Tag: erick leal

Journeymen of tomorrow: Cubs minor league recap (6.14.16)

Iowa Cubs @ Colorodo Springs Sky Sox (Postponed)

Chattanooga Lookouts 4 @ Tennessee Smokies 2

Jacob Hannemann was 2-4 with a double, home run and he drove in both of the Smokies runs. Ben Carhart and Daniel Lockhart were each 1-4 while Bijan Radenmacher was 1-3 with a double, walk and run scored.

Billy McKinney was 0-2 with 2 walks. McKinney has not gotten off to the kind of start he’d hoped for. Prior to the game he was batting .257/.351/.325 with a .324 wOBA and a wRC+ of 99. When you account for the fact that McKinney is only 21 years old and he’s been a league average hitter at a premium position, you’ve got to be happy with the results. Somewhat happy anyway. The only reason I’m a little less than ecstatic is that in 308 PA last season at AA, he was better. He had a lower walk rate, but he struckout less, hit for more power and had a wRC+ of 116, which for a 20-year old CF is outstanding. Combining the two halves, you’ve got a full season under his belt at AAA and he’s been roughly a 108-110 wRC+ hitter.

If we were looking it at that as one unit, I think we’d all be pretty happy. I know I would be. It seems clear ot me one of the things the Cubs wanted McKinney to work on in AA was working deeper counts, which is why we see an increased walk rate and an increased strikeout rate. I think this will eventually work itself out in a way that we’ll see him drive the ball like he did last year and he’ll be the better player for it. If he can get hot for a few weeks, I think the Cubs will promote him to AAA.

Tyler Skulina got the start and fell to 3-4 with 6 innings of work. He gave up 7 hits (2 home runs) and 3 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 6. David Garner pitched 2 innings, allowed a run on a hit, 2 walks and a strikeout. James Farris pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Frederick Keys 7 @ Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3

Gioskar Amaya hit another home run. He was 1-2 with a home run and 2 walks. He’s hit 5 home runs and 3 of them have been in recent days. Yasiel Balaguert and Jason Vosler were each 1-3. Balaguert also added a walk while Vosler scored a run and struckout.

Charcer Burks was 2-4 as the team’s 8th hitter (DH) with a home run and a strikeout. Andrew Ely (2B) was 2-4 as the 9th hitter. He also struckout. Gleyber Torres got off to a terrible start, turned things around a bit and is now slumping again. Despite that, he had a 118 wRC+ prior to yesterday’s game. He’s doing just fine if you ask me. Especially for someone his age at his position. With the increased power this year, I couldn’t be happier to see what he’s doing this year.

Erick Leal fell to 8-3. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowed 6 hits and 6 runs. He walked 2, struckout 3 and allowed a home run. Only 3 of the runs were earned. James Pugliese pitched 4 hitless innings. He did walk a batter and struckout 2. Tommy Thorpe pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowed 2 hits and a run.

The Cubs acquired Erick Leal in 2013 when the team traded Tony Campana to the Diamondbacks for Jesus Castillo and Leal. Both of the pitchers were 17 years old at the time of the trade and was a pretty good return for someone who had been designated for assignment. Below is the scouting report from Baseball America back when the Cubs traded for him.

The Diamondbacks signed a 16-year-old Leal from trainer Robert Valera for $75,000 after the 2011 season, and he made his debut last year in the DSL. When Leal signed, he stood out for his size, delivery, ability to throw strikes and spin a breaking ball. He progressed quickly and in some ways became a different pitcher than scouts had expected. He threw from almost straight over the top when he signed, but he’s since dropped down to a lower slot and gotten more life on his fastball, which was 85-88 mph when he signed but now sits around 88-89. Leal’s best pitch is his mid-to-high 70s breaking ball, an advanced pitch for his age with a chance to be plus. He didn’t have a changeup when he signed, but he’s developed feel for that pitch as well, giving him the potential for three average or better pitches if his velocity continues to climb. He pitches inside, moves the ball around the zone and throws plenty of strikes, and he walked just 1.4 batters per nine innings last year. He did start to gain weight a little too quickly at one point, so he will have to stay on top of his conditioning.

