Tag: jeimer candelario

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 sent to DoSL as a 17-year old (where he dominated). He was sent to Boise in 2012 (as an 18-year old), where he was quite adequate. In fact, if you combine his 17/18 year old seasons, he had a "full-season" line of 143 G, 615 PA, 11 HR, 100 RBI, 6 SB, .307/.387/.435. That was good enough to earn Jeimer a pretty aggressive promotion to full-season Kane County for 2013.

Performance

Candelario played the whole season at third and at Kane County. On the year, he hit .256/.346/.396, remarkably similar to his .281/.345/.396 mark from last year. His line this year was actually considerably more impressive: his BABIP fell 37 points, but his on-base skills rose (11.9% BB rate), his contact rate went up (15.4% K rate from 17.7%), and his power increased too. When your power and patience both grow and your K rate falls, it's a successful season, basically no matter what. He also hit 35 doubles and homered 11 times, which is pretty impressive power.

Candelario was the 11th youngest player in the league this year (Albert Almora is 8th on this list). If you include players with at least 300 PAs, he's 5th. The other players are Orlando Arcia (an intriguing prospect in the Brewers system who also had a .647 OPS this season), Carlos Correa (the #1 pick in 2012), Dorssys Paulino (another intriguing prospect in the Indians system who also had a .646 OPS this season), and Byron Buxton (the #1 prospect in all of baseball). That's quite the company to be in, honestly.

Scouting

The book on Candelario was that he lacked the body and range to play 3B (where his bat plays just fine), and he might have to move to a corner or 1B (which would make Candelario a much, much less impressive prospect). However, those concerns have more-or-less evaporated. Candelario was thinner this year, with improved range. He's also got a quick bat, which manifests itself in his low K rate. He's also still growing, and his power could end up in the 15-20 bombs a year range. 

Baseball America was bullish on Jeimer last year, listing him as the #8 prospect in the system. He was #15 in Sickels' list (whose main negative was the defense, which improved). Baseball Prospectus doesn't have a lot on him; he didn't make the Top 10, but was one of the Prospects on the Rise. Reports are basically uniformly complimentary of his bat and approach and critical of his defense. If that critique goes away (and my feeling is that it will), Candelario could take a huge step forward next season.

With a 19-year old in full-season ball, you've also got to worry about adjusting to life in the grind, away from home. Whether it's related to his birth in NYC or not (I'm not really sure how long he stayed in America before leaving for the Dominican), he's seemed to adjust to that transition very well. 

Outlook

There's nothing for him left in KC, so I'd imagine he'll play every game next season in Daytona. If his glove can just be adequate at 3rd, there's no reason for him not to start being considered as a potential big-league regular at the position (for the Cubs or elsewhere). 3B is the biggest logjam the Cubs currently have, with Kris Bryant being a potential MVP candidate down the road, Olt being a year away from being untouchable and still having every chance to be a successful 3B, and the suddenly rejuvenated Christian Villanueva all being ahead of him on depth chart if not the prospect list. Call me crazy, though; I'm not at all sure I wouldn't rather have Candelario than even Olt at this point (which speaks both of my feelings about Candelario and Olt, I guess). In an average system, Candelario is the type of prospect that would be 5th-7th in the organization. In the Cubs, he's in the discussion for the 10th spot or so. As bad as the Cubs are in the majors (and they're horrible), the minors are going to be so much fun to watch next year.

2013 Cubs Prospect Reviews

 

2013 Cubs Prospects Review: Marco Hernandez

Corey-BlackMarco Hernandez is 6-0, 170 pounds. He was born September 6, 1992 in the Dominican Republic and currently plays shortstop. The right-hander bats has been known for his defense and is a switch hitter. The Cubs signed Hernandez during the July 2009 international signing period. He was signed on July 17th and was not included in Baseball America's Top 25 international prospects. I can't seem to find for how much his signing bonus was, but a betting man would say "not very much."

Performance

Hernandez signed just a couple months before his 17th before so was unable to come to the US like most international prospects. He didn't arrive in the US until the 2011 season. He played in 51 games in rookie league that year and had an impressive .384 wOBA (120 wRC+) over 233 plate appearances. He only had 2 home runs, but he added 16 doubles and 5 triples. As a result, his was .152.

