jeimer candelario – Page 2

Cubs Minor League Update (5.30.16)

Willson Contreras and Albert Almora got the day off, but the Iowa Cubs came back late anyway. John Andreoli led off and went 2-4 with a run scored and 2 strikeouts. Matt Murton was 3-4 with an RBI and 2 runs scored. Arismendy Alcantara was 1-3 with an RBI and strikeout.

Rob Zastryzny threw 5 innings, allowed 6 hits, 3 runs, a walk and a home run while striking out 4. Brandon Gomes threw 2 innings, struckout 3 and walked a batter. Gerardo Concepcion got the win. He pitched 2 innings, gave up 2 hits and a run while striking out 2.

Tennessee Smokies 5, Chattanooga Lookouts 1

Jacob Hanneman was 2-5 with a run scored. Mark Zagunis was 3-4 with 2 RBI, a walk and a run scored. Bijan Radenmacher was just 1-4, but he added a walk and a home run. Cael Brockmeyer was also 1-4 with a home run. Jeimer Candelario was 2-5.

Brad Markey threw 6 innings, allowed only 2 hits, walked 3, surrendered 1 run and struckout 1. Markey is off to a 5-1 start with a 2.52 ERA, but slow down. He's 24 years old, his strikeout rate is 4.2 per 9 and he's walked 3.5 per 9. He's had really good control in his career (it was under 1 last year at High A in 55 innings). His strikeout rates have been a bit higher, but nothing spectacular. Due to his weak strikeout and walk rates, and the fact that he's allowed 8 home runs already, his FIP is 5.57.

Juan Paniagua walked 2 and struckout 3 in his scoreless inning.

Wilmington Blue Rocks 3, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1 (Game 1, 10 innings)

The Pelicans only had 5 hits and a run so this will be easy. Jeffry Baez was 2-4 and the following players each had hits: Rashad Crawford (1-5, 2K), Gleyber Torres (1-4, K) and Ian Happ (1-4, BB, R, 2K).

Zach Hedges threw innings, allowed only a hit and an unearned run. He walked 1 and struckout 3. James Farris threw 3 innings, allowed 4 hits, 2 runs, walked a batter and struckout a batter.

Wilmington Blue Rocks 8, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4 (Game 2)

Gleyber Torres was 1-4 with a strikeout and Ian Happ was 2-3 with a walk.

Happ doesn't turn 22 until August 12th and the switch hitter is off to a good start in his career. He was the Cubs first round pick a year ago (9th overall). In 49 games so far this year, he's hitting .287/.403/.448 with a .394 wOBA and 146 wRC+. He's walked in 16.1% of his plate appearances and struckout in 25.1% of them. He's hit 5 home runs, has 6 stolen bases and his ISO is .161. I expect he'll hit for some more power as the season and his career moves along. That walk rate is fantastic.

Jonathan Martinez threw 5 innings, allowed 8 hits and 5 runs on 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Tommy Thorpe pitched 2 innings, gave up 2 hits and 3 runs. He walked 2, struckout no one and gave up a home run.

Lansing Lugnuts 0, South Bend Cubs 1

This one was scoreless until Eloy Jimenez hit a walk off home run in the 9th. The only players with hits were Andrew Ely (1-3, BB), Daniel Spingola (1-4, K), and Eloy Jimenez (1-4, HR).

Carson Sands threw 6 innings, allowed just 2 hits, walked 4 and struckout 5. Craig Brooks (2 IP) and Scott Effross (1 IP) finished the game and combined with Sands for a 3-hit shutout.

Cubs Minor League Update (5.27.16)

El Paso Chihuahuas 6, Iowa Cubs 3

Willson Contreras didn't have the best night at the plate, but still managed to go 1-6 with a double. He struckout twice. Dan Vogelbach was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Juan Perez got the start in CF and went 2-4 with a walk. Albert Almora shifted to LF and was 1-5. Perez is 29 years old so the only reason I can think of why Almora would be in LF is to get him familiar with the position in case he gets called up to MLB.

Alex Sanabia got the start for Iowa and lasted 5.2 innings. He allowed 4 hits and he walked a batter. He gave up 2 runs on solo shots and struckout 4.

Gerardo Concepcion gave up his first run in AAA this year. He pitched an inning, allowed a couple of hits, walked a batters and gave up 1 run. He struckout a batter. He's thrown only 7.2 innings at Iowa. He's given up 4 hits and a run. He's walked 4 batters and struckout 6. At Tennessee this season he threw 17.2 innings, allowed just 5 hits and 4 walks (one intentional). He gave up no runs and struckout 17.

