Iowa Cubs 2 @ Round Rock Express 4
The Iowa Cubs are off to a fantastic 0-6 start after losing yet again last night.
Chris Rusin threw 6 innings and allowed 7 hits and 4 runs. He walked 4, hit a batter, allowed a home run and struckout only 2. To give up only 4 runs was rather lucky. In two starts Rusin has walked and struckout 6, allowed 7 runs (6 earned) on 11 hits in 11 IP. He's also hit a batter.
Zach Putnam and Rafael Dolis each threw an inning and allowed a hit. Putnam struck a batter out.
Brett Jackson's new swing was 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. Darnell McDonald was 1-3 with a home run and a walk while Ty Wright was 2-4.
The Cubs had only 7 hits so there's just not a lot to talk about.
Clearwater Threshers 5 @ Daytona Cubs 4
Zach Cates only threw 3.2 innings and allowed 6 hits, but he struckout 7 and didn't walk a single batter. 3 runs ended up scoring, but thanks to 4 Cubs errors, only 1 of them was earned. Cates isn't a strikeout pitcher though. He was acquired along with Anthony Rizzo for Andrew Cashner. Last season he struckout only 46 in 65.1 innings of work.
Eduardo Figueroa pitched 2.2 innings, allowed a hit and walked 2. He gave up 2 runs and struckout 3. Sheldon McDonald also threw 2.2 innings. He didn't allow any runs. He gave up 2 hits, walked 2 and struckout a batter.
Dustin Geiger had a bad night. A really bad night. He was 1-4 at the plate with a strikeout, but committed 3 throwing errors. That's hard to do.
Zeke DeVoss hit his first home run of the season. Tim Saunders was 0-2 with a walk before being replaced by Taiwan Easterling who went 0-1. Not sure what happened to Saunders. If anything.
Javier Baez has been struggling. He was 1-5 with a triple and 2 more strikeouts. He's struckout 8 times in 22 plate appearances and hasn't drawn a walk yet. He's struckout in over 20% of his plate appearances in the minor leagues so far and it increased to 24.4% last year at Daytona. The season is young and the sample size is small, but that's a lot of strikeouts so early in the season. And no walks.
On the other hand, Jorge Soler has struckout only 3 times and has 3 walks so far this year. He's also hit a couple home runs. Soler was 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout last night.
LF John Andreoli was 1-2 with 2 walks. He moved to CF when Easterling replaced Saunders.
Clinton LuMberKinGs 5 @ Kane County Cougars 6
After getting hit awfully hard in his 2013 debut, Pierce Johnson rebounded and had a fairly decent outing. He threw 5 innings, allowed 6 hits and walked 2 while striking out 4 and allowing 2 runs. It's not at all a great outing, but it's much improved over his opening day start.
Jeffry Antigua pitched 3 innings, allowed 4 hits and a run while walking 0 and striking out 1. Eduardo Orozco pitched an inning, didn't allow a hit, but walked a batter who scored (another one scored also) and struckout no one.
CF Oliver Zapata has cooled off. He was 0-5 today with a strikeout and is 0-9 in the last 2 games with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Gioskar Amaya was 2-5 and struckout in every plate appearance he didn't get a hit.
The 2 through 6 hitters in this lineup combined for 11 hits. Along with Amaya's 2-5, Dan Vogelbach was 3-5. Jeimer Candelario was 2-5, Rock Shoulders was 2-3 with a home run (2nd on the season) and a walk.
In the 6th spot, Marco Hernandez was 2-4 with a couple runs scored. We haven't said his name much so far this year. He was 1-18 with 3 strikeouts prior to today's game. He also had a stolen base today.
RF Bijan Radenmacher was 2-3 with a double and a walk. After an 0-9 start, he's 5 for his last 10 with a walk.
Comments
I was at the Daytona Cubs game. I left after Baez and Soler’s last ABs, but Saunders was in the entire time I was there. DeVoss actually got hurt and had to leave the game, so I’m not sure if the box score reflected that, or if perhaps a mistake was made. DeVoss landed hard after a diving attempt to snare a double in the LCF gap. Tough to tell how bad he was hurt. He walked off the field, but received attention in CF for a few minutes before getting off the field.
Mark PryorQuote Reply
Baez didn’t have to make any tough plays, but he made all the easy ones, and looked in control doing it. When the FO says he plays with a lot of poise etc. etc., they aren’t simply talking up their own player just for the sake of it.
At the plate he was hardly in any hitter’s counts all night– his triple actually came on an 0-2 fastball up and away that he swatted off the wall in RF. He might’ve thought he got it all; he didn’t bust it out of the box, but still ended up at third because the ball wasn’t played cleanly off the wall.
First AB he grounded out on the first pitch, 2nd AB he K’ed swinging with a big cut on a pitch way down and away. 3rd AB was the only time he managed to get into a hitter’s count, before getting himself out on a pitch that was probably out of the zone.
Mark PryorQuote Reply
As far as my thoughts on Soler– the first thing I noticed is that he’s starting his hands noticeably lower than he has in the past. I’m not sure when exactly he made this adjustment, maybe some time during Spring Training, but his hands are definitely lower than they are in this video
Mark PryorQuote Reply
Soler wasn’t even strike out prone prior to making this adjustment, but I think that’s something that deserves a lot of emphasis– in 172 trips to the plate as a professional (fairly small sample), Soler has struck out just 22 times. That’s just under 13% of his PAs.
