Iowa Cubs @ Colorodo Springs Sky Sox (Game 1)
Iowa took a 5-2 lead early on, but couldn’t hold on for the win. They dropped to 29-32.
Willson Contreras was batting 2nd and was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Mark Zagunis continues to hit since being promoted to Iowa last week. He was 2-3 with a double, walk and run scored. Jeimer Candelario and Dan Vogelbach were each 0-2 with a walk, RBI, run scored and a strikeout.
Michael Wagner got the start and lasted 2.2 innings. He gave up 5 hits and 2 runs. He walked 3 and struckout 3. Corey Black pitched 1.1 innings of hitless and scoreless baseball. He struckout a batter. Black is a 24-year old reliever who strikes out a lot of guys, but has some control issues. I expect we’ll see him in Chicago at some point this season.
Felix Pena blew the save in spectacular fashion. In 1.1 innings, he gave up 6 hits, walked a batter, surrendered 4 runs and struckout 2. Miguel Mejia picked up the pieces and threw the final 0.2 innings.
Prior to this game, 26-year old Felix Pena had been dominating AAA batters. In 18 games totaling 29.1 innings, he had struckout 10.74 batters per 9 innings and walked only 2.76 per 9. He’d allowed just 1 home run and his ERA was 1.84 and his FIP was 2.80. This is Pena’s first year in the bullpen since 2012. The Cubs moved him to the rotation full time in 2013. He pitched well enough in that role, but has proven to be much better suited for relief.
Iowa Cubs @ Colorodo Springs Sky Sox (Game 2)
Iowa scored 3 in the 1st and then at the end of the top half of the 2nd inning, the Cubs led 12-0.
It started at the top of the order with John Andreoli who was 3-4 with 2 home runs and a walk. He drove in 4 and scored 4 runs. Logan Watkins was batting 2nd and playing SS. He was 4-5 with a double, triple, RBI and 2 runs scored. Mark Zagunis keeps improving his value with a 2-4 performance in the game. He doubled, walked, struckout, drove in a run and scored 2 runs. Dan Vogelbach was 1-1 with a home run and a walk. He left this one early after being hit by a pitch. Jeimer Candelario was 2-5 with a home run, 2 strikeouts, 3 RBI and a run scored. Juan Perez, David Freitas and Vimael Machin each added a hit. Perez tripled while Freitas hit a home run.
It was Pierce Johnson‘s return to the rotation. Johnson had been out for over a month. He threw 5 innings, allowed 5 hits and 3 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 2. I’m beginning to wonder if the Cubs have put a strikeout limit on their starting pitchers in the minor leagues.
In 5 starts for Johnson this year at AAA, it hasn’t gone too well. His best start was his second of the season and he followed that up with two consecutive games of allowing 4 runs and not making it through 5 innings. He’s allowed 23 hits in 20.2 innings so far and has given up 12 run, a home run, 10 walks and he’s struckout 22. He has a 5.23 ERA and a 3.81 FIP on the season.
Chattanooga Lookouts 1 @ Tennessee Smokies 4
Jacob Hannemann was 1-4 with a home run and a strikeout. That was Hannemann’s 8th home run of the season. Chesny Young was 3-4 with 2 RBI. Victor Carotin was 1-4 and Billy McKinney was 0-3. Cael Brockmeyer and Bijan Rademacher were each 2-4.
Jen-Ho Tseng improved to 2-2 with 6 strong innings. He allowed 5 hits and a run while striking out 2 and walking 1. Stephen Perakslis picked the 7th and allowed a hit and a walk while striking out a batter. Jose Rosario picked up the 2 inning save. He didn’t allow any hits or runs and walked a batter. He also struckout 1.
Frederick Keys 5 @ Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4
Rashad Crawford was 2-4 with a double, RBI and strikeout. He also scored a run. Ian Happ was 3-4 with a double, RBI and strikeout. Daniel Spingola was 2-4 with a run scored. Gleyber Torres pinch hit and was 0-1.
Jeremy Null fell to 2-3. He pitched 5 innings, allowed 9 hits and 5 runs. He didn’t walk anybody and to the surprise of nobody who has been paying attention, only struckout 1. Daury Torrez pitched 2.1 innings, allowed 2 hits and no runs. He walked a batter and struckout 2. Jordan Minch finished the game off with 1.2 innings of 1-hit baseball. He didn’t allow any runs and struckout 2.
