July 7
Iowa Cubs 8 @ Albuquerque Isotopes 5
Very even effort from the boys here. Every starter had exactly one hit save Brad Nelson, who had 2 walks and a run anyway. Both Anthony Giansanti and Ty Wright had a pair of doubles; Wright had a walk as well, while Giansanti had a double instead of a single. Logan Watkins had his 10th error of the year at 2B, but drew a walk also and stole a base. Junior Lake played RF and 3B in this game; as I've said before, I believe those are the two positions he'll most likely play in the majors.
Guillermo Moscoso had an atypically good performance. He walked 5 in 6 innings and allowed a home run, but he only allowed 2 hits altogether and struck out 5, all at the right time. Michael Bowden, sort of forgotten, turned in a great 6th inning. Fairly surprised Chris Rusin was called up and now Bowden, but I can understand given waiver wonkery how that might work out. Casey Coleman blew up in the 8th, allowing 3 runs in 0.2 innings until Brian Schlitter put out the fire (allowing none of his 3 inherited runners to score) and got the save in the 9th (his 9th of the year). Schlitter's ERA falls to 1.93, and he's fairly quietly had an outstanding season.
Schlitter started the season in Tennessee. After 21.2 innings of 0.83 ERA ball, he got the call to join Iowa, were he's actually been even better. His ERA in Des Moines is higher, 1.93, but his peripherals are very good, including over a strikeout an inning and just one walk in 18.2 frames. On the year, he's had a 1.34 ERA over 40.1 innings, with a 32/7 SO/BB ratio. Schlitter turns 28 in December, so he's no real prospect, but he's got a chance to stick in the bullpen this year and beyond should he get the call.
Double AA postponed
Daytona Cubs 2 @ Dunedin Blue Jays 5
Now that Baez is promoted and Soler is injured, the Daytona Cubs aren't all that fun to watch. There are some fringier prospects, like Bijan Rademacher (0-3, SO) or Dustin Geiger (1-4, SO), or Zeke DeVoss (0-3, BB, 2 SO), or Taiwan Easterling (1-3, HR), but on the whole it's just not a prospect-laden team. The Cubs were not very good in this game, especially Yao-Lin Wang. He allowed 4 runs in 5 innings on 5 hits, 2 walks. He only struck one out.
Quad Cities River Bandits 12 @ Kane County Cougars 5
Albert Almora went 3-4 with a walk and 2 runs in this one. Fairly typical fare; in his last 10 games, 4 of them are multi-hit. On the year, Almora carries a .353/.387/.519 line. Dan Vogelbach went 1-4 with an RBI. Jeimer Candelario went 2-3 with a double and a walk; Gioskar Amaya also had a double as did Kevin Encarnacion.
All of the pitching was bad. Here it is.
| Kane County Cougars | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |||
| Tayler Scott (L, 4-4) | 5.2 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4.35 | |||
| Armando Rivero | 1.2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10.29 | |||
| Stephen Perakslis | 1.2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.83 | |||
| Totals | 9.0 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4.51 | |||
Yuck.
Tri-City Dust Devils 3 @ Boise Hawks 1 (10 innings)
Yasiel Balaguert continues a relatively productive season with a 2-4, 2B performance. He's up to .282 on the year. Lance Rymel also has a pair of hits, as did Shawon Dunston (whose pair included a triple). Trevor Gretzky had the lone other hit.
A few of the big pitching guns came out on this one. Paul Blackburn allowed a single run in 5 innings, though he did walk 2 and allow 5 hits. He also struck out two pair. Rob Zastryzny worked a scoreless 6th, striking out a pair and walking one. Andrew McKirahan went 7 outs and allowed no baserunners. He also terminated 4. Tyler Bremer, drafted twice by the Cubs (36th round, 2010, 27th round, 2012) come on in the ninth and tenth and received the loss. The damage came in the 10th, with a pair of runs.
Roberto Vahlis, catcher, went 0-1 with a trio of walks.
AZL Cubs 2 @ AZL Mariners 4 (10 innings)
Another Chang-Yong Lim sighting! He started the game, went a single inning, and struck out 2 while allowing no baserunners.
