Minor League Playoffs and More
The most exciting thing around the Cubsverse right now is the minor leagues competing in the playoffs. Meaningless as a victory may be to the big league club down the line, it's fun to follow and have a rooting interest in something, other than the Cubs losing for a better draft pick slot.
- Last night both Daytona and Boise advanced to the finals of their respective league championships, both sweeping their best-of-3 series. C.J. "#5 Cubs prospect" Edwards continued his domination with 5 no-hit innings on 8 K's against one walk for the win, Ryan Searle had a 4-inning save and almost closed out the committee no-hitter before giving up back-to-back singles with one out in the 9th. Kris Bryant provided the bulk of the offense going 3-for-3 with a run scored, a double, 2 RBI's and a hit-by-pitch in the 4-0 victory. Daytona will play Charlotte (Tampa affiliate) starting tonight, with Pierce Johnson taking the mound.
- Boise won 11-7 on the strength of 12 hits and the weakness of Salem-Keizer's defense that included 5 errors by the Giants affiliate. Justin Marra went 2-for-5 with 4 RBI's and 2 doubles and Kevin Encarnacion and Daniel Lockhart both had 3 hits. Not a good night for either team's pitching, but Duane Underwood's 1.1 innings that included 2 hits, 2 walks and 3 runs allowed was a particular lowlight. Regardless, Boise starts their finals series versus Vancouver (Toronto affiliate) on Friday..
- Tennessee starts their playoff run as well tonight versus Birmingham (White Sox affiliate). Nick Struck will go for the Smokies.
- MLB Trade Rumors put out an all-minor league team and Dan Vogelbach and Javier Baez were the 1B and SS representatives. An admittedly weak first base class at the moment, but still a bit of a surprise announcement on Vogelbach whom will likely slot between #6 - #10 on most Cubs' prospect lists this winter. Baez faced much stiffer competition at shortstop, but making a run at the home run title gave him the nod.
- BP ran some scout quotes and one had this to say on Junior Lake
"He is starting to figure it out. He has always had the physical tools but never really looked like a natural baseball player. To see him slow the game down makes him a viable player. Of all the defensive questions I had in the past, his athleticism is starting to answer them at multiple positions. He has the physical attributes to impact major-league games… and it is starting to show up more regularly than expected."
Being the skeptic I am on Junior Lake's major league potential, I thought it would be a good time to bring up that he has a .380 BABIP right now in the majors that has lead to his current and very average 294/339/428 slash line. If you discount his first 7 games, which I admit is a bit of cheating, but it's not much of a leap to assume that major league pitchers weren't too aware of his strengths and weaknesses yet, he's 255/306/365. But if you're looking for upside, he does have some very nice splits versus lefties (1.113 OPS vs. a .637 OPS against righties) and his slash line over his last 16 games (297/348/406) is right in line with his season numbers...and he's 23. Ultimately I still believe he'll make his career as a short-side platoon outfielder or 4th outfielder/utility man.
- Speaking of draft pick slots (check the lower left sidebar), White Sox have taken a 2.5 game lead over the Cubs for the third spot in the draft and Cubs have just a one game lead over the Brewers for the 4th spot, although the Cubs do own the tie-breaker in both situations.
Recent comments
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crunch 7 hours 11 min ago (view)
kevin rizzo is in camp with the cubs and is in workouts with the team.
very tiny guy, no power, but he can run down a ball in the field and he's almost impossible to pitch to. time to give him a contract and put him in the OF.
https://twitter.com/Cubs/status/1366081602242023425
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crunch 7 hours 51 min ago (view)
Marquee has added a tuesday game, so now the first televised cubs game is March 2nd (3pm EST)
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Arizona Phil 17 hours 41 min ago (view)
The DFA of Robert Stock to make room for Kyle Ryan coming off the CoViD-related IL wil need to be followed by removing another player on the 40 to make room for Ryan Tepera.
It's possible somebody (like a pitcher) is injured to the extent that he might be placed on the 60-day IL, or else maybe somebody else will go on the CoViD-related IL (which is 40-man roster exempt) in the coming days to make room for Tepera.
