journeymen of tomorrow – Obstructed View

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-18-13

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: 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 5-12-13

Iowa Cubs 8 @ Reno Aces 9

Here are the I-Cubs pitchers today: Chris Rusin, Casey Coleman, Hisanori Takahashi, Rafael Dolis and Blake Parker.

Here are the I-Cubs pitcher today who have no chance of ever being good: Chris Rusin, Casey Coleman, Hisanori Takahashi, Rafael Dolis and Blake Parker

Other than Casey Coleman, who threw 2 hitless innings and struck a batter out, the rest of them weren't any good. I-Cubs pitchers today threw 8.2 innings, allowed 12 hits and 9 runs. He walked 2 and struckout 4 while allowing 3 home runs.

Logan Watkins played SS and was 0-4 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. Brett Jackson's new swing was 3-4 with a double and a walk. He did not strike out, which must mean that Josh Vitters took a walk. Yep. He took 2 of them while also going 1-3. Brad Nelson was 2-4 with a home run.

A bunch of others played today who pretty much suck so whatever.

Tennessee Smokies 5 @ Jackson Generals 5

Kyle Hendricks threw 6.2 innings, allowed 4 hits and no runs. He walked 1 and struckout 4. He’s off to a great start this year after struggling when he first came to the Cubs last year. He’s thrown 37.2 innings, allowed 35 hits and only 1 home run. He’s walked 9 and struckout 32. His strikeout percentage is about 21% and his walk rate is about 6%. His FIP prior to last night’s starts was an impressive 2.59. His walk rate is up a bit, but it’s still pretty good. He’s also maintained the same strikeout rate. He’s allowed only 1 home run all season.

He changed his mechanics a bit at the beginning of last season and started focusing on pitch sequences according to Baseball America. He also added a cutter and he said he uses it as a contact pitch. I’d assume this remains true with the Cubs. He sits 87-89 mph so he won’t blow anyone away. He’s in the strikezone regularly. Along with the cutter, he throws a 4-seam and 2-seam fastball, a changeup, a curveball and a slider.

AJ Morris struckout 2 and walked a batter in an inning of work. He also allowed 2 hits, but despite 3 baserunners, no runs were scored. Zach Rosscup finished the game and threw 1.1 hitless innings, allowed a walk and 3 strikeouts. His ERA is down to 1.08.

Matt Szczur was 3-5 with a double. Ronald Torreyes was 1-4 with a double. Arismendy Alcantara was 2-4 with a double and 2 strikeouts. Christian Villanueva was 1-2 with a hit by pitch, strikeout and sac fly.

Kane County Cougars 6 @ Clinton LumberKings 7

I went to Clinton, Iowa once. I don't remember much about it. It was a typical Iowa town along the Mississippi River, which usually meant meth. Lots of meth. I don't know if they've had that problem, but they were a river town. They also had the following motto: So many things to do – With a river view!

It did have a river view, but I don't remember doing shit or ever wanting to go back there again. About an hour away from Clinton is Muscatine, Iowa. It's also on the Mississippi, which means lot of meth. It's also the Watermelon Capital of the World. You could have a lovely picnic along the shitty and disgusting Mississippi River while eating melons and getting high on meth. Way more to do in Muscatine and they have a river view, too.

Getting back to Clinton, I can't think of a minor league team name that I like more. I like because it has two capital letters and it's only one word. And it's a cool name.

Dillon Maples made his first start of the year and threw 5 innings, allowed 6 hits and 3 runs. He didn't walk anybody and he struckout 2. Then came Lendy Castillo and Lendy Castillo fucking sucks. They let Lendy Castillo fucking suck for the rest of the game.

The other day I mentioned that Jeimer Candelario hadn't hit for any power so far this year. For that matter, he hasn't hit for a lot of power in his short minor league career. As a 3rd baseman, that's not good. He did hit his first home run of the season today and went 2-4 with a walk.

Carlos Escobar and Oliver Zapata were also 2-4 each. Gioskar Amaya continues to suck. He was 0-5. Dan Vogelbach was 1-5 with a strikeout.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-9-13

Iowa Cubs 1 @ Colorado Springs Sky Sox 5

Drew Carpenter pitched 5 innings, struckout 6 and walked just 1. He allowed a home run, a total of 6 hits and 3 runs. Casey Coleman gave up 3 hits, walked 2 and struckout 2 in an inning of work. 2 runs scored. Zach Putnam pitched the final 2innings and allowed a hit and struck a batter out.

Pinch hitter Darnell McDonald hit a home run. Brett Jackson, Brad Nelson and Alberto Gonzalez had the only other I-Cubs hits on the night. Each had 2.

