Minor League Wrap--June 1
by Josh Timmers on Jun 1, 2008 8:36 PM CDT
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PrintThe winning habit is contagious even down on the farm. Everyone is a a winner today.
As an aside, I love the way the Rockies SBN site calls their minor league prospects "Pebbles." But what the heck would we call little Cubs? We're already little Bears. A little Cub is just a tinier Cub.
The sportswriters at the turn of the century didn't think of that, did they? At least we're not talking about the Little Orphans.
Iowa Cubs
The I-Cubs plated six runs in the eighth inning to silence the Nashville Sounds, 8-3.
Justin Berg started this afternoon and threw six innings and allowed three runs, two of which were earned (and were both solo home runs). Berg was tagged for five hits and two walks while striking out two.
Hector Carrasco got his second win for the I-Cubs with three innings of shutout relief.
Felix Pie continues to not do the stuff he's supposed to do down in AAA, like bunt for base hits and steal bases. Instead, he went 2 for 5 with a home run and two runs scored.
Eric Patterson hit his second home run of the season in a 1 for 5 effort.
First baseman Jason Dubois was 2 for 5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Right fielder Josh Kroeger was 2 for 4 with a walk, a double, an RBI and a run scored.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies topped the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, 9-5.
Tanner Watson got the start and lasted only 3.2 innings. Watson was touched for four runs on five hits and two walks. Watson struck out one.
Grant Johnson got the win in relief. Johnson threw 2.1 innings and allowed one run on four hits and a walk. He didn't strike out anyone. Greg Reinhard was called in with two on and two outs and retired the final batter of the game for his third save of the season.
First baseman Matt Craig was 4 for 4 with a double and a home run, his third of the year. Craig also walked once and scored twice. Center fielder Sam Fuld was 2 for 5 with a double and a three-run home run, his first of the year in AA.
Daytona Cubs
The D-Cubs nailed the Jupiter Hammerheads, 8-3.
Esmailian Caridad started and upped his record on the season to 5-4. Caridad pitched five innings and allowed two runs on four hits and two walks. Caridad struck out three. Rocky Roquet threw two shutout innings of relief, striking out two and allowing only one hit. It looks like Roquet's season is back on track.
Second baseman Jonathan Mota was 3 for 4 with a walk, a stolen base and two runs scored. Mota is now hitting .337 with and OBP of .371. Shortstop Darwin Barney was 2 for 4 with a steal, a run scored and an RBI. After a terrible April, Barney hit over .300 for May and is off to a good start in June.
Peoria Chiefs
The Chiefs just keep on winning as they beat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 6-4.
Starter Hung-Wen Chen got his first win of the year. He threw five innings and allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. Chen struck out two. Blake Parker got his first save of the season with two innings of shutout relief, allowing only one hit, no walks and striking out five.
Right fielder Dylan Johnston (whom I may have written off a little too early) went 3 for 4 and hit his eighth home run of the season. Johnston also had a walk and two RBI.
Second baseman Marquez Smith was 2 for 4 with a double and his seventh home run of the year. Left fielder Brandon Guyer was 2 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI and first baseman Luis Bautista was 2 for 4.
This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, managing editor (unless it's a FanPost posted by Al). FanPost opinions are valued expressions of opinion by passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans.
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Minors are looking up
Peoria has won 10 of their last 12 and Tennessee has won 8 of their last 9. Both teams have been pretty bad for most of the year. Iowa is in first place and the third best team in the PCL – albeit a distant third.
I’m not sure of the overall significance of team standings to the parent club but it’s got to boost the confidence of the prospects, and winning beats losing any time!
Winning Part of Player Development
I think winning is an important part of player development. I’m sure the Cubs are more interested in how individual prospects are doing than whether the individual teams win or not. To echo your sentiment, winning does build confidence. If prospects learn how to play winning baseball in the minors, then they have a better chance of playing winning baseball in the majors.
"The big possum walks late." - Harry Caray
Nice to see Felix continue his hot streak.
Hopefully, he can do enough to warrant a promotion….
"I've always felt that starting pitching is the most important part of the rotation." - Joe Morgan, Sunday Night Baseball 8-12-07
come now.
He’s turning into little-Soriano, don’t you think? Obviously, he must be a guess-hack minor-leaguer.
"We expect to win. We go out to win. So we're just living up to our own expectations." Derek Lee, 5/29/08
by drewishdrewid on Jun 2, 2008 10:07 AM CDT up reply actions
Ha.
As long as he guesses right!
"I've always felt that starting pitching is the most important part of the rotation." - Joe Morgan, Sunday Night Baseball 8-12-07
I saw the
Chiefs-Rattlers game today. The only player I saw who looked like he had a future was Marquez Smith. He was smooth with the glove and had a nice swing. He looks like he could eat his way out of second base, but other than that he looked like a nice player. I think he’s a little old for A-ball though.
DEJESUS!!!