I’ve read that he’s since got his fastball up to 91-92 mph last year at South Bend. Leal went from strking out a lot of batters in 2012 and even 2013 when he came to the Cubs to under 5 the following year with the Cubs. It’s probably much more to do with the increased talent he was facing, but it fits in with the Cubs overall emphasis on low strikeout pitchers. He did strikeout 6.02 last year and had an excellent walk rate. His strikeout rate this year is again under 5, but his walk rate is under 2.

South Bend Cubs 6 @ Dayton Dragons 1

P.J. Higgins was 2-4 with an RBI and run scored. Ian Rice had one of the two big offensive performances from the Cubs last night. He was 3-5 with a home run, RBI and run scored. Eddy Martinez was 4-4 with an RBI and run scored. Josh Silver was 2-4. Eloy Jimenez was 1-4 with a double and run scored while Jesse Hodges was also 1-4. Hodges struckout once and scored a run.

Kyle Miller threw 6 innings, allowed 4 hits and only an unearned run. He walked a batter and struckout 3. Kyle Twomey got the 3-inning save. He allowed 3 hits, no runs, walked nobody and struckout 6.

DSL Indians 2 @ DSL Cubs1 9

The Cubs1 team improved to 3-5 behind a great offensive night and some strong starting pitching from Jesus Tejada. Here are the highlights in bullets.

DSL Cubs2 2 @ DSL Orioles2 3

The Cubs2 fell to 4-4. Abraham Rodriguez was 3-4 with an RBI. Miguel Amaya and Aramis Ademan each had a hit. Ademan doubled and struckout twice while scoring a run. Amaya scored a run and walked. That’s all the offense in this one.

Alfredo Colorado threw 5 innings, allowed 2 hits and 2 unearned runs. He didn’t walk anybody and he struckout 4.

Fauris Geurrero picked up the loss with 3 decent relief innings. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run. He walked 2 and struckout 3.

Cubs Minor League Recap

Memphis Redbirds 5 @ Iowa Cubs 6

Willson Contreras was not in the lineup after injuring his foot, but it does not sound serious. He's expected back in the lineup soon and was said to be day to day. Even with his absence and Albert Almora's promotion to MLB, the Iowa Cubs still won. They're now 29-27. 

Arismendy Alcantar was 1-3 with a walk, RBI and 2 strikeouts. Munenori Kawasaki was 2-4 with an RBI, walk, and a strikeout. Matt Murton was 2-2 with a double and 2 RBI.

Since it sounds like the Cubs are planning to use Almora is more of a backup role, I'm kind of surprised they didn't call up Murton instead. The entire reason guys like Murton are on the roster in Des Moines is for situations like these. I certainly don't think a few weeks or so (hopefully) as a backup is going to cause any future problems with Almora's game, but I really would prefer he play every day. He is a guy with an obvious hole in his game that can and will be exploited at the MLB level. If he's not going to play every day at the MLB level, it's probably best to let him play every day at the minor league level. Oh well. I'm not in charge of these things.

Dan Vogelbach continues to slump. He was 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Juan Perez, Kristopher Negron, David Freitas and Logan Watkins each had a hit. 

Michael Wagner threw 4 innings and allowed 4 hits while walking 4 and striking out 7. He limited the Redbirds to just 3 runs despite all the baserunners. Jean Machi got the win despite giving up 2 runs and 4 hits in 2 innings of work. Armando Rivero, Felix Pena and Spencer Patton shut down the Redbirds in the 7th, 8th and 9th inning. It was Patton's 6th save and he struckout 2.

