Author: Obstructed View Staff

everyone sucked.

Chadd Krist continues his hot streak and is now hitting .478 after a 2-5 effort last night. Javier Baez was also 2-5 although Expert Kevin Goldstein says he is having trouble with off speed stuff. Jose Rosario injured his arm last night and was removed from the game.

For a little guy Gioskar Amaya is flashing some good power down in Boise. Amaya hit his 4th HR of the year only one shy of Candelario's total. Amaya is a pretty damn good prospect and is now sporting a .938 OPS. Hayden Simpson did Hayden Simpson things out on the mound and Tayler Scott scuffled a bit for the first time this year.

Ben Carhart hit 2-3 and did it in a rugged yet stylish fashion. 2012 5th round pick Anthony Prieto struck out two in two IP.

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Brett Jackson went 2-5 with a stolen base and somehow DID NOT STRIKE OUT!!! Vitters was 2-4 and Chris Volstad was super shitty on the mound.

Logan Watkins continues to be one of the very few things worth talking about in AA. Yesterday he hit 2-5 with a triple. His average is up to .282.

Matt Szczur hit 3-4 and Ronald Torreyes continues to rebound batting 2-4 and adding his 9th SB of the year. Matt Loosen continues a mini breakout season of sorts pitching 7.1 innings while allowing 1 ER and striking out 6. Loosen raced up the orginizaiton last year starting in Peoria and ending up in AA. Unfortunately for him his AA stint of 11 innings got him sent back to Daytona this season where he has a 3.2 BB/9 to go with a 8.6 K/9. He's an interesting arm in a bleak system but at 23 he really needs to be doing this stuff in AA for anyone to get really excited.

Peoria

No Game

Trey Martin has really come alive as of late. The 2011 HS draft pick is sporting a gaudy 1.184 OPS in his last 10 games. Last night he went 3-3 with a HR, two walks and his 4th stolen base. AZ Phil raved about this guy's glove and range in CF all spring so if he can get a little offense going as well we might have something here. On the mound James Pugliese threw 5 shutout innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 5. Pugliese now has 26 strikeouts in 32.2 IP.

Not a lot left to say about Dan Vogelbach's bat. Last night he hit his 7th HR and added a triple so he could flash his wheels. His OPS now sits at 1.202 and he is 2nd in the league in HR's next to Rangers prospect Joey Gallo. 2012 draft pick Chad Martin earned the save by striking out the side.

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Brett Jackson hit a triple. He also struck out. That is all.

Logan Watkins was 3-6 and swiped his 18th bag of the year. Watkins is now sporting a stylish .370 OBP and will most likely end up in Iowa next season. Jae Hoon Ha was also 3-6 and hit his 4th HR of the year. On the pitching side of things Zach Rosscup earned a K on 5 of the 6 outs he recorded which is great but gave up a pair of runs which is not so great. Trey McNutt also was a big bowl of fail in the pen giving up 2 ER in 2.1 IP.

Spellcheck Jr went 2-4 and stole bases # 31 & 32 yesterday. Kyle(r) Burke's pitching performance was as stupid as his name as he gave up 4 ER in 6 IP.

Pin-Chieh Chen had a good game going 3-4 with 3 stolen bases and a walk. Chen was an all-star last year in Boise but has struggled to impress so far in Peoria. Nickelback stand in Chadd Krist was 2-4 and has just destroyed minor league pitching so far. Justin Berg (remember him?) worked 2 IP as he continues his rehab from TJ.

Bijan Rademacher hit 3 doubles yesterday and earned a promotion up to Peoria. Rademacher is a 2012 draft pick that was obviously too advanced for both AZL and Boise. Jeimer Candelario hit a walkoff HR for the win, his 5th of the year.

Dan Vogelbach did't get a hit but he did earn 3 walks and is just destroying this level. Shawon Dunston Jr hit a HR and hopefully is getting on the right track after a really rough start to his pro career. Lendy Castillo struck out 4 batters in 3.0 scoreless innings.

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Everybody had a pretty shitty game. Brett Jackson has now struck out in 20 straight games.

Logan Watkins was 2-4 with a sb, his 17th of the year.