In 2012 the Cubs moved him to Kane County (A level) at the start of the season and that turned out to be a disaster. Hernandez had only a 53 wRC+ and his strikeout rate jumped from 12.4% in 2011 to over 23%. After 171 awful plate appearances, he was demoted to Boise (A-) and his numbers were about average (104 wRC+), but he showcased a 3.5% walk rate over 283 plate appearances. The organization then moved him back to Kane County at the start of this season.

Hernandez was fairly well thought of entering the season by some scouts. I was always a little concerned. He struck me as the typical player with no power and little ability to get on base that I didn't think his position would end up mattering. This year he didn't prove otherwise.

In 443 plate appearances he hit .254/.287/.338. His wOBA was only .289 and his wRC+ just 75. Darwin Barney might be able to play spectacular enough defense to get by with numbers that bad or worse, but there probably aren't that many.

His walk rate was 3.6% this year and he struckout in 16.3% of his plate appearances. He had just 4 home runs and added only 17 doubles and 3 triples. His ISO, for those who can't subtract AVG from SLG, was .084.

Needless to say, he did not have a good season and has yet to solve the full season league.

Scouting

Hernandez puts the ball in play for the most part, but has struggled with strikeouts so it's something to watch moving forward. He plays above average defense at shortstop and of all the shortstop prospects the Cubs had entering the season, scouts believed he had the best chance to stick permanently. The front office liked Hernandez well enough when they took over that they actually sent him to the full season league at Kane County and put left Javier Baez back at Arizona. Now Baez is tearing up AA and Hernandez just finished a below average season at the same level he began last year.

He lacks plate discipline too, which is of course no good.

Some scouting reports from the experts published prior to the season are below.

18) Marco Hernandez, SS, Grade C+: Defense gets strong reviews and he's got a chance to hit, too. Hernandez/Candelario/Amaya is a hell of an infield for Low-A in '13. – Sickels

It was Hernandez and not 2011 first-round pick Javier Baez who opened last season as Peoria's starting shortstop. Hernandez wasn't ready to make the jump from Rookie-ball to low Class A and didn't get his bat going until he went to Boise in June. While he can't match the tools of Baez or Arismendy Alcantara, Hernandez has no glaring weaknesses and a better chance to stay at shortstop in the long term. A switch-hitter, he has an easy swing from both sides of the plate and more pop as a lefty. His Midwest League performance aside, he makes reliable contact and should have solid gap power once he gets stronger. He'll have to improve his plate discipline and pitch recognition to handle better pitching. Hernandez has above-average speed but still is learning to make the most of it on the bases. He has the actions, quickness and solid arm required at shortstop, but he let the game speed up too much on him defensively in 2012, committing 32 errors in 105 games. He'll be better equipped to handle low Class A when he opens there in 2013. – Baseball America

Hernandez isn’t flashy in the field but he’s reliable and steady. One talent evaluator I spoke with said the Dominican Republic native “presently has a decent chance to stay in the middle infield.” I personally saw the Boise team late in the year during the Northwest League playoffs and expect to be more enamoured with fellow infielder Jeimer Candelario but came away more impressed with Hernandez. – Hulet

Hernandez likely won't be among the Cubs top 25 prospects next year and there's a strong case, in my opinion, that he doesn't belong in the top 30.

Outlook

Hernandez will probably move to High A Daytona, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to leave him at Kane County and hope to see improvement. If he can't improve next year, the Cubs are probably looking at a back-up infielder. Even as a back-up, he's going to have to hit significantly better than he's shown at his highest level so far to even get that chance. We say prospects have a "make or break year" too often, but in Hernandez's case, it is true.

2013 Cubs Prospect Reviews

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 7-24-13

New Orleans Zephyrs 2 @ Iowa Cubs 1 (10 innings)

Boring. Mike Olt was 1-5 with 3 strikeouts, and, well, that'll happen. Josh Vitters, in left, went 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. A Donnie Murphy forceout tied the game in the bottom of the ninth, but Yoanner Negrin's 1 run 10th gave the game back to New Orleans. Brad Nelson had three hits. On the pluls side, Brooks Raley had a nice start.

Tennessee Smokies 6 @ Huntsville Stars 1

Javier Baez now has more HR (6) than singles (5). He went 2-5 with a double and a jack, and struck out twice. Justin Bour, Rubi Silva, and John Andreoli each also doubled. Bour had a home run as well. Rafael Lopez went 1-2 with a HR and two walks, great performance. Arismendy Alcantara continues to be ice-cold, going 0-5. Despite that, Alcantara is still having a very good season for someone his age and level. He has a .364 wOBA, which is good for a 132 wRC+. 

dmick89: Dae-Eun Rhee had a solid start going 5 innings and allowing 5 hits and a run. He struckout 6 and walked 3. Rhee was a highly regarded prospect a few years who suffered an arm injury. Yeiper Castillo, Hunter Cervenka and Zach Rosscup each pitched hitless innings. Tony Zych gave up a couple hits, but no runs in the 9th. 