C.J. Edwards pitched 2 innings, allowed a hit and struck a batter out. Brandon Gomes pitched 1.2 innings, gave up a hit, 4 walks and 3 runs.

Tennessee Smokies 7, Chattanooga Lookouts 6

Chesny Young just keeps hitting. He ws 2-5 with a strikeout. The Smokies had 14 hits on the night and several players with multi-hit games. Mark Zagunis was 2-5 with 2 doubles and a strikeout. Jeimer Candelario was only 1-4, but he got on base twice thanks to a walk. Billy McKinney was 2-4, Victor Caratini was 2-3 with a double and a walk and David Freitas was 3-4 with a triple, home run and 4 RBI.

Duane Underwood Jr. got the start and he lasted only 4 innings. He gave up 7 hits and 2 walks. eh gave up 3 runs, a home run and struckout 3. Underwood is the 4th ranked prospects in the Cubs organization by mlb.com and 72nd overall. Both rankings seem a little high to me, but he is young. He'll turn 22 on July 20 so this is his age 22 season. His strikeout rate has always concerned me and it's pretty low in 2016 too. Prior to last night's game he was striking out just over 6 and walking just under 5. I expect the walks to decline, but I also expect the strikeouts will. That's not a good sign. To his credit, he was very difficult to hit last year at High A. He allowed only 52 hits in 73.1 innings. He's allowed 30 in 26 so far this year. He's walked 14 and struckout 18. Here's his scouting report from mlb.com:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 65 | Curveball: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 55

Though he flashed a 98-mph fastball and overpowering curveball as a high school senior, Underwood fell to the second round of the 2012 Draft because he lacked consistency. He had only sporadic success in his first two pro seasons after signing for $1.05 million, but began to take off in 2014 after dedicating himself to improved conditioning. He continued to progress in 2015, emerging as the Cubs' top pitching prospect despite missing two months with elbow inflammation.

Underwood's fastball is notable for both its 92-96 mph velocity and its late life, which makes it difficult to square up for hitters. Both his curveball and changeup show signs of becoming plus pitches but neither is fully reliable yet. Getting in better shape has helped his control, as he has cut his walk rate from 4.7 per nine innings in his first two years as a pro to 3.0 in his next two.

Underwood doesn't miss as many bats as his stuff indicates he should, demonstrating his need to get more consistent with his secondary pitches and his command. If he can do that, he'll reach his ceiling as a No. 2 starter.

Juan Paniagua continues his very good season with 2 innings and no runs allowed. He gave up 2 hits and struck a batter out. Corey Black picked up his 6th save of the season, but he gave up a hit, 2 runs and 2 walks in an inning of work.

Myrtle Beach Pelicans 2, Carolina Muscats 10

The Pelicans scored their 2 runs on a total of 4 hits, though they did walk 5 times. They also struckout 10 times. A lot of guys with no hits in the lineup, including Gleyber Torres and Ian Happ. Happ was 0-2 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts. Happ was also caught try to steal a base. Jason Vosler had the best night at the plate going 2-4 with a double that drove in both of the team's runs. That was Vosler's 11th double of the year.

Vosler was drafted in the 16th round of the 2014 draft. He's a guy who doesn't have a ton of power, but last year afte rhis promotion to High A, he did manage to hit 6 home runs in 157 plate appearances. His ISO was .197, though it appears to be out of line with the rest of his stops. He had a 149 wRC+ as a 21 year old 3rd baseman in High A. That's pretty good. That's even better if we ignore the two stops before High. They weren't bad. His debut season in 2014, he hit .266/.361/.372 with a .351 wOBA and 111 wRC+ in Low A. He had 109 PA that year. He hit only 1 home run and had an ISO of .106. His walk rate was 11% and he struckout only 14.7% of the time. He had an 82 wRC+ over 276 PA last season in A ball before his promotion. This season he's had 176 PA, hit a home run, walked in 9.7% of his PA and struckout in only 11.4% of them. His ISO is .113 and he's hitting .285/.364/.397 (.354, 118 wRC+).

Jeremy Null allowed 10 hits, a walk and 5 runs in 5.2 innings. He struckout 1. Daniel Lewis allowed 4 hits, a walk and 5 runs in only an inning. That was the 25-year old Lewis's first outing of the season.

Dillon Maples is still pitching. He threw an inning, walked 2 and nobody scored. he struckout no one. Maples was picked in the 14th round of the 2011 draft, but that's quite misleading. He had first round potential, but was committed to go to college. The Cubs spent a ton of money on the draft in Jim Hendry's last season and Maples got a very nice signing bonus and signed with the Cubs. He had a ton of potential, but could never stay healthy.

