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Arizona Phil 2 days 13 hours ago (view)

Here are the Cubs pitchers reports from Sunday's Cubs - Royals game at Sloan Park in Mesa: 

JUSTIN STEELE: 
FB: 89-92 
CH: 84-86 
SL: 81-84 
CV: 78-80 
COMMENT: A Kyle Hendricks-like performance... threw six innings of shutout ball (63 pitches - 46 strikes - that's 73% strikes), allowed four hits (two doubles and two singles) and a walk while striking out six (all six swinging, including four on SL and two on FB)... pitches per inning were 8-10-13-10-10-12...  he was on target for a complete game, if this was the regular season... 9/2 GO/AO including one GIDP... benefited from several outstanding middle-infield plays by Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner... got eleven swing & miss (eight on SL and three on FB)... faced 22 batters and had only two three-ball counts...  

KEEGAN THOMPSON:   
FB: 91-92 
SL/CT: 86-88 
CV: 80-83
SLOW CV: 77  
COMMENT: Tossed a shutout 7th (17 pitches - 11 strikes)...  got two swing & miss (one on SL/CT and one on FB)... allowed two baserunners with one out (E-5 throwing error by Patrick Wisdom that Hosmer couldn't pick followed by a single)...  benefited from an outstanding backhanded defensive stop behind second base by Swanson and a "no look" flip that effected a run-saving 6-4 FC... despite the FB velo staying in the low 90's (where it has been all spring), Thompson has been effective, especially since his secondaries have been so good... 

MARK LEITER JR: 
FB: 89-91 
SPLIT: 84-85 
CV: 71-72 
COMMENT: Hurled a 1-2-3 8th (13 pitches - 8 strikes), getting his three outs on an F-7,  a K-swinging on a 1-2 splitter, and a 4-3 GO... threw four slow CV and actually got a swing & miss on one of them... despite his lack of fungibility (he is out of minor league options), it looks like he has  probably pitched himself back into the Cubs bullpen for Opening Day...    

TYLER DUFFEY: 
FB: 91-93 
CV: 79-81 
SLOW CV: 74 
COMMENT: Pitched a shutout 9th... allowed a one-out walk... struck out the last batter of the game (looking) on a 1-2 CV... struggled to throw strikes (20 pitches - only 10 strikes)... got only one swing & miss (it was on his very first pitch of the inning, a CV)... the inconsistent command he has shown this spring (sometimes it's really, really good, and other times it's not too good) will probably relegate him to AAA Iowa (if he isn't released)... 

crunch 2 days 18 hours ago (view)

former cubs farm system Eugene (now SF farm system) Emeralds are commemorating the 50-ish year ago blowing up a whale event by renaming their team the Eugene Exploding Whales for 4 games this year.

https://news.sportslogos.net/2023/03/23/eugene-emeralds-to-play-as-exploding-whales/baseball/

Cubster 2 days 18 hours ago (view)

Go pitch clock go: Cubs beat Royals 5-0 in one hour, 57 minutes. 

crunch 2 days 19 hours ago (view)

i'm about done watching hosmer play 1st.  dude's great if you get it exactly to him in the air, but asking him to pick anything in the dirt or wide is an impossible task.

bradsbeard 2 days 19 hours ago (view)

Yeah, he’s only caught 12 games at the AA level. He’s got to make up some lost time in that department.

crunch 2 days 20 hours ago (view)

nico returns!  sweet.  no matter what i think of him leading off, he's needed to play at a competitive level.

Arizona Phil 2 days 21 hours ago (view)

The Cubs have re-claimed RHP Chris Clarke (selected by the Seattle Mariners in the Major League Phase of the December 2022 Rule 5 Draft).

So Clarke got six weeks of MLB Spring Training experience (and maybe learned something useful), the Cubs get him back - AND - make a $50,000 profit ($100,000 Rule 5 Draft price, and the reclaim fee is $50,000).  

By rule Clarke must be sent outright to the minor league reserve list from which he was drafted (AAA Iowa), although he can be assigned to any affiliate in the system once the season starts. 

Because the return of a Rule 5 player involves an automatic outright assignment, Clarke will have Article XX-D status going forward, meaning if he were to be selected to an MLB 40-man roster again sometime in the future, he would have the right to elect free-agency if he were to be outrighted.

BTW, that's how and why Michael Rucker has Article XX-D status (he was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2019  Rule 5 Draft, and then was reclaimed by the Cubs the following Spring Training and automatically outrighted back to AAA Iowa).  

Arizona Phil 2 days 22 hours ago (view)

ERIC S: Caleb Kilian and Riley Thompson piggy-backed yesterday as each threw three innings to get stretched-out, so it would appear that Kilian and R. Thompson will be 2/5 of the Iowa Cubs starting rotation (or 2/6 if they go with a six-man  rotation).  

Arizona Phil 2 days 22 hours ago (view)

No minor league activity today (Sunday 3/26). No morning workout, no games.  

Yesterday (Saturday) was the final AAA game. The Iowa Cubs  squad will now provide depth for the Cubs MLB squad in the last three Cactus League games.

In fact, the Iowa Cubs will supposedly be playing as the Chicago Cubs versus White Sox on Tuesday. Hopefully the fans won't mind too much, but given the price of the tickets they might.

Dolorous Jon Lester 3 days ago (view)

Weather is probably better there. Plus even though he’s been around seemingly forever he really doesn’t have a whole lot of time spent in AA