South Bend Cubs 7 @ Dayton Dragons 2
The Cubs improved to 39-25 and are with a few games of nailing down a playoff spot at the end of the season.
The Cubs had 11 hits in this one, but only 2 extra-base hits. Carlos Sepulveda was 2-4 with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored. P.J. Higgins was 2-5 with 2 strikeouts and Ian Rice was 1-5 with a double, RBI and run scored. Eloy Jimenez was 3-5 with an RBI, strikeout and run scored. Donnie Dewees, Eddy Martinez and Josh Silver each had hits.
Adbert Alzolay improved to 5-3 behind 7 very good innings. He allowed just 3 hits and 2 runs and a home run. He walked none and struckout 5. John Williamson pitched a clean 8th. He struckout a batter. Craig Brooks struckout 2 in a perfect 9th inning.
The Cubs1 team improved to 4-5 with this 4-1 win over the Yankees1.
DH Jose Gutierrez led the game off and was 3-5 with a triple, 2 RBI, a run scored and a strikeout. Jose Jules was 3-3 with a triple and a walk. The following players each had 1 hit: Jonathan Sierra, Richard Nunez, Samir Lara, Raymond Pena and Rafael Narea. Sierra and Narea each walked.
Eury Ramos threw 4 innings, allowed 4 hits, a run, walked 4 and struckout 2. Jose Mac Donna threw the next 4 inning and allowed just 2 hits. He didn’t allow any runs, didn’t walk anybody and struckout 4. Elvis Diaz picked up the save with 1 inning of work. He allowed a hit and struckout a batter.
The Cubs2 improved to 5-4 after this win.
Everybody in the lineup except for a replacement with only 1 plate appearance had a hit.
- Fidel Mejia: 2-4, RBI, strikeout
- Yovanny Cuevas: 1-3, walk
- Aramis Ademan: 1-4
- Luis Diaz: 1-4, strikeout
- Abraham Rodriguez: 1-3, strikeout, 2 runs scored
- Miguel Amaya: 2-4, home run, 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, strikeout
- Luis Ubiera: 1-3, double, 2 RBI, walk
- Fidel Matos: 1-3, walk
- Henrry Pedra: 1-4, run scored
Faustino Carrera threw 6 great innings. he allowed 3 hits and an unearned run. He walked a batter and struckout 8. He did not get the memo. Omar Ventura threw 2 innings, allowed 3 hits and no runs. He walked 2 and struckout 2. Jhon Romero pitched the 9th and allowed a hit and 2 runs (1 earned). He didn’t walk or strikeout anybody.
Comments
I don’t think the Cubs have faced Strasburg yet, so today’s game should be interesting. Kind of fun how most of the MiLB guys are legitimately blocked even if we want the Cubs to DFA Richard & Fed yesterday.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Rice Cube,
They haven’t faced him since 2013. I didn’t realize it had been so long, but he’s been injured.
dmick89Quote Reply
The Cubs are going to part with some prospects at some point over the next 8 months to acquire pitching, especially those in the outfield. Even removing Fowler for next season, they have an outfield of Heyward, Schwarber, Almora, Soler, McKinney, Zagunis, Andreoli, Szczur, and more. All of them ready to contribute in the MLB as at least a 5th OFer. I hope McKinney is still held in high regard because I feel better about Zagunis moving forward and hope he’s moved for something. Definitely wouldn’t mind a Soler + McKinney package in the offseason for cost controlled mid-rotation starter with upside.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
JonKneeV,
Cubs Twitter will burn down no matter what they do haha.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
need to rename this from “journeymen of tomorrow” to “reasons why contreras should be promoted plus other stuff”
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
I’m trying not to be a homer here, but at this point isn’t Willson Contreras a top 20 prospect now? He’s got 800+ ABs now at AA and above doing what he’s doing.
JonKneeVQuote Reply
I’m not sure it’s a foregone conclusion that Fowler will be gone next year. There’s a mutual option on him for $9 million with a $5 million buyout. The Cubs will definitely exercise their part of the option putting Fowler in the same situation he was in this season, but only a year older. I think it’s more than likely that he’ll decline his part of the option, but I don’t know that it’s certain.
