JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 8-17-13

In Commentary And Analysis, Minor Leagues by Sitrick7 Comments

Iowa Cubs 0 @ New Orleans Zephyrs 3

Offense: DNP (shittiness)

Justin Grimm worked 7 strong, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits, no walks and 8 Ks. Most of his damage came on a 2 run homer in the 4th. Zach Rosscup worked the 8th and struck out three, allowing a hit in the middle of it.

Chattanooga Lookouts 6 @ Tennessee Smokies 4

Your daily fawning over how great Javier Baez is: he was 1-3 with a double and a walk. He now leads Miguel Sano in all three slash categories at double-A, has one fewer homer in 15 or so fewer games, and plays a more premium position, but I'm sure Sano will be ranked well ahead of Javy on all prospect lists, because reasons. Prospect rankings are a bit stupid 

Arismendy Alcantara was 0-3, and is headed in the wrong direction, hitting for a sub-.700 OPS over his last 10. I kinda wonder if he's not wearing out. This is his first season playing more than 100 games as a pro, and the grind of the season has got to be taking it's toll, especially for a guy who's dealt with injuries the past couple of seasons. It's likely for the best that he's spending the whole season in Tennessee, as exposing him to AAA pitching just as he was starting to tire out would probably have been bad for his development. Justin Bour had a 2-3 day with a BB. Christian Villanueva smacked a double for his hit in a 1-4 day. Brett Jackson needs this season to be over.

Eric Jokisch took the loss in a fairly mediocre start, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits, a walk, and 5 punchouts in 6.1 innings. Dayan Diaz finished off the seventh with a K. And Yeiper Castillo was lousy, walking three and giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and no strikeouts.

Daytona Cubs 2 @ Brevard County Manatees 10

Kris Bryant is good at hitting baseballs. He was 2-5 with a 2B. He does not have a walk yet at Daytona, which is a curiosity that I'm sure will resolve itself soon. Dan Vogelbach was 1-3 and had 2 walks. I'm going to presume because he's fatter that pitchers are more scared of him. Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-4 with a walk. Elliot Soto was 1-4 with a double.

Ivan Pineyro did not have a good day, getting nailed for 6 runs on 8 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings. He did strike out 4 though. Yao-Lin Wang allowed 3 runs in 2.1 innings, and Lendy Castillo was Lendy Castillo. Rough day for the D-Cubs staff.

St. Louis Cardinals 4 @ Chicago Cubs 0

You know the story behind this one, so I won't waste too much time rehashing it. Starlin Castro was 0-2, fell asleep in the field and let a runner score from third on a shallow sac fly, and got pulled from the game. Natie Schierholtz was 2-4 with a double for the game of the day. Darwin Barney was 1-2 with a walk and is suddenly a better hitter than half the damn roster. Anthony Rizzo was 0-3 with a walk.

Travis Wood cruised through the first 3 innings, then got dinged up in the 4th and 5th. A 2-run Yadier Molina homer chased him in the 6th, giving him a final line of 4 runs, 1 walk, and 3 Ks through 5.1 IP. Blake Parker cleaned up the 6th with 2 Ks in 0.2 IP. Michael Bowden worked the 7th blemish-free, adding a punchout. And Hector Rondon worked the last two, allowing a hit and a walk against 3 Ks.

Clinton LumberKings 6 @ Kane County Cougars 7

Gioskar Amaya was 1-5 with a double. Jeimer Candelario was 1-3 with 2 walks. Rock Shoulders was 2-3 with a double and 2 walks. Carlos Escobar was 1-5 with a double. Trevor Gretzky apparently got called up while I wasn't looking, and went 0-3 with a walk in his KC debut.

Boise Hawks 0 @ Tri-City Dust Devils 11

Rough day for the hawks, who didn't hit or pitch. Carlos Penalver had a 2-3, 1 SB day, Lance Rymel was 1-3 with a walk, and Danny Lockhart was 1-4. That was it. On the pitching side, everybody that took that mound gave up at least two runs, which you'd think would be hard to do. Juan Paniagua was probably the most notably troubling, going 3 innings in relief and allowing 6 runs (4 earned) on 3 walks and 2 Ks. He's 23 (best case) and can't get short season hitters out. This is a problem.

DSL Cubs 3 @ DSL Nationals 1

AZL Cubs 9 @ AZL Reds 7

Erick Leal, one of the guys we got back from the Diamondbacks for Tony Campana, struck out 6 in 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and a walk. He's 18 and has a 50:6 K:BB rate in 45.1 innings. I already feel like we won the Campana trade.

 

 

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  1. dmick89

    I might rank Sano ahead of Baez, too, but I think their upside is about the same. I just think Sano has a better chance of reaching it and also a better chance of being relevant at the MLB level. He’s a surer bet than Javy. As much power as Baez has shown, Sano’s ISO is still considerably higher throughout their careers. Sano does a better job of getting on base and presumably doesn’t chase as many pitches. Similar strikeout rates so both are risky in that sense, but I still think Sano is the better prospect.

    I say that as someone who feels pretty confident at this point that Baez should be in the top 5 and that, realistically, there’s probably not a lot of difference between 1-10.

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  2. Author
    sitrick

    Oh, I have no problem with Sano being ranked higher. He’s six months younger, which is not insignificant at this point in terms of projected development (though his age is in question), and he has proven to have a more patient approach. I DO have a problem with them being ranked significantly far apart (I’m looking at you, Keith Law) because as hitters I think they’re fairly similar and getting more so as time goes on and Javy’s walk rate improves.

    You could also pretty easily argue that Baez has a hit tool that projects to be better than Sano’s if Javy ever stops swinging as hard as he can at everything.

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  3. dmick89

    Prior to this season, I had no problem with where Law ranked Baez. I’d have ranked him higher, but there were more arguments for him being where Law had him than there are now. Baez has separated himself from the other top Cubs prospects. Before the year, you coukd have ranked the top 3 in any order.

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  4. Suburban kid

    There weren’t any f-bombs in the (previous) post.

    And I don’t consider shit (much less crap) to be a swear word.

    But I guess it makes sense that someone would complain about mildly irreverent language. When it’s extremely vulgar, people who are offended probably don’t stick around to complain.

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