Albuquerque Isotopes 0, Iowa Cubs 11
This game was scoreless entering the bottom fo the 6th and by the top of the 7th the score was 10-0 Iowa. It's not easy to score 10 runs in an inning. Iowa added a single run in the 8th and that was all the scoring in the game. The I-Cubs held the Isotopes to just 4 hits.
Lots of praise to spread around here with 16 hits. The only position player to not get a hit was leadoff hitter John Andreoli. He was 0-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts.
Willson Contreras had a day yesterday. He was 4-5 with 2 home runs, 5 RBI and 3 runs scored. Last season at AA he hit 8 home runs in 521 plate appearances. It took him 185 plate appearances to get there in 2016. Contreras is having a better offensive season at the higher level than he did a year ago. Catchers who can hit are a rare commodity and this guy can hit. I know this is David Ross's farewell tour and all and Tim Fedorowicz has been judged to be good enough to be on the best team in baseball somehow, but I'm beginning to have that feeling that the Cubs aren't fielding the best team they can. Miguel Montero is a decent hitting catcher and a decent enough backstop as far I can tell, but Contreras is starting to look like a very special player. I'm not sure what else he has to learn in the minor leagues.
Albert Almora was 3-5 with a double, run scored and a strikeout. If Contreras doesn't have anything left to learn in the minor leagues, maybe you're wondering what Almora does. He's having a pretty good season so far, but some it is fueld by the highest BABIP in his career. He's hitting .310/.328/.449 with a .342 wOBA and 106 wRC+. It's nice to see him maintain that same wRC+ that he had last season, but that increased patience we saw in AA has disappeared. He's walking in only 3.1% of his plate appearances. That's got to improve.
Arismendy Alcantara, Kristopher Negron, Munenori Kawasaki and Matt Murton each added 2 hits apiece.
Wilmington Blue Rocks 2, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4
Trey Martin was 3-5 with an RBI, walk and run scored. Shawon Dunston Jr. was 2-3. Gleyber Torres reached base 3 times. He was 1-3 with a home run and 2 walks. He struckout once. Ian Happ was 0-4 with a walk. Happ also stole his 7th base of the season.
Trevor Clifton threw 6 innings, allowed 7 hits and 2 runs. He walked no one and struckout 6. He surrendered 1 home run.
Clifton was drafted in the 2013 draft in the 12th round (348th pick overall). He turned 21 years old on May 11th. He right-hander is 6-4, 170 pounds. Last year with South Bend, his first full-season league of his career, he made 23 appearances (22 starts) and threw 108.2 innings. He struckout 8.53 per 9 and walked 3.89 per 9. He had a 3.98 ERA and 3.94 FIP. Yesterday was his 9th start of the season. He's thrown 46 innings and allowed 39 hits. He's allowed only 2 home runs. He's struckout 51 (10 per 9) and walked 18 (3.5 per 9).
There was a Dillon Maples sighting in this one. He pitched the 8th inning, allowed a hit and nothing else.
Lansing Lugnuts 5, South Bend Cubs 4
Andrew Ely (3B) was the leadoff hitter and went 2-5 with a double. Ely is 23 years old and was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2014 draft. Interestingly, he played in 9 games that season with the Iowa Cubs. There must have been an injury at the position and they called on him to fill in. He wasn't terrible. He had a 12.2% walk rate in those 9 games, which is kind of impressive since he was playing in a league he was nowhere near ready for. He only had a 73 wRC+ though. He hasn't come close to matching that walk rate since. He doesn't strikeout a lot and he doesn't have much of any power to speak of. He is, however, hitting .319/.395/.437 with a .392 wOBA and 149 wRC+ this season.
Everyone in the lineup except for the number 9 hitter (Bryant Flete) had a hit in this one. Only Ely and Tyler Alamo had more than 1. Alamo was 2-4 with a strikeout and a run scored. Eloy Jimenez was 1-4 with an RBI and strikeout.
Justin Steele continues to struggle. he threw 3 innings, allowed 6 hits and 3 walks. Only 2 runs scored and he struckout 3. GReyfer Eregua threw 3 innings and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and strikeouts. Kyle Miller pitched the final 3 innings, allowed only a hit and no runs. He struckout 4 and walked 2.
Comments
Like I mentioned in this post, I wouldn’t mind him taking Miguel Montero’s spot.
dmick89Quote Reply
4 catchers imminent.