Birmingham Barons 9 @ Tennessee Smokies 7

Alberto Cabrera gave up 13 hits and walked 3 in 4.1 innings. I’m not even sure how that’s possible, but what is most impressive is that despite 18 baserunners (he also hit a batter), the Barons only scored 6 runs off of him. So maybe we should just talk about how his strand rate was about league average.

Kevin Rhoderick allowed a run on a hit and 2 walks in 3 innings. He struckout 2. Trey McNutt threw 1.2 innings, allowed a hit and 2 walks and 2 runs. He struckout 1.

Rafael Lopez was 1-4 with a home run and a walk. Tim Torres was 3-4 with a double and a strikeout. Jair Fernandez was 2-3 with a walk.

Arismendy Alcantara has really been struggling over the last couple of weeks. He was 1-4 with a strikeout. Over his last 10 he’s hit .182/.250/.242.

Dunedin Blue Jays 3 @ Daytona Cubs 4

PJ Francescon pitched 5 innings, allowed hits and 3 runs. He struckout 4 and walked none. He also gave up a home run.

Fracescon has made 7 starts this year and pitched a total of 35 innings. He’s struckout 31 and walked only 7. He has allowed 5 home runs, which is a bit troubling, but the K/BB rate is pretty good.

Jeffrey Lorick pitched a clean inning. Austin Reed walked 2 in an inning of work and Hunter Cervenka pitched 2 innings, allowed a hit and struck a batter out.

Zeke DeVoss is working on a demotion to Kane County. Although he has no problem at all getting on base (.375 OBP), his batting average is now down to .200. He’s slugging a Ryan Theriot-esque .324. Even over the last 10 days, he’s only hit .094, but his OBP is still .275. Far from acceptable, but even when he struggles the guy gets on base in other ways. He’s been one of my favorite prospects, but he needs some more balls to fall in for hits and needs to flash a little more power.

If Zeke DeVoss is working on a demotion to Kane County, Tim Saunders is working on a demotion back to Marietta College. He was 1-4 last night, but he struckout two more times. His strikeout rate is over 30% and his walk rate at about 7%. He has a total of 3 extra base hits on the season in just under 100 plate appearances. He’s batting only .188/.278/.247.

Javier Baez had a good night, going 2-4 with a double and a triple. He stole base and committed his 14th error of the season in just 31 games. John Andreoli and Dustin Geiger each added 2 hits, and so did Taiwan Easterling. Andreoli tripled. Jorge Soler doubled in 4 plate appearances.

Kane County Cougars @ Burlington Bees (postponed)

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-8-13

This will be brief.

Iowa Cubs 8 @ Colorado Springs Sky Sox 6

Barret Loux had a typical Barret Loux start. He threw 4 innings, allowed 8 hits and 4 runs while walking 3 and striking out 4. Esmailin Caridad picked up the win and threw 2 hitless innings. He allowed a walk and struck a batter out. Hisanori Takahashi gave up 3 hits and 2 runs 1.2 innings. Blake Parker walked and struck a batter out in 1.1 innings.

The I-Cubs had 8 runs on 16 hits and 6 walks. This isn’t a very fun team to follow, as you all know. I think I say it every day, but it’s really that bad. Alberto Gonzalez was 4-5 with a double and a walk. Brad Nelson was 3-5 with 2 doubles and JC Boscan was 3-4 with a walk. Josh Vitters was 1-5 with a strikeout.

Birmingham Barons 12 @ Tennessee Smokies 11 (14 innings)

Dallas Beeler had a typical Barret Loux start. He threw 4.2 innings, allowed 4 hits and 3 walks. All 7 scored. He struckout 4 and thanks to a shitload of Smokies errors, only 4 runs were earned.

Kyuji Fujikawa threw 2 innings, allowed a hit and nothing else. Zach Rosscup continues to impress. He threw 3 innings, allowed 2 hits and no runs. He didn’t walk anybody and struckout 3.

Matt Szczur was 2-7 and Ronald Torreyes was 1-6. Arismendy Alcantara had a good game, going 2-5 with a double and 2 walks. Rubi Silva was 2-7 with a home run and 2 strikeouts.

Rafael Lopez was 3-5 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Christian Villanueva had 2 errors and Lopez and Elliot Soto each had 1.

Daytona Cubs 5 @ St. Lucie Mets 6 (10 innings)

Austin Kirk had a typical Barrett Loux day. He threw 5 innings, allowed 9 hits and a walk. He gave up 5 runs and struckout 3. He also surrendered 3 home runs. Eduardo Figueroa struckout 3 in 2 innings. Luis Liria pitched 2.2innings and gave up a hit and a walk and a run. He struckout 3.