Great Lakes Loons 9, South Bend Cubs 4

Shortstop Bryant Flete was the only player in the lineup with multiple hits. He was 2-3 with a walk. The Cubs had 5 doubles in the game. P.J. Higgins was 1-3 with a double and 2 walks. Eloy Jimenez was 1-3 with a double, 2 RBI and a walk, Eddy Martinez was 1-4 with a double and Ian Rice was 1-4 with a double.

Adbert Alzolay threw 5 innings, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. He walked a batter, struckout 4 and gave up 2 home runs. That was Alzolay's first loss of the season. Alzolay just turned 21 years old and prior to last night's start he had thrown 39.1 innings, allowed only 26 hits and 10 walks. He'd given up just 1 one run and had struckout 20 batters. He's had a very low strikeout rate, which is an organizational flaw at this point. To be fair though, it was 8.32 per 9 last year so maybe it will improve.

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 Minor League Update (5.24.16)

El Paso Chihuahuas 6, Iowa Cubs 1

The I-Cubs had 9 hits and only a run. The run was the result of a Willson Contreras home run, his fourth. Contreras was 1-3 with that home run and also a walk and 2 strikeouts. The only other notable offensive performance was Arismendy Alcantara who was 2-3 with a couple of singles.

There’s been a lot of complaining about why Tim Federowicz is still on the Cubs roster and why Neil Ramirez was DFA’d. I’d a curious move even if one things Contreras isn’t ready for MLB. The only thing I might offer is that it’s unlikely Contreras would play much at the MLB level so giving him regular playing time is more important. That still doesn’t explain why they’d prefer to lose a potentially valuable reliever just to keep a third catcher on the roster. Unless the Cubs are worried about Miguel Montero‘s health. That’s really the only explanation that makes sense there.

Arismendy Alcantara made the big league team in 2015 out of spring training, but wasn’t around for long. He was pretty terrible and was sent down. He was then terrible at Iowa all season long and while he’s been better this season, he still hasn’t been very good. He’s hitting only .241/.307/.423 with a .326 wOBA and 95 wRC+.

Stephen Fife got the start and threw 4 innings and allowed 2 hits and no runs. He walked none and struckout 5. C.J. Edwards Jr. pitched the 9th and walked a batter while striking out the side.

Edwards has been pretty good so far. Not including last night, he’s thrown 15.1 innings, and struckout nearly 13 batters per 9. He’s also walked almost 5 (4.7). His ERA is 2.35 and his FIP is 2.41. He can strike a lot of batters out, but he’s going to give up a lot of free passes.

Biloxi Shuckers 2, Tennessee Smokies 3

Chesny Young keeps hitting. He was 3-6 with a double. If Alcantara continues to struggle, it won’t be long before Young replaces him in Iowa. It may not be long no matter what.

Jeimer Candelario was 3-6 with an RBI and Billy McKinney was 2-6 with an RBI and strikeout. Carlos Penalver was 3-5 with a couple of strikeouts.

Penalver is a 22 year old shortstop who hasn’t done much with the bat this year or in the past. So far this season he’s hitting .221/.290/.307 with a .282 wOBA and 72 wRC+. He had a 61 wRC+ last season in High A and a 55 wRC+ the season before that in A ball. He’s had only two decent stops along the way. The first was the very first action he saw as a professional in rookie league back in 2011. He hit .272/.364/.341 with a wOBA of .358 and a 112 wRC+. In 2013 he he hit .261/.338/.359 (.338 wOBA, 108 wRC+).

Brad Markey threw 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs. He struckout 4 and allowed 1 home run. Starling Peralta threw 3 innings of shutout ball and struckout 2.

A few years ago a lot of prospects liked what they saw out of then starting pitcher Starling Peralta. Even in rookie league in 2010 Peralta showed good command. He walked fewer than 3 per 9 (2.77) and struckout 8.54 per 9. In short-season rookie league he followed that up with 2.25 BB/9 and 9.64 K/9. That was a combined 15 starts for an 18 year old. Then in 2011 in A ball his strikeout rate dropped considerably and by 2013 he was in the bullpen. He didn’t take to it right away and still doesn’t strike many batters out. Last season in 54.1 innings, he somehow managed to find a way to strikeout only 4.31 batters per 9. It really doesn’t matter how many batters he walked. That’s not good enough. This year so far it’s 6.23 so there’s that.

