Cub Pitchers Mine Gold in Arizona Ball Fields

Submitted by Arizona Phil on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 10:06 pm

Five Cub pitchers combined to throw a two-hitter and Justin Bour drove-in two runs with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly, leading the Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the A’s Split Squad #2 in AZ Instructional League action at Papago Park Field #2 in Phoenix this afternoon.

Thanks to a GIDP, a PO, and a CS, Cubs pitchers faced only two batters above the minimum, and today’s pitching gem comes on the heels of the no-hitter thrown by five other Cubs pitchers on Saturday. (The Cubs did not play yesterday).

Cubs 7th round pick RHP Ben Wells (Bryant HS – Bryant, AR) got the start and threw two perfect innings with three strikeouts (the 18-year old Wells has exactly the same body-type as 1970’s Cubs pitching great Rick Reuschel), and 19-year old long & lanky (6’4 180) RHP Starling Peralta (considered one of the top two pitching prospects on this year’s DSL Cubs #1 squad) retired all eight men he faced, striking out five of them.

Cubs 2010 23rd round draft pick RHP Matt Loosen (U. of Jacksonville) left the game in the bottom of the 7th inning after being struck on the right side of the face by a line drive. He did not lose consciousness and he walked off the field under his own power.

Bob Dernier (outfield & baserunning instructor) and Mark Johnson (catching instructor) have joined the Cubs AZ Instructional League coaching staff at Fitch Park. Dernier spent the last month of the season as the Chicago Cubs 1st base coach.

Here is today’s abridged box score (Cubs players only):

LINEUP:
1. Evan Crawford, CF: 2-4 (2B, F-7, 3-1, 1B, R)
2. Logan Watkins, DH #1: 1-3 (1-3 SH, 2B, F-9, F-7, R)
3. Micah Gibbs, C-DH: 1-3 (BB, 1B, F-7, F-7)
4a. Justin Bour, 1B: 1-2 (1B, F-7 SF, F-8, 2 RBI)
4b. Ryan Cuneo, 1B: 0-1 (6-3)
5. Dustin Geiger, 3B: 1-3 (F-8, P-3, 1B, BB, R, CS)
6. Marco Hernandez, SS: 0-3 (K, K, 5-3 SH, 1-U)
7a. Reggie Golden, RF: 1-3 (K, K, 1B, PO)
7b. Oliver Zapata, RF: NO AB
8. Sergio Burruel, DH-C: 0-2 (E4, 3-1, BB)
9. Chris Huseby, LF: 0-3 (1-6 FC, L-5, 6-U FC)
10. Gioskar Amaya, 2B: 0-3 (K, K, K)

PITCHERS:
1. Ben Wells: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 21 pitches (14 strikes), 3/0 GO/FO
2. Ryan Hartman: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, 1 GIDP, 30 pitches (16 strikes), 3/1 GO/FO
3. Amaury Paulino: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 PO, 35 pitches (19 strikes), 2/1 GO/FO
4. Matt Loosen: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 8 pitches (5 strikes), 0/1 GO/FO
5. Starling Peralta: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 31 pitches (21 strikes), 1/1 GO/FO

ERRORS: (2)
SS Marco Hernandez E-6 (missed catch – two-base error allowed batter to reach base – eventually scored unearned run)
2B Gioskar Amaya E-4 (overthrow at 1st base attempting to complete DP allowed batter to advance to 2nd base)

CATCHERS DEFENSE:
Sergio Burruel: 1-1 CS

OUTFIELD ASSISTS:
RF Reggie Golden - threw out batter trying to advance to 2nd base on line single to RF

=================================================

ATTENDANCE: 17 (mostly scouts)

WEATHER: Sunny with temperatures in the 90’s

Tags
Cubs Minor Leagues
Mark Johnson
Justin Bour
Ben Wells
Bob Dernier
Matt Loosen
Starling Peralta
AZ Instructional League

Comments

Submitted by toonsterwu on Mon, 10/11/2010 - 10:24 pm

AzPhil Can you give us some insight on how Wells and Peralta's stuff looked? Was Wells sitting low 90's, occasionally touching mid-90's? I admit, as of typing this right now, I'm blanking on Peralta.

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Submitted by Hrubes20 on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:35 am

I asked AZ Phil this exact same thing after his first start. I obviously can't say anything about how he looked yesterday, but Phil said that his arm strength (i.e. velocity) wasn't quite back up to full strength yet because he hasn't pitched since May or June. Essentially, he is akin to a pitcher in the first week or two of spring training, trying to work his arm strength back up. I'm excited to see what the kid can do next year. I also was wondering about Peralta, though. I vaguely remember seeing the name when casually perusing a box score from one of the Cubs' DSL teams.

