Cubs Organizational Report Week 11

Submitted by Rob G. on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 9:05am
Team Records updated through 6/19/05; Individual Stats updated through 6/19/05
Organizational Records
TeamW-LGB/Pos.Last 10Ex W/LW/L (2003)W/L (2004)
Chicago Cubs34-339.5/2nd4-635-3237-3037-30
Iowa Cubs29-429.0/4th4-628-4332-3941-30
West Tenn Diamond Jaxx*44-250.0/1st5-543-2633-3637-32
Daytona Cubs34-316.0/3rd6-433-32N/AN/A
Peoria Chiefs35-354.0/4th6-436-34N/AN/A
Boise HawksJune 22ndN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
AZL CubsLate JuneN/AN/AN/AN/AN/A
* West Tennessee clinched the first half North Division title of the Southern League
MLB TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES P - Rich Hill promoted from AAA on 06/15/05 P - John Koronka demoted to AAA on 06/15/05 P - Dave Crouthers has retired from baseball at age 25; Cubs placed him on waivers for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release on 06/15/05 P - Mark Prior placed on 15 day DL with a right non-displaced fracture of the lateral epicondyl (elbow) on 05/28/05; Threw some simulated games over past week; May skip minor league rehab program and be ready to pitch this week or next P - Kerry Wood diagnosed with supraspinatus muscle strain in his right shoulder; Placed on DL on 05/02/05; Threw 48 & 69 pitch rehab outings last week for Iowa; At least one more before returning to majors P - Chad Fox transferred to 60 day DL on 05/17/05; Has "nerve issues" in his right elbow; Still undetermined whether he'll attempt another comeback SS ñ Nomar Garciaparra out with left groin avulsion of the adductor longus muscle; placed on 15 day DL 04/21/05; Transferred to 60 day DL on 05/29/05; Rehabbing in Arizona P - Scott Williamson placed on 60 day DL 3/31/05; Recovering from October 2004 Tommy John surgery; Currently rehabbing at Extended Spring Training; Return anticpated by end of July AAA (IOWA) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES P - Rich Hill promoted to MLB team on 06/15/05 P - John Koronka demoted to AAA on 06/15/05 P - Bobby Brownlie activated from DL (elbow tendonitis) on 06/18/05 AAA (IOWA) Notables Ronny Cedeno .350/.400/.503 Jermaine Van Buren 1-1 9 Saves; 1.88 ERA/12 BB/37 K Mike Fontenot .287/.395/.480 Jerome Williams 1-1 2.22 ERA/6 BB/17 K Jon Leicester 0-2 1 Save; 5.76 ERA/12 BB/20 K Phil Norton 2-4 6.27 ERA/18 BB/27 K Will Cunnane 1-1 6.32 ERA/17BB/33 K Dave Kelton .286/.331/.448 Geovany Soto .265/.382/.347 Scott McClain .247/.306/.490 Russ Rohlicek 2-1 3 Saves; 3.90 ERA/22 BB/32 K AA (W. TENN) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES INF - Jemel Spearman has not played since 04/26/05 because of wrist injury P- Angel Guzman out with stiff forearm; Supposedly began throwing this week; Likely not to pitch in a game until July P ñ Rocky Cherry left game on 4/21/05 after 1/3 of an inning. Tommy John surgery performed on 05/05/05 AA (W. TENN) Notables Matt Murton .357/.420/.496 15/20 SB opportunities Felix Pie .304/.349/.554 13/22 SB opportunities Dwaine Bacon .322/.400/.416 14/20 SB opportunities Ryan Theriot .316/.379/.421 15/18 SB opportunities