Lynchburg Hillcats 1, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3

Rashad Crawford went 2-4 with a home run and a triple. He drove in 2 and struckout once. Ian Happ was 1-3 with two strikeouts. The Pelicans had only two other hits. Cael Brockmeyer and Shawon Dunston Jr. were both 1-3 with a double.

Crawford was picked in the 11th round (344 overall) of the 2012 draft. He’s currently 22 years old and plays CF. He was a well below average hitter prior to 2015. He had a wRC+ of 58, 70 and 87 in 2012, 2013 and 2014. At South Bend in 2015 he started to put up some respectable numbers. He hit .280/.322/.382 with a wOBA of .328 and wRC+ of 105. He walked in only 5.1% of his plate appearances, but had shown the ability to walk earlier in his career. His strikeout rate was rather high at 23%. This year he’s hitting .259/.370/.417 with a wOBA of .369 and wRC+ of 127. He’s walked in 14% of his PA and struckout in 21.7%. His ISO is up to .157. It remains to be seen if he can maintain that level of patience, but if he can, he could be a solid addition to an already deep pool of talent in CF.

Zach Hodges threw 7 innings, allowed 5 hits and a run. He walked 1, struckout 3 and allowed a home run. Hedges was a 26th round pick in 2014 and is 23 years old. He had a brief, but impressive debut season in 2014 in rookie league. In 19.2 innings he struckout nearly 30% of the batters he faced and walked only 2.5% of them. In 23 starts last year and 132 innings, his strikeout rate wasn’t even half of that 28.4%. It was only 14.1% or 5.45 per 9. This year for the Pelicans he’s thrown 39.2 innings and struckout 6.81 per 9 and walked 2.5. His ERA is 2.95 and his FIP is 3.30.

South Bend Cubs 6, Lake County Captains 3

Eloy Jimenez had a fantastic game again. He was 3-4 with a double and a walk. If you care about such things, he also drove in a run. Andrew Ely led off for the Cubs and played 2nd base. He was 2-4 with a double and a walk. P.J. Higgins was 2-3 with a double and two walks.

I talked about two of these players yesterday so I’ll write a bit about Ely today. Ely was drafted in the 32nd round of the 2014 draft. He’s already 23 years old so that’s a little old for the league he’s in. He began the year at South Bend and in 42 games (162 PA), he struggled a lot. He hit only .196/.235/.294 with a wOBA of what the fuck and a wRC+ of are you kidding me? He was sent back down to short season A level when their season began and he hit really well. He had a 134 wRC+, but at 22 years old then it’s tough to take those numbers too seriously. Back at South Bend he’s doing very well this year: .313/.375/.420 (.376 wOBA, 140 wRC+).

Carson Sands got his 5th win of the season against no losses. He threw 7 innings, allowed 5 hits and 3 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 3. Sands was a 4th round pick in 2014 (109th overall) and signed for $1.1 million. The Cubs spent way over slot on this one. Unfortunately, he’s another one of the Cubs starting pitchers who just can’t strike anybody out. After his initial 19 inning debut in which he struckout over a batter per inning, he’s really struggled with striking batters out. It was 6.44 per 9 last year in 57.1 innings and this season at South Bend it’s 5.04 per 9 against a 3.86 walk rate. His ERA and FIP have been good, but that kind of strikeout rate just isn’t going to work as a starting pitcher at the MLB level. He’s young enough that we can still see some improvement here, but we need to see a lot of improvement.

I think the type of amateur hitter the front office has targeted has been really good, but I’m not so sure about the pitchers. I know they’ve spent more heavily on the position player side so we shouldn’t expect to see a balance there, but the Cubs just don’t have any top of the rotation candidates in my opinion. That’s troubling.

Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-16-14

Guy insulted me once, I pissed in his gas tank, car never drove straight again.

Iowa Cubs

Alright, Matt Szczur was 0-4. I’m tired of writing of that so unless otherwise noted, Matt Szczur was 0-4. Arismendy Alcantara said he was tired of not hitting and hit. He was 3-5 with a double and triple. He scored twice, drove in 2 and struck out once. Chris Coghlan was 2-4 with a double and so was Josh Vitters, except Vitters had 2 doubles. Lars Anderson was 1-4 and let’s get another straight, anytime Lars Anderson does anything of importance, I will say so, because the guy’s name is Lars.

Kyle Hendricks had a great start. HE gave up 3 runs and 5 hits, but he struck out 9 and walked only 1. Marcos Mateo is still alive and he allowed a hit in his inning of work. Brian Schlitter was made fun of a lot of school, but he’s gotten passed it now. He pitched the 9th and allowed 2 hits and struck a batter out.

