Tag: marco hernandez

Happy Rule 5 Day!

Today is the Rule 5 draft. Courtesy of the inimitable Arizona Phil, here’s the list of Rule 5 eligible players.

A few of these players are in danger of being selected.

Gioskar Amaya: 2B/C prospect who has fallen on lean times. I like Amaya, but he might be too far to be stashed for a whole year. I’d say it’s a longshot he’s taken.

John Andreoli: As good a chance as any Cub to be a 25th man. I think his poor 2014 (with injuries) probably keeps him in the organization.

Jeffrey Baez: The other J. Baez has steadily improved his stock, but is too far away to be a factor in the draft unless a team sees something they really like.

Pin-Chieh Chen: Same as Andreoli, though his power is so anemic it seems impossible to envision any team thinking he has a major-league future.

Marco Hernandez: Nifty glove SS prospect, but he’s probably too far down the minors to stick. Perhaps a team with no bench could keep him as a UTIL for a year, but I’d be surprised.

Dillon Maples: A former well regarded prospect, Maples has battle injuries and high walks. Still, it’s not inconceivable that a team could Lendy Castillo him, and you could certainly stash him on the DL for a good, long time. I don’t think it’s likely that Maples is taken, but it’s not an impossibility.

Andrew McKirahan: He’s a generic lefty reliever, but those guys are always more valuable than you think.

Ivan Pineyro: This is the most likely pick. I’d be surprised if Pineyro was not drafted today.

Tony Zych: Zych used to be a real bullpen prospect, and some team might find some room in the front of their bullpen for him.

All told, I don’t think the Cubs will take anyone in the draft, and I think they’ll certainly lose Pineyro and there’s maybe a 50% chance they lose another person.

 

 

 

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.

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.

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 8-15-13

Sacramento River Cats 9 @ Iowa Cubs 1

This team sucks to write about. Mike Olt was 0-4 with 2 strikeouts. Brooks Raley struckout 7 and walked 1 over 6 innings. He allowed 7 hits, 1 home run and 4 runs overall.

Chattanooga Lookouts 3 @ Tennessee Smokies 4

Nick Struck has had a poor season and even though he gave up only 3 runs in 6 innings, it was a terrible start. He walked 5 and struckout 4. AJ Morris and Frank Batista threw the final 2.1 innings without allowing any runs.

The Smokies had 10 hits, but only 3 were extra base hits. No surprise, Javier Baez had 2 of them. He had a fantastic day. He was 2-3 with a double, home run, walk, stolen base and a strikeout. He's putting together an impressive season for a young shortstop.

Justin Bour was 2-4 and Christian Villanueva was 1-4 with the other team's extra base hit, a double. Rafael Lopez was 2-3.

Clearwater Threshers 4 @ Daytona Cubs 2

C.J. Edwards threw 5 innings, allowed just a hit and no runs. He didn't walk anybody and struckout 3. Edwards has made 4 starts since coming over at the deadline in the Matt Garza trade. He's yet to throw more than 5 innings in a start. He's been dominating in the innings he's pitched, but I was curious if the slender righty had troubles going deep into games.

He does. Only three times this season has he thrown 6 or more innings. He's thrown exactly 5 innings in 9 of his 22 starts this year. Only four times in his career has he thrown 6 or more innings. This is something to watch because if he's unable to consistently go 6 innings, he'll be moved to the bullpen. So far, he hasn't given any indication he's capable of that.

Kris Bryant was 2-4 with a strikeout and Dan Vogelbach was 1-4 with a double. Wes Darvill has the team's other extra base hit. The Cubs had 9 hits spread out in the lineup. Bryant was the only one with a multi-hit game and Anthony Giansanti was the only player without a hit.

Kane County Cougars 1 @ Burlington Bees 0

There was only 1 run and 7 hits between the two teams in this game so let's be quick.

Eugene Emeralds 3 @ Boise Hawks 8

Dillon Maples has been outstanding since his demotion to short-season Boise. He threw 5 innings, allowed just a hit and no runs. He walked 2 and struckout 9. He's struckout 30 in 28 innings and walked only 9. He should be dominating this level considering his experience, but this is the first time he's had any success so who knows?

Lance Rymel was 1-4 with a home run. Rony Rodriguez was 2-5 with a double. Carlos Penalver was 2-3 with a double and a walk.

DSL Cubs 3 @ DSL Orioles 2

AZL Cubs 7 @ AZL Padres 9

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

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 Soler 65
Dan Vogelbach 65
Albert Almora 60
Brett Jackson 60
Gioskar Amaya 55
Arismendy Alcantara 55
Arodys Vizcaino 55
Logan Watkins 50
Christian Villanueva 50
Junior Lake 50
Dillon Maples 50
Duane Underwood 50
Jeimer Candelario 45
Dave Sappelt 45
Marco Hernadez 45
Matt Szczur 45
Pierce Johnson 45
Paul Blackburn 45
Josh Vitters 40
Juan Paniagua 40

Starting this month, dmick89 and I are going to cover which prospect we think are rising and falling. We'll focus on 3 or 4 guys, and list any honorable mentions we might have. Keep in mind, this is only for actually prospects; Brian Bogusevic is tearing up AAA but that's not as important as Jorge Soler tearing up A+ ball. — Myles

Stats are current through Wednesday's games

3. Gioskar Amaya: I was probably a little higher on Amaya entering this season than a lot of people, but even if I used MLB.com's 18th ranked prospect in the Cubs system, Amaya has fallen. He hit 8 home runs last year in short-season Boise, led the league in triples, and he added 6 more doubles. He slugged .498, which gave him an ISO near .200. His OBP was nearly 100 points higher than his average. For a 2nd baseman, these numbers were impressive.

