP:
1. Rashad Crawford, CF: 0-3 (L-3, F-7, P-5)
2. Mark Malave, C: 1-3 (1B, F-9, P-4, R)
3. Jeffrey Baez, RF: 1-3 (1B, 4-3, 6-3) 
4. Danny Canela, 1B: 0-3 (4-3, F-8, F-7, RBI)
5. Rony Rodriguez, DH #1: 1-3 (K, F-7, 2B, R)
6. Justin Marra, DH #2: 1-3 (1B, K, 1-3)
7. Giuseppe Papaccio, SS: 0-3 (6-4-3 DP, K, E-5)
8. Kevin Brown, LF: 1-3 (3B, K, K+WP)
9. Jesse Hodges, 3B: 1-3 (F-9, 1B, K)
10. Zak Blair, 2B: 1-2 (1-U, 1B)

SQUAD "A" PITCHERS:
1. Jose Paulino: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 5 K, 2/3 GO/FO, 63 pitches (41 strikes)
2. Luis Hernandez: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R (0 ER), 2 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 6/0 GO/FO, 53 pitches (31 strikes)
NOTE: Hernandez's third inning was stopped with one out and runner at 3rd base

SQUAD "A" ERRORS: 2
1. C Mark Malave - E-2 (overthrow at 3rd base on stolen base attempt allowed baserunner to score unearned run)
2. P Luis Hernandez - E-1 (dropped throw on attempted 3-1 putout allowed batter to reach base safely - eventually scored unearned run)

SQUAD "A" CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Mark Malave: 1-2 CS, 1 E (see above)

SQUAD "A" OUTFIELD ASSIST:
LF Kevin Brown - batter thrown out 7-6-5 trying to stretch double into triple

FIELD #6:

SQUAD "B" LINEUP: 
1. Gleyber Torres, SS: 1-3 (5-3, 4-3, 1B)
2. Varonex Cuevas, 2B: 0-1 (BB, K, BB, R)
3. Charcer Burks, CF: 1-3 (2B, L-7, 1-5 FC, R, RBI)
4. Tyler Alamo, DH: 1-2 (1B, K, BB, RBI)
5. Roney Alcala, 1B: 0-3 (6-4-3 DP, F-7, F-9)
6. Adonis Paula, 3B: 1-3 (2B, 5-3, F-8, R)
7a. Ricardo Marcano, RF: 0-1 (F-7, BB)
7b. Shamil Ubiera, RF: 0-1 (5-3)
8. Eufran Vargas, C: 1-3 (1B, 5-4-3 DP, L-6, R)
9. Arnaldo Calero, LF: 0-1 (BB, F-8)

SQUAD "B" PITCHERS:
1. Jeferson Mejia: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 4/4 GO/FO, 34 pitches (25 strikes)
2. David Garner: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 2/0 GO/FO, 7 pitches (6 strikes)
3. Adbert Alzolay: 1.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 0 K, 0/3 GO/FO, 19 pitches (14 strikes)
4. Victor Salazar: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1/4 GO/FO, 28 pitches (17 strikes)

CUBS SQUAD "B" ERRORS: NONE

CUBS SQUAD"B" CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Eufran Vargas: 0-3 CS

ATTENDANCE: 13

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures 100+ 
  

Tags: 
Cubs Extended Spring Training
Andin Diaz
Danny Canela
Giuseppe Papaccio
Elliot Soto

Comments

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 6:23pm  
I was looking at the tweet about Rizzo above and I realized that if the Cubs tried to move to Rosemont (or wherever) they'd probably get sued by people in Wrigleyville.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 6:41pm  

http://www.csnchicago.com/cubs/cubs-players-w...

well at least they got new carpet....

Submitted by jacos  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 7:14pm  
Rh hitters w .900 ops vs Estrada Valbuena batting third Olt 8th Click

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 9:07pm  
Yes and Ruggiano is the obvious 5 hitter ... Olt of course walks hus first two times up because pitchers know he's a patsy ... Err I mean.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 9:41am  
The rest of the league knows something that Capt Happy doesn't. Everyone is pretty careful with the guy.

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 7:29pm  
it only took 23 minutes for this game to officially suck. down by 4...1 out in the 1st...man on 1st.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 7:40pm  

Travis Wood, Have You Met My Friend Regression? She can be a real bitch...