I’ve been on Javier Baez watch for awhile now. He was 1-5 last night with 3 more strikeouts. He had briefly cut his strikeout rate down to just under 28% and after the last handful of games, it’s back up to 30.2%. He has struckout 42 times in 139 plate appearances. He’s walked just 5 times.

Baez has a lot of power, which he’s shown this season even while he’s been, let’s just say not at his best. Due to the power, his wRC+ is still about league average, but his OBP is under .275.

Good power or not, Baez has to make some changes at the plate. He’s striking out way too much and not walking nearly enough. He’s only in High A and he has 2 minor league levels above him that are more difficult. Not to mention MLB. He’s young, but that doesn’t make up the difference. He’s striking out more than Brett Jackson was in the minor leagues prior to 2012. That’s not good, especially when his walk rate is less than half of what Jackson’s was.

He now has 220+ plate appearances at High A. His ISO is plenty good (.225ish), but that’s about it. His defense has been quite bad (13 errors in 31 games), his walk rate and strikeout rate have been horrible (has been his entire career)

Jorge Soler was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a home run. He also walked once. Tim Saunders was 2-5. He really needed that. His batting average has dropped to .185. Zeke DeVoss was 0-3 with a walk and his average is now down to .208.

Kane County Cougars 0 @ Burlington Bees 4

Pierce Johnson also had a typical Barrett Loux start. He pitched just 4 innings. He gave up 4 runs on 5 hits and 3 walks. He struckout 5. Justin Amlung pitched 2 innings and walked a batter. He also struckout 2. Matt Iannazzo pitched the final 2 and allowed a hit and one walk.

The Cougars had 0 runs, 5 hits and 2walks. Dan Vogelbach was 1-4 with a double. Rock Shoulders was also 1-4. He struckout 3 times. Jeimer Candelario and Gioskar Amaya continue to struggle. They were each 0-4. Bijan Rademacher was 2-2 with a walk.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-6-13

Oklahoma City Redhaws 1 @ Iowa Cubs 6

Matt Garza threw 54 pitches and 37 of them were strikes. Not that it matters, but he threw 3.1 innings, allowed 4 hits and a run while walking none and striking out 3. Garza will probably get a couple more rehab starts before being activated.

Cory Wade struckout 2 in 0.2 innings.

The Iowa Cubs used Garza's rehab stint in a way that they were still able to get Chris Rusin, today's starter were it not for the rehab, plenty of work. He finished the game and threw 5 innings and allowed 3 hits and no runs. He didn't walk anybody and struckout 2.

Josh Vitters hit his 2nd home run already. He was 1-4. Brad Nelson was 2-4 and Edwin Maysonet was 2-4 witha home run. Logan Watkins doubled and struckout twice in 4 plate appearances.

Daytona Cubs 2 @ St. Lucie Mets 6

Zach Cates had a rough outing. In 4 innings, he allowed 11 hits and a walk. He did walk just one, but struckout only 2 and allowed 6 runs. Frank Del Valle and Austin Reed combined for 4 scoreless innings. Each pitched 2 innings. Neither walked a batter. Del Valle struckout 3 and Reed struckout 1.

The Cubs had only 6 hits. John Andreoli and Jorge Soler were each 2-4. Soler hit his 4th home run of the season. Javier Baez was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Ben Carhart and Zeke DeVoss were each 1-3.

Dayton Dragons 11 @ Kane County Cougars 8

Lendy Castillo started. I'm sure you know how that went. Just as bad as every other start for him this year. He allowed 8 hits and 8 runs, but the good news is only 6 of them were earned. He gave up 2 home runs. If Lendy Castillo was a position player and he was hitting as well as the other team is against him, he'd be the number 1 ranked prospect of all-fucking-time. Now that I think about it, he's probably a better position player.

Jeffry Antigua had gotten off to a good start in the bullpen, but that's come to an end with his last two appearances. Today he gave up 4 hits and 3 runs in an inning pitched. In his last 2 games, he's thrown 3.1 innings, allowed 9 hits and 6 runs. In other words, he's still been better than Lendy Castillo.

Eddie Orozco and Brian Smith threw 3 scoreless innings before the Cougars outfielder, Bijan Rademacher pitched the 9th inning. He allowed no hits or walks and didn't strike anybody out. Rademacher is a better pitcher than Lendy Castillo.

