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Alfrddo Zarraga
Ballesteros Goes Deep for Second Day in A Row, Whilst Coran Moonshot Bringeth Raino
Moises Ballesteros blasted an opposite-field solo HR over the LF fence leading off the bottom of the second inning (his second HR in two days), Raino Coran crushed a mammoth solo HR just to the left of the CF Batter's Eye leading off the bottom of the third and walked and scored in the fifth, Christian Olivo singled twice, stole three bases, scored a run, and drove-in another, Anderson Suriel blooped an RBI double in the second and singled, stole a base, and scored a run in the fifth, SP Marino Santy hurled three innings of one-hit / one-run ball, and Alfredo Zarraga struck out the side 1-2-3 to pick-up the save, as the Cubs cruised past the Athletics 6-3 in Cactus League Extended Spring Training game action Friday morning on Field #1 at the Riverview Baseball Complex in Mesa, AZ.
Cristian Hernandez belted a double into the right-centerfield alley his first time up, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. He struck out (swinging) in his other two PA.
The game was pre-planned as an eight-inning contest.
The Cubs are now 10-8-2 through their first twenty Cactus League EXST games, and contrary to what you may read elsewhere on the internet, EXST games - ARE - real (they're just not official and there are some goofy rules variances), the games - ARE - televised (albeit closed circuit to the Cubs Player Development Department), the Cubs - DO - keep game stats internally just like they do at Myrtle Beach, South Bend, Tennessee, and Iowa (they just don't release them to the media), and the players really - ARE - trying to win (just listen to the players on the bench howling back & forth throughout the game... so much so that the Giants players who were not in the game last Tuesday at Papago Park were kicked out of the ballpark by the home plate umpire for arguing every single ball / strike call!).
In EXST roster news, LHRP C. D. Pelham has completed his EXST rehab and has rejoined AA Tennessee.
Here is the abridged box score from the game (Cubs players only):
Recent comments
Charlie (view)
They certainly could be coupled. It could also be the case that a team needs good players at the heart of the team and if they are not coming from one source (development) they have to be sought out elsewhere. I don't see the evidence needed to infer the cause.
crunch (view)
bases loaded for the cubs, 0 out...and no runs score.
cubbery.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Walker was a complimentary piece who was well past his prime. Edmonds, Holliday, Ozzie Smith and a few others were good trades. Notably, they have almost always been quiet in the free agent market. But the fundamental workings of the organization were always based primarily upon the constant output of a well oiled minor league organization. That organization has ground to a halt. And when did that hard stop start to happen? Right at the beginning of the Goldschmidt/Arenado era, perpetuated by the Contreras signing, followed by the rotation purchases during the last offseason. The timing is undeniable and, in my mind, not coincidental.
Again, we are all saying that player development became deemphasized. I’m just linking it directly to the recent trades and involvement in the free agent market. I don’t see how the two concepts can be decoupled.
Charlie (view)
The Cards also traded for both Jim Edmonds and Larry Walker. It's the developing part that has fallen off. Of course, it could also be the case that there are no more Matt Carpenters left to pull out of the hat.
Childersb3 (view)
Cubs sign 28 yr old RHRP Daniel Missaki. He was in MiLB from his 17yr old to 19yr old years and did pretty well.
He's been in Mexico and Japan the last four years and has done well also.
He's supposedly Japanese and Brazilian.
Interesting sign. We obviously need to RP in the system
Injuries are mounting everywhere!!
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Sure, they made generally short term trades for established players to enhance what they already had or traded for players early enough in their careers that they were essentially Cardinals from the start. What they never did was to try to use the more established players as foundational cornerstones.
Essentially we’re saying the same thing. They have given up on player development to the point that even their prospects that make it to the bigs flop so that they have to do things like buy most of their rotation and hope for the best.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
I don’t buy that. They had been doing that for years.
They did it with Matt Holliday. They did it with John Lackey. They did it with Mark Mulder. They did it with Jason Heyward, who had a great year for them. I’m sure there’s more but those come to mind immediately.
I attribute it more to a breakdown in what they’re doing in terms of development than a culture thing.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
They won those trades and sacrificed their culture. That’s exactly their problem.
Dolorous Jon Lester (view)
The other part that’s kind of crazy is they made two very high profile trades, one for Goldschmidt and one for Arenado, and they very clearly won those trades. They just haven’t been able to develop players the last handful of years the way they usually do.
I guess the moral there is it’s hard to stay on top of your game and be good at what you do in perpetuity.
TarzanJoeWallis (view)
Marmol was extended at the beginning of the year. Two years I believe.