Brandon Sing .274/.397/.543 Buck Coats .322/.391/.427 Casey McGehee .314/.368/.459 Richard Lewis .310/.431/.429 Ricky Nolasco 6-0 2.51 ERA/26 BB/84 K Carmen Pignatiello 5-4 2.68 ERA/28 BB/77 K Andrew Shipman 1-3 2.67 ERA/14 BB/31 K Talley Haines 4-2 13 Saves; 1.78 ERA/2 BB/20 K Reynel Pinto 3-0 1.48 ERA/22 BB/52 K David Aardsma 2-0 1.37 ERA/11 BB/15 K John Connolly 2-1 2.95 ERA/7 BB/16 K Yorkin Ferreras 2-4 2 Saves; 5.52 ERA/6 BB/31 K Jae-Kuk Ryu 5-3 3.66 ERA/28 BB/57 K Adam Greenberg .253/.369/.360 A ADVANCED (DAYTONA) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES SS - Carlos Rojas placed on DL on 05/26/05 P - Brad Stiles placed on DL on 4/27/05; reason unknown FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE ALL-STARS P Carlos Marmol P Sean Marshall P Randy Wells OF Chris Walker DH/3B Scott Moore A Advanced (DAYTONA) Notables Scott Moore .304/.385/.587 Sean Marshall 4-4 2.74 ERA/26 BB/61 K J.R. Mathes 5-2 2.95 ERA/18 BB/53 K Carlos Marmol 6-2 2.99 ERA/37 BB/71 K Thomas Atlee 1-3 8 Saves; 2.61 ERA/8 BB/15 K Juan Mateo 4-1 2 Saves; 2.65 ERA/11 BB/42 K Brian Dopirak .249/.299/.382 Anderson Tavares 2-5 5.83 ERA/18 BB/48 K Jonathon Johnson .286/.333/.447 Kevin Collins .278/.363/.532 Jake Fox .279/.345/.404 Chris Walker .287/.348/.426 29/37 SB opportunities A (PEORIA) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES P - Matthew Webber left game on 06/05/05 after being hit by line drive on the pitching arm; Returned to action this week INF Ryan Norwood placed on DL 04/07/05 with severe ankle sprain; Out 6-8 weeks MIDWEST LEAGUE ALL-STARS 2B Eric Patterson 1B Alberto Garcia OF Ryan Harvey P Sean Gallagher P Chris Shaver P Matthew Weber A(PEORIA) Notables Eric Patterson .366/.444/.545 17/24 SB opportunities Luis Montanez .306/.375/.483 Aaron Sisk .331/.398/.610 Sean Gallagher 7-2 1.56 ERA/26 BB/82 K Ed Campusano 2-2 1 Save; 2.63 ERA/14 BB/23 K Alan Rick .169/.248/.246 Sam Fuld .243/.338/.339 Jerry Blevins 1-5 11 Saves; 6.47 ERA/16 BB/37 K Johnathon Hunton 0-2 6.35 ERA/16 BB/27 K Alberto Garcia .316/.366/.378 Oscar Bernard .289/.326/.333 Bo Flowers .276/.320/.389 Ryan Harvey .255/.316/.442 Matt Weber 3-7 3.16 ERA/12 BB/47 K Chris Shaver 3-6 4.30 ERA/36 BB/53 K A SHORT SEASON(BOISE) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/NOTABLES None to report ROOKIE LEAGUE (AZL Cubs) TRANSACTIONS/INJURIES/NOTABLES None to report OTHER NOTABLE INJURIES OF - Nic Jackson had more surgery to clean out his shoulder; Probably out until 2006 P - Chadd Blasko - shoulder surgery; Probably out until 2006 P - Jason Wylie - shoulder surgery; No update on his return P - Matt Clanton - shoulder surgery; Had 2nd shoulder surgery during off-season, probably out all season MINOR LEAGUE LEADERS Hitting HR - Scott Moore (15) RBI - Scott Moore (49) AVG - Eric Patterson (.366) OBP - Eric Patterson (.444) SLG - Scott Moore (.587) SB - Chris Walker (29) Pitching IP - Matt Weber (82.2) ERA -Sean Gallagher (1.56) WINS - Sean Gallagher (7) SAVES -Talley Haines (13) K - Ricky Nolasco (84) * The AB and IP cutoff for rate stats is rather arbitrary
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Comments