Pin-Chieh Chen was 2-3 with 2 walks and better-pitcher-than-Lendy-Castillo, Rademacher, was 3-5. Dan Vogelbach was 1-4 with a double and a walk. Jeimer Candelario was 1-3 with a double and 2 walks.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-5-13

Oklahoma City Redhawks 2 @ Iowa Cubs 5 (Game 1)

Guillermo Monosco walked 3 and struckout 3 in 4 innings of work. He allowed 4 hits, a home run and 2 runs overall. Esmailin Caridad threw a scoreless 5th, allowed a hit and struck a batter out. Kyuji Fujikawa began his rehab at Iowa and threw an inning, walked 1 and struckout 2. Blake Parker pitched the 7th and final inning of the game. He picked up his 3rd save of the season while walking 1 and allowing a hit.

Josh Vitters also began his rehab and had a very good day. In this game, he was 2-4 with a home run and a strikeout. Brian Bogusevic was 2-2 with a walk and Logan Watkins was 0-3 with a walk.

The Iowa Cubs are only slightly less entertaining than the Chicago Cubs.

Oklahoma City Redhawks 4 @ Iowa Cubs 3 (Game 2, 10 innings)

Brooks Raley continues to put together solid starts by going 5 innings, allowing 6 hits and 2 runs. He didn’t walk a batter and struckout 4. His ERA is down 3.78 on the season. He’s struckout 25 and walked just 7 in 33.1 innings on the year. In 4 of the 6 starts he’s allowed 2 runs or less. The other 2 starts he allowed 4 runs in each.

Casey Coleman allowed a hit in an inning pitched and struck a batter out. Yoanner Negrin struckout 3 and allowed a hit in 1.1 innings.

Hisanori Takahashi and Cory Wade each gave up a run in an inning pitched.

Watkins was 1-4 with a triple and a walk. Vitters was 3-5 and Bogusevic added another 2 hits. Brent Lillibridge also collected 2 hits.

The triple by Watkins was the only extra base hit for the Cubs in this game. They did walk 6 times.

Tennessee Smokies 0 @ Mississippi Braves 6

Kyle Hendricks gave up 9 hits and 5 runs in 5 innings pitched. Only 2 of the runs were earned and he struckout 5 and walked none. Marcus Hatley walked a batter in the 6th and Zach Rosscup struck a batter out in the 7th. Trey McNutt gave up 3 hits and a run in an inning of work.

Matt Szczur was 1-3 with a walk and he had his 9th stolen base of the season. Ronald Torreyes had a hit and 2 strikeouts. The Smokies struckout 11 times and walked only once. They had just 5 hits. I don’t think anything else has to be said about this game.

Daytona Cubs 0 @ St. Lucie Mets 3

Yeiper Castillo threw 6 excellent innings. He allowed just 2 hits and no runs, walked 1 and struckout 7. Hunter Cervenka threw 2 innings, allowed no hits and didn’t walk anybody or strike anybody out. Luis Liria got the loss, going 0.2 innings and allowing a hit and 3 walks.

The Cubs had 3 hits. John Andreoli was 1-4 with a strikeout. Dustin Geiger and Ben Carhart were each 1-3. Geiger also walked. Javier Baez was 0-3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. He was picked off 1st base. Jorge Soler was also 0-3 with a walk.

Dayton Dragons 0 @ Kane County Cougars 2

Michael Heesch threw 7.1 innings, allowed only 4 hits and no runs. He walked none and struckout 5. In 26.1 innings this season, he’s allowed 21 hits, one of them a home run, walked 6 and struckout 24.

Nathan Dorris pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowed just a hit and nothing else.

Gioskar Amaya was 2-4 with a double and Dan Vogelbach was 1-2 with a double and 2 walks. Jeimer Candelario was 1-4. So was Rock Shoulders.

Bijan Radenmacher was 2-4 and Oliver Zapata was 2-3.

JOT: Cubs Minor League Recap 5-2-13

The Iowa Cubs and Kane County Cougars were postponed.

Tennessee Smokies 7 @ Mississippi Braves 0

Dallas Beeler threw 6.2 innings, allowed only 1 hit and no runs. He walked 3 and struckout 5. In 38 innings already, he’s allowed 29 hits, 3 of which have been home runs. He’s walked only 10 and struckout 22. It would be easy to say that Beeler is going to have to strikeout more batters to have a future in a Major League rotation, but that’s unlikely. He struckout 70 last season in 136 innings. He struck out 65 the year before in 95 innings. He’s not a strikeout pitcher and what you’ve seen so far is probably what you get. He does have pretty good control.

Zach Rosscup threw 1.1 innings, walked a batter and struckout 2. Rosscup is off to a very god start. He’s struckout 18 in 11.1 innings, allowed only 7 hits, 0 home runs, and he’s walked 4.

Brian Schlitter threw the 9th, allowed 2 hits and a walk.

