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 …
Luis Valbuena’s 2013 season
With all the doom and gloom surrounding this year's offense and the intense focus on Castro and Rizzo, Luis Valbuena's fantastic season seems to have fallen through the cracks. Valbuena currently has a line of .248/.361/.421* on the year, good for a .339 wOBA and about 1 WAR through two months of the season. What the hell? *Today's game, in which …
Daily Facepalm 5.29.13 – Edwin Jackson’s velocity and other news and notes
Edwin Jackson had a good/crappy night For the first time, Jackson looked like the pitcher the Cubs were expecting when they signed him to a four year deal. He hit 97 on the Sox gun (which Len and JD suggested may have been a little hot) with his fastball. Though the game ended up getting rained out, his pfx numbers are …
OV Daily Facepalm 5.21.13
Matt Garza returns tonight Garza is back and ready to go tonight, bumping Villanueva to the bullpen. The Cubs say Villanueva will be used in long relief, but given how their late inning options have sucked lately I'd rather see him in the late inning mix with Fujikawa and Transformed Kevin Gregg. Suddenly the Cubs pen doesn't looks quite as …
Cubs Prospects on the Decline
Before this season, both dmick/Uncle Dave and I made our prospect lists. These aren't the only prospects in the Cubs system, but they are nearly all the ones worth talking about. I might have missed a prospect here or there, but it's a good jumping off point. The list of the first 21 is right here: Javier Baez 65 Jorge …
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 …
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 …
Prospect Profile: Ronald Torreyes
This is a continuation of the weekly series of of writing about a Cubs prospect profile. Early on, I will be writing about guys that Dave and I did not cover in our Prospect Ratings. Links for past ratings and past profiles at at the end. Additional links can be found at the end of the article. Who is Ronald …
Prospect Profile: Ben Wells
After we started doing the minor league recaps, I quickly noticed that Ben Wells was absent from the list. He's certainly not the best pitching prospect the Cubs have, but he might be the one who is closest to making an impact at the big league level. I'm planning to write at least one of these profiles per week. Early …
Journeymen of Tomorrow: 4-5-13
Iowa Cubs 6 @ Alburquerque Isotopes 10 The Iowa Cubs were first in the Cubs organization in 2013 to score more than 3 runs in a game. It's not like they've played that many games (8th game), but it's still nice to see some offense. Drew Carpenter got the start for the Cubs and wasn't good. He gave up 6 …