Submitted by Tom C  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 9:18am  
Just a quick note to all at TCR. I love this org reports and game matchups. Ruz really knew what he was doing, b/c I have to tell you, derek & alex are putting out some really lame stuff over at baseball toaster and hardly ever post regular entries. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK & GO CUBS! Oh and can someone please tell me why Enrique is on 1st instead of Grieve? Please? Why? God, why?

Submitted by Eric S  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 9:30am  
Felix Pie hasn't played in a game since playing one game in a doubleheader last Thursday. Anyone know the reason for this? Injury, promotion, etc or perhaps he just needed a break after the team clinched the 1st half title?

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 9:44am  
I haven't heard of an injury, my guess, and it truly is a guess, is that they gave him a few days off after they clinched the first half title. Although it wouldn't surpise me the least bit if Pie gets the call to AAA soon. I mean, I understand that Trenidad Hubbard is having a great year in AAA and i would really hate to lose someone with all that talent, but you know, let the kid play. Don't get me wrong, I think being patient with Pie is the right move and he should stew in AA for the rest of the year, but it's not like I'm fully confident the Cubs know how to develop position players. If anyone gets called up a level it should be Matt Murton in my opinion (followed by Eric Patterson to Advanced A).

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:00am  
I hadn't noticed this but apparently 1B stud Brandon Sing has been trying his hand in the outfield over the last year on occassion. He says he prefers right, but still considers 1B his primary position. I wonder if the Cubs may actually have plans for him with the big club. The power and patience he's shown over the last 2 years has been outstanding, although he's been a bit old for both leagues. He's 24, 6-5, 215 lbs and has been raking the ball the last 2 years. Fell just short of the Florida State League record for homers last year and has belted another 12 so far this season in what is generally known as a pitcher's league. His peripherals aren't too bad either.. 2003 84 BB/101 K/408 AB's 2004 44 BB/ 63 K/ 208 AB's Strikes out at a horrid pace but I can live with it, if it means he's going to keep up those walk rates. Local kid too, went to Joliet Township

Submitted by John Hill  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:20am  
Felix Pie injured his ankle trying to stretch to run out a triple the other day. Apparently the injury isn't serious, but with the Diamond Jaxx playing meaningless games the last few days (because they'd already wrapped up the first half division title, wooo!), they gave him some time off. Or at least that's the story.

Submitted by SaxFax  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:50am  
Hearing through the grapevine (not Vineline) that Marshall and Marmol have been promoted from High A to AA and that Pignatiello is headed for AAA from AA. That would give the Diamondjaxx one heck of a starting rotation for the second half (Pinto, Nolasco, Marshall, Marmol, Ryu and Connolly) barring further promotions to Iowa.

Submitted by Eric S  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 10:55am  
Thanks for the info John Hill and Rob G. Hope Pie's ankle is okay. I agree with Rob re: promoting Murton to AAA over Pie ... would be nice to see a high OBP guy with speed at the top of the Cubs lineup. I can't imagine Murton's approach to facing MLB pitching right now could be much worse than Kpat's at this point. Not so sure Sing isn't the Cub's #1 1B prospect (again?) now. Dopirak's mediocre hitting at Daytona is not that surprising for his first year there at such a young age ... its the 11 errors at first base which are troubling.

Submitted by Eric S  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 11:33am  
SaxFax - If your sources are true, I hope Pigs fares better than Nolasco and Pinto's run with Iowa.

Submitted by John Hill  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 11:49am  
Sax's sources are true. Relievers Thomas Atlee and Talley Haines were also promoted (Atlee from High-A to Double-A, Haines from Double-A to Triple-A), and relievers Federico Baez and Yorkin Ferreras were demoted from Double-A to High-A. That's on top of the moves involving Marmol, Marshall and Pignatiello. The Marshall move is unexpected, he's been thoroughly brilliant at the lower levels of the system. The promotion of Marmol though is much more surprising. He's only two years removed from being converted to the mound, and while his stuff is very promising (as reflected by his line at Daytona this year of 72.1 IP, 60 H, 7 HR, 37 BB, 71 K, 2.99 ERA), those 37 walks reflect the fact that his control, still, is not up to the required level. But the move has been made, and it'll be interesting to see how things play out, not just in terms of Marmol's performance, but also in terms of how the Diamond Jaxx construct the rotation around him and Marshall. Prior to the move, the rotation in West Tenn was Nolasco (who's performance has receeded a little), Pinto (who, after a terrible time at Iowa, has gone back to West Tenn and basically been the dominant but still a little wild pitcher he was there last year), Ryu (great stuff, reasonable results), Pignatiello and Connelly (both "soft-tossers" with great control and plus off-speed stuff). Pignatiello has obviously been promoted to Iowa, but that still leaves six into five, so something's got to give. The options would appear to be either Pinto or Nolasco getting another shot at Triple-A, Ryu or maybe Connelly moving to relief, or one of Pinto, Nolasco, Ryu and Connelly being traded.