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 9:14pm  
"Hi Ricky, yeah Theo here. I love Valbuena, I do. We re-signed him for a reason. Anyway here's the thing: you play him at 3rd base more than once every two weeks and I'll trade him for a billy goat and a generic Pepsi. Okay, talk to you soon. Bye now."

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 9:42pm  
bryant homered again (17)...1/3, HR, BB, K.

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 9:45pm  
Just. Wow. Wow.

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 9:46pm  
I hear Captain Happy wants him to go back to A-ball and sleep it off. Just cool down, y'know? Slow his roll.

Submitted by jacos  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 10:16pm  
Rob/phil/crunch Bryant goes aaa in June does well, Opening day 2015?

Submitted by crunch  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 10:06pm  
no idea...i occasionally see highlight videos, but not full at bats. given the 20-25% of his ABs ending in a K it's hard to know just by looking at that number or the highlight swings where he'll hit a wall in pitching talent vs his hitting talent. it's also a bit early to tell if he's capable of swift corrective measures if he does hit a wall. if he's got any vulnerabilities, so far not many in AA are talented enough to use them against bryant.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 12:54am  

Absolutely, hoping by September myself, but probably not because of the 40-man.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 10:39am  
Wasn't Bryce Harper in Double A when they brought him up? I'm pretty sure Mark Grace was. Plenty of others, too. He doesn't really need to go to Iowa unless that's a pitchers league (I have no idea). EDIT: As much as I love to say "bring him up" I think they may have been a little hasty with Harper. His stats weren't like this, either.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 12:28pm  

I think if there was an injury they might consider it, but this group seems to take it one level at a time. Anyway Bryant still has D and strikeout issues to work on as exciting as he's been.

The pressure on him and Baez when they get called up is going to be pretty immense by the fans and media, doesn't need to be working on major flaws to go along with it and read about it every day in the paper, hopefully just fine tuning at that point and adjusting.

Submitted by johann  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 2:26pm  
Yeah he isn't going to turn this team into a contender by himself and the strikeouts worry me so I'd much rather see him fix it without the kind of micro scrutiny Castro has gotten.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 6:29pm  
Giancarlo Stanton strikes out a lot and it doesn't hurt him too much. I'd rather see strikeouts when things aren't going right than the Sureouts approach of hitting into a double play every time there are men on base. I haven't seen him bat much and I'm no expert anyway, but strikeouts don't bother me much. This group will need to weigh putting pressure on the kids against putting pressure on themselves. Joel Sherman had a good article on this slow and steady approach today. Hot prospects don't always pan out. The whole Cubs plan is only as good as the kids they bring up, since they don't want to look at other avenues of obtaining players for some reason. I'm not sure waiting 6 months or even a year is going to make a bit of difference when it comes to Bryant, and he doesn't seem fazed by pressure anyway. I'm not saying they should bring him up now but if he keeps tearing it up they need to think about where to put him, and, especially, are they at all interested in Olt. They don't seem to be.

Submitted by johann  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 6:48pm  
Depends on the reason for the strikeouts and having not seen Bryant play I can't say one way or another but if he's having problems with something like breaking balls major league pitchers are going to take advantage in a way AA pitchers can't. We're gonna need multiple prospects to come up plus then spending on FA at the same time to compete so why the urgency? If Bryant has nothing left to learn then great but if he can still work on defense and his approach at the plate re: SOs then why not just use this opportunity of guaranteed suckitude at the Major League level to let him iron it out. Castro has taken major strides this season but I think he would have been better served without the unforgiving glare of Chicago media and fanship too.

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 7:19pm  
I have no idea if Bryant is missing breaking stuff. I guess I could get myself an MILB tv account and watch a few games. If he is, that's a problem but I haven't read anyone saying he is. I follow that Arguello fellow quite a bit on the Trib's attempt to be trendy blog thing - Chicago Now I believe it's called. He's actually pretty informed and I haven't seen him say anything about it. Doesn't mean it isn't so of course. The real question for me is where does he fit in because if his defense is really that questionable and they like Olt anyway (another big question based on the way Renteria uses him) then he should be in the outfield right now.

Submitted by Carlito  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 7:37pm  
It would be cost ineffective to bring him up and I think that's really the bottom line at this point. They don't have money to spare right now, the team sucks and they're not gonna start that clock. They can say what they want about his development ...

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 10:52pm  
We should hire some Blackhawks as team consultants / psychiatrists. Those guys just never quit.