Tennessee Smokies

John Andreoli was 1-4 and he drove in 3 runs. Stephen Bruno was 2-4 and Rubi Silva 1-4. Kris Bryant was 1-2 with a double, walk and hit by pitch. Jae-Hoon Ha was 1-4 and Rafael Lopez was 1-2 with a couple of walks.

Jake Arrieta threw 5.2 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run. He only struck out 2 and he walked one. Presumably, he’ll be promoted to AAA Iowa soon. P.J. Francescon threw 2 innings, allowed a hit and struck out 4. Jeff Lorrick threw all 1s. 1.1 IP. 1 hit, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.

Daytona Cubs

The Cubs didn’t do much offensively. They managed only 1 run on 6 hits. Pin-Chieh Chen was 1-3 with a double and walk. Bijan Radenmacher and Dan Vogelbach were each 1-3 with walks. Jeimer Candelario was 1-4 and Marco Hernandez was 2-3 with a walk.

Taylor Scott did not pitch well in his 4.2 innings. He allowed 6 hits, 4 runs, walked 2 and struck a batter out. Michael Jensen threw 1.1 innings and struck a batter out. Austin Reed struck out 2 in 2 innings and allowed a hit and unearned run.

Kane County Cougars

The Cougars had 9 hits and every batter in the lineup had 1. Jacob Hanneman was 1-3 with a double and walk. He also struck out. He stole 2 more bases and already has 7 on the season. Carlos Penalver was 1-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Ben Carhart was 1-5. The rest were 1-4

Tyler Skulina threw 5 innings, allowed 4 hits and 2 runs. He walked 2 ands truck out 4. Gerardo Concepcion blew a save and actually pitched well. He threw 2.1 innings, allowed no hits and no runs and struck a batter out. Tyler Bremer picked up the win with 1.2 innings of work. He allowed a hit and a walk and struck out 2.

Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-15-14

I’ve not done these for several days and the reason is not important.

Iowa Cubs

Matt Szczur, Arismendy Alcantara and Josh Vitters were a combined 0-12 at the top of the I-Cubs batting order. Chris Coghlan was 1-3 with a walk and Chris Valaika was 2-3 with a double. Logan Watkins and Eli Whiteside each added hits.

Carlos Pimentel got the start and that’s about all that’s worthy of saying about his performance. He gave up 7 runs in 5 innings. He also walked 5 and struck out 5. Yoanner Negrin threw 3.1 innings and allowed 5 hits and a run. Marcus Hatley pitched the final 0.2 innings and struck both batters out.

Tennessee Smokies (Postponed)

Daytona Cubs

Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-4 with an RBI and Tim Saunders had a big day going 3-4 with a couple of doubles. Nither Jeimer Candelario or Dan Vogelbach did anything to help their slow starts. Each was 0-4 and Candelario struck out 3 times. Rock Shoulders was 2-4 with a double and home run. Bijan Radenmacher and Willson Two L’s Contreras was 1-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jose Rosario must have seen what Carlos Pimentel did and tried to one-up him. He threw 4.1 innings, allowed 7 hits and 8 runs. He only walked 2 and struck out 6. Oh, wait, that’s 6 walks and 2 strikeouts. Starling Peralta threw 2.2 innings and didn’t allow any hits and he struck out 3. Stephen Perakslis pitched the final inning and gave up 2 hits and 2 runs.

Kane County Cougars Game 1

The Cougars had only 1 run on 4 hits, but it was 1 more run than Bowling Green and 3 more hits so that’s good. Jacob Hanneman, Carlos Penalver (double), Ben Carhart and Trey Martin were the only players with hits. Yasiel Balaguert, David Bote and Will Remillard walked once each.

Paul Blackburn has recovered nicely from his terrible first start of the season. He threw 6 innings last night and allowed just one hit and he walked one. He struck out 6. On the season he’s struck out 13 and walked 3 in 15 innings.

Jose Arias got the save in the 7th inning and it was an impressive one. He struck out 4 batters.

Kane County Cougars Game 2

The Cougars won 2-0 and had only 2 hits. Ben Carhart (double) and Yasiel Balaguert were the only Cougars with hits. Jacob Hannemann, Carhart and Jacob Rogers each walked.

The team walked 3 times in the 7 inning game and had only 2 hits. You’d think they’d have struck out a lot, but they did not. They struck out only one time (Jacob Rogers).

Jen-Ho Tseng allowed 6 hits and no runs in 5.1 innings. He walked none and struck out 6. Zack Godley threw the final 1.2 innings and allowed a hit and struck out 4.

Minor League Recap 4-10-14

Three of the Cubs four minor league games got underway this afternoon while Daytona played tonight.