Marquez is good, but don't miss Jovan Rosa
I like Marquez Smith, too. I don’t think he has enough power to be an MLB 3B, but if he can play both 2B and 3B and hit for average and show some power, I could see him moving through the system quickly and eventually being a bench guy at the big league level.
The player who has impressed me the most at Peoria is Jovan Rosa. He’s playing both 3B and 1B this season, and he’s hitting the ball well—.299/.379/.443. He doesn’t have the homers (only 2), but with 17 doubles already, his gap power could turn into home run power as he matures.
Smith
Yeah, he’s a little old for the Midwest League, although just a little.
He went to Clemson for four years (The Cubs drafted him after both his junior and senior year) so he’s a little behind other prospects. He spent a year in short season and is now in Low A, which is standard progress for someone entering pro ball after his junior season, not senior.
This doesn’t mean he can’t yet catch up, but it does mean we need to take that into consideration when projecting out his future.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
Pie Power, Pie Pop, Pie Promotion
Keep it up Felix…hope he gets back up here!
"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." - Jacque Barzun
Are you sure about that?
As Josh mentions, Felix isn’t supposed to be hitting home runs. He’s supposed to be becoming a more patient, selective, high OBP kinda guy. So, if his power numbers go up, will he stay down?
This is the confusing aspect to this whole “let’s send him back to Triple A” strategy. How can Felix draw walks and bunt for singles when Triple A pitchers are probably throwing him pitches down Broadway that he can drive downtown?
It’s maddening, I tell you. Maddening!
Nanika Ga Okoru!
Oh, and remember, folks: Alfonso Soriano is NOT batting leadoff. He's batting first.
As always,
thanks for the excellent Minor League Wrap, Josh. I wanted to recommend this Fanpost and couldn’t figure out how to do it…..??What am I missing?
Hey Lou, we're long overdue.
If you are logged in...
... there should be a link that says “Rec” at the bottom of Josh’s text, above the comments. Just click on that.
"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx
Thanks for the help.
Hey Lou, we're long overdue.
by deadcatbounce on Jun 2, 2008 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions
Darwin Barney
Is one of my favorite prospects. I was so happy when we drafted him last year. I just can’t figure out his upside, though. I’ve only seen him play once (when he was in college) and I think he might be a Khalil Greene with less power and higher average. What do you think?
I am like your Dan Aykroyd and biglow would be Jane, the ignorant slut. -Chad
To be honest, I don't think Barney's upside is much more than an MLB bench player right now.
A guy drafted out of college like him should be doing more against High A pitching than what he’s doing so far this year.
Barney
hasn’t been a pro for a full year yet, so I really don’t think he should be expected to be tearing up High A ball quite yet. He was miserable in April, but his May was pretty good.
Still, while I don’t agree with your reasoning, I agree with your conclusions. Barney is one of those guys without a lot of raw athletic talent who gets by on smarts and hard work. While sometimes those guys succeed on the major league level, their upside usually isn’t very high.
I don’t know, maybe if we’re underestimating his defense (which I hear is good not great), his upside is Jack Wilson. But if he’s Jack Wilson without the glove, well, I don’t know what that is. A Triple-A player, I guess.
Sounds like he might make a great manager one day, especially on the collegiate level.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
Rather than compare him to Greene
Barney sounds like another scrappy SS. Maybe a Theriot with less offense but better glove? Not sure what that is either.
Barney
doesn’t have Theriot’s speed either.
Too many caveats for me to make the Theriot comparison. I’ll stick with Jack Wilson as a B/B+ defender rather than as an A defensive player.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
by Josh Timmers on Jun 3, 2008 11:04 AM CDT up reply actions
Mine was somewhat tongue in cheek
“without a lot of raw athletic talent who gets by on smarts and hard work” = scrappy
I view college ball as somewhere between A+ and AA...
...for league quality level, so while you’re right that he’s not been in pro ball for long, he’s been playing in high-level organized ball for quite some time now. Maybe I’m a little harder on the college guys than I should be.
But I do think that if his name was, say, Bill Smith we wouldn’t hear half as much about him as we do.
College Baseball
varies widely in quality, but since Barney played for back-to-back NCAA Champion Oregon State, I wouldn’t quibble with your characterization of the talent level of Oregon State and their competition. It’s High A probably. Better than High A, possibly.
But you’re forgetting the use of aluminum bats. That makes the college game a whole different ballgame and that’s why I think only exceptional talents will quickly adapt to the pro game.
While Barney played in some wooden bat showcases, it’s one thing to swing a wooden bat for two weeks and it’s a another to swing nothing but an wooden bat for a whole season. There’s also the difference of playing every day. I think the transition from college to professional ball is greater than you think.
But again, I agree with your characterization of Barney. He doesn’t seem like a major league starter to me either. But we’d both be happy to be proven wrong.
It's a girl! Born 1-18-08. 2246 PST. 8 lbs. 1 oz.
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