JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-19-13

In Commentary And Analysis, Minor Leagues by Sitrick27 Comments

Chicago Cubs 3 @ Colorado Rockies 1

Junior Lake made his debut, doing Junior Lake Things. He was aggressive at the plate and it paid off, having a 3-4 day with a double and a SB. Sveum called him the only kid he's seen come up so far that looked like a big leaguer. So there's that. Starlin Castro had only his third hitless game in the month of July. Anthony Rizzo was 1-4 with a walk and a double. Darwin Barney was 1-5 with a double. Welington Castillo was 1-3 with an (intentional) walk. Alfonso Soriano continues to be Good Sori, blasting his 17th homer.

The big story of this game was Jeff Samardzija, though, who desperately needed a good rebound start and got one, working 7.1 innings of 4 hit, 3 walk ball and allowing only a solo home run. He struck out 6. Pedro Strop continues to be nasty in his Cubs career, working 2/3 of an inning and getting a strikeout. Kevin Gregg managed not to give up a run yesterday, allowing only a hit and a walk. 

Iowa Cubs 4 @ Round Rock Express 10

Let's start with the (potentially) important part: Mike Olt was 1-3 with a walk and 2 Ks. If you're looking for reasons to think his crappy year was due to his vision problems and things are fixed, over his last 10 he's hitting .290/.395/.516/ with a homer and 4 doubles. He also has 14 strikeouts over 36 PAs in that time. Manny Ramirez batted cleanup for Round Rock and had a 1-3 day with a walk.

Unfortunately, nothing interesting happened that had anything to do with the I-Cubs yesterday. Josh Vitters was 2-4 with a home run. If he gets on a little run I wouldn't mind seeing him get a callup and get a ton of at-bats after all the trading's done. It'd be all about the 2014 draft pick anyway, so who cares if he sucks, and maybe you get lucky and he adjusts. Jae-Hoon Ha was 2-4. Edgar Gonzalez was 2-4 with a double. Donnie Murphy was 2-5.

Brooks Raley was Raleyesque, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks with no strikeouts in 4.2 innings, with a 3:11 GO:FO ratio. He didn't give up a homer, so I guess that's good. Nick Struck worked an inning and a third, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits, including a 2-run homer, but didn't walk anybody and struck out 2. Jeffry Antigua gave up a 2-run homer of his own in his inning for his only hit, walking one and striking out two. Casey Coleman was the only pitcher that wasn't terrible, working a clean 8th.

Jacksonville Suns 2 @ Tennessee Smokies 3

Arismendy Alcantara was 2-5 with a double. Javier Baez was 1-4 with a solo homer and a strikeout. That's 4 homers in 45 PAs at a level he hasn't really adjusted to yet. Rubi Silva was 1-4. John Andreoli was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a SB. Matt Szczur was 1-4 with 2 Ks. On the opposite side, uber-prospect Christian Yelich beat up on the Smokies' staff, going 3-4 with a homer and a walk, but did get caught stealing twice. Nice work by Rafael Lopez, who also gunned down Audy Ciriaco. All told, the Smokies got 4 outs out of questionable Suns baserunning.

Dae-Eun Rhee got hit a little bit hard but kept the game under control, allowing 5 hits in 3.2 innings, including 2 solo homers. He kept it to 2 runs, though, and struck out 3. Yeiper Castillo was pretty good in 3.1 innings, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Tony Zych worked a clean 8th, striking out 1, and Zach Rosscup finished it off with 2 hitless innings, allowing a walk and striking out 2. Rosscup has been sneakily fantastic this year after being pretty lousy in his first small taste of AA last year. He's posted a 1.91 ERA in 37.2 Innings in Tennessee this year. He's struck out a whopping 57 against 16 walks and only 1 home run allowed, has a .179 BAA, and is stranding 82.9% of his baserunners. He's not young at 25, but there's definitely a shot at a decent bullpen future missing that many bats, and if he turns into a useful piece it adds a little more value to the Garza deal we got him in, if nothing else.