Tennessee Smokies 1 @ Mississippi Braves 5

The Smokies only had a run on 3 hits so this will be quick. Mark Zagunis was 1-3 with a walk and he scored the only run. Victor Caratini was 1-3 with a walk. Kelly Dugan was 1-1. 

Paul Blackburn got the start and the loss. He threw 5.2 innings, gave up 9 hits and 5 runs. He walked a batter and struckout 3. Blackburn still has a pretty looking ERA, but once you get past that, it's just mediocre at best. His strikeout rate is less than 5.5 per 9 and at around 15% of the batters faced. His walk rate is good, but even Kyle Hendricks struckout many more batters than this at this point in his career. 

Jose Rosario threw 1.1 innings, allowed a hit and struckout 3. David Berg pitched an inning and allowed a couple hits and struckout a batter.

Potomac Nationals 3 @ Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4 (Game 1)

Rashad Crawford led off and was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Gleyber Torres has really turned around his awful start with another 2-4 performance. He scored 2 runs, too. He's now putting together an impressive season once again for a 19 year old shortstop in High A.

Prior to yesterday's games  he's hitting .261/.342/.438 with a .360 wOBA and 122 wRC+. His walk rate is back up to a really good 10.3% and his strikeout rate is also back down to a pretty decent 22.3%. His ISO is the best it's been in his career except for that 32 PA stop in short-season A ball. It's .177 and he's done all of this with a BABIP of only .324 compared to the .373 he had hast year in A ball. He's already hit 6 home runs, which is one more than he had in his entire career. He has 10 stolen bases. 

Ian Happ was 1-2 with an RBI and 2 walks. Jason Vosler and Jeffrey Baez were each 1-3 with an RBI. 

Erick Leal improved to 8-2 with 6 pretty good innings. He allowed 5 hits, walked a batter and struckout 3. He surrendered 2 runs. 

Tommy Thorpe gave up a home run and retired one batter before Ryan McNeil came in to get his 3rd save. 

Potomac Nationals 3 @ Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4 (Game 2)

Rashad Crawford was 1-3 with an RBI while Gleyber Torres was 0-1 with 2 walks and a run scored. Ian Happ was 1-1 with a double, 2 walks and a run scored. It was Happ's 10th double. Gioskar Amaya, Daniel Lockhart and Trey Martin each had 1 hit. 

Jeremy Null nearly threw a complete game. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 6 hits and 3 runs. He walked no one and struckout 6. He did give up 2 home runs. Jordan Minch got the one-out save. 

Dayton Dragons 3 @ South Bend Cubs 4

The Cubs took 9 walks and they had 11 hits, but managed only 4 runs. That's a little impressive, but not in a good way even though the game went 12 innings. Below are the number of times each player in the lineup reached base and for what:

Kyle Miller threw 5 innings, allowed 4 hits and 3 runs. Only 2 of them were earned and he walked a batter and struck one out. Pedro Araujo threw 3 innings, allowed only one hit and struckout 2. John Williamson threw 1.2 innings, allowed a hit and a walk while striking out 2. James Norwood got the win with 2.1 innings of work. He allowed a hit and 2 walks. He struckout 3. 

DSL Rangers1 7 @ DSL Cubs1 0

Yonathan Perlaza (SS) was 3-4 with a triple and a strikeout. Jose Gutierrez (LF) was 1-4 and Jose Rojas (1B) was 1-3. Those were all 5 of their hits. 

Eury Ramos started the game and pitched 4 innings. He allowed 4 hits and 3 runs. He didn't strike anybody out and didn't walk anybody either. Edison Novas got 3 innings of work and allowed 3 hits and 2 runs. Miguel Estevez allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in 2 innings of work. 

DSL Cubs2 @ DSL Dodgers1 Postponed

Cubs Minor League Update (6.2.16)

Iowa Cubs 5 @ Oklahoma City Dodgers 4

With the win last night, the I-Cubs sit a game below .500. Maybe that's why Willson Contreras is still on their roster. I agree with Myles. It's time to question whether or not the Cubs are really fielding their best 25-man roster. That's a pretty cool thing to be questioning when you've got the best record in baseball and the best record the organization has had since 1907. 