I think the Cubs should go after Jose Fernandez if they’re going to go after a starter. I’m not sure I see the need for a mid-rotation starter. I’d think they could get one of those through free agency this offseason if they really want one. They might have to part to with ClayDick to get Fernandez, but it might be worth it. (dying laughing)
dmick89Quote Reply
JonKneeV,
You know I’m fairly conservative when it comes to this stuff, but in my opinion, Contreras is a top 10 prospect at this point. He should have been the organization’s top prospect this offseason, but some or all sources decided to put Torrez there. There probably aren’t 10 prospects in the minor leagues I’d take over Contreras.
dmick89Quote Reply
Apparently he’s not fluent enough in English, which is just bizarre. They had the last two offseasons to work on that.
dmick89Quote Reply
Is Mr. Danny Haren available? According to Doc Brown his fastball is fast enough to time travel—no roads necessary.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
you’d need to fit it with a flux capacitor though and i’m not sure that’s within league regulations. maybe in the next CBA though?
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
Just so we don’t telephone this, here is the relevant bit from Arguello (about five minutes long).
ceruleanQuote Reply
Almora gets to play center field today, that should be fun.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
dmick89,
If Arguello is to be believed about his defense, he might be the number one prospect in baseball, period. Great defensive catchers typically don’t hit. Contreras has a chance to do both.
ceruleanQuote Reply
cerulean,
I like Arguello, but I just have a difficult time believing him here. It’s not like the Cubs wouldn’t have been aware of any fluency issues long ago and they’d have done everything they can to work on it. He’s been a top prospect for a couple years now and probably longer in their eyes since most anyone who can catch and hit a baseball halfway decently is a prized prospect. I just see no way that this would not have been worked on for at least the last two offseasons. I also see no way that, if this is a problem, it’s suddenly going to get better in the next few months since he’ll be working hard at catching and hitting. It just doesn’t make sense.
dmick89Quote Reply
dmick89,
I agree. I think Arguello is spitballing because it is ludicrous he is not up here. Bryant, Russell, Schwarber, and Almora all came up because of injury. Montero is beaten up and Ross is old. It’s close enough. The only real reason why Contreras is not here seems to be the “playing everyday” thing.
That and English lessons. (dying laughing)
ceruleanQuote Reply
yeah but doesn’t this assure that at least one party will decline the option? the scenarios to my understanding are:
– fowler is worth more than $9m and he declines the option
– fowler is worth less than $9m and the cubs decline the option
i mean i guess obviously you could have a situation where fowler undervalues himself and/or the cubs overvalue fowler and thus both parties agree to the option. but it seems like there’s not really a realistic scenario where fowler sticks around (under his current contract).
EnricoPallazzoQuote Reply
dmick89,
Alternative scenario: The Cubs have a bet inside the FO to see how much dead weight they can carry until they become merely a great team. This includes questions like:
How many games can Richard get into without blowing everything but “batters away”?
How few ABs can FedEx get while being on the roster?
ceruleanQuote Reply
EnricoPallazzo,
If Fowler was worth only $6M, the Cubs still pick it up. If Fowler was worth only $12M, he may still come back. So far, he’s been worth about $24M according to Fangraphs.
ceruleanQuote Reply
The switch-hitting Victor Caratini doesn’t have the power or the great arm of Contreras, but he is sporting a gaudy 13% walk rate and a low 16% strikeout rate in AA with “mature” framing skills.
Why is FedEx still here?
ceruleanQuote Reply
I really respect John’s work, but I usually find him to be too optimistic for my taste.
EdwinQuote Reply
When’s the Super 2 deadline? Maybe we see him after that?
JonKneeVQuote Reply
JonKneeV,
The explanation shown here is that we’ve just passed the typical Super 2 cut off. http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/Pirates-Blog/2016/05/12/Pirates-mailbag-Super-Two-and-you/stories/201605120189
JonKneeVQuote Reply
My thinking is that Albert Almora is probably going to be traded at the deadline. He’s the most valuable young player the Cubs have who is available and if there was a year to go for it, this is it. Almora’s ceiling isn’t quite as high as it is for the other guys who have come up over the last year, but with his elite defense, he’s got a lot of value and would make a good centerpiece in a trade.
If that happens, the Cubs will have that exclusive negotiating window with Fowler after they exercise their part of the option and they’ll have a need for a CF. I still think Fowler finds another home, but I think there’s a realistic shot of him returning. I should have said that I think if he does return, it would be on a different contract and not one paying him $9 million next year.
dmick89Quote Reply
That seems to be every single person who covers the Cubs with the exception of about a 3 year period from 2009 through 2011.
dmick89Quote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/cubs-nationals-game-thread-6-15-16/
dmick89Quote Reply