It’s been awhile since we’ve touched on the minor leagues this season. dmick has been busy. Seeing as I held the post of “minor league wonk” fairly recently, I thought I’d give a short synopsis of each team so far. Iowa Arismendy Alcantara has not been so great this year. His walk rate is down precipitously, so even though he …
Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-8-14
Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are off to as solid a start to their season as the parent club is. They pounded out 4 hits tonight. All screaming liners, I heard. They also struck out 14 times due to bad umpiring. Leadoff hitter and center fielder, Matt Szczur was 0-4 with a couple of strikeouts. Chris Valaika had one of …
Minor League Recap 4-5-14
Iowa Cubs It was a long night for the Iowa Cubs as they were beaten 11-1. Matt Szczur was 1-3 with a walk, run scored and a strikeout. Arismendy Alcantara was also 1-3 with a double. He also had an error. Javier Baez was 0-2 with 2 strikeouts and was thrown out of the game arguing the check swing strikeout. …
Better Know a Cub: Mike Olt
Mike Olt is a strong man. He's a patient man. He's a man with a good glove. And he is a man almost wholly written off in some parts. He's a man with undeniable warts and undeniable talents; this is a quality he shares with everyone in baseball not named Mike Trout. Most importantly to me, he's a man who …
OV Daily Facepalm
Weekend Roster Moves of note Darnell McDonald —-> AAA Chang-Yong Lim —-> Korea Tsuyoshi Wada —–> released Tsuyoshi Wada —–> re-signed to a minor league deal Neil Ramirez —–> AAA Javier Baez —–> AAA Jonathan Sanchez —-> AAA Casper Wells —-> AAA Blake Parker —–> AAA No real surprises here, except maybe Blake Parker, who was pretty decent last year …
BP’s top 10 Cubs prospects + consensus Top 14 prospects
The BP list came out, and it's a great read. Here it is, but a sub is required. I recommend getting a subscription; it really is great work. I won't share any of the bits besides the Top 10 list: 1. Baez 2. Bryant 3. Almora 4. Soler 5. Edwards 6. Alcantara 7. Johnson 8. Vogelbach 9. Villanueva 10. Candelario …
Minor League Roundtable Part 3: Cubs Prospects ETA
This is our third part of the roundtable. Myles was not present at the time that Sitrick and I started, but his answers are toward the end. dmick89: Of the major prospects, it's expected that Javier Baez will get to Chicago first. If he gets off to a good start at Iowa where I expect he'll begin the year, he …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Kyle Hendricks
Kyle Hendricks is a 6-3, 190 pound right-handed starting pitcher. He turns 24 on December 7th and was drafted 8th round of the 2011 Draft out of Dartmouth College. Here's what Baseball America wrote at the time of the draft. An economics major at Dartmouth, Hendricks brings a heady presence to the mound. He does more than just outsmart hitters, …
2013 Cubs Prospects in Review: Jeimer Candelario
In continuing with the theme of Cubs' 3rd basemen, I thought I'd take a look at the crazily young (for his history) Jeimer Candelario. Jeimer has an interesting story. He was originally born in NYC, but was raised in the Dominican Republic. As a 16-year old there, he was signed to a hefty $500,000 dollar contract. From there, he was …
2013 Cubs Prospects In Review: Christian Villanueva
Christian Villanueva came to the Cubs in the Ryan Dempster deal at the 2012 trade deadline. A J2 signing by the rangers in 2008, Villanueva cuts a less than imposing figure, standing 5'11-160. His 2011 campaign hinted at the potential for surprising pop, however, as he ISO'd .186 for the Rangers' Low-A Hickory affiliate. Combined with his sterling glovework at third, Villanueva's …