2013 Cubs Minor League Camp - Last Day
2013 Chicago Cubs Minor League Camp drew to a close this morning, as the Iowa Cubs completed their final Spring Training work-out before flying to Albuquerque this afternnon. They willl open their PCL season versus the Isotopes Thursday night.
Most of the I-Cubs participated in traditional Spring Training drills and B-P on Field #2, while rotation-starter Drew Carpenter threw a bullpen session. (Matt Garza participated in the PFPs).
Meanwhile, three members of the Iowa bullpen threw in the 11-inning intrasquad-"sim" game on Field #3.
The game cannot be box scored because players sometimes traded places in the field mid-inning, players hit for both "teams," and a pitcher's "inning" was sometimes stopped mid-AB when the pitcher reached the 15-pitch mark. It was really more of a hybrid scrimmage than either a "sim" game or an intrasquad game.
Each of the pitchers who worked on Field #3 threw 15 pitches per inning, and each pitcher threw anywhere from one to four innings (depending on the pitcher): The pitchers themselves were a Motley Crew, some being Iowa relievers getting work, some were pitchers from the Boise/Mesa (Extended Spring Training) squad, and others were rehab guys.
FOUR INNINGS: Josh Conway
THREE INNINGS: Jose Rosario
TWO INNINGS: Hunter Cervenka, Loiger Padron, and Larry Suarez
ONE INNING: Daniel Adrian, Kyler Burke, David Cales, Esmailin Caridad, Casey Coleman, Carlos Guerrero, Matt Iannazzo, and Cory Wade,
Rosario and Conway (Cubs 2012 4th round draft pick out of Coastal Carolina) were especially good, both cruising effortlessly through their mulitple innings with minimum stress. Conway has made a remarkable recovery from 2012 TJS and almost made the Kane County starting rotation, throwing a 92-94 MPH fastball, a hard slider, and a decent change-up.
David Cales (2011 shoulder surgery) was the most-impressive pitcher today, striking out all four hitters he faced (all four swinging) in his 15-pitch inning. Cales has a nasty slider, and he almost made the Tennessee bullpen, but was left behind at Extended Spring Training to get innings.
The Boise/Mesa position players traded places with their "mirror" periodically, switching back & forth between defense and offense. (The five catchers alternated between warming up pitchers in the bullpen, catching in the game, and hitting).
C: Erick Castillo, Justin Marra, Wilfredo Petit, Neftali Rosario, and Lance Rymel
1B: Xavier Batista and Jose Dore
2B: Roni Torreyes and Danny Lockhart
3B: Mark Malave and Jacob Rogers
SS: Carlos Penalver and Danny Lockhart
LF: Trevor Gretzky, Dong-Yub Kim, and Garrett Schlecht
CF: Rashad Crawford and Shawon Dunston Jr
RF: Reggie Golden and Jeffrey Baez
There wasn't much hitting in the game (the pitchers mostly dominated), although Reggie Golden did rip a triple off lefty side-armer Matt Iannazzo, and looked just fine hustling around the bases (he had surgery for torn knee ligaments just about this time last year).
RHP Larry Suarez hit Jeffrey Baez with a pitch on the upper left shoulder (almost hit him in the head), as Suarez continues to battle "Steve Blass Disease."
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