July 8
Iowa Cubs 5 @ New Orleans Zephyrs 2
Logan Watkins had the always-awesome double double performance. He also had a walk. Brad Nelson had 2 singles and 1 double. Luis Flores had a home run. That's the entirety of the XBH. Junior Lake was 1-4 with an RBI. On the Zephyrs, Koyie Hill played!
Chris Rusin had another fine start, lasting 6 innings and allowing equal numbers of hits and walks (4). He allowed 2 runs and struck out 2, and got the win. Yoanner Negrin pitched 2 innings of relief and allowed a single walk, fanning 2. Brian Schlitter 1-2-3'ed the side in the ninth for the save.
Huntsville Stars 2 @ Tennessee Smokies 0 (7 innings)
The Smokies were two-hit. This will not be the most dominating performance in the organization today. Arismendy Alcantara and Rubi Silva get the only two hits for the Smokies.
Huntsville Stars 6 @ Tennessee Smokies 3 (8 innings)
The Stars/Smokies played fewer innings in a DH than the Mets/Giants game last night. Javier Baez was awful all day, going 0-4 with 2 SO and an error in this game. His HR remains his only hit of the year (still, only 3 games). Justin Bour hit a solo home run, and both Christian Villanueva and Rubi Silva had a single. Silva added a double and two stolen bases. John Andreoli had a triple.
AJ Morris had a nice day and has been lights-out after his conversion to a starter. As a reliever, he had a 5.82 ERA in 14 games; as a starter, he has a 1.82 ERA in 29.2 innings. Hunter Cervenka continues to struggle at AA with 2 innings of 2 runs (1 earned), with 4 hits and 3 SO). Frank Batista allowed a trio of runs in the 8th.
Chicago Cubs 8 @ Chicago White Sox 2
Of course, we start with Castro-watch. He went 1-5 with a strikeout and 4 LOB. Anthony Rizzo had one of his worst games of the season, going 0-5 with 2 strikeouts and 6 LOB. Ugly game and not even great ABs. Didn't matter; Alfonso Soriano went 3-4 with a triple short of the cycle. He also drew a walk. Someone will take this guy even if we only get some relief. Luis Valbuena was the DH and Cody Ransom was the 3B. That should be switched; however, Valbuena went 1-3 with 3 RBI and Ransom went 2-5 for 2 RBI. Even Dave Sappelt had 4 hits, which probably (I'm not looking) is the best game he's ever had. Julio Borbon drew 3 walks and scored a sun. I forgot to mention that Soriano stole 2 bases, so it's probably 2006 or something.
Matt Garza made his last (probably last) start in a Cub uniform and it was great. He allowed 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and no walks. He pitched 7 innings and struck out 6, and the only real mistake was a HR to someone named Phegley. Blake Parker and James Russell were both perfect in 1.1 and 0.2 innings, respectively.
Daytona Cubs 7 @ Dunedin Blue Jays 0
The offense is unimportant, though they did walk 6 times. Matt Loosen pitched a no-hitter!!! He's had a really rough year, culminating in a demotion from Tennessee. He's certainly made the most of his opportunity, sporting a 2.25 ERA in Daytona this year. He walked 2 and Soto and an error (and went 2-5), but a DP meant he only faced 2 over the minimum. He struck out 9 in the game and absolutely smoked Dunedin.
Oh, Bijan Rademacher had a home run and 2 walks. Still, he didn't pitch a no-hitter.
Tri-City Dust Devils 3 @ Boise Hawks 11
The Hawks went wild in this one. They walked 9 times and struck out 5. The 2-5 hitters each had 2 hits (Shawon Dunston, Yasiel Balaguert, Jacob Rogers, and Rony Rodriguez). They also had 2, 1, 3, and 0 walks, respectively. David Bote hit a HR. Daniel Lockhart went 3-4 with 2 RBI.
Dae-Eun Rhee had the start, but it was a piggyback day. He pitched 3 scoreless innings, and Loiger Padron went 3 innings and allowed 2 runs (1 earned). Tyler Skulina, 4th round pick this year, pitched 2 innings and allowed a single hit and no runs. Matt Iannazzo allowed a run in as many innings.
Both Cubs' pitchers last names were Perez.
Comments
That’s going on the next Cub bracelet.
RynoQuote Reply
At this point we might as well report on games in which Watkins does *not* draw a walk.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Miles asked Hoyer directly about the possibility of Lake and/or Watkins coming up while DeJesus is injured and once Raley is sent back down. Hoyer said they both still need work and Miles surmises that the most likely callup when Raley goes down is…Donnie Murphy.