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Arizona Phil 18 hours 16 min ago (view)
The Cubs have signed LHSP Ben Holmes (ex-LAD) and RHRP Jose Moreno (ex-NYM) to 2021 minor league contracts. Both were post-2020 minor league 6YFA and neither has been on an MLB 40-man roster.
Holmes pitched collegiately at Oregon State and has some AAA experience, but Moreno hasn't pitched above Lo-A over the course of seven seasons in the Mets organization.
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crunch 1 day 3 hours ago (view)
side note...k.wong is on 1st putting on one of those "baserunning mitts" (hand protection for sliding) that's extending past the length of his hand/fingers by at least 2-3 inches.
they're going to have to start regulating this piece of equipment if this keeps up...
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crunch 1 day 5 hours ago (view)
Q with LAA in his debut for them...HBP, a wild pitch, and BB through 7 pitches...then 3 pop-outs to follow.
blah blah spring training...
baseball on TV...neat.
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First.Pitch.120 1 day 8 hours ago (view)
We just traded for Maddux!!! ......... nope, the other one.
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crunch 1 day 21 hours ago (view)
yeah, i'm just saying i did consider piling onto it with a troll-level post about the trade...it's practically asking to be written that way.
jeff passan did it quite well... https://twitter.com/jeffpassan/status/136577746706...
that said, i had no idea zach bryant existed before today, but his early numbers looked oddly good (which means nothing without context that early in his career).
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Charlie 1 day 21 hours ago (view)
Oh, I mean the trade. You were quite diligent in posting!
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crunch 2 days 1 hour ago (view)
i contemplated writing the post totally trolled out as hell with "zach" coming after a wall of text.
i decided the cubs being cheap was enough pre-season punishment without piling on.
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Charlie 2 days 2 hours ago (view)
This is a straight up troll
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crunch 2 days 3 hours ago (view)
rsox aquiring ZACH bryant from the cubs.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player...
ptbn from the josh osich deal.
totally useless trade...hopefully not a terrible loss.
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Hagsag 3 days 4 hours ago (view)
Chase Strumpf and Andy Weber invited to the ML camp.
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Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days 10 hours ago (view)
Ryan Tepera returns. Major League deal
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crunch 4 days 8 hours ago (view)
spring training TV is usually fluid...adding and subtracting broadcast games...
first cubs TV (as of now) is March 3 (wednesday) on ESPN at 3pm EST.
radio broadcasts available for almost every game that's not televised. the cubs get going on monday and some other teams will start the day before.
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crunch 5 days 4 hours ago (view)
dj snelton's left elbow is screwed up...6 weeks rest then re-evaluate.
looks like he's going to try to avoid having surgery.
Comments
just a guess, but what most
just a guess, but what most top 10 lists will look like
Baez, Bryant, Almora, Soler, Edwards, Olt, Vizcaino, Alcantara, Vogelbach, Johnson
I imagine Baez will sneak into the top 10 of most major league top 100 lists and Cubs should have 4-5 on most of them.
White Sox have taken a 2.5
Daytona lineup for tonight...
Daytona lineup for tonight...
RF Chen CF DeVoss 1B Geiger DH Vogelbach 3B Bryant LF Giansanti C Krist 2B Darvill SS Soto RHP Johnson
sappelt officially outrighted
Hopefully he is in someone
You read my mind. He brings
underway in Daytona, Pierce
underway in Daytona, Pierce Johnson with a K and gives up a hit, but no other damage.
Chen single, DeVoss double,
Chen single, DeVoss double, Geiger groundout scores a run.
Johnson works around a leadoff double with 2 more K's in 2nd (Daytona up 1-0 heading into bottom of the 2nd).
Smokies lineup
Smokies lineup
@superSZCZ4 CF, Alcantara 2B,@javy23baez SS,@bour41 DH, Villanueva 3B, Silva RF,@JAndreoli16 LF, Mota 1B,@rlopez_29 C, Struck SP
bottom of 2nd
bottom of 2nd
4-0 Daytona so far....
Two outs...
0-0, top of third for
0-0, top of third for Tennessee, both teams with just a hit, Villanueva for the Smokies.