Kane County Cougars 1 @ Beloit Snappers 5

Gioskar Amaya was 0-4 with a couple strikeouts. Reggie Golden was 2-4 with a double and the team's only RBI. Albert Almora was 1-4 with a double and Dan Vogelbach was 0-4. Amaya and Jeimer Candelario have turned their seasons around since I last wrote one of these. Marco Hernandez has had a terrible season and much of the shine has come off of him. 

Rehabbing Scott Baker started the game and did not pitch well. Results don't really matter in these rehab starts, but you'd be happier to see good ones than bad ones. He gave up 5 hits and 2 walks in 3 innings. He also gave up a home run and 3 runs in all. He struckout 3. Nathan Dorris pitched a scoreless inning and Joes Rosario finished the game. He threw 4 innings and allowed only a hit, but walked 2 and gave up 2 runs. he struckout 5.

Boise Hawks 1 @ Eugene Emeralds 5

2013 draft pick Jacob Hannemann was 1-5 with a double and 3 strikeouts. David Bote was 1-3 and Kris Bryant followed up his 5 strikeout game by going 1-4 with a double and no strikeouts. Carlos Penalver drove in the team's only run and was 1-4 with a double.

Loiger Padron threw 3.2 innings, allowed 4 hits and 2 runs. He struckout 1 and walked 1. Jasvir Rakkar threw 3.1 innings. He allowed 2 hits, both of which were solo home runs. Eddie Orozco pitched the 8th and gave up 3 hits and a run.

DSL Cardinals 2 @ DSL Cubs 8

VSL Cubs 3 @ VSL Phillies 5

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-18-13

Tuscon Padres 4 @ Iowa Cubs 2

Chris Rusin threw 6.2 innings, allowed 5 hits and 4 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 3. He also hit a batter. Zack Putnam struckout the only batter he faced. Rafael Dolis gave up 2 hits and struck a batter out in an inning of work. Blake Parker pitched the 9th and allowed a walk and a hit. He struck a batter out.

The I-Cubs only had 6 hits and a walk in this one. Logan Watkins had one of the two extra base hits as he went 1-4 with a double. Ian Stewart also doubled and was 2-4. Donnie Murphy was 2-3.

Tennessee Smokies 7 @ Chattanooga Lookouts 5

Dallas Beeler had another strong outing. He went 6 innings, walked 2 and struckout 6. He gave up 4 hits and 3 runs. Trey McNutt struckout 2 in an inning of work.

All of the position players in the lineup had a hit. The top of the order did this:

  • Matt Szczur 3-5, double
  • Ronald Torreyes 2-5, double
  • Arismendy Alcantara: 3-4, 2 doubles, home run

Jair Fernandez was 2-4 and Anthony Giansanti was 2-4 with a double and a triple.

Daytona Cubs 6 @ Lakeland Flying Tigers 5

Zach Cates walked 2 and only struckout 1 in 5.2 innings. He gave up 5 hits and 3 runs. David Cales threw 2.1 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 runs. He walked a batter and struckout 4. Hunter Cervenka struckout 2 in an inning of work.

The Cubs acquired Cervenka, along with Michael Bowden, in the Marlon Byrd trade with the Red Sox. He’s appeared in 9 games this season and has thrown 17.2 innings. He’s allowed just 7 hits and 4 runs. He’s struckout 16, but he has walked 10. He’s had a tendency to walk a lot of batters so there doesn’t see to be much improvement there. He’ll either need to improve that or he may only have a career of a LOOGY ahead of him.

Zeke DeVoss and Dustin Geiger were 2-5. Geiger doubled. Javier Baez had another good day at the plate going 3-5 with a double. That’s two days in a row he’s had good results. More of it, please.

Jorge Soler continues to rake. He was 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Wes Darvill was 3-5.

Kane County Cougars 4 @ Cedar Rapids Kernels 0

Pierce Johnson had his best start of his career last night. He threw 6 innings and struckout 9 batters while walking only 1. He’s having a great year so far. Over 8 starts and 40.2 innings, he’s walked 12 and allowed only 1 home run. He’s struckout 45. Pierce turned 22 a week ago and it won’t be long before he’s in the Daytona rotation if he keeps this up.