As obvious as it probably is, it bears mentioning that the high contact/big power profile is a pretty damn good one. In the past five years, the only MLB players who’ve K’ed in fewer than 15% of their PAs and ISO’ed better than .180 are: Albert Pujols, Chase Utley, Adrian Beltre, Robinson Cano, Ian Kinsler, Troy Tulowitzki, Chipper Jones, Aramis Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Buster Posey, Carlos Quentin, Aubrey Huff, and Vernon Wells.
You can adjust those criteria if you’d like (the 15% and .180) but that sample above is pretty illustrative of the quality of hitters like this.
Mark PryorQuote Reply
Thanks mp. The box score must have gotten it wrong.
I would imagine Baez hits behind in the count more frequently than the average hitter does just because he doesn’t take as many pitches. Hopefully that improves.
I mentioned last year that the thing that most impresses me about Soler is that his discipline has been better than expected. Not a great walk rate but a lot better than I was expecting from someone as raw as him. I don’t think he’s that raw. Very good k rate, great power potential and average walk rate. Plus defense. What’s not to like
dmick89Quote Reply
Our 5, 6, and 7 spots in the lineup have the highest OBP on the team. I thought it was just my eyes tricking me but the stats back it up.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I agree. He is not all that raw a hitter. He recognizes pitches, covers the whole plate, doesn’t swing from his heels all the time… And of course the strength/bat speed… He’s got everything it takes to be a star hitter.
Also, his modest walk rate is somewhat attributable to his low K%. He’s putting the ball in play a lot, which might be even more encouraging than if he were drawing a bunch of walks. What matters is that his approach is solid. But in A ball, I don’t want to see a supposedly stud hitter swing a miss a lot.
Honestly, I think Soler’s time in Daytona could be very brief.
Mark PryorQuote Reply
@ Mark Pryor:
i had Baez and Soler basically tied at the top of the Cubs prospects list, but even this short amount of time has separated them, in my opinion. I just think Soler’s approach is much more likely to translate to success at the MLB level. He doesn’t have an obvious hole in his game like Baez. He makes better contact. He’s more disciplined (this is the big one). As good a prospect as Baez is, it’s very easy to envision him never being very good. It’s much the same as it always was with Josh Vitters.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty of time for Baez to fix that problem, but so far it leaves a lot to be desired. And if it doesn’t improve, it will keep him from being any good. I don’t see these question marks with Soler. That’s not to say I think he’s a lock to be good. I don’t. He’s just more likely to find success at the MLB level than Baez is.
dmick89Quote Reply
(dying laughing) http://www.wjhl.com/Global/story.asp?S=21885502
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
I don’t get why the victims were going 90 miles an hour. Was it to escape, or is that their normal cruising speed? If someone was masturbating out their window at 90 miles an hour next to me, I would slow down.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
Suburban kid wrote:
Literally.
dmick89Quote Reply
cubs.com headline: Feldman to lead Cubs against Brewers in series finale
dmick89Quote Reply
I was feelin’, so bad
I asked the family doctor about what I had
I said Doctor, Mr. MD
Can you tell me, what’s ailing me?
He said yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
WaLiQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
That story is incorrect. I was going at least 95mph. Someone needs to check their facts.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
I’ve always thought Soler was the better prospect for that exact reason. Honestly, I might even take Almora over Baez. I think Baez definitely has the most bust potential of the three. He could end up being a superstar that makes anyone who doubted him look foolish, but right now his approach at the plate is a major work in progress.
Mark PryorQuote Reply
I only (dying laughing) because it’s so over the top. I witnessed a man flashing two young women once and it was horrible and I did nothing. It’s not like I could have helped them – they ran away. But I probably could have called the cops or something.
Suburban kidQuote Reply
It’s science.
http://news.yahoo.com/science-women-prefer-larger-penises-203118125.html
GBTSQuote Reply
Aside http://obstructedview.net/aside/tootblan-database.html
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
the best part about that story is the guy was the vice-mayor. i didn’t even know such a position existed. also, the fact that the cops received dozens of calls over a three year period and NOT ONE person wrote down the license plate is kind of amazing. who are these fucking idiots.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
i looked up the website for the town where that story took place (it’s either that or do actual work). it looks like it was made with geocities.
http://www.mountcarmelcity.com/
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
I’m swiping that sweet slow turning key gif!!
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
That’ll be his defense. The vice-mayor is supposed to do shit like that. Otherwise he’d be deputy mayor.
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ mobile svb:
And using that defense, GBTS will get him off.
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
amazing, isn’t it?
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ mobile svb:
I don’t think he needs GBTS’s help. He seems to have lots of practice at getting himself off.
BerseliusQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
Oops. I see what I did there. But I disagree B, clearly his actions are a cry for help.
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ EnricoPallazzo:
“Site last updated Feb. 6, 2009.”
City government is working hard.
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ mobile svb:
i think he already got himself off? oh wait never mind.
EDIT i see berselius already beat me to this shitty joke
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
@ Berselius:
@ EnricoPallazzo:
SVB = OV straight man
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ dmick89:
What the hell was he driving? Was he using cruise control while he got up and whipped his dick out the window? WTF WTF WTF
#logistics
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Obviously he thought he was driving a pick-up truck or a 69 chevy, but ue was really driving a Mitsubishi Mirage
mobile svbQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
Yeah I don’t quite understand how it worked either. Usually when I whip it out the window I have to put the car in cruise control and the wife has to hold the wheel.
WaLiQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
She’s a keeper, WaLi.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
@ Rice Cube:
@ Rice Cube:
except she will only do it between November and March
mobile svbQuote Reply
New Shit
MylesQuote Reply