So as ugly as the baseball has been, now you can look forward to the newest addition: a guy with a .643 OPS in 640 MLB PA, and a -15 FRAA (-22 DRS) in 244 MLB games.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
they have been getting too close to an unprotected first rounder
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
That was exactly my thought when Miles told me that yesterday.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
@ Mercurial Outfielder:
I think you want Lake playing more than just every five games. I think I’m okay with Donnie Murphy serving as benchrot.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Problem with that is there is every opportunity for Watkins to start every day in the outfield. Sappelt or Borbon or Bogusevic would just backup Watkins at CF. If/when Schierholtz is traded, Lake can play RF every day as well.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
Yeah, that was how I was thinking of it going down, but Miles said Jed was firm that they would not rush Watkins and Lake.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
I really don’t know what else Watkins can “learn” in AAA. He’s not tearing the cover off the ball, but that’s not going to be who he is. His strengths and weaknesses are exactly the same as they’ve been every other year. He’s going to walk around 10% of the time, he’s going to strike out 25% of the time, he’s going to BABIP .300, and he’s going to put up a .240/.320/.400 line while playing acceptable defense. He’s Alejandro De Aza with more patience and less power. That isn’t going to change with another useless month of PCL “seasoning.”
MylesQuote Reply
What if they trade Soriano? Who, along with Murphy, would be called up?
MuckerQuote Reply
Ha. I just looked at his ZIPS projection: .245/.315/.354. I believe he’ll hit for a little more power: that’s a .109 ISO and his ISO has lingered in the .120 to .140 zone for his career. Maybe I think .240/.320/.370 is more realistic. A good way to find out: call him up.
MylesQuote Reply
Mucker wrote:
Darnell McDonald, then Ty Wright, then I don’t know.
MylesQuote Reply
Was thinking about Bryant earlier today. I wonder if he really will end the season in AA. I could see it, kinda.
MylesQuote Reply
Reminder that the Cards are not infallible: they signed Ty Wigginton to a two year deal this past offseason, which was idiotic. They released him today. Unfortunately it was only a $5 million contract.
GWQuote Reply
GWQuote Reply
@ GW:
They’re replacing him with Odie Simon.
RynoQuote Reply
Myles wrote:
That’s called ‘thyme.’
RynoQuote Reply
Ryno wrote:
I laughed at this a lot more than I probably should have.
MylesQuote Reply
@ Myles:
That might be my most hand-crafted joke to put on this site.
RynoQuote Reply
@ Ryno:
And it fit with the Simon and Garfunkel subject as well. I stood up and applauded this.
mikeakaleroyQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
Yeah I thought he was referencing the Simon/Garfunkel joke as well. Made it even better.
WaLiQuote Reply
Myles wrote:
He can learn to watch his service time clock sit at zero.
BerseliusQuote Reply
Berselius wrote:
I really do think this is all it is.
MylesQuote Reply
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROAI2BSdLUo
GWQuote Reply
@ mikeakaleroy:
So, LSA?
RynoQuote Reply
@ WaLi:
It was a combo Simon/Garfunkel and Garfield/Odie joke.
RynoQuote Reply
Brent at BN reported that the Jimenez deal included college tuition? Could it be possible that those $s would be part of the $2.81mil. If so, and considering college costs range from $150-250k for a 4-year degree, could that dip the Cubs under the 5% threshold? Would that college money be considered part of the bonus, since it’s not technically part of the bonus paid to the athlete? Could be a pretty big loophole…
26.2cubfanQuote Reply
@ 26.2cubfan:
Jesse Sanchez reported it as “$2.8 million & a $250k college scholarship,” so I don’t think it’s included.
GWQuote Reply
@ 26.2cubfan:
but, yes, the college part shouldn’t count against the pool space. that’s always been the case for high school draftees.
GWQuote Reply
MLB is actually very strict on how that tuition money can be spent. You couldn’t really game the system with it.
MylesQuote Reply
I don’t understand the college tuition part. Is that for after baseball? I doubt the Cubs want him going to college after giving him $2.8 million to play baseball.
MuckerQuote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/three-former-shortstop-prospects-struggle-offensively.html
dmick89Quote Reply