Daytona goes up 5-0 in bottom of 4th on Geiger RBI double that brings in DeVoss.
Pierce Johnson done, 5 IP, 6
Pierce Johnson done, 5 IP, 6 K, 5 H, 0 BB and leaves with a 5-0 lead
Jeffrey Lorick in for another 4-inning save opp.
Tenn still tied 0-0 in top of the 4th.
Just in case:
Word.
dueling home runs leave it
dueling home runs leave it tied 1-1 in bottom of 5th for Tennessee...Silva with the Smokies HR.
Szczur, Alcantara, Baez and Bour combined 0/8 with 3 K's.
5-0 Daytona through 7 and a half.
Bryant/Vogelbach combined 0/5 with a walk on the night.
D-Cubs win 5-0. Zack Cates
D-Cubs win 5-0. Zack Cates
D-Cubs win 5-0. Zack Cates gets 2 quick outs, then walks the next three before getting the last out with a K.
"Wild Thing" Cates
Tennessee down 3-1 in bottom of 6th.
Daytona Cubs vs. Chicago Cubs
from the Boston mlb.com beat
John Arguella writes about
Leaving for Chicago in a few
Sold my tickets today on
https://twitter.com
Cubs foolishly beating
Cubs foolishly beating Brewers 5-2 in the 3rd, Junior Lake with a grand slam.
Stupid Cubs. They can't even
"Scott Baker (elbow) will
Whoa! A Stealth appearance by
d.lee was at the game today
fun video of DLee getting a
Cole Gillespie and Michael
yep, you guessed it...
Tennesses starts Dae-Eun Rhee
Tennessee starts Dae-Eun Rhee tonight, Daytona postponed as mentioned, Boise starts Dillon Maples
Smokies lineup: Gm 2 lineup: @superSZCZ4 CF,Alcantara 2B,@javy23baez SS,@bour41 1B,Villanueva 3B,Silva DH,@JAndreoli16 LF,@TheBJacks RF,@rlopez_29 C,Rhee SP
A BJax sighting!
http://baseballinfosolutions
http://baseballinfosolutions.wordpress.com/20...
kind words on W. Castillo's defense, their system has him as the best defensive catcher in the league...I'm a bit skeptical on that one, but better than being the worst.
(nothing in their system seems to account for pitch framing fwiw, something he's notioursly bad at it, even if improving)
Here's an ESPN insider article discussing that very subject (Molina and Lucroy are called out)
http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/962...
"their system has him as the
BP article on pitch framing,
BP article on pitch framing, W. Castillo neither on the good or bad list
http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?art...
Castillo does show up on the
pays to scroll all the way
pays to scroll all the way down...
does look like a cross-up, or that Arrieta missed his spot by so much that Castillo had to adjust to save the run and not worry about the framing on that one.
4-0 Birmingham over the
4-0 Birmingham over the Smokies through 4 and a half, 2 runs were unearned thanks to a throwing error by the Golden Child at shortstop.
Boise up 1-0 through 4, Penalvar tripled and scored the lone run.
D. Maples: 4 IP, 6 K, 2 BB, 3 H
Boise scores 3 more in the
PIT DFA's James McDonald..
Odds he becomes a Cub?
*shrug*
It all comes down to what it
c.lim debut...
Man does he work slow. It was
Minor correction, the
Baez 2-run HR in 1st inning,
Baez 2-run HR in 1st inning, Smokies lead 2-1 through 4...Jokisch pitching.
Daytona up 1-0 after 1, Vogelbach with a 2-out double to score Geiger...Pineyro pitching...5 straight K's to start the game.
Smokies final was 9-2, Game
Sounds like some clutch plays
Nick Cafardo with a few
Couple links coming on
Everybody knows he doesn't
heh, well-played
heh, well-played
does it not matter one bit to
Baker throwing 89 mph (career
Baker throwing 89 mph (career average is 91 mph), efficient first inning 16 pitches/10 strikes
s.baker's final AAA start is
Alcantara hits a 2 run single
Villaneuva walk, Silva single
Taylor Davis with a 2 run
3 more Smokie runs in the 8th
Final 10-7 Tennessee beats
Boise game just starting, 3
Boise 1-1 in bottom 5th.
h.rondon finally gets back to
Corey Black pitched 6 innings
Ricketts family at it again..
"MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez
The Havana Dodgers begin to
holy cubbery in the 1st
r.sweeney ties a career high
D-Cubs win FSL championship 4
Baez just blasted one to left
CJ Edwards: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 BB,
CJ Edwards: 5 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 3 K and the win
R. Searle: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K for the save
Vogelbach 3/4 with an RBI
Tennessee down 6-2 headed to bottom of 5th, Neil Ramirez roughed up for 3.1 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 3 BB, 0 K
Alcantara with 2 errors, Baez with 1
Boise starts Michael Wagner tonight in the winner-take-all Game 3 versus Vancouver
Baez just blasted one to left
t.wood, the best 87-89mph
bottom of the 8th still 6-4,
bottom of the 8th still 6-4, Villanueva, Silva, Andreoli due up
2-out walk for Andreoli, but
2-out walk for Andreoli, but nothing happening...to the 9th.
Smokies lose 7-4....Boise
Smokies lose 7-4....Boise down 2-0 in bottom of 8th.
At least we'll always have Daytona.
Here's lookin' at you, kid.
Boise loses 5-0 btw.
Boise loses 5-0 btw.
Cubs dropping Old Style in
The old school charm (and
it's been weird watching the
When was the last time you
1998...
2014 tentative schedule
2014 tentative schedule
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/schedule/index.js...
Open season on road against Pittsburgh on March 31st...
Home opener vs. Phillies on April 4
4 games vs. WSox from May 5-8 (2 at each park)
home series vs. Yankees, Orioles and Rays
road series vs. Yankees, Toronto and Boston
September is all NL Central opponents except a 3-game set @ Toronto, season ends on Sept 28th @ Milwaukee which comes off a 10-game homestand, so if by some miracle they're in a race, they have that going for them.
Don't know who this guy is
wasn't quite so appalled by
wasn't quite so appalled by it...but some strange ones indeed
#1) 85 wins; you never know I guess, not that crazy to believe though
#2) Sveuem replaced - nope
#3) Castro will bat .300 - very possible
#4) Baez will win ROY - no idea of the rookie class next year, but if they find him a position I wouldn't call it impossible
#5) Baker and Bard key bullpen parts - I think Villanueva already has the long role for next year
#6) Ninja and Wood will combine for 35 wins - T. Wood's BABIP says that's not happening
#7) Wrigley purists will enjoy the video board - of course they will, but is it gonna be ready for next year?
#8) Cubs will stand pat at deadline - if they're flirting with .500, certainly possible
#9) Rizzo will be an All-Star - possible of course, Votto, Goldschmidt, Freeman in the way though, not to mention A. Gonzalez
#10) Cubs will win first and last game of year - sure, who cares...unless that last game is a playoff game.
Baez won't be up long enought
Puig got called up late and
Puig got called up late and he'll probably finish 2nd
Posey played his first game in 2010 on May 28th and won it that year
Harper started on April 28th last year
Chris Coghlan started on May 9th in 2009
off the top of my head, Kolten Wong probably won't lose his eligibility this year and should have a starting job...Oscar Tavares is a good bet for an early call-up. Jameson Taillon might get called up by June for Pirates. Chris Owings of the Diamondbacks may get a gig out of spring training although certainly a lower class prospect. Archie Bradley may have a gig out of spring training or soon after.
You think Baez will be called
i don't know, I think if he
i don't know, I think if he has a good AFL, a good spring and is tearing up AAA the first month and Darwin Barney is still playing 2b or there's an injury on the infield or the outfield, he could be called up by May or June.
I wouldn't call it likely, but I could envision it happening.
most of these predictions are
okay sammy sosa...seriously..
second level upper deck welly
what happened to Cingrani.
no word yet...trainer came
anyone care to predict if
i've always seen him a
another d.murphy HR...cubs
Management needs to take a
Management needs to take a
i just wonder if d.murphy is
For whatever reason, in the
http://espn.go.com/blog
http://espn.go.com/blog/chicago/cubs/post/_/i...