Justin Amlung walked 2 and struckout 3 in 2 innings. Jeffry Antigua struckout 2 and and allowed a hit in 1 inning. The Cougars pitchers struckout 14 batters and walked only 3.

Dan Vogelbach and Rock Shoulders were both 2-4. Vogelbach had a double and a strikeout while Shoulders struckout twice and hit his 9th home run of the season. Jeimer Candelario doubled in 4 plate appearances. Oliver Zapata was 3-4 with a home run.

VSL Cubs 3 @ VSL Rays 2

The VSL Cubs had allowed a ton of runs so far. They’ve allowed 22, 8, 15, 15 and now 2 runs. It’s nice to see them play a game that I can be certain is actually baseball.

JOT Minor League Recap 5-16-13

Tucson Padres 0 @ Iowa Cubs 1

Matt Garza’s final rehab start was a fantastic one. He threw 6 innings and allowed 4 hits and a run. He didn’t walk anybody and struckout 8. The question now is who is he going to replace in the Cubs rotation?

Brooks Raley threw the final 3 innings and allowed 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3.

The I-Cubs only had 5 hits and nobody had more than 1. Brent Lillibridge, Brian Bogusevic and Josh Vitters were each 1-3. Dave Sappelt was 1-4 and Donnie Murphy was 1-2.

Tennessee Smokies @ Jackson Generals

Matt Loosen is not having a very good time this year. In 4 innings tonight, he gave up 3 hits and walked 6 batters. He struckout 5 and allowed a home run, but somehow gave up only 4 runs. I guess that’s impressive. He’s been terrible in his 5 appearances this year.

AJ Morris had a very good night in relief. He threw 3 innings and didn’t allow any walks or hits. He struckout 3. Marcus Hatley pitched the 8th and allowed a hit. Frank Del Valle got his 5th save and struck a batter out.

The Smokies had 8 hits on the night. Arismendy Alcantara was 2-4 with a double and a strikeout. Ty Wright hit his first 2 home runs of the season for the Smokies. Jonathon Mota was 2-4 and so was Rafael Lopez. Lopez doubled.

Charlotte Stone Crabs 12 @ Daytona Cubs 7

PJ Francescon had about as shitty a start as you can have. In 5 innings he allowed 9 hits and 5 walks. He gave up 2 home runs. he allowed 10 runs. He’s had starts this year in which he’s given up 6 runs, 7 runs and now 10 runs. He’s made just 8 starts. He’s been kind of good in the others, but that’s not at all impressive.

Lefty Jeff Lorrick pitched 1.2 innings, allowed a hit and a walk. He gave up an unearned run. David Cates threw 1.1 innings, allowed a hit, walk and a run. He struck a batter out. Hunter Cervenka allowed a hit in an inning pitched.

Tim Saunders filled in at SS for Javier Baez who got the day off. Don’t worry. The Cubs got the same kind of offensive production out of him that they’ve gotten from Baez, except for the power part. Saunders continued to have a shitty season and was 0-5. I’m sure the only reason he hasn’t been demoted to Kane County is because he’d be on the bench behind another struggling 2nd baseman in Gioskar Amaya.

John Andreoli was in CF for the struggling Zeke DeVoss. He went 1-4 with a walk. Jorge Soler was 1-5.

Dustin Geiger was 3-5 with a double and a home run. In Chadd Krist’s 2nd game at Daytona, he was 3-3 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI.

Peoria Chiefs 0 @ Kane County Cougars (Game 1)

Cougars pitchers allowed only a hit in Game 1 of the double-header (7 innings). Bryan Smith went 4 innings, walked 2 and struckout 2. Eddie Orozco threw 2 innings, allowed the only hit and struck a batter out. Jeffry Antigua struck a batter out over an inning of work.

Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-3 with a walk. Gioskar Amaya and Marco Hernandez finally had good games. Each had 3 hits. Dan Vogelbach was 1-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts.

Following Myles write-up on Cubs prospects on the rise, Rock Shoulder’s inclusion on the list was rewarded with an 0-4, 4 strikeout performance.

Peoria Chiefs @ Kane County Cougars (Game 2)

This game is currently through 5 innings and all I’ve got two things I’m going to say about this game. Marco Hernandez hit his first home run of the season. The Cougars have committed 5 errors. 3 of them have been by Jeimer Candelario (now 11 on the season). That’s all.