Submitted by Eric S  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 12:32pm  
John Hill - thanks for the detailed breakdown of the Cubs moves in the minors. Also, it will be interesting to see how things shakeout at West Tenn above and beyond the pitching situation. There seems to be a "3's a crowd" situation at both the middle (Lewis, Theroit, Coats) and corner infield positions (McGehee, Craig, Sing). It could be a coincidence, but it seems Sing's bat has taken a downturn with more regular playing time in the outfield instead of 1b (they were bound to come down from those absurdly good heights at some point). Not having seen these guys play in person, I have no idea if Sing is a viable player in the outfield (is he worse than Dubois?). From what I can tell checking the daily boxscores, at least Sing is not racking up errors in the outfield.

Submitted by John Hill  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 12:56pm  
Also interesting that as a result of those moves the Jaxx are down a player, and they're down to just five relievers (David Aardsma, Randy Wells, Jon Searles, Thomas Atlee, Andrew Shipman, all righties). Now Ryu or Connelly (who's a lefty) could move to relief, but they'd still be one short. Looks like there's more to come in this reshuffle.

Submitted by SaxFax  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 1:48pm  
One move I'm glad the Cubs didn't make is promoting Gallagher a level. His performance has gone from absolutely superhuman to still-better-than-the-rest, and it looks to me like he could stand to play a complete season at one level. If Daytona makes the FSL postseason, however, I wouldn't be surprised if Gallagher got called up for a start or two then.

Submitted by RQPS  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 3:21pm  
Did i see Nic Jackson in this article?? I thought the Cubs released him long ago?? Has he been injured this whole time?? Any info anyone has i would love to hear, he 'WAS' my favorite minor league Cub a couple years ago...

Submitted by Hawkeye  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 3:27pm  
Talley Haines' K:BB ratio is sick. By doing some cursory research I see that we got him from the Red Sox. Anyone know how the details that brought Mr. Haines to the organization?

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 3:49pm  
I don't know anything about Haines, other then he's 29 and dominating at AA, so I'm not so excited. But hey, maybe he'll be the next Borowski. the blip I read about Jackson sounded like he was still a part of the Cubs organization. He's been struggling with this shoulder injury since 2000 and hasn't played an uninterrupted season since 2002, so hopes are not high for him.

Submitted by Rob G.  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 4:02pm  
haines was a 25th round pick of the D'Rays in 1998 and was released by the Red Sox sometime this year. (It was listed at BA.com on May 25th, but he's been pitching for the Jaxx since April 29th). he was a rule 5 draftee(i believe the minor league phase) of the blue jays last year and signed as a minor league free agent by the red sox this off-season.

Submitted by John Hill  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 4:02pm  
FAO Hawkeye Basically the Red Sox cut him (he's a career minor leaguer and they wanted to make room for actual prospects), the Cubs offered him a minor league deal.

Submitted by Eric S  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 4:04pm  
Saxfax - Absolutely concur re: Sean Gallagher. I've got a rooting interest for Sean beyond the Cub factor as he's a fellow St. Thomas Aquinas HS grad from Ft. Lauderdale. Tyler Greene, the Cards first round pick this year, also is a STA grad ...

Submitted by Hawkeye  on Mon, 06/20/2005 - 5:51pm  
Not to gush, but I love you guys. How cool is it that I was able to ask that question, and get multiple valid answers so quickly? The answer: very cool. John, Rob, thanks much...