Iowa Cubs

Matt Szczur was 2-4 with a strikeout and run scored. Arismendy Alcantara doubled and had 2 hits in 4 plate appearances. Javier Baez isn’t getting a lot of hits, but he hit his 2nd home run of the season and was 1-4 with a strikeout. Josh Vitters showed he can be patient and walked twice. He was also 1-2 with 2 runs scored. Chris Valaika was also 2-4 with a double.

Kyle Hendricks rebounded after his poor outing last week. He threw 7 strong innings and allowed 5 hits and a run. He walked 1 and struck out 5. Neil Ramirez also didn’t suck in his inning. He gave up a hit and struck a batter out. Blake Parker pitched the 9th and struck out 2 while allowing 1 hit.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies got beat on a 9th inning run by the Lookouts. It was the only run of the game. The Smokies had only 4 hits so this will be easy.

Zeke DeVoss was 1-4 with 2 strikeouts. Stephen Bruno was 1-3 with a double and a walk. Dustin Geiger was also 1-3 with a walk. Wes Darvill had the only other hit (1-4, strikeout).

Jake Arrieta is making his way back to the majors and got a rehab start in. He threw 3.2 innings, allowed 3 hits and no runs. He walked 2 and struck out 4. Lendy Castillo walked a batter and retired a batter. Good outing for him. Dae-Eun Rhee who was highly thought of a couple years ago threw 4.2 innings, allowed 4 hits, a walk and a run. He struck out 3. Tony Zych finished the game and allowed a hit in a third of an inning.

Daytona Cubs

The Cubs got killed. The game was over early and Dunedin went on to win 12-2. Pin-Chieh Chen was 1-4 with a strikeout. He’s off to a good start so far this year and even played some 2nd base tonight. Tim Saunders was 1-4 with an RBI and strikeout. Albert Almora and Dan Vogelbach were each 0-4 while Jeimer Candelario was 1-4. The hot hitter for the night was Bijan Randenmacher who went 3-3 with a BB and run scored. Oliver Zapata was 1-3 with a walk, RBI and run scored.

Taylor Scott had a night to forget. He threw only 3 innings and somehow gave up 11 hits and 3 walks. When you allow nearly 5 base runners per inning, you’re probably going to have a bad night. Scott gave up 8 runs and while only 4 were earned, it’s not like he can point to bad defense. Scott got lit up.

Austin Kirk threw 3.1 and gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. He walked a batter and struck out 2. Austin Reed tried to top Taylor Scott in his 1.2 innings. He gave up 4 hits and walked 2. He allowed 2 runs and struck a batter out. The only decent pitcher on the night was a guy on injury rehab: Arodys Vizcaino. He threw an inning and walked a batter and struck one out.

Kane County Cougars

Danny Lockhart and Carlos Penalver set the table for the Cougars. Each collected 2 hits in 5 AB in the 1-2 slots in the lineup. Lockhart scored twice and struck out while Penalver doubled and scored 3 times.

Yasiel Balaguert was 1-4 with 3 RBI and a walk. Jacob Rogers and Daniel Canela were each 1-5. David Bote was 1-3 with a double, walk and a strikeout. Trey Martin was 1-3 with a run, RBI and walk

Tyler Skulina threw 5.2 innings, gave up 6 hits and 5 runs while walking 1 and striking out 6. Justin Amlung threw 2.1, allowed a hit and a walk while striking out 1 and Tyler Bremer finished the 9th and gave up 2 hits and struck a batter out.

Minor League Recap: 4-9-14

Iowa Cubs

Matt Szczur is off to a slow start with another 0-5 night and he struck out 3 times. Arismendy Alcantara was 1-3 with a walk and Javier Baez was 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. Josh Vitters hit his 2nd home run of the season and was 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Brett Jackson hit a home run and went 1-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Carlos Pimentel had a great start. He threw 6 innings, allowed just 3 hits and a run (a home run). He walked 1 and struck out 10. Zac Rosscup struck out 4 in 2 innings and Marcus Hatley struck out 2 in the 9th.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies only had 7 hits and scored runs despite 4 errors by the Lookouts. They scored 3 times and that was enough to win. Stephen Bruno was 2-4 with a strikeout and Rafael Lopez also had 2 hits. He was 2-3 with a walk and a double. Rubi Silva went 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Kris Bryant and Dustin Geiger were each 1-4. Geiger struck out once. Bryant had a fielding error.