Ronald Torreyes was 2-5 and is now batting .249. It looks like he is continuing to get back on track after a rough start. Rob Whitenack went 4.2 IP giving up 2 ER, 3 walks and striking out 3.

Its was hopefully a learning experience for Javier Baez yesterday as he went 3-4 but took himself off the bases two of those times with a caught stealing and getting picked off. He also committed his 11th error of the year. Oliver Zapata was 2-4 and Larry Suarez struck out 2 in 2 shutout innings.

Jeimer Candelario went 1-3 with a BB. Other than that everyone was pretty much meh. It was a slow day for the farm.

AZL

No Game

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Brett Jackson got a hit, stole his 21st base, walked 3 times annnddddd struck out. Josh Vitters was 2-4 with a walk of his own. Remember each walk Vitters gets for the rest of the year is groundbreaking stuff for him.

edit by mb21: I watched this game last night (Omaha Storm Chasers are shown on TV here) and the defense was pathetic. They made 4 errors, forgot how many outs there were, forgot a runner at 3rd base, Welington Castillo failed to catch a fastball (seriously!) and there was no communication whatsoever between the outfielders. Brett Jackson has a fantastic eye at the plate. Maybe too good considering he does swing and miss a lot too. Dave Sappelt looks like he's 8 years old and if Vitters was 16 I'd say he was a pretty big kid. I knew Sappelt was pretty small, but I didn't realize Vitters was that small. He looks more like a shortstop than he does a 3rd baseman, which is odd considering he's so slow and not a very good fielder. He looks like he should have blazing speed. He did look good at the plate last night. Doug Davis looks like Doug Davis and Chris Volstad looks just as shitty in an Iowa Cubs uniform as he does a Chicago one. Both are really bad pitchers. Davis is probably better.

Smokies Game 1

Zach Rosscup fell victim to the curse of all Cubs SP this year and laid an egg in his first start in AA. He failed to escape the 1st inning giving up 4 ER & walking 2 while recording 1 out.

Game 2

Nick Struck had a great game going 6 IP striking out 7 while only allowing 3 hits and no walks. Struck lowered his season ERA to 3.34. On the hitting side of things Logan Watkins was 1-3 with a BB. He also displayed some AGGRESSIVE BASERUNNING! and got thrown out trying to steal.

Matt Loosen gave up 3 ER in 6.2 IP and struck out 6 batters along the way. Rubi Silva was 2-4, Szczur took a walk and stole base # 30 and that's about it from this game.

Taiwan Easterling had himself a game going 3-5 with a HR and SB. Easterling is a very athletic player but has struggled getting his average going this year and is only batting .240. Chadd Krist made his Peoria debut after tearing up Boise and went 2-4.

# 9 OV prospect (and really thats the only ranking that matters) had the best game of his young career. In 4 AB's he racked up 3 Runs, 2 hits, 1 HR, 3 RBI's a SB and a walk. Rock Shoulders hit his 2nd HR in as many days and added a pair of walks as well. Bijan Rademacher is a 2012 draft pick who has torn up Boise so far. Last night he 3-4 with a BB and it currently batting over .400. James Pugliese struck out 5 batters in 4 IP.

Dan "Smash" Vogelbach hit another HR last night and is now slugging a cool .700. Some guy named Matt Iannazzo struck out 6 batters in 3.1 IP.

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Matt Szczur went 2-4 with a pair of doubles and stole his 29th base along the way. Kyle(r) Burke worked 6 IP and allowed 2 ER while striking out 4. Torreyes had a pair of hits as well and got his BA up to .240.

Another day another Javier Baez HR. His 7th of the year was all the offense Peoria would need as Starling Peralta, Larry Suarez and Yao Lin Wang combined for a shutout game. Peralta struck out 4 in his 7 innings.

Rock Shoulders and Trey Martin hit HR's last night. Martin has replaced Shawon Dunston Jr who was sent back to AZL. Jose Arias gave up a solo HR in 5 IP and struck out 3 batters.

