Memphis Redbirds 0 @ Iowa Cubs 2
Kyle Hendricks got the win by tossing 7 strong shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and a walk on 3 Ks. Zach Rosscup and Eduardo Sanchez had 3 Ks between them in a perfect 8th and 9th.
Mobile BayBears 3 @ Tennessee Smokies 2
Dim the lights and put on a Luther Vandross record, because it's Javytime. Baez was 2-4 with a SB and his 34th homer of the year last night. That's 34 home runs in 121 games. Over his last ten he's hitting .447/.488/1.000. For the entire month of August he's hitting .404/.449/.730. If you believe in clutchness, he's hitting .386/.441/.783 with runners on, with a .385/.450/.846 line with runners in scoring position. If you believe it's a skill to get better when the moment is big, Javy is surely showing a knack for it.
Other performances of note: Arismendy Alcantara was 1-3 with a walk, a SB, and a CS. Rubi Silva was 2-4 with a homer and a triple. Brett Jackson's Mortal Coil was 1-1 with 2 walks before getting lifted in a double switch for Jonathan Mota, who was 1-1. Matt Szczur came in in the 6th and was 1-2 with a double.
Eduardo Figueroa put up a quality start, going 6 and allowing 3 runs on 8 hits, a walk, and 3 Ks. The bullpen finished it off with 5 combined Ks in 2 scoreless.
Chicago Cubs 6 @ San Diego Padres 8
The Cubs went 27 outs without scoring a run last night, which was Cubslike. They managed to grab six runs before doing so, which was not. They still allowed eight runs, which was Cubslike. They did so in PETCO, which is extra-Cubslike. Nate Schierholtz was 1-5 and hit a 3 run homer. Anthony Rizzo was 1-4 with a walk. Brian Bogusevic was 1-4 with a triple. Starlin Castro was 1-5. Donnie Murphy was 1-3 and managed not to hit a home run.
The pitching was pretty terrible, all things considered. Edwin Jackson allowed 6 runs (5 earned) in 6 innings. James Russell managed to give up a homer to a lefty in PETCO. I'm pretty sure you should be fired from your LOOGY gig if that happens. The Padres scored in each of the last five innings. Way to really get after that top 3 pick, boys.
Daytona Cubs 5 @ Tampa Yankees 1
Kris Bryant was 1-4 with 2 Ks. Dan Vogelbach went 1-3 with a walk and 2 Ks. Dustin Geiger was 1-4 with a double and 2 Ks. The entire D-Cubs roster struck out 13 times yesterday.
C.J. Edwards is a strikeout machine, and yesterday tossed 4 innings of 8 K, 1 walk, 4 hit ball. Kyler Burke was fine in 2 innings, allowing 2 walks against a K. Zach Cates got touched for a run in the final 3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, and fanning 4.
Beloit Snappers 2 @ Kane County Cougars 5
Gioskar Amaya was 1-4. Jeimer Candelario was 1-3 with a walk. Rock Shoulders was 2-3 with a homer and a walk. Trevor Gretzky was 2-3 and is hitting .412 in 5 games at KC.
The pitching was mediocre as hell.
Boise Hawks 8 @ Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 1
Kevin Encarnacion had a helluva day, going 5-5 with a double and a homer, boosting his boise average to .356. Jacob Rogers was 1-4 with a BB. Justin Marra was 1-2 with a homer and 2 walks. Carlos Penalver had a triple in 4 ABs.
Paul Blackburn had what I am describing as a Rich Harden start, throwing 5 innings of 1 hit ball but walking six. He struck out 2 and somehow avoided plating a run. Scott Frazier tossed 2 and allowed a hit, a walk, and a K.
Comments
I love those strikeouts by Edwards, but I remain concerned about his potential as a starter. Most pitchers in High A are already extended enough to work 6+ innings regularly. Edwards has rarely done it in his career (I think 3 times IIRC).
I think the Cubs probably have a potential shutdown reliever in Edwards who we might see move more quickly next season.
Has anyone heard a good excuse for him not pitching that many innings?
dmick89Quote Reply
Maybe they just want him to make all his starts? I dont know. At nothing else he should be amazing in the back end of a bullpen
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
Never heard that excuse. I could see these short outings even into A ball, but at High A? It’s just odd. Given his size, I’d say it’s much more likely he’s just not capable of working that deep into the game. Seriously, this guy needs to hire someone like Prince Fielder to be his nutrition coach.
dmick89Quote Reply
maybe they want his arm adjusted to throwing every 5 days? I dont know.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Could be an efficiency issue. If he’s going deep into counts for even half of those Ks it could add up quickly. Would be interested to see his pitch totals. Will look em up when I’m on my laptop next.
sitrick2Quote Reply
@ sitrick2:
They don’t have accurate pitch count data below AA to my knowledge.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ dmick89:
Ahh, thought that might be the case, but wasn’t sure. Makes sense that they wouldn’t until you got to PitchFX parks.
Still, I’d bet anything it’s efficiency. Rich Harden syndrome.
sitrick2Quote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
The guy was drafted in 2011 and has made only one appearance out of the bullpen.
dmick89Quote Reply
My thinking is that he threw so few innings last year and coming from high school where he probably started once a week.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
@ sitrick2:
That could be, but Harden walked more guys.
There’s also this: 48th round pick.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
How long will that take? The Rangers have been known to push pitchers. Keep that in mind.
This is just odd. There really aren’t any non-injury excuses to explain this IMO. Much more than likely it either has to do with throwing way too many pitches to work deep into games (possible, but not probable) or simply being unable to do it.
dmick89Quote Reply
it is weird for sure. I have no idea.
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
aside: http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/anti-anti-steroidist.html
dmick89Quote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
Yeah. I wish we had accurate pitch count info. That would help a lot.
dmick89Quote Reply
daytona has quite the intriguing rotation
bubblesdachimpQuote Reply
Arguello at cubs den says Edwards threw 67 innings last year and is already at 112 for this year. He’s guessing (and I agree) that they’re trying to manage the number of innings he throws while still keeping him in the rhythm of starting every 5th day.
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
@ Recalcitrant Blogger Nate:
He threw 67 innings from the end of June through the end of August. http://www.fangraphs.com/statsd.aspx?playerid=sa602909&position=P&type=&gds=&gde=&season=2012
That’s when the short-season league began. He would have thrown in extended spring training games. He’s probably thrown nearly the same number of innings this season from March through now.
I think I mentioned this last time (or I might have forgotten). He wasn’t injured to start the year last year. He just hung out at extended spring training where the games aren’t official. If The Rangers had a blogger like Arizona Phil maybe we’d have a record of how many innings he threw in extended spring training prior to the start of the short-season league.
We have to be careful to look at short-season league stats in comparison to full season leagues because of this reason.
dmick89Quote Reply
@ bubblesdachimp:
I think Pierce Johnson has a legitimate shot to be a number 2 or 3 at the big league level, but I’d be surprised if there’s anything else there. I’d say Edwards is a reliever, but potentially a very good one. I don’t see a future for Ben Wells. If you can’t strikeout more than he does, you’ve got no future. He’s Rafael Dolis except striking out many fewer than Dolis was at the same time.
dmick89Quote Reply
new shit: http://obstructedview.net/commentary-and-analysis/anthony-rizzos-season-is-not-comparable-to-starlin-castros.html
dmick89Quote Reply