C.J. Edwards got the start and threw 5.2 innings of one run ball. He did allow 9 base runners through. He walked 4 and gave up 5 hits. P.J. Francescon got the win in 1.1 innings of no-hit, no-run ball. He struck out 2. Jeff Lorick got the all important hold in .2 innings and Aramando Rivera picked up the save with a clean 1.1 innings. He struck out 3.

Daytona Cubs (game 1)

It was apparently a beautiful day for two in Daytona. For those who can’t remember, minor league double-headers are 7 innings.

The offense did next to nothing. Pin-Chieh Chen was 1-3 and continued his hot start. He did strikeout. Albert Almora is also off to a hot start and went 2-3 with 2 doubles. The only other hit went to the number 9 batter Marco Hernandez who was 1-3.

Felix Pena took a loss though it was no fault of his own. He threw 6 great inning, walking no one and allowing just 5 hits and a run. He struck out 5. Michael Jensen gave up 2 hits and struck a batter out in an inning of work

Daytona Cubs (game 2)

The Cubs only had 5 hits, but they scored 4 runs. Pin-Chieh Chen was 1-2 with a double and a walk. Albert Almora, Dan Vogelbach, Jeimer Candelario and Marco Hernandez were each 1-3. Vogelbach’s hit was a home run.

Gioskar Amaya, Marco Hernandez (2) and Jeimer Candelario each had errors.

Jose Rosario allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in 5 innings while walking 3 and striking out 4.

Starlin Peralta shit the bed in a third of an inning. He gave up a bunch of hits, too many runs and struck a batter out. Andrew McKirahan threw 1.2 innings and gave up 2 hits and struck out 3.

Kane County Cougars

Only the 9th hitter, Carlos Penalver, did not get a base hit in this game, but they all had one each. So I’ll name a few I haven’t mentioned yet, or don’t think I have anyway. Jacob Rogers was 1-4 with a home run. David Bot was 1-2 with a double. Jordan Hankins was 1-4.

Paul Blackburn allowed 2 hits and walked 2 over 5 innings. He gave up a home run and 2 runs overall while striking out 4. James Pugliese threw 2.1 innings, allowed 2 hits and gave up a run. He struck out 2 and walked 2. Nathan Dorris threw .2 innings and did nothing remarkable. Jose Arias blew the save, his second already this season, but he had no help from his defense. He gave up 3 hits in 2 innings and allowed 4 runs, only one of which was earned.

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

No surprises on this list. Now, we have 5 rankings of at least some quality (the mlb.com and FG rankings probably barely qualify here). 14 people were vote-getters for a top 10 list (Sickels went 20 deep, but I ignored 11-20). If a player wasn't mentioned in a list, I gave them No. 11 for average purposes. Here's the list:

	BP	Fangraphs	BA	Sickels	mlb.com	Average
Baez	1	1	1	1	1	1
Bryant	2	2	2	2	4	2.4
Almora	3	3	4	3	2	3
Soler	4	4	5	4	3	4
Edwards	5	7	3	5	11	6.2
Alcantara	6	5	7	6	8	6.4
Johnson	7	6	6	7	7	6.6
Vogelbach	8	8	9	9	10	8.8
Vizcaino	11	9	10	11	6	9.4
Candelario	10	11	8	8	11	9.6
Olt	11	11	11	11	5	9.8
Villanueva	9	11	11	10	11	10.4
Szczur	11	11	11	11	9	10.6
Hendricks	11	10	11	11	11	10.8

I'm going to make a list, probably today, and write it up as well. I'll be using the system that Uncle Dave and dmick created, because I think it's really, really good.

Thoughts? Can you believe that someone put Matt Szczur on their Top 10 list?

Minor League Roundtable Part 2: Breakouts and Busts

Part 2 of our Roundtable series discussing all sorts of things relevant to the Cubs Minor League system. Let's get into it, shall we?

Myles: Who do you guys think could breakout next year? I think there's a slam-dunk answer to breakout candidates, but I have a few I'd like to talk about. The one I'm most confident about is Shawon Dunston, Jr. He's been great when he hasn't been injured, and he's got plate discipline, with enough power to make pitchers worry. He's also a great defender in the outfield. He was well thought-of before injuries derailed him, and I think he'll take a step forward next year.

I also think that when Stephen Bruno comes back next year, he's got a chance to enter the prospect conversation. He had a nice season in 2012 but unfortunately lost essentially all of 2013. He probably isn't more than a supersub, but it's hard to deny a guy that crushed A- to the tune of 172 wRC+ in his first professional year, and was on the way to do the same at A+ until his injury.