UPDATE: The game is over and who really gives a shit who won because the Cougars made 6 errors. SIX ERRORS!

VSL Tigers 15 @ VSL Cubs 10

The VSL Cubs took 11 walks in today’s game. RF Ricardo Marcano was 1-3 with 3 walks.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-15-13

Tennessee Smokies 4 @ Jackson Generals 8

Things didn’t fall apart for the Smokies until after starter Eric Jokisch left the game. He pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 7 hits and 2 runs. He walked a batter and struckout 5. Then Trey McNutt came in and pitched 0.2 innings. He gave up 2 hits and 2 runs. He was followed by Brian Schlitter who also pitched .2 innings. He allowed 3 hits and 4 runs.

Matt Szczur was 1-4 and was caught stealing for the 3rd time. Arismendy Alcantara was 2-3 and so was Jair Fernandez. Fernandez hit a home run and drew a walk. Rubi Silva, Christian Villanueva and Jonathon Mota each added a hit.

Charlotte Stone Crabs 7 @ Daytona Cubs 1

Austin Kirk has had a rough season. He threw 4 innings and gave up 7 hits and 6 runs. He walked 4 and struckout 4. To give you an idea how useless wins and losses for pitchers are, he’s thrown 38 innings this season, given up 46 hits and 24 runs on 7 home runs, 16 walks and 30 strikeouts. Despite being awful, he’s 4-2.

Luis Liria and Sheldon McDonald each threw 2 innings and both of them allowed 3 hits. Each of them struck a batter out. Frank Del Valle pitched the 9th and gave up 2 walks, 2 hits and a run. He struckout 2.

It was another terrible night at the plate for the Daytona Cubs. They had 5 hits and a walk as they scored only 1 run. John Andreoli was 1-3 with a walk. He was drafted in the 17th round in 2011 and turns 23 in June. He’s mostly played LF in his career and has a total of 1 home run. He has played some CF, which will be necessary for him to get to the big leagues. So far this year in 34 games, he’s hit .323/.412/.425. He’s also stolen 10 bases. He only has 8 extra base hits, though.

There were four Cubs who were 1-4: Javier Baez, Dustn Geiger, Ben Carhart and Chadd Krist. The Cubs had no extra base hits. Jorge Soler was 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.

Peoria Chiefs 0 @ Kane County Cougars 4

Taylor Scott and Nathan Dorris combined on a 3-hit shutout against the Chiefs. Scott threw 7.1 innings, allowed 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. Dorris pitched the final 1.2 innings and gave up a hit.

The 20-year old Taylor Scott has had a fine start to his 2013 season. The South African was picked in the 5th round of the 2011 draft out of Notre Dame Prep High. He’s not a guy who strikes many out. Last year at Boise he struckout 43 in 71.1 innings. This year he’s struckout 23 in 38.1 innings. He’s walked 15, allowed only 1 home run and given up 30 hits.

Pin-Chieh Chen and Rock Shoulders were each 1-3 with a walk. Shoulders struckout twice and Chen struckout once. Bijan Rademacher, Dan Vogelbach and Willson Contreras were each 2-4.

Jeimer Candelario was 1-4 with a strikeout. Gioskar Amaya was dropped to 8th in the order and went 0-2 with a strikeout. Marco Hernandez was 2-3.

VSL Cubs 7 @ VSL Phillies

I know next to nothing about the VSL team and probably won’t be writing much about them until later on. So check out the box score because I’m going to highlight maybe one person per game for awhile.

Amaldo Cabrera was 3-5 with 3 doubles.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-1-13

Round Rock Express 1 @ Iowa Cubs 0

Chris Rusin had a very good start. He went 7 innings, allowed 6 hits and a run. He walked none and struckout 5. Hisanori Takahashi struck a batter out and allowed a hit in the 8th. Zach Putnam struckout 2 and allowed a hit in the 9th.

Logan Watkins was 3-3 with another walk. He’s struckout a little too much this year and it should come down. Otherwise, he’s had a fantastic season so far. He’s hitting .279/.436/.465 and has 9 extra base hits. Two of them were home runs. He’s walked 20 times and struckout 27 times.

The only other hit for the I-Cubs belonged to DH Ryan Sweeney who was 1-4 with a strikeout. Josh Vitters is back and he was playing LF because Ian Stewart is busy sucking at AAA. Vitters was 0-3 with a walk.

