Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are off to as solid a start to their season as the parent club is. They pounded out 4 hits tonight. All screaming liners, I heard. They also struck out 14 times due to bad umpiring. Leadoff hitter and center fielder, Matt Szczur was 0-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Chris Valaika had one of …
Minor League Recap 4-5-14
Iowa Cubs It was a long night for the Iowa Cubs as they were beaten 11-1. Matt Szczur was 1-3 with a walk, run scored and a strikeout. Arismendy Alcantara was also 1-3 with a double. He also had an error. Javier Baez was 0-2 with 2 strikeouts and was thrown out of the game arguing the check swing strikeout. …
Minor League Recap for April 4, 2014
I know Myles includes the Cubs, in part because they’re essentially a minor league team and in part because someone requested it. I’m not going to include them. It’s not because I have so much to say about the minor leagues. It’s because I just don’t want to write about them. Emilio Bonifacio? Seriously? No thanks. Iowa Cubs Matt Szczur …
Journeymen of Tomorrow: 4/4/13
Did the Cubs Win? Cubs 3 @ Pirates 2 OSS: Hammel was nails all game, and Bonifacio + Olt provided all necessary offense. Three Up 1. Jason Hammel pitched a great game. He allowed 2 hits and a walk over 6.2 innings, fanning 5. Great start for Jason. 2. Emilio Bonifacio had a double, a single, and a stolen base. …
Cubs 10th in BP’s “Top Talents 25-and-under” list
I won't print the whole list because it's pay only (seriously, get a subscription already). I will, however, show the NL Central. 1. St. Louis Cardinals (fuck) 4. Pittsburgh Pirates (fuck) 10. Chicago Cubs 23. Cincinnati Reds 29. Milwaukee Brewers A few thoughts: Fuck, are the Cardinals good. They are #1 with a bullet; compounding the problem is the fact …
2014 Assume the Position: 2B
2014 Assume the Position: Catchers First Base 2013 Assume the Position: Second Base Last Year 2014 Career (MLB) Name Age (2014 season) AVG OBP SLG wOBA Oliver wOBA AVG OBP SLG wOBA MLB Barney 28 .208 .266 .303 .252 .279 .246 .293 .336 .278 AAA Watkins 24 .243 .333 .379 .325 .281 .211 .268 .237 .233 …
2014 Assume the Position: C
It's the second annual (holy shit, I've been blogging over a year) installment of Assume the Position! I don't plan on making many changes since last year, though I imagine I'll have to edit these a bit as the last few signings or so trickle in. The one thing I will do is just remove the players that aren't on the …
Baseball Prospectus’ Cubs Top 10 Prospects
Jason Parks has published his top 10 Cubs prospects list with scouting reports and it's fairly impressive. I'll only quote Baez's future potential since it's a subscription site. Baez might lack Buxton’s overall athleticism or Bogaerts’ polish, but the 21-year-old Puerto Rican might have the highest offensive ceiling of any player in the minors, a potential middle-of-the-order force capable of …
BP’s top 10 Cubs prospects + consensus Top 14 prospects
The BP list came out, and it's a great read. Here it is, but a sub is required. I recommend getting a subscription; it really is great work. I won't share any of the bits besides the Top 10 list: 1. Baez 2. Bryant 3. Almora 4. Soler 5. Edwards 6. Alcantara 7. Johnson 8. Vogelbach 9. Villanueva 10. Candelario …
Marc Hulet’s Top 10 prospects
I'm not a huge fan of the Hulet rankings, but they are still worth something. His Cubs list is right here, and it's interesting at the end. 1. Javier Baez (70) 2. Kris Bryant (70) 3. Albert Almora (65) 4. Jorge Soler (60) 5. Arismendy Alcantara (60) 6. Pierce Johnson (55) 7. C.J. Edwards (55) 8. Dan Vogelbach (55) The …