The ultimate question about next year was put to Hoyer. Do any of these names have a chance to play for the Cubs coming out of spring training?
"It's likely none of those guys is going to start the season in the big leagues, so as we make out a lineup card for our 25-man roster that's not going to be a part of it," he said.
also says to expect Baez, Bryant, Soler and Almora to be trying different positions in the AFL, especially E-6 Baez.
Soriano 2 HR for yanks so far
ejax HR...2nd of career.
Back to back HR's, Welly gets
The Reds on fifth pitcher
j.lake...wtf was that? that
b.hamilton getting his 1st
Herb Washington agrees
if only he could have stolen
Please. Make Lim go away . .
it's been a long time since i
...and he gets out of it.
Crazy. Yeah he sets up before
I see that Ace Samardzija is
I see that Ace Samardzija is at it again....
6-0 Reds in bottom of 6th.
Sigh. Just checked in and
Shark and Rizzo in an active
rizzo's aug/sept (aside from
Like I keep saying, his loopy
6.66 ERA (appropriately)
6.66 ERA (appropriately) since start of July according to one of the tweets on the sidebar, which includes the one good week he had where he won player of the week.
Next year: 100 innings, and
PIT is giving a.mccutchen the
...and it all works out...and
rosscup breaks 2 bats for
I'm thinking Reds bullpen
"Mark Carman @thecarm
Winter ball seems to be a way
I kinda trust the baseball
Fully agreed.
another 2014 Draft list, Big
t.beede 10th? cold.
Welington the slowest player
Welington the slowest player to first in baseball
http://www.actasports.com/stats_detail/?StatI...
I imagine Dionar is spared only because of hitting from the left side mostly.
Speaking of Castillo, he has
DWAR is such a cocksuck stat.
I can't find any explantion
I can't find any explantion on how BR calculates there catcher defensie WAR, but amongst the defensive WAR stats, the numbers for catcher are probably the least reliable. I believe it incorporates wild pitches, passed balls, errors, and caught stealings, but relative to opportunities of course which the defensive columns you're most likely looking at do not take into account.
Also, 2.6 vs. 2.4 is a pretty miniscule difference in regards to WAR numbers.
Coaching staff seems to be happy with him though...at age 26, I imagine he'll be the answer for 4-6 years.
http://beforeitsnews.com/sports/2013/08/is-ch...
"
rosscup in to pitch back-to
...and 1 batter it is...which
BA minor league all-star team
Maybe CJ Edwards becomes Roy
What makes you say this JB?
Just that successful long
That's a good point. I would
I imagine every league
I imagine every league organization is a little different, but the starters with the most innings in the FSL average less than 6 innings per outing and Edwards was pitching in a lower league before the trade where he had 93 IP over 18 (right around the 5-6 range).
There's a lot of piggyback starts as well at those levels as they're trying to get their eyes on more pitchers.
Edwards is skinny at 6'2''
And if Edwards ends up being
roy oswalt lists at 6'...but
Chris Sale is like 6'4"
Small guy, don't be surprised
Baez and Hendricks named Cubs
Baez and Hendricks named Cubs minor league players of the year
http://blogs.dailyherald.com/node/7764
past list of honorees
http://wiklifield.thecubreporter.com/Cubs_Min...
When Logan Watkins is your
The EZ-Man...
Yeah! Forgot about (never
minor league numbers says he
minor league numbers says he went from Boston to Cleveland to Pittsburgh before he signed as a minor league free agent with Cubs.
While he never came close to the year he had in Iowa at age 27 in 1993, he showed some signs of something interesting before that and his numbers with the Cubs in '94 were pretty good (115 OPS+). Wonder if there was an injury or something, he ended up in Boston system next year and was pretty awful after that.
PIT with an extreme right
Should've done this:
arrieta sharp through 3.2ip..
2r rizzo HR...bomb
Nice to clinch not-100 losses
Can't help but root for
Go Buccos
Alf Soriano out with a