Three Smokies were 2-5: Ronald Torreyes, Christian Villanueva and Johermyn Chavez. In between Villanueva and Chavez in the lineup was Rubi Silva who was 3-4 with a walk. Jonathan Mota was 2-3 with a walk. Matt Szczur was 1-6 and he struckout once.

Daytona Cubs 6 @ Lakeland Flying Tigers 2

Austin Kirk threw 6 innings and allowed a couple of runs. He gave up 10 hits, walked none and struckout 4. Austin Reed pitched the next two innings and gave up a hit and a walk. David Cales walked a batter, gave up a hit and struckout 1 in his 1 inning last night.

The Smokies collected 11 hits and a walk last night. They had only one extra base hit, a double by Stephen Bruno. Bruno was 2-4. Zeke DeVoss had the day off and leadoff man Tim Saunders made his year worse than it’s already been by going 0-4 with 2 strikeouts.

John Andreoli was 2-5 and Javier Baez was 1-5 with 2 strikeouts. Dustin Geiger was 2-4. Jorge Soler was 0-3 with a walk.

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 4-30-13

Round Rock Express 2 @ Iowa Cubs 7

Guillermo Monosco threw 5 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run on a walk, 6 strikeouts. The run he allowed was on a solo home run. Yoanner Negrin threw 2 innings, allowed 3 hits and a run. He struckout 3. Casey Coleman allowed a hit in an inning pitched and Rafael Dolis struckout 2 in an inning.

Logan Watkins took a walk in 4 plate appearances. He also struckout. Brett Jackson’s new swing struckout 3 times. Brent Lillibridge was 2-4 with a home run, his 2nd at Iowa. Brian Bogusevic just keeps hitting. He was 3-4 with 2 doubles and a triple. Brad Nelson was 2-2 with a home run and 2 walks.

That was Bogusevic’s 1st home run, which is kind of surprising when you consider the season he’s had at Iowa so far. In 24 games he’s hitting .420/.500/568. He has 7 doubles, a triple and that home run.

Palm Beach Cardinals 4 @ Daytona Cubs 11

Zach Cates threw 6 hitless innings last night. He pitched 6 innings, allowed 0 runs, walked 3 and struckout 7. On April 19th, Cates threw 0.2 innings, allowed 3 hits and 3 walks and 6 runs. Other than that awful outing, he’s pitched 22 innings, allowed 14 hits, 4 runs, 0 home runs, 8 walks and 22 strikeouts.

David Cales threw an inning, allowed 2 hits and a walk and struckout 1. Starling Peralta hadn’t appeared in a game since April 11th (only his 2nd start of the year) and came out of the bullpen last night. It didn’t go well. He allowed 2 hits and 2 walks in 1.2 innings. He gave up a home run and all 4 baserunners scored. Frank Del Valle finished the night and gave up a hit and a walk in 0.1 innings.

Tim Saunders was 1-3 with a walk, 2 strikeouts and an HBP. Zeke DeVoss batted 2nd last night for what I’m pretty sure was the first time. Guess what. He walked. He was also 2-3 with a double. Javier Baez was 1-5 with a double and 2 strikeouts. Guess what. Baez had an error. His 12th. He’s now on pace for roughly 67 errors this year.

Jorge Soler was 1-4 with a double. Ben Carhart was 2-4.

Kane County Cougars 13 @ Lake County Captains 9

Lendy Castillo makes me laugh. The Cubs picked this guy in the rule 5 draft last year. He was on the MLB team for part of the season. Usually with rule 5 picks, if they stick around, they’ll often get sent to AAA the following year. Maybe AA. Not Castillo. He didn’t even go to A+. He went to fucking A ball. Last night he sucked and in his 4 starts this year, only once has he allowed fewer than 5 runs. I’m guessing he’s sent to Boise when the short-season leagues begin. Maybe by that time they’ll send him to do DSL.

Justin Amlung threw 3 innings, allowed only one hit, a home run, walked 1 and struckout 2. Nathan Dorris threw 2innings, struckout 4 and allowed 2 hits.

RF Pin-Chieh Chen was 4-6 with a double. That improved his batting line to .242/.338/.303. Gioskar Amaya was 0-4 and it completed a terrible month for him. 24 strikeouts to 3 walks and a .560 OPS.

Dan Vogelbach was 4-6 with his 5th home run of the season. Vogelbach’s power didn’t come on right away, but it’s here. He’s hit 4 home runs in the last 10 games and has his slugging percentage up to .494.

Rock Shoulders was 2-5 and Willson Contreras was 2-4 with a walk and a home run. Yaniel Cabezas, a catcher, was 3-6. Cabezas is 24 years old.