Daytona Cubs 0 @ Charlotte Stone Crabs 0 (Suspended after 6 Innings)

Daytona was getting 1-hit when play stopped. Taiwan Easterling was 1-2 with a double. Wes Darvill had a walk. Ivan Pineyro worked all 6 and allowed 4 hits while striking out 3.

Great Lakes Loons 8 @ Kane County Cougars 6 (7.1 innings, called due to rain)

Gioskar Amaya was 2-4 with a homer and has been on an absolute tear this month, hitting .375/.446/.625 in July and hitting safely in 17 of his last 20 games. His season line is up to .274/.340/.418 and trending upward. Albert Almora was 0-3, but walked once. Dan Vogelbach was 2-4, both singles. His ISO is now appearing on milk cartons. Jeimer Candelario was 2-4 with a homer.  That was about it for notable performances.

On the pitching side, Scott Baker got rocked. 2.2 innings tossed, with 6 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks, getting only one strikeout. Only his second rehab outing, so hopefully he's still shaking the rust off, but there's nothing encouraging here yet.

Nathan Dorris got an out, allowed a hit, and struck out one. Michael Heesch worked the last 4.1 and took the loss, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks, striking out 2.

Everett AquaSox 2 @ Boise Hawks 9

Shawon Dunston was 1-4 with a walk. Lance Rymel had a 3-5 day with a double. Jacob Rogers and Rony Rodriguez were both 2-4, with Rogers adding a HBP. Cael Brockmeyer was 3-4 with a double and a SB. David Bote was 2-3 with two bombs. Carlos Penalver was 1-3 with a walk.

Dillon Maples was okay, working 3 innings and allowing a run on 3 hits and 2 walks. He struck out 3. Corbin Hoffner worked the next three and gave up 4 hits but no runs, striking out 3. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino worked 2 and allowed a solo home run for his only damage, striking out 2. Tyler Bremer worked a clean 9th to close it out, K'ing 2 of his own.

DSL Mets1 1 @ DSL Cubs 9

Shamil Ubiera was 1-2 with a homer and 3 walks. Dalfis Ortiz was 2-4 with a double and a walk. Andin Diaz worked 5 innings and allowed a run while striking out 6.

VSL Phillies 2 @ VSL Cubs 6

Bryant Flete was 1-3 with a double, a SB, and a walk. Delbis Arcila was 2-4. Roney Alcala was 1-4 with a double.

 

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  3. Suburban kid

    I read the link on the side bar from some shitty blog about some dude who is a fake Cubs mascot at Wrigley Field. I have to believe he’s full of shit when he says he makes no money from it, seeing as he recruited a couple others to take turns wearing the bear suit. It’s funny how MLB sent him a 120 page letter telling him to fuck off, and how he didn’t, and the Cubs then tried to bribe him to go away. But I can’t blame the Cubs on this one. They should get to decide if and when they want a mascot. Although then again, if the guy stayed across the street, and not right by stadium entrances, maybe that would be perfectly OK – just a guy in a Cubs jersey in a bear suit..

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  4. Aisle424

    @ Suburban kid:

    That guy is fucking nuts. He showed up at the Cubs Convention the first year the Ricketts were owners. It was part of an incredible sequence during their Q&A.

    On Saturday, the Ricketts family met a sampling of Cubs fans and most likely had to wonder what the hell they have gotten themselves into:

    – The first “question” was from a fan who wants the Cubs to stay in Mesa. Ricketts talked about the respect he has for the history and tradition of Spring Training in Mesa and wouldn’t rule out a return, but the Cubs have to go where they can have the best possible facilities to prepare the team for winning.

    – Someone asked if the Ricketts would consider buying the Bears, to which Laura Ricketts replied, “I didn’t realize that was a serious question. One team at a time. Really, we haven’t done anything [with the Cubs] yet.”