Contreras did Contreras things. He was 2-3 with a double and a couple runs batted in. Dan Vogelbach was 2-4 with a double, triple and two runs scored. What these two teammates are doing to PCL pitching is impressive. I'm not sure either have much left to prove in the minor leagues. A stronger case can be made that Vogelbach does, but he's also got nowhere to play on the Chicago Cubs. Contreras does. 

Albert Almora is not to be ignored. He was 1-3 with 2 RBI. Arismendy Alcantara and Logan Watkins each added a hit for good measure. Alcantara's was a triple. 

Jackson Generals 4 @ Tennessee Smokies 3

The Smokies fell to 23-39 in this rain-shortened game. They only completed the mandatory 5 innings. The Smokies had 9 hits in these 5 innings, but only 1 of them was an extra base hit. Mark Zagunis was 3-3 with a HR and he drove in all 3 runs. Chesny Young was 2-3 and Billy McKinney was 1-2. 

Duane Underwood has not gotten off to a great start this year. Prior to the start last night, Underwood has struckout 6.2 batters per 9 and walked 4.9. He'd given up quite a few home runs and his ERA was 5.19 while his FIP was 5.69. Both of those are going up after this start.

Underwood threw all 5 innings, so he technically had a complete game. He allowed 7 hits and 4 runs on 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. That's about the best strikeout rate he's had, but he also allowed a home run. He doesn't turn 22 until the end of July so he's very young and hopefully there's still considerable room for improvement. The scouts have liked him despite subpar strikeout and walk rates. To be fair, his walk rate last season in High A was decent (2.95). 

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 6, Salem Red Sox 3

Rashad Crawford led off and was 4-5 with a triple and a strikeout. He drove in 2 and scored 2. Gleyber Torres was 1-4 and so was Ian Happ. Happ also took a walk. Yasiel Balaguert doubled in a run and scored a run. He was 1-5. Jason Vosler also drove in a run and scored a run. He was 1-4. Gioskar Amaya got on base 3 times. He was 1-2 with a couple of walks. 

Erick Leal got the win and improved to 7-2. he threw 5 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run. He walked 1 and struckout 1. The run was unearned. 

Leal is just 21 years old and back in 2013 rookie league, he struckout 9.6 batters per 9 and struckout walked 1.5 per 9. It was only 48.2 innings, but the year before with the rookie league in the Diamondbacks organization he threw 73 innings, struckout 8.8 and walked 1.5. This liked like a promising pitching prospect. Then in 2014 short-season A ball that strikeout rate fell to 4.5 and walk rate increased to 2.6. Last year at South Bend the strikeout rate improved to 6.0 and walk rate also improved to 2.2, but so far this year the strikeout rate is just under 5 and walk rate just over 2. Like Underwood, he's young so hopefully he'll improve. I'm a little tired of saying that though. 

Tommy Thorpe threw 3 very good relief innings. He allowed 2 hits, no runs, walked nobody and struckout 3.

South Bend Cubs 2, Fort Wayne TinCaps 6

There were a lot of 0-fers in the the South Bend lineup. P.J. Higgins was 2-4 with a strikeout. Donnie Dewees was also 2-4. He tripled. Eloy Jimenez doubled and was 1-4. Dewees and Jimenez scored the only runs. Ian Rice had the only official RBI. He was 1-4. That's it. Everyone else went hitless. It's difficult to score a lot of runs without home runs and without several players up and down the lineup contributing.

Adbert Alzolay got the loss and dropped to 4-2 on the season. He lasted only 4 innings, allowed 5 hits and 5 runs. He walked 4 and struckout 3. Pedro Araujo threw 3 hitless innings. he walked 1 and struckout 5. 