Submitted by jacos  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 10:54pm  
Not use to this as a Cub fan / thought they were done Wednesday

Submitted by Carlito  on Fri, 05/30/2014 - 11:09pm  
Exactly. I mean time and time again they recover and adjust. They've had goals taken away at key moments and don't lose their cool in those situations. Bartman wouldn't have phased teams like the Hawks, (or the Yankees, etc.). The Kings are outplaying them but they're hanging so tough.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 12:51am  

Worse thing Cubs ever did was lose McDonough

/sarcasm font

Submitted by VirginiaPhil  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 2:16pm  
McD joined Hawks 2007. Kane and Toews drafted in 2006. Maybe a little like Krause drafting/building the dynastic Bulls (except for Jordan).

Submitted by Rob G.  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 8:36pm  

/sarcasm font

Submitted by jacos  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 12:26pm  
Bonafacio @ third Coughlin baker Barney in line up also /no hitter alert at level Ryan

Submitted by Charlie  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 1:05pm  
Bonifacio at third because? They wanted to get both Coghlan and Barney into the game? WTAF.

Submitted by John Beasley  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 1:16pm  
Roenicke packs his top five hitters into the top five of the lineup. Based upon your current preference, Renteria leaves two or three of his on the bench.

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 3:12pm  
boni playing as an everyday player (no matter the position) is a bit concerning at this point.

Submitted by Carlito  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 7:20pm  
Yeah, I mean what are we learning about this team when we win with a lineup like that? That we win when the pitcher is perfect and Rizzo hits 2 homeruns? Fine we know that. I cannot stand this manager. God, he's infuriating. The only legitimate questions regarding position players are whether Olt is part of the future core and possibly if a couple of these young outfielders are comeback / reclamation projects. Anything else is irrelevant. So what do we get? A painstakingly complete, spare no cost, detailed exploration of our low ceiling, middle aged, light hitting 1.5 tool journeymen. Thanks captain fucky, you're a force to be reckoned with...

Submitted by Old and Blue  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 8:28am  
I actually understand the showing off Bonifacio thing in the hopes that some team would be stupid enough to give the Cubs more than he's worth, but I don't understand it at the expense of not playing Olt. The window to find out if he can play is getting smaller all the time because Bryant looks like he isn't interested in waiting, MLB clock time or no. For a management team that prides itself on foresight I find it amazing they are not dealing with 1) Getting Olt in the line up every day to see if he's going to be any good (he may not, I'll be the first to admit) and 2) If Olt pans out, they need to get Bryant into the outfield ASAP and time's a wastin'.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 1:47pm  
My guess is that the plan is to continue as is with intermittent playing while all the other crap builds up trade value. After the deadline or whenever everything of 'value' can be traded, Olt can play every day. He'll have had the first half of partial play and the second half of regular play. Hopefully, after the deadline, they'll start playing the guys who might actually have a future with the Cubs.

Submitted by VirginiaPhil  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 2:34pm  
"they need to get Bryant into the outfield ASAP and time's a wastin'" Not true. Playing the outfield is child's play compared to second, third or short. They gave Lake six games in the outfield at Iowa before calling him up.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 2:41pm  
Is Olt better at 3rd than Bryant? Either way, I agree. There is plenty of time to move someone to LF.

Submitted by Charlie  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 2:58pm  
Bryant played RF some in college, didn't he? Alcantara getting occasional playing time in OF, especially CF, might be good though.

Submitted by The Joe  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 3:11pm  
Looks like he got his first start in CF on Wednesday. I like him replacing Barney, though (preferably yesterday).

Submitted by VirginiaPhil  on Sun, 06/01/2014 - 3:13pm  
It's hard to picture a guy that tall--Bryant is listed at 6'5--playing third. And Olt looks pretty good there. So I would guess that Olt is better. But the only thing I'm really sure of is that Bryant hit another ball out of play today between the foul lines (#18).

Submitted by Cubster  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 2:08pm  
seems like the Brewers are in for a sword fight against the Black Knight tonight... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKhEw7nD9C4

Submitted by crunch  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 5:00pm  
rizzo 2-run HR...2 of them. sweet.

Submitted by jacos  on Sat, 05/31/2014 - 6:18pm  
Tony Four Sacks

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The first 600 characters of the last 16 comments, click "View" to see rest of comment.
  • crunch 23 hours 16 min ago (view)

    j.girardi did a 2nd interview with PHI on Monday and he's supposedly the favorite for the job.