    – Cubs security somehow let Ronnie Woo take the microphone. I honestly couldn’t tell you what he said because it was mostly nonsensical rambling. Something about bringing back Ladies Day. Then he wooed for awhile as I sat and seriously considered becoming a fan of another team.

    – The very next person to take the mic was the guy who dresses as Billy the Cub outside of Wrigley on game days asking if the Ricketts would want to hire a mascot. I’m dead f—ing serious. Tom dismissed the idea quickly and had to be trying to think of a way to create a diversion that would allow his family to sneak away unnoticed.

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  10. dmick89

    @ GW:
    If this is true, then it’s even more likely the hang up was Olt. Could be Sardinas, I suppose, but don’t see the other two getting in the way. They could be replaced in a deal with relative ease if one of the medicals didn’t check. Sardinas was the 84th ranked prospect in baseball entering the season according to BA. Wasn’t a top 100 for mlb.com. Sardinas does have a history of injuries, though. 7th ranked prospect in the Rangers organizations (that system was stacked entering 2013).

    Background: Sardinas and Jurickson Profar both signed seven-figure deals with the Rangers as 16-year-old shortstops on July 2, 2009. While Profar has rocketed to the big leagues, Sardinas has made slower progress while contending with injures since signing for $1.2 million. A broken finger delayed his 2010 pro debut, and a dislocated shoulder that required surgery limited him to 14 games the following year. He was mostly healthy in 2012, missing time here and there with shoulder soreness.
    Scouting Report: Sardinas has some of the most intriguing tools in the system. His speed, arm strength and defensive potential all grade as double-plus. He has a knack for hitting and shows looseness from both sides of the plate even with excess movement in his setup. Because he’s skinny, he likes to use an exaggerated load, but Texas has stressed that proper hitting position and a balanced, direct swing will translate to some natural power. Sardinas is an effective basestealer who succeeded on 32 of 41 tries in 2012. With quick feet and plenty of agility, he can make all the plays at shortstop.

    The Future: Sardinas hit .326/.366/.436 in 181 second-half at-bats and gained further experience in the Arizona Fall League, readying for the jump to high Class A in 2013. His offensive development and health will determine whether he’ll be a first-division regular.

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  11. Rizzo the Rat

    Pat was waxing nostalgic about how Sammy would “put on a show” at Coors Field. Just for fun, I looked up his stats at Colorado.

    Sosa at Coors:
    .349 /.425 /.758 with 21 HR’s in 186 at-bats.

    At Mile High Stadium:
    .396 /.429/.755 with 4 HR’s in 53 at-bats.

    (Coincidentally, the OPS is the same for both.)

    I honestly feel sorry for those poor pitchers.

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  17. SVB

    I read somewhere today that there may be concerns with Neil Ramirez’s shoulder. (Probably MLBTR) If that’s the case, seems it could be the hold up. A pitcher with a shoulder issue is a no-no in my book. Elbow OK, but shoulders don’t really seem to heal as consistently. (Seems we had a first-round draft pick a few years ago with shoulder issues…tried to remember the name for a few seconds, but can’t, so I’m throwing in the towel.)

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  23. J

    I watched tonight’s terrible Cubs game in a booze induced half-sleep, and I had the perception that Michael Bowden was an effective reliever. Also that he threw underhand, girls softball style.

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  25. dmick89

    @ SVB:
    I don’t think Ramirez would get in the way of a trade. He’s replaceable. Olt would be the most difficult to replace, followed by Sardinas. Both have had issues with staying healthy and Olt’s condition is much more a mystery than the others. It’s most likely it was Olt. He’d be the toughest to replace and his medical records were the more likely to raise red flags as some people talked about here.

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  26. dmick89

    @ J:
    It’s interesting that two of the best young SS a couple years ago have had such horrible years. Castro was always the better hitter, but both have stunk this year.

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