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The first 600 characters of the last 16 comments, click "View" to see rest of comment.
  • Arizona Phil 5 hours 33 min ago (view)

    The Cubs have released RHRP (and their erstwhile closer) Brandon Morrow. There is no indication that they plan to re-sign him to another (different) 2020 minor league contract without the Article XX-B $100K retention bonus provision (as happened with Jason Kipnis last week).  

     
  • crunch 9 hours 11 sec ago (view)

    rizzo takes another day off (lower back).  ross says the club is "exercising caution."

    klye ryan is expected to join the team tomorrow after some mysterious holdup.

     
  • Ryno 9 hours 37 min ago (view)

    Has anyone seen Darvish's pitch "The Supreme"?  Isn't it just a sinker?

     
  • Ryno 9 hours 45 min ago (view)

    In other words:  This lineup sucks.

     
  • Arizona Phil 10 hours 2 min ago (view)

    Jason Kipnis was released on June 29th and then he was re-signed to a new (different) 2020 minor league contract that does not require a $100K retention bonus if he is not added to the Cubs MLB Reserve List by 2020 MLB Opening Day (7/23).  

    Brandon Morrow remains on his original 2020 minor league contract which pays him a $100K retention bonus if he is not released by 7/18 or added to the Cubs MLB Reserve List by 7/23. 

     
  • Eric S 10 hours 7 min ago (view)

    There is that re Kimbrel - at worst, just another year on the books.

     July 1st is Bobby Bonilla Day - the day that check is cut and paid annually. 

     
  • Cubster 10 hours 13 min ago (view)

    On the bright side regarding Kimbrel. It doesn't have the lasting bad side as the Mets arrangement with Bobby Bonilla. Unless they want to re-negotiate Kimbrel's terms.

     
  • Eric S 11 hours 40 min ago (view)

    Yep

    Watching the last night's highlight clip was not encouraging either as discussed here:  https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/07/08/craig-kimbrels-intrasquad-performance-is-a-reminder-of-the-concerns-that-already-existed/

     
  • crunch 16 hours 15 min ago (view)

    i still can't believe this front office paid anyone 16m a year to throw 60-70ip...

     
  • Eric S 1 day 1 hour ago (view)

    Unfortunately, Kimbrel in Cub mid season form as well, giving up a two out, two run oppo homer to Willson. 

    Kimbrel Cub stats which I tried to bury but were dug up again: gave up a career high 9 home runs in only 20 2/3 inning, averaged a career high 9.1 hits allowed per 9 innings and served up a 6.53 ERA for his troubles. And no full spring training build up period again.  Still hopeful he's got something left in the tank this year and next but man, he's got my full attention going into the season

     
  • BobbyD 1 day 2 hours ago (view)

    Hmm. Never thought about it that way. Maybe it is a very stable genius? 

     
  • crunch 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    maybe he's hoping it'll be bad enough to flip the population odometer over to 0 after humanity is wiped from the planet.  let's give him more time to see if he's right before we get too down on him.

     
  • crunch 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    "Shohei Ohtani threw just 15 of his 50 pitches for strikes in an intrasquad game Tuesday.  Trent Rush had him at eight walks, a hit by pitch and six wild pitches before he was shut down for a day. "

    ow.

     
  • crunch 1 day 4 hours ago (view)

    anthony rizzo is in mid-season form.

    he sat out today with lower back tightness.

     
  • BobbyD 1 day 6 hours ago (view)

    Well, back in February (I think; that was about 17 years ago now), our diaper staining commander in his own mind declared we had 15 cases in the U.S. and that would quickly go to zero. 130k dead and rapidly rising now 4 months later I still have brain dead neighbors in SoCal saying if Biden gets elected we're screwed. I wonder what they think screwed looks like. 

     
  • crunch 1 day 13 hours ago (view)

    cubs taking full advantage of that "night games deal" with the wrigleyville neighborhood...almost all the home games will be night games.

    8 home day games, 6 on the weekend.

     
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