Dan Vogelbach see ball, Dan Vogelbach SMASH! Our favorite portly gentleman ballplayer hit his 4th HR of the year last night and added a double and (wait for it MO) a stolen base for good measure. Lendy Castillo continues his brave struggle with David Patton disease & worked two innings last night. Let's all pray he can continue to reclaim his life, one day at a time.

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Iowa

Off

Dallas Beeler threw 7 shutout innings while striking out 5 batters. Logan Watkins went 2-4 with a 2B & triple.

Alcantara had another big night going 4-5 and is now batting .306 on the year. Rob Whitenack is showing that not everyone comes back from TJ without any issues as he scuffled again last night giving up 8 hits, 3 walks and 5 ER in 2.1 IP last night.

Javier Baez hit HR # 6 yesterday and is now slugging .508. He also committed a pair of errors in the field. Michael Jensen had a decent start working 5 IP while allowing 1 ER and striking out 3.

Shawon Dunston Jr had a PH triple last night and Trey Martin picked up 3 hits as well. The pitching was awful though. So far only Tayler Scott has really stood out among the Boise staff.

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Josh Vitters went 2-4 with a double and raised his average to .302. Alberto Cabrera struck out 4 in 2.2 IP. Cabrera is getting some buzz as a future closer after moving to the pen this year. He was pretty awful as a starter and we only have 45 IP to work of but as a reliever he is posting excellent #'s across the board.

Trey McNutt had what I guess qualifies as a good start for him these days working 5 IP giving up 2 walks 1 ER and striking out 2 batters. Meh.

Matt Szczur drew 3 more walks and stole 2 more bases. Despite being in a 2-26 slump he has kept taking his walks and still provided value at the plate. I'm McLovin' this guy. Austin Kirk had a typical Kirk start working 6 IP and allowing 2 ER.

Javier Baez got on base once and promptly stole his 14th base. That's about all that happened.

Game ended early due to rain which is probably a good thing because it was awful for all Cub prospects involved.

Tim Saunders is batting over .500 which is good. He's also 22 years old and in rookie ball so that's not as good. Our 5th round pick from this years draft Anthony Prieto made his debut on and pitched a scoreless inning.

Big Dylan’s BIG Prospect Update

Time for another review of how the prospects that John Sickles picked as our top 20 are doing.

1. Brett Jackson AAA- We've talked to death about Jackson's struggles this year but it bears repeating. Jackson has struck out an amazing 33.8 % of the time this year. It's an insanely high number and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, he struck out 45 % of the time in June. What's amazing is that June was a very productive month as he hit .282/.352/.545. Overall he has still managed a wRC+ of 115 and an .833 OPS. It's hard to get a feel for Jackson right now but its never good to have a prospect get exposed with a major flaw in his game before major league pitchers get the chance to exploit it.

2. Anthony Rizzo MLB- You already know the story here.

3. Javier Baez A- Baez has the highest ceiling of anyone in our system right now and just yesterday was ranked # 25 overall by BA. He is sporting a wRC+ of 146 which is awesome. Nobody thinks he will stay at SS long term but he has flashed some serious athletic ability in the field and if he can't be a SS he should make a damn fine 3B. Now, there are a few things to point out though. One is that much like Brett Jackson Baez has some swing and miss to his game, he currently is striking out in 22.3% of his AB's and strikeouts were one of the question marks scouts had for him when he was drafted. He is walking at a 5.8 % rate and sporting a .342 babip.

4. Matt Szczur High A- I really really like this guy's chances. In his second full season of pro ball Szczur has made huge improvements to his plate eye and is drawing walks at a 12.7 % rate. He has stolen 26 bases at a 76 % success rate and is sporting a nifty 130 wRC+ in the FSL which is a heavy pitchers league. KG may not approve but I sure do and think the Cubs have found their leadoff hitter.

5. Trey McNutt AA- He's a bust as a starter so lets try him out in the pen. Not a top 15 prospect for me anymore.

6. Dillion Maples AZL- Hasn't pitched yet but should make his debut later this month.

7. Dan Vogelbach AZL- For a guy like Vogelbach to be a legit prospect he needs to rake. He plays 1B and doesn't play it that well so he needs to just beat the piss out of the ball for us to consider him legit. So far he is doing just that. Through 49 AB's Vogelbach is hitting .388/.434/.694. Over half of his hits have been for extra bases and I wouldn't be surprised to see him move up a level before too long.

