Minor League Wrap--August 29

by Josh77 on Aug 30, 2008 1:25 AM CDT Comment 17 comments

It's the final weekend of the minor league regular season tonight, and a couple of Cubs farm teams are still fighting for playoff spots.

Iowa Cubs

The I-Cubs are already in the playoffs, and tonight they trounced the Omaha Royals, 7-2.

J. R. Mathes improved his record on the season to 9-5 tonight by allowing two runs over five innings. Mathes got tagged for seven hits. He walked one and struck out one.

Angel Guzman struggled a bit in two innings of relief, but he pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the ninth inning without allowing a run. Guzman allowed three hits tonight. He walked one and struck out two.

Catcher Koyie Hill hit his 17th home run in a 2 for 4 night. Hill had one RBI and scored twice.

Left fielder Andres Torres was 2 for 4 with a triple and a walk. Torres scored twice and batted two in. He also stole his 25th base on the season.

Third baseman Casey McGehee was 2 for 4 with a double and three RBI. Shortstop Luis Figueroa was 2 for 4.

This probably isn't of interest to anyone here, but it's interesting to me so I'm including it. Omaha and the Royals renewed their affiliation agreement through 2010 yesterday. There had been some rumblings of discontent between the team and the City of Omaha recently. The Royals feel like second-class citizens in Rosenblatt Stadium. That's because they are. But it's good to see that they at least put aside their differences for another two years. Omaha has been the Royals AAA franchise since they entered the majors in 1969 and next season, with the Braves moving their AAA franchise, they will have the longest continual affiliation in AAA.

In case you are wondering, the Cubs have agreements with all of their franchises through 2012, except for Boise which runs out in 2010.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies were winning 2-0 in the fifth inning when the rains came. They'll finish the game tomorrow.

Daytona Cubs

The D-Cubs split a double-header with the Jupiter Hammerheads, winning the first 4-0 and dropping the second game 4-2.

In the first game, James Russell worked towards earning his nickname back by combining with Blake Parker on a one-hitter. Russell allowed the one hit over six innings. He walked two and struck out three. Parker closed the game out with a perfect seventh inning.

Left fielder Ty Wright was 2 for 4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored. Catcher Steve Clevenger was also 2 for 4 with a double. Clevenger also scored once. DH Blake Lalli went 2 for 4 with an RBI.

In the second game, first-round pick Andrew Cashner's FSL debut didn't go very well. Cashner allowed four runs in only 2.2 innings. Cashner gave up four hits, walked four and only struck out one.

Second baseman Tony Thomas was 3 for 4 with a run scored. Shortstop Darwin Barney went 2 for 2 with a walk and scored the other run.

Daytona will take the FSL East Second-half title and make the playoffs with a win either Saturday or Sunday at Jupiter.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs are just playing out the schedule and tonight they lost to the Kane County Cougars, 6-3.

Starter Josh Whitlock allowed two runs on three hits and a walk over four innings. Whitlock struck out two.

My favorite whipping-boy Chris Siegfried took the loss in relief. Siegfried allowed four runs on seven hits in 3.1 innings of relief. On the plus side, Siegfried did strike out five and didn't issue a walk. With the season drawing to a close, I've got to believe that's the last time I'm going to write about Siegfried taking another loss.

DH Dylan Johnston, on the other hand, is someone we will still be hearing about despite me having written him off in April. Johnston hit his 14th home run tonight and went 2 for 4 total. Johnston is now hitting .283 with a .345 OBP after an April in which he hit .172/.238/.293. I really thought after a bad 2007 and a terrible start to April that Johnston was a bust, but he's really made progress as the season has gone on. Now if he could just find a defensive position, he might actually be a prospect again. The Cubs don't need a DH, and he's not going back to shortstop.

Catcher Luis Bautista was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Left fielder Elvis Lara went 2 for 3 with a walk.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks were officially eliminated from playoff contention tonight with a 4-1 loss to the Spokane Indians.

Chris Carpenter got the loss as he got knocked around for four runs in 4.2 innings. Carpenter allowed eight runs, one walk and struck out three.

Left fielder Drew Rundle went 1 for 3 with a walk and a double. Rundle scored the lone Hawk run.

AZL Cubs

Did not play. The Cubs rookie league team will end their season tomorrow.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of SB Nation or Al Yellon, editor-in-chief (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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Pie went 1-for-3 with two walks.

In other news, I can only imagine that making the playoffs will mean more for the I-Cubs than anything they can do in the playoffs… Hoffpauir, Pie, Guzman, Ascanio, and Wuertz will likely get called up, and that should eliminate quite a bit of talent from the I-Cubs.

Here’s your million dollar questions…
1.) If they plan on calling up Koy Hill, they’ll need to get him onto the 40 man roster, which will mean someone has to leave the 40 man roster.
2.) Do guys like Kevin Hart, Billy Petrick, and Carmen Pignatiello get called up? They’re on the 40 man roster, but Lou said he doesnt want to have more than 30-32 guys on the team in September.
3.) What about Sam Fuld? Does he help the I-Cubs? Or the real Cubs?
4.) Rich Hill?