Tennessee Smokies 0 @ Mississippi Braves 3

Matt Garza got the start in this 5-inning rain-shortened game. He had a fantastic evening. He allowed a hit, walked 2 and struckout none. Remember, stay positive! Don’t be a fake Cubs fan.

Kevin Rhoderick threw 1.1 innings, walked 2 and struckout 1. Matt Loosen pitched 0.2 innings, gave up a couple hits and a walk. He gave up 2 runs.

The Smokies had only 2 hits. All of the position players were 0-2 with the exception of Rubi Silva and Rafael Lopez. Each of them were 1-2.

Palm Beach Cardinals 1 @ Daytona Cubs 3

Ben Wells is off to a great start at a league I wasn’t sure he was ready for. He’s proving me wrong. He threw 7 innings, allowed 3 hits and 1 run. He walked a batter and struckout 3. Wells’ walk to strikeout ratio is a bit concerning. He’s struckout only 18 in 32.2 innings and he’s walked 12. Even for an extreme groundball pitcher, I’m not sure those numbers are going to work.

Eduardo Figueroa pitched the final 2 innings, allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3.

Jorge Soler doubled in 3 plate appearances. He also stole a base, his 2nd of the season. Ben Carhart was 2-3 with 2 doubles. Anthony Giansanti was also 2-3. The other Cubs hit belonged to Stephen Bruno.

Taiwan Easterling had 2 outfield assists.

Bowling Green Hot Rods 4 @ Kane County Cougars 5

Pierce Johnson is putting together a very nice season in A ball so far. He started for the 5th time last night and threw 6.2 innings, allowed 4 hits and a run while walking 1 and striking out 4. He’s been very good in his last 3 starts, pretty good in his 2nd start and pretty bad in his opening start this year. He gave up 6 hits, a walk and 5 runs in 2.1 innings in that start.

On the season he’s thrown 24.2 innings, allowed 24 hits, walked 7 and struckout 25.

Eddie Orozco pitched an inning, allowed a hit and 2 walks while striking out 2. Jeffry Antigua threw 2.1 innings, allowed 5 hits and 3 runs. He didn’t walk anybody and struckout 4.

Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-5 with a double and 3 strikeouts. Gioskar Amaya hasn’t had many good games this season, but he did last night. He was 2-3 with a double and a walk. He was picked off once.

No other Cougar had more than 1 hit. Dan Vogelbach was 1-5 with 2 strikeouts. Jeimer Candelario and Rock Shoulders were each 1-4. Shoulders doubled. Willson Contreras was 1-3 with a walk.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 4-29-13

Round Rock Express 10 @ Iowa Cubs 9

Nick Struck walked 4 and struckout 1. He gave up 3 home runs. In just 3 innings he gave up 4 hits and 5 runs. The only other pitcher worth mentioning was Blake Parker who threw the 9th. He walked a batter and struckout 2.

Logan Watkins was 2-4 with a walk and a strikeout. Brett Jackson’s new swing was 1-4 with his 2nd home run of the season. He walked once and struckout twice. Of course he struckout twice.

Ian Stewart was 1-4 with a walk. The headline in the Des Moines Register should be: Ian Stewart got a hit.

Ryan Sweeney was 2-4. Brad Nelson had the big night going 4-5 with 2 doubles.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 3 @ Tennessee Smokies 0

Eric Jokisch wasn't very good over 5 innings. He only struckout 1 and walked 1. He allowed 6 hits, one of which was a home run and allowed 3 runs. Frank Batista threw a clean 6th inning and Tony Zych pitched the 7th and final inning. He allowed a walk and struck a batter out.

Matt Szczur was 1-3 and Ronald Torreyes was also was 1-3. Those were the only hits for the Smokies in game 1 of the double-header. Jae-Hoon Ha, Rafael Lopez and Jonathon Mota were each 0-2 with a walk.

Moving on.

Pensacola Blue Wahoos 0 @ Tennessee Smokies 3

Kyle Hendricks threw a gem in this one. He threw 6 innings, allowed only a hit and a walk while striking out 8. Marcus Hatley struckout 2 in the 7th.

In 5 April starts, Hendricks pitched 25 innings, allowed 22 hits, 10 runs, 8 walks and struckout 23. His last two starts have been awesome. He's thrown a combined 13 innings, allowed 4 hits and a run. He walked only 2 and struckout a total of 17.

Only one Smokies hit mattered in this one and it was the final one of the game. Jae-Hoon Ha didn’t start the game, but pinch hit in the bottom of the 7th inning with 2 on and 2 out. He hit a walk-off home run to win the game and show me that I should not talk about his lack of power.