My last guy is Paul Blackburn, who has a shot to be the best Cubs pitching prospect at the end of 2014 in my mind. He's still got to fill out, but I don't think he'll have a problem with it (unlike CJ Edwards). When he does fill out, he'll have a nice sinking fastball with good plane and good location. That's a pitch that you can build a MLB career around. Huge walk rates don't faze me in the minors unless it's really obvious something is going wrong.

Dmick: Funny, Shawon Dunston, Jr. was the guy I was going with. He had a great walk rate this year, but it was in a level he should be hitting quite well in. His ISO was disturbingly low, but I think we'll see that improve if he can stay healthy. Honestly though, this is a category that's so hard to pick and the easier topic to discuss is what prospects are likely to fall next season. I can go with any possible breakout. Trey Masek comes to mind. I know I've been low on Jeimer Candelario, but he's another guy who could take a few steps next year.

sitrick: I said so in my review, but I still believe in Gioskar Amaya. I think there was so much crap working against him this season, it was in hindsight a bit premature to be predicting huge things from him in Kane County. He's still got a quick bat, and reports on the defense are positive. I think he has a "putting it together" sort of season and ends 2014 with the Smokies. I think Yasiel Balaguert could find some helium in '14 too.

Dmick: I think Yasiel Balaguert is going to struggle just because I can't ever imagine having to write that name without thinking what the next letter should be. /dumbshit who hasn't taken Spanish since high school.

Myles: I like Jeimer, and not just because he follow me on twitter.

Dmick: Possible breakdowns? CJ Edwards and Kyle Hendricks, I think, are the obvious ones.

Myles: I think Kyle Hendricks is due for some regression, just like Nick Struck was (though hopefully not to that level). Sahadev Sharma says scouts don't think his slider plays in the majors, which he'd need to keep MLB talent off the hittable fastball. I can see that, but I also think Hendricks is an intelligent pitcher who at the very least keeps the ball in the park.

sitrick: Dillon Maples could wash out pretty quick if he doesn't find some success in full-season ball soon. I wouldn't be shocked to see Alcantara take a step back next season. This was a big year for him and he did wear down near the end of it. I think I need to see another year out of Edwards before I make any judgements. I wouldn't be surprised if he imploded, and I wouldn't be surprised if he took a step forward and jumped into the national top 25. I think we'll know more when he gets to a level where we can see pitch counts and really judge if his low innings are because of an innings limit/lack of efficiency or if he's just not capable of putting a 6+ inning start together.

Myles: Maples is probably the hardest prospect to pin down in the organization. He could be a Top 10 guy in the org next year, or be in Indy ball. I'm still an Edwards believer. I know that Parks thinks there's no way he adds weight to his frame, but he also liked his delivery and repeatable motion. When it's said and done, I think Edwards ends up as a very, very nice fireman/closer, which is a nice thing to have. And there's that 1-in-20 chance he adds 15 pounds of good weight, in which case he could be a #2 or #3 (probably #3 type). There's also the 1-in-3 chance his body just says "I can't handle this" and he gets Arodys Vizcaino disease. I'd REALLY like to see him start in person.

Dmick: As I mentioned, the innings limit doesn't make sense to me. He only pitched 47 innings in 2012 and 126.1 this year, but he also pitched in extended spring training in 2012. The innings limit doesn't make sense to me.

sitrick: I have a gut feeling Edwards isn't the most efficient guy in the world, and that more than anything is where his lack of innings comes from. But I want to see the pitch counts and know for sure before I judge.

Oh, here's a bold prediction for you: I think if Josh Vitters stays healthy next year he gets a second look in the majors as a left fielder and surprises some folks. Not a superstar or a Role-6 or anything, but I still think he peaks as an acceptable Role-5 guy if health doesn't continue to be an issue. Call me crazy, but I'm buying in.

Dmick: Ok, I'll do it. You're crazy. (dying laughing) In all seriousness, I can see Vitters get a second look, but I can't see it turning out well. Maybe as a back-up. I don't know.

Myles: No, I like Vitters! I'm worried that he'll never stay healthy again after 2013, but he's STILL going to be just 24 next year. He has as good a chance as any to get some PT in left next year. If he ends up a left-side bench player, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

Who is more likely to breakout for the Cubs next year: Josh Vitters or Brian Bogusevic? Is this even a question?

Dmick: Is there a third option or do I have to pick Vitters or Bogusevic? I'll go with the third option.

sitrick: The swing is so fucking good with VItters, and he's never been successful right off the bat at any full-season level. I just believe he'll look better the second time around in the majors. Not rational, I know.

Myles: "Not rational" is becoming a running theme here.

sitrick: (dying laughing) I know it's mostly coming from me. I'm an optimist, sue me.