     
  • bradsbeard 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    The draft over the ASB and the trade deadline pushed back until August 15th or so would make sense. Otherwise, I don't know how scouting departments are going to handle the draft lead up and the trade deadline running almost simultaneously.  

     
  • Arizona Phil 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    One other thing about MLB player development that is very different from NFL, NBA, and NHL player development is that most MLB clubs have upwards of 300 minor league players under contract (not including players on their MLB 40-man roster, the Cubs presently have 301 minor leaguers under contract on nine minor league affiliates).

     
  • Arizona Phil 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    JUST SAYIN: MLB is the only one of the four major North American professional sports that holds its draft and signs its draft picks during the season.

     
  • crunch 1 day 12 hours ago (view)

    umpire eric cooper has died...complications from knee surgery (blood clot)...52 years old

     
  • crunch 2 days 26 min ago (view)

    "MLB Network's Jon Heyman reports former player David Ross and Astros bench coach Joe Espada "appear to be the frontrunners" for the Cubs' managerial opening."

    espada's had 2 interviews.  for a guy who's actively at his "other job," having a 2nd interview seems like both sides want to make this work.  SF and PIT are also supposedly interested in espada.

     
  • JustSayin' 2 days 1 hour ago (view)

     That's a fair description of the benefits of the plan but If I have to choose between "better way" and "owners' greed," I pick the latter.  MLB wants better MiLB facilities, on average, without paying a cent.  They want to deal with the social and legal pressure they are getting for not even paying minor league players minimum wage per real hour worked by having less players.  In addition, the draft is to be moved to late August, so every draftee would lose compensation for the stub year in which they are drafted.  For this reason, I'm not sure your point about col

     
  • Hagsag 2 days 2 hours ago (view)

    Thanks Mr. Phil.

     
  • Arizona Phil 2 days 3 hours ago (view)

    HAGSAG: Besides reducing the costs that are associated with operating a minor league club, reducing the number of minor league affiliates would allow MLB organizations to increase the salaries of their remainng minor league players (who would be the organization's most-legit prospects) without having to increase the organization's aggregate minor league payroll. 

     
  • crunch 2 days 3 hours ago (view)

    The discussions on this matter have been quite varried.  There seems to be a lot of pressure connected to this on minor league team owners who haven't upgraded their facilities/park in a while or who lag in quality compared to their competitors.

    It seems like this would not only cause some teams to fold, but some radical redistribution of existing teams/cities into new minor league levels rather than just pruning some teams over others.

     
  • Hagsag 2 days 15 hours ago (view)

    AZ Phil, what are your thoughts on the discussion to eliminate 42 low minor league teams in 2021? What would this do to the Dominican League? Thanks.

     
  • crunch 2 days 22 hours ago (view)

    yanks/astros game 6 was a f'n classic.  wow.

    altuve continues to build his astros legend.

     
  • bradsbeard 3 days 12 hours ago (view)

    Thanks for this. I agree they’ll probably take their chances in the Rule 5 if he will resign, though I really wouldn’t mind adding him back to the 40 man. I feel like he has a good chance to be effective out of the bullpen. 

     
  • bradsbeard 3 days 12 hours ago (view)

    I hope Sagara doesn’t end up leaving because of the shakeup. The Athletic did report that his position might be eliminated but that he should be offered another role in the organization somewhere. All I know is Sagara’s name came up frequently in connection with the pitch lab, and he was credited for improvements with Ryan, Wick, and Wieck. Maybe he’ll end up focusing more specifically in that role helping guys tweak things in the lab. 

     
  • JustSayin' 4 days 17 min ago (view)

    Does anyone have insight into the new management hires and musical chairs the Cubs announced yesterday?  Craig Breslow might be the only guy out there with extensive MLB experience AND the grey matter to challenge any quant not making sense. His role intrigues me but are they going to give him real responsibility to clear out the deadwood (including the existing minor league coordinator who was never good enough to be the pitchers he's coaching?)  Or, is this a superficial change aimed at keeping ownership off Theo's back? 

     
  • Arizona Phil 4 days 1 hour ago (view)

    BRADSBEARD: I think the Cubs want to retain Oscar de la Cruz post-2019, just not on the MLB 40-man roster.

     
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