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Submitted by toonsterwu on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:39 pm

I remember your question last time. I was curious if he showed a bit more this past outing. I'm very excited about Wells. As exciting as Golden is, and Reggie offers upside this system really doesn't have much of with the bat, Wells sounds like your proto-typical power arm workhorse type pitcher. I think too much was overstated pre-draft about how the kid only had the plus velo for a few outings late in the year - the kid was growing into his body and added inches and weight. Now, I didn't know he was 240 or more, which is a bit worrisome in some respects, but a pro training regimen could help. Add in that the reports were that his feel for his secondary stuff was good ... and I'm really fascinated.

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Submitted by Arizona Phil on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:32 pm

Submitted by toonsterwu on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 3:39pm. I remember your question last time. I was curious if he showed a bit more this past outing. I'm very excited about Wells. As exciting as Golden is, and Reggie offers upside this system really doesn't have much of with the bat, Wells sounds like your proto-typical power arm workhorse type pitcher. I think too much was overstated pre-draft about how the kid only had the plus velo for a few outings late in the year - the kid was growing into his body and added inches and weight. Now, I didn't know he was 240 or more, which is a bit worrisome in some respects, but a pro training regimen could help. Add in that the reports were that his feel for his secondary stuff was good ... and I'm really fascinated. ===================================== TOONSTER: The Cubs have brought Ben Wells along slowly for reasons previously mentioned, and while his fastball velocity is only in the high 80's (so far), he is getting swings & misses (and strikeouts) with both his slider and his splitter. He is definitely a projectable kid. A couple of other items regarding Cubs pitchers of which you may or may not have already been aware: LHP John Mincone had knee surgery, and RHP Jon Nagel had elbow surgery #2. And in case you were thinking "maybe another McNutt?"... here is 40th round draft pick LHP Brian Smith's line through three Instructs games: 2.0 IP, 10 H, 12 R (10 ER), 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HBP, 3 WP, 1 BALK

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:27 am

if anyone is having issues logging in(happened on Firefox for me, but not Safari), I recommend , seems to be a cookie/cache problem. You should erase them from your browser and try again. You can also try using a different browser.

Submitted by Rob G. on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:30 am

Cox and Baker out in the first round, couldn't happen to 2 better guys. if Rays win tomorrow, I'm fairly certain that would be the first time I ever got all the LDS predictions correct. probably not a coincidence that all the favorites would win then.

Submitted by Tony S. on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:22 pm

http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101012&content_id=15… Am I on crack? Who exactly is the fourth candidate that Ricketts has interviewed? Lou?!? Seriously, somebody help me. Musk-rat only mentions the three left that I know of, Ryno, Quade and Wedge. I saw the Davey Martinez link above, is he the fourth?? *edit Read the Martinez article, I haven't seen anything about them requesting (in writing) an interview with him, so that would be tampering (although I do like Davey Martinez)... Maybe he's our bench coach next year?? Rob G., Az Phil... Are either of you the fourth candidate??

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:20 pm

Not to be contrarian given that this isn't 1970 and more is known about nutrition and training, but every time they tried to make Rick Reuschel lose weight he didn't pitch as well...sort of a variation on the Sampson not taking to haircuts from his girlfriend Dee. Reuschel wasn't about velocity though but he had one hell of a sinker. I'd love a more detailed history lesson from Az Phil's recollections about Big Daddy Reuschel. Better diet and exercise worked for Geo Soto though, so if pitching doesn't work out maybe the can convert him to catching. He's got the backstop part down already.
Reuschel was listed as 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, which made him a few pounds heavier than his franchise-mate from two generations earlier, Hippo Vaughn
--- June 4, 1970: Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 3rd round of the 1970 amateur draft. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Reuschel

Submitted by Cubster on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:36 pm

Bruce Levine's latest post from earlier today:
Former Cleveland Indians manager Eric Wedge was the latest to be interviewed, meeting with Ricketts on Monday, according to major league sources. Triple-A Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg and interim manager Mike Quade have already had their interviews with Ricketts within the last two weeks. Quade met with Ricketts before returning to his winter home in Florida after the Cubs season ended on Oct. 3....At this point it's unknown if former Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin will meet with Ricketts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=5676697

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Submitted by Tony S. on Tue, 10/12/2010 - 10:42 pm

I see said the blind man (stupid Muskie), Toon implied the same above... So I guess that makes Melvin the fourth man on the grassy knoll. Rob G., is there a pool started on this?? I'm thinking Wedge gets it, because JH will be afraid to go with someone un-seasoned..... (not that I particularly like that answer). Ultimately, I think about this just like hiring Rudy last year. If the new guy works, he'll get all the credit, if he doesn't, it's one more screwup on the list, but is it really his fault? Hard to say, he can only manage the pieces he's given... (standing by return fire....)

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