Cubs Minor League Update (5.26.16)

El Paso Chihuahuas 9, Iowa Cubs 1

The I-Cubs only had 6 hits in this one, though three of them were for extra bases. It was a quiet night for Albert Almora and Dan Vogelbach. They combined to go 0-7 with a walk (Vogelbach earned the walk). Willson Contreras got the game off. 

John Andreoli, Taylor Davis, Matt Murton, Arismendy Alcantara, Logan Watkins and David Bote had the hits. 

The I-Cubs have a couple of excellent hitting catchers on the roster in Contreras and Taylor Davis. Davis is 26 years old and was drafted all the way back in 2008. I don't know a lot about the guy, but looking at his numbers, he's a pretty good hitter. In only 60 PA at Iowa he's hitting .340/.417/.415 (.384 wOBA, 132 wRC+). He had 63 PA at AA this season and he hit .339/.365/.429 (.361, 124). Last year at AAA in 282 PA he hit .309/.361/.444 (.361, 116). In 78 PA at AA in 2015 he had a 178 wRC+. The year before at AA in 152 PA he had a 143 wRC+. The guy can hit. That's not a bad problem to have for this team as David Ross will be retiring. I have no idea how good a defensive catcher Davis is, but maybe next year's backup will come from within. Maybe it will be Miguel Montero? Could go either way. 

Jake Buchanan got the start for the Cubs and he lasted only 5 innings. He gave up 9 hits, walked a batter and 3 of the 6 runs scored were earned. he struckout 4 and allowed a home run. Armando Rivero threw 2 innings of 1-hit baseball, striking out 4. Giovanni Soto threw 2 innings and allowed 3 hits and 3 runs. 

Tennessee Smokies 2, Chattanooga Lookouts 6

Chesny Young was 1-4 with a double. Jeimer Candelario was 2-4 with a couple of doubles and a strikeout. Jacob Hannemann, Mark Zagunis and Victor Caratini each added a hit and that was it for the Smokies offense. 

Billy McKinney continues to struggle. He was 0-3 with a strikeout. Last season when he was promoted to AA, he picked up 308 PA over 77 games. He wasn't great, but for a 20-year old in AA, he kind of was. He hit .285/.346/.420 with a .354 wOBA and 116 wRC+. So far in 40 games and 161 PA this season he's hitting only .234/.342/.277 with a .304 wOBA and 86 wRC+. That's not terrible and there's some reason to be optimistic. 

His walk rate dropped from 13.6% in High A last year to 8.8% at AA. The 13.6% was a career high and probably would have come down had he stayed at that level. He was at 11-12% the year before, but only 8% in his debut season (only 18 years old at the time so that's pretty good). Anyway, it's back up to 13% this year so that's promising. He had lowered his strikeout  rate last year when he was at High A, but now it's back up to his career levels around 18%. That's not bad. The next thing I notice when looking at the numbers that gives reason to be even more optimistic, his BABIP is only .294 and it's been about .330-360 in his career. It probably would be closer to .300 at the MLB level, but in the minors I wonder if we might see that increase in the next couple months. On the negative side, his ISO is down to .044 (almost 100 points lower than last year at AA and 160 points lower than 2015 High A). It's easily the lowest of his career. He's had ony 5 extra base hits (4 doubles and a triple). 

Stephen Perakslis threw only 4 innings, allowed 3 hits and runs, walked nobody and struckout 3. Jose Rosario gave up 3 hits and 2 runs in 2 innings of work. David Garner finished the game and threw 2 innings, allowed 2 hits anda  run. He walked 2 and struckout 1. 

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 6, Carolina Muscats 2

Gleyber Torres had a big night. He was 3-5 with a home run (5). Trey Martin and Charcer Burks each had 2 hits. Martin was 2-4 with a double and two driven in. Burks was 2-3 with a home run. Ian Happ, Yasiel Balaguert and Jason Vosler each added a hit. Happ was 1-4 with a walk and a strikeout. 