So I've been more than a little disappointed with Amaya's results in 2013. Promoted to full season A ball at Kane County, he's been terrible. His walk rate has been cut in half (down below 6%) and his strikeout rate increased to nearly 25%. He hasn't yet hit a home run and has 9 extra base hits. He's hit .237/.280/.321, which is good for a 71 wRC+.

There's still plenty of time for Amaya to improve these numbers, but it's going to be difficult to have season ending numbers that look that impressive. He was rated near the bottom of the lists by the prospect analysts and is likely to drop off at this point.

2. Marco Hernandez: what was supposed to be a fantastic Cougars infield that boasted a legitimate prospect at every position has turned out to be disastrous. Hernandez struggled last year when he was promoted to A ball. His average was down, OBP down and slugging down. That's all true this year. He did have a couple nice games yesterday and that's not reflected in the stats.

His walk rate is horrendous. It's below 3%. In 280 A ball plate appearances he has a total of 12 extra base hits. He is only 20 years old and plays a premium position, but this guy has shown little skill beyond the ability to play SS.

Dave and I had Hernandez near the bottom of our list of prospects. I'm comfortable in knocking him down further at this point and depending on whether or not he shows much improvement the rest of the way, off the list entirely. The Draft is coming up next month so there will be two or three players that will sneak in above him and potentially pushing off.

1. Javier Baez. You knew it would be Baez. Baez currently has an ISO of .224, which is very good. It's allowed him to be productive enough so that his wRC+ is essentially league average (98). Doesn't sound so bad. It is bad.

Last year when he hit .188/.224/.400 (.288 wOBA, 76 wRC+) at Daytona in 88 plate appearances, you could point to him getting adjusted to the league, his .200 BABIP or highlight his .213 ISO and say things were going to be all good. The ISO is basically the same and, predictably, his BABIP has increased to .292. He's hitting just .238/.271/.462.

He's walking less than ever before and Baez was never one to take a lot of pitches. His walk rate is down to 3.2% and his strikeout rate has jumped to 29.0%. That's higher than Brett Jackson at the same level. Most of his strikeout rates are higher than Jackson's at the same levels. The difference between the two being that Jackson was very good at getting on base via the walk. Baez is not. He's flat out terrible at taking walks.

Prior to High A, Baez had 235 plate appearances in A ball. He hit .333/.383/.596. Those are ridiculous numbers for someone his age. In 241 A+ plate appearances, he's hit .220/.261/.439. Much of Baez's rankings have been based on the 235 A-ball plate appearances, but he now has nearly as many in A+ as he had before. Baez also had 18 plate appearances in rookie ball and A-.

Baez just hasn't been very good at all since getting to Daytona. I think anybody would agree that a .260ish OBP isn't going to cut it.

There are a handful of FSL players with 3 or 4 walks on the year. Baez has 5. He has the 3rd most strikeouts. He has the 26th lowest batting average this year. He has the 10th lowest OBP. Of the 7 FSL players with a lower walk rate, only 3 of them have a strikeout rate above 18.4%.

To make things even worse, Baez has made 14 errors this year in 35 games played. He stole 25 bases in his 253 pre-High A plate appearances. He's stolen 7 in Daytona.

One of the things that was actually impressive about Baez prior to Daytona was that he had been hit by 11 pitches. He wasn't afraid to stand in the box and take his base. He was afraid to not swing the bat, but that's another story. He's been hit 4 times in as many PA since he got to Daytona. It's almost like the pitchers with better control got promoted.

Baez is still just 20 years old and still has a lot of potential, but he's not the best prospect in the system anymore. Jorge Soler has taken that from him. Albert Almora may soon move ahead of him and if Dan Vogelbach's power returns, I'd put him above him too. Depending on how the rest of the season goes, it's also possible that the 1st round pick is ranked above him. We could see Baez fall down to 5th or even lower. If he doesn't improve the rest of the way, it will be lower.

I talked about this with Josh Vitters for years. You have to take walks. You have to take some. Vitters walk rate was quite low in the minors, but his walk rate is quite a bit higher than Baez's was. I'd be happy to see one improvement from him the rest of the year: patience. He has no chance to be a good MLB player walking as little as he does. He certainly has some power and could be a pinch hit specialist, but that's about it. He has to be more selective and if we see him improve at that, things suddenly look a lot better.

I guess the problem with that might be an even higher strikeout rate, which would seem difficult to do. If he's working deeper counts, he will strikeout more. Scary.

Honorable mention: Brett Jackson, Christian Villanueva

Brett Jackson's walk rate has declined 3 years in a row now. It stands at 8.7% through Wednesday. His strikeout rate has declined from over 33% to below 27%, but that's still bad. Along with the loss of strikeouts, though, his power has declined considerably. Jackson is capable of going on a tear and posting even better AAA numbers than a year ago, but he's quickly becoming an afterthought.

The Cubs working with him to cut down on his strikeouts by altering his mechanics is something I've always disliked. Sometimes it has great results, but it seems to me that more often it's the opposite. Brett Jackson was always a guy who struckout a lot and walked a lot. When he put the ball in play he'd hit it hard. He was productive. Very productive. What's wrong with that?

I understand it's the organizations obligation to help a player as much as possible, but sometimes I think they tinker too much. This might be an example because it seemed as soon as Dale Sveum talked about Jackson needing to make changes this time last year, shit got worse for Jackson. Maybe that's just a coincidence. I don't know.

Christian Villanueva's walk rate is back down to 7%, which is about what it was before the Cubs acquired him last year. His strikeout rate has jumped to 24% or more since joining the Cubs. He's reportedly quite gifted with the glove, but these numbers, along with a lack of power, aren't going to work at 3rd base.

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 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.