Palm Beach Cardinals 1 @ Daytona Cubs 2

The Cubs won this game to even up their record to 12-12. Yeiper Castillo got his first start of the season after several relief appearances this year. He threw 4 innings, walked a batter and struckout 8. Impressive first start.

Luis Liria threw 2 innings, allowed a hit and struck a batter out. Hunter Cervenka threw 2 inning, allowed a hit and a run and struckout 4.

Another game, another Zeke DeVoss walk. Another Zeke DeVoss strikeout. Two of them in this one. Tim Saunders was 0-2 with a couple of walks. Javier Baez was 1-3 and was hit by a pitch. He also had another error, his 11th of the year. He’s on pace for about 64 errors this year.

Jorge Soler and John Andreoli were each 1-4. Dustin Geiger was 1-2 with a home run and a walk.

Ben Carhart and Chad Noble were each 1-3. Both had doubles. Both struckout twice.

Kane County Cougars 6 @ Lake County Captains 7

The Cougars took a 6-2 lead into the final inning (the 7th) and gave up 5 runs to lose. Felix Pena struckout 3 and allowed 5 hits and 2 runs in 6 innings. Then Ian Dickson and Matt Iannazzo shit the bed.

If the fans hadn’t been so negative, that would not have happened.

Dan Vogelbach hit his 3rd home run of the season and Rock Shoulders hit his 5th. Shoulders was 1-3. Marco Hernandez was 1-4 and Jeimer Candelario was 0-2 with a walk.

Kane County Cougars 2 @ Lake County Captains 4

Michael Heesch struckout 7 and walked 1 in 5 innings. However, he allowed 6 hits and 4 runs. Steve Perakslis gave up a hit in an inning of work.

Dan Vogelbach hit his 4th home run of the season. He was 1-3. The only other hit for the Smokies in the late game was by catcher Oliver Zapata who was 1-1 with a walk. Jeimer Candelario was 0-2 with a walk.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 4-22-13

Iowa Cubs 5 @ Memphis Redbirds 2

Brooks Raley gave up 5 hits and 2 runs in 5.1 innings. He walked 2 and struckout 3. Zach Putnam, Rafael Dolis and Blake Parker finished the game without allowing any runs. He did give up 3 hits and walked 3 while striking out 5.

1B Brad Nelson was 2-4 with a home run and a strikeout. I expected to be writing his name in these recaps frequently, but he's gotten off to a slow start. Nelson is the perfect example of a quad-A talent.

Brian Bogusevic was 2-4 with a double. Ian Stewart and Logan Watkins were both 1-3 with a double. Watkins also walked twice.

Montgomery Biscuits and Gravy 3 @ Tennessee Little Smokies 9

Eric Jokisch gave up 8 hits and 3 runs, only 1 of which was earned, in 6.1 innings. He struckout 3 and walked 2. He has an impressive 1.11 ERA over his first four starts and this last one was actually his worst. He's struckout 20 and walked 5 over 24.1 innings. He's allowed 19 hits.

Brian Schlitter threw the final 2.2 innings, didn't allow a hit or a run and struck a batter out.

Arismendy Alcantara was 2-4 with a home run. Everyone else in the lineup had one hit with the exception of Ronald Torreyes who went 0-3.

Matt Szczur and Christian Villanueva were each 1-4 with a double. Jae-Hoon Ha and Rafael Lopez were each 1-3 with a double and a walk.

Daytona Cubs 7 @ Dunedin Blue Jays 4

In Austin Kirk's 4th start of the season he threw 5 innings and allowed 4 hits and runs. He also gave up a home run. However, He struckout 8 and walked 2. It was his best strikeout to walk ratio of the season. In 18 innings he's struckout 16 and walked 10.

Zach Cates walked a batter in 1.1 innings. He didn't allow any hits or runs. Hunter Cervenka walked a batter and struckout 2 in 2.2 innings.

Javier Baez had a good day at the plate. He was 3-5 with a double and a strikeout. Over his last 10 he's started to hit, but still has not gotten on base nearly enough. His batting average is just over .300 and his OBP is .289. He's slugged over .550 so he's made up for it, but over that span he has 12 strikeouts and 0 walks. On the season he has 24 strikeouts and 2 walks and a .250ish OBP.