8. Junior Lake AA- Lake was having a great season but is stuck is a horrible slump that has seen him sport a .418 OPS in his last 10. Currently he is sporting a 106 wRC+. It's hard to know what we have with Lake but if he flames out the Cubs will probably try him on the mound as he has the strongest IF arm in our system.

9. Welington Castillo AAA- Castillo has been up and down between AAA and the majors this year. He has hit well in Iowa posting a .863 OPS and not so well in the bigs. Still think he and Clevenger will be a nice duo for the near future.

10. Dae Eun Rhee AA- Rhee has totally collapsed this year as a prospect. They should find the AA pitching coach and shoot him. Rhee went from a 8.25 K/9 last season in Daytona to a 4.29 this year while allowing a ton of HR's.

11. Josh Vitters AAA- Vitters is generating a lot of discussion both at this blog and elsewhere on the internets. There are those who believe he has figured it out (me) and those who think he will never be anything more than league average. Either way its hard to classify this year as anything but a breakout season for Vitters. His line of .300/.352/.505 is good for a 116 wRC+ and his next BB will tie his career high. The power is up, the the walk rate is up and he still has a very pretty swing for a RH hitter than the Cubs fell in love with in 2007. I expect to see him up for a cup of coffee in Sept then get the job next season.

12. Jeimer Candelario Low A- Another breakout hitter in our system Candelario has been praised by scouts and is also putting up good #'s. He has a .329/.378/.513 line in Boise. It doesn't look like he can stay at 3B so maybe LF is in his future but if he keeps hitting like he is that won't be an issue. In addition to being the best hitter on the team Candelario is also the youngest (18). BA was hinting we might see him in the top 100 next season.

13. Marco Hernandez Low A- Hernandez tore up rookie ball last year but has struggled with the bat big time so far. This article sums up where he is at quite nicely. It's refreshing to see a player know their flaws and work to address them.

14. Chris Carpenter- Traded.

15. Rafael Dolis MLB- Back to walking guys in the big league bullpen.

16. Zach Cates A- The other guy in the Rizzo trade Cates has been pretty shitty this year so lets just say nice things about his start last night when he struck out 5 in 4.2 IP.Good Job Zach!

17. Ben Wells A- Sigh. My love affair with Wells is well documented but lets recap. In a system that I consider to have the worst pitching prospects in all of baseball we saw a kid with an ideal frame, a wicked sinker that was getting a 2.42 GO/AO rate, pinpoint control at 1.8 BB/9 coupled with an increasing K rate at 7.9 K/9 and velocity going from 90 up to 95. We saw all of that this year and then he blew out his elbow. Of course.

18. Dave Sappelt AAA- He is not doing well.

19. Ronald Torreyes High A- Torreyes woke up from his season long slump in June batting .330/.400/.523. He has always hit before this years so lets hope he can keep turning his saeson around.

20. Reggie Golden- ACL.

So there you have it. MB and I are working on a pair of our own rankings that we will post sometime here in the near future that should more accurately reflect the state of the farm system.

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Brett Jackson got a pair of hits and stole and pair of bases as well. Along the way he collected strikeout # 122. Vitters picked up a walk and a hit as well.

The Greg of Rohan hit his first HR as a Smokie. Rohan has had a great year earning a spot on the FSL All-Star squad but he seems like an org bat to me. The Smokies remain one of the least interesting teams in the minors to watch. Its Logan Watkins. Junior Lake and thats about it.

Rubi Silva and Ronald Torreyes both went 2-4. Torreyes was the upside prospect in the Marshall deal who had done nothing but hit until he got into the Cubs system. He was beyond awful at the beginning of the year but is hitting over .330 since the start of June.

Dustin Geiger hit a pair of HR's and is sporting an .894 OPS. Javier Baez was 1-4 with an RBI but the last few weeks haven't been as kind as his first few were. Michael Jensen had a great start giving up 1 solo HR over 6 IP and striking out 5. Yao Lin Wang closed out the game with a scoreless inning.