Torres got off to a really slow start. Through April he had hit only .179/.289/.308. He had 1 home run. So far this month he's hit .322/.358/.544 with 4 home runs. His wRC+ on the season is already better than average despite the horrible April. I expect his overall numbers will come up a bit and we're not going to be talking about how the team's top prospect took a hit this season. 

Erick Leal had a realy good start and improved to 6-2. He threw 7 innings, allowed 5 hits and 2 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 5. Leal has really good control in his career, but a very low strikeout rate. It's really rather disappointing how many low strikeout pitchers this organization has. Absurdly low strikeout rates. 

Jordan Minch picked up his first save of the season. James Pugliese pitched the 8th and allowed 3 hits without allowing a run. 

Great Lakes Loons 5, South Bend Cubs 10

The Cubs had 10 runs on 12 hits and they added 3 walks so a lot of good games here. Only two in the lineup didn't have a hit. The leadoff hitter, Andrew Ely (2B), went 0-3 with 2 walks, a strikeout and 2 runs scored. The 9th hitter, Bryant Flete, was 0-4 with a strikeout. 

Eloy Jimenez and Tyler Alamo each had hits. Jimenez doubled, struckout, was hit by a pitch and drove in a run. 

Daniel Spingola went 2-5 and so did Donnie Dewees. Eddy Martinez went 2-3 with a walk and both Jesse Hodges and Ian Rice were 2-4. Rice hit a home run, his first of the season. 

Kyle Twomey pitched 5 innings, allowed 5 hits and 5 walks and 4 runs. He struckout 6 and allowed 2 home runs. 

Cubs trade Tony Campana to Arizona

Don't forget to check out the OV Bunt Tournament Contest if you haven't already entered.

Cincinnati Reds v Chicago CubsThe Cubs and Diamondbacks completed a trade that sends recently DFA'd Tony Campana to Arizona while the Cubs acquire two 17-year old pitching prospects.

The Cubs dealt popular speedster Tony Campana to the Diamondbacks for a pair of 17-year-old Venezuelan right-handed pitchers: Erick Leal and Jesus Castillo.

Campana, 26, led the Cubs with 30 stolen bases last season, but he didn't get on base consistently enough to utilize his speed. He was designated for assignment on Feb. 10. In 89 games last season, Campana batted .264 with a .308 on-base percentage.

"It's difficult to lose Tony from the organization," Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said. "Great person, he's a fantastic base stealer and a guy we really enjoyed getting to know. But ultimately you can only protect 40 guys on the roster, and he got caught up in the roster crunch. We have a little bit of depth in the outfield and less depth in pitching, and given that, it led us to designate Tony for assignment."

Leal could play in the U.S. this year, but Castillo will likely stay in the Dominican Republic and play in the Dominican Summer League. Leal was 6-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 14 appearances for the DSL last season, striking out 70 over 70 innings. Castillo was 2-4 with a 5.40 ERA in 14 appearances in the DSL.

Impossible to know much about these guys based on their numbers at that age, but the fact the Cubs got something younger than 24 or 25 is kind of impressive.

From Ben Badler and John Manuel of Baseball America:

Castillo was Arizona's most expensive international amateur signing in 2011, when he signed for $250,000 from Oswaldo Camacho's program on Aug. 27, his 16th birthday. With his August birthday, he was one of the youngest signings in 2011 and pitched the entire Dominican Summer League season at age 16. Castillo is from Valencia but has also lived in Spain. He used to play soccer as well and his athleticism is evident in his smooth delivery, which he repeats well for his age. He has a long, loose arm stroke, a long stride and gets good extension out front. He signed throwing in the mid-80s with a lanky build, but he now touches the low-90s and has a good changeup for his age, although his breaking ball is still a work in progress. Castillo did post a 5.40 ERA last year, but if he were born a week later, he wouldn't have even been eligible to sign until July 2, 2012, so he's an intriguing arm for the Cubs to take a flier on.