MylesQuote Reply
Myles,
Two months ago I’d have laughed at that, but not anymore. While I’m fairly sure it won’t happen, I’m not certain. Apparently FedEx is unDFAable.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
He can be DFA, but I think they’re trying to wait out so they can sneak him back to Iowa. If they can’t, then they will pretty much run out of excuses not to bring up Contreras. And I think Contreras takes over for Ross, and there’s a slim chance they allow Schwarber to back him up as catcher after Miggy’s contract is done next year.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
If I had to guess what will happen, I’d guess that Miguel Montero is traded at or near the deadline and Contreras takes over for him with Ross backing him up. I’m not confident that will happen. I wouldn’t bet any money on it, but if Contreras does much catching in Chicago this year, that would be my guess. If he’s only going to be a back-up, I’d think they’d leave him in Iowa. Who knows?
dmick89Quote Reply
In my The Show season I picked up Jonathan Lucroy in a trade and sent Ross to AAA. I felt weirdly bad about this. I even checked on him to see if I should cut Montero, but Ross was hitting .094 in Iowa. I probably broke his spirit.
joshQuote Reply
dmick89,
I think they only bring Contreras up in case of injury. He’s up in September no matter what.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It would be a shame to lose catching depth by trying to get FedEx through waivers. Send Montero down instead. (dying laughing)
But seriously, I’d love to see what he can do at this level. It’s a shame that they don’t have an extended road trip to AL parks, because I would love to Vogelbach open some eyes before the trade deadline. Would it be crazy to have him take the place of one of these BP arms *cough* Richard *cough* as a pinch-hitter? Is Contreras + Vogelbach > FedEx + Richard? I think so.
Buster Olney answered a question about Schwarber to the Yankees for Andrew Miller, which I don’t like on a number of levels. But am I crazy to think that Vogelbach may have better on base abilities? If I’m being honest, yes, if only because he is not as feared a power hitter, but he does have power. Vogelbach would be a damn good poor man’s Schwarber, and the fact that he isn’t out for the year could make him great tradebait if he gets the chance to make waves the way Schwarber did last year for instance.
ceruleanQuote Reply
(dying laughing) How could you do that to old greybeard? You heartless man.
ceruleanQuote Reply
Last time Jake faced the Dodgers he pitched a no-hitter. I’m thinking perfect game this time.
joshQuote Reply
Miggy has been hampered by this back injury and seems to need a lot of rest. What about 2-2-1 rotation of catchers—every other day starts for Miggy and Willson, Grampy every fifth and as a defensive replacement? Both Montero and Ross have talked at times about teaching the next wave—and I imagine they are doing with Schwarber as he rehabs, but they could also do this with Contreras.
And next year, when Ross is retained as a special advisor to Jon Lester, the youngsters could continue to be taught, starting the year with Schwarber in place of Ross before moving to a 7:3 Willson to Kyle ratio when Miggy gets traded at the deadline.
ceruleanQuote Reply
josh,
Perfect game. 15 strikeouts. 98 pitches. Let’s triple jinx this.
ceruleanQuote Reply
I imagine Contreras will be in AAA all year (excepting the big roster call-ups) unless Montero is injured next year. Next year, it’ll be Contreras, Schwarber, Federowicz (or some random other 3rd catcher), with Montero being traded or released.
MylesQuote Reply
Thought experiment: what if the Cubs DFA’d Ramirez after finding out he was using PEDs (not so far-fetched given that he was trying to make a comeback after an injury) and they decided to quietly cut him rather than ruin his rep. Would they be liable if the claiming team picked him up and found out he was using PEDs? Or are there no repercussions to the team anyway? Is it all on the player?
joshQuote Reply
Though even if there is no direct liability, might a claiming team make a case that the Cubs knew about it and didn’t say anything? I’m just curious, not accusing Neil of anything.
joshQuote Reply
josh,
I think it’s all on the player. It’d be weird if the Cubs adhere to this pattern of moving a guy before he tested positive though.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
Maybe as part of a zero-tolerance culture? It’s wild speculation at any rate.
joshQuote Reply
It’s possible the team would know the player is using, but I imagine many more times than not the team isn’t alerted to it before they learn of the failed test.
If no players change hands in a deal, it would not be on the Cubs. If there were players exchanged and one team knew, I would guess that there would be some kind of penalty. I’m not sure though.
dmick89Quote Reply
FedEx has some really incriminating pics off thoyer. Only thing that makes sense.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
I can’t imagine a scenario in which a team knows about a positive test before the public. As soon as there’s a positive test, I would think that there’s no way to keep that secret. And if the test wasn’t officially confirmed positive, I suspect the team could face some serious repurcussions from the players union.
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
L’escadron de balle de base d’aujourd’hui
Foward
Bryzzobrist
Solrustero
Arrieta
SKQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/dodgers-cubs-game-thread-5-31-16/
dmick89Quote Reply
josh,
Wouldn’t it have been better to report it? I mean, they wouldn’t have to DFA him, and he could rehab more more during his suspension. In fact, it might be in the best interest for a club to get a player suspended to keep from losing him. (dying laughing)
The Mets could also use this tactic to solve their David Wright problems.
This is why I despise the absolutist stance on PEDs. Somebody is going to realize these wrinkles and take advantage of them. It wouldn’t be hard.
ceruleanQuote Reply