Zeke DeVoss was 0-3 with 2 walks. This guy can get on base. He's struggled a bit over the last 10. His batting average is barely over .200 and his slugging is under .300, but his OBP is over .425.

Dustin Geiger was 3-5 and Jorge Soler was 0-5. That's the first 0-fer I can remember for Soler.

Peoria Chiefs 9 @ Kane County Cougars 6

Michael Heesch is off to a pretty good start this season. He threw 6 innings, allowed 5 hits and 2 runs. He walked 2, struckout 5 and did allow a home run. In 3 starts this year, he's thrown 14 innings, allowed 11 hits and 5 earned runs. He has allowed 9 overall runs, a 5 walk and 12 strikeout rate isn't too bad. It's not great by any means, but it could be a lot worse. He's had 2 pretty good starts and a terrible start.

I've known 3 guys in my life named Brian Smith. I met one in high school, another while in Iowa City and the other one in Des Moines. There's a writer on Fangraphs named with the same name, though his name is spelled Bryan. There's also a Brian Smith with the Cougars and he sucked in his most recent outing. He allowed 3 hits, walked 2 and gave up 5 runs though only 1 was earned.

Smith is a left-handed reliever born on December 12, 1992. In 8 innings this year he's walked 7 and struckout 7.

Matt Iannazzo pitched 2.1 innings, gave up 5 hits and walked 3 and escaped while allowing only 2runs.

Dan Vogelbach was 2-4 with a home run and Marco Hernandez was also 2-4. His two hits were doubles. Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-4 with a walk and Gioskar Amaya was 2-5. Jeimer Candelario had 2 walks and a hit in 5 plate appearances.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 4-18-13

The Iowa Cubs were rained out.

Tennessee Smokies 5 @ Huntsville Stars 3

Kyle Hendricks got the start and lasted only 2 innings. He gave up 5 hits and 3 runs while walking a batter. He didn’t strike out anybody. The Smokies bullpen would throw the next 9 innings (extra innings game) and they allowed only 2 hits and no runs.

Kevin Rhoderick and Marcus Hatley did walk 5 over 3.2 innings and struckout 3, but got away with it because they didn’t allow any hits. Tony Zych, Trey McNutt and Frank Batista threw the remaining 5.1 innings and walked a batter while striking out no one.

Arismendy Alcantara was 3-4 with a walk. Jae-Hoon Ha was 1-4 with 2 walks and Justin Bour was 1-3 with 3 walks. Matt Szczur pinch hit later in the game and ended up going 1-3.

Tampa Yankees 13 @ Daytona Cubs 7

In PJ Francescon’s first start of the season he gave up a hit, walked a batter and struckout 5 over 5 innings. That’s been the only decent start of the year for him. His last two he has combined to give up 16 hits and 13 runs over 8 innings including last night’s 3 inning, 8 hit, 7 run performance.

Eduardo Figueroa threw 3 innings, allowed 3 hits and 2 runs, but walked 4 and struckout only 2. Austin Reed gave up 4 hits, 4 runs and 4 walks over 1.2 innings. Sheldon McDonald threw 1.1, didn’t give up any hits or runs, but walked and struck a batter out.

As a team the Smokies walked 11 and struckout just 7.

Zeke DeVoss was 2-4 with another walk and another time getting picked off. That’s 3 games in a row. That’s got to stop.

Javier Baez was 2-4 with a run scored and a strikeout. Jorge Soler returned to action last night and got a hit and walk in his first 2 plate appearances. He finished 1-3 with a walk.

Stephen Bruno was 2-5 with a double and 3 strikeouts. Ben Carhart was 2-4 with a walk and Chad Noble was 3-4 with a walk.

Quad Cities River Bandits 9 @ Kane County Cougars 8

Lendy Castillo can’t even pitch well in A ball. He pitched 4 innings, gave up 7 hits, a one run, 5 runs in total and walked 2 while striking out 6. Hard to imagine this guy was given a shot at MLB last year.

Justin Amlung gave up 3 hits and 3 runs over 3 innings. Steve Perakslis gave up a couple hits and a run in 2.1 innings.

The top 6 in the Cougars lineup combined for 12 hits and all 8 of the Cougars runs scored.

Gioskar Amaya was 2-5 with 2 doubles. He struckout twice. Marco Hernandez continues to be hot. He was 3-5. Dan Vogelbach was 2-5 with a strikeout. Jeimer Candelario was 2-5 with a double. Rock Shoulders was 1-3 with 2 walks. Willson Contreras was 2-4 with a home run and a walk.