These are the questions that interest me, and I’d imagine that the answers will be something like this…
1.) Koy Hill gets a shot on the 40 man roster, Fox gets moved off.
2.) Petrick and Piggy get called up, Hart doesnt.
3.) Fuld wont make it to Chicago.
4.) Rich Hill wont see Wrigley unless he tunes in at home.

I imagine only time will tell.

One thing you learned as a Cubs fan: when you bought you ticket, you could bank on seeing the bottom of the ninth.
Joe Garagiola

by Ryan at Cubshub on Aug 30, 2008 2:37 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with #1, #3 and #4.

I don’t see Petrick and Piggy recalled. They’ve been far off the radar screen all year. The likely pitcher additions are Wuertz and Lieber, and then it’s a question of whether it’s Guzman or Hart.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Aug 30, 2008 3:53 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lieber is still rehabbing.

The most likely scenario involves Hart, Wuertz and Guzman right now.

I has a blog. | Ask a sabermagician!

by cwyers on Aug 30, 2008 9:49 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have seen Lieber throwing at Wrigley Field.

I would be shocked if he wasn’t activated on Monday.

"That's my opinion and if you don't like it, well, I have others." ~ Groucho Marx

by Al on Aug 31, 2008 4:05 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Petrick is injured and out for the season

He’s actually listed on MilB.com as “suspended,” but what I’m hearing was that he was briefly suspended while he was injured (probably for not showing up for a rehabilitation session, but that’s just a guess), but MiLB.com just never updated his status after that. Doesn’t matter. He’s injured and out for the season.

Guzman will be recalled. Hart probably will after the PCL playoffs.

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh77 on Aug 30, 2008 11:57 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Moot points

Unless I missed something, the Cubs only have 39 guys on the 40 man roster counting Guzman (who is on the 60 day DL and therefore doesn’t count towards the 40 man limit). So they actually have two free spots, but looks like just one since they want to rush Guzman back and blow his arm up even more from pitching too much too often.

Fox has been on the DL since May, so he could just be moved to the 60 day DL or DFA’d since he didn’t show much of anything earlier this season.

So most of your fears don’t seen to be relevant.

by northsideguy on Aug 30, 2008 8:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cashner

I’m pretty disappointed that they’re trying to make Cashner a starter. Maybe I’m wrong, but since he did start and looked like they wanted him to pitch more than just a couple innings, so I’m getting that feeling. All the pre-draft reports made it sound like he’d be a great closer and everything, so why mess it up? He’d be able to contribute a lot faster and even though our rotation will most likely be shaky in the near future, Cashner wouldn’t be ready to contribute then anyway and the bullpen is a big question too.

by northsideguy on Aug 30, 2008 8:21 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Arms typically get stretched out

Starting him now doesn’t mean all that much. He could go 2 innings at the end of the game, or 2 innings at the start. I think, the fact that they rushed him straight to Daytona instead of going to Peoria is a bigger sign that they view his future in the pen.

by toonsterwu on Aug 30, 2008 9:17 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You can't mess up a closer

by giving him a chance to start, although you can miss a starter if you pigeonhole a guy as a reliever. Having him go multiple innings is good whether he’s a starter or closer long-term.

The author of this post is not a certified scout, doctor, agent, statistician, manager, or journalist, nor was he ever a very good player, though he tried very hard to be like Ryne Sandberg and was about as scrappy as it gets (in T-ball). Any opinion expressed above should in no way be confused with fact, truth, or reality and is hereby qualified in the following ways: 1) The author does not know as much about baseball as Lou Piniella. 2) The author does not know as much about baseball as Jim Hendry. 3) The author does not know as much about baseball as either Dusty or Darren Baker.

by DGU on Aug 30, 2008 4:00 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Omaha

Aren’t they building a new stadium for the Royals in downtown Omaha? I haven’t heard much about this lately, and I was wondering if the CWS would move across town too – thus the ORoyals would remain second class citizens.

This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.

by HectorVillanueva on Aug 30, 2008 8:23 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Only the NCAA has signed a lease for the new downtown ballpark

The O-Royals are looking at other options – moving to the suburbs of Omaha or out of the area entirely. Rosenblatt Stadium is going to be torn down in 2011 – the site is being purchased by the zoo that’s next door.

The 24,000 seat downtown ballpark for the CWS is too big for most crowds the O-Royals draw, plus the O-Royals (and the parent Royals) aren’t too thrilled with having to play extra long road trips in June while the CWS is in town. That’s why the O-Royals are looking elsewhere.

by va cubsfan on Aug 30, 2008 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thank you

For explaining this. I didn’t want to.

I still hope they stay in Omaha.

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh77 on Aug 30, 2008 11:59 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Stupid Question

But what is James Russell’s [former] nickname?

"Prince Fielder Dies Of Inside-The-Park Homerun" - The Onion

by DTJchris on Aug 30, 2008 11:19 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The Intern?

Maybe?

by northsideguy on Aug 30, 2008 11:35 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

I nicknamed him “The Intern” after Mark Prior being “The Employee” around here. I stopped calling him that while he struggled because I didn’t want to make fun of him while he was down. If he starts pitching well again, I’ll start mocking him again.

Borowy . . .Sutcliffe . . .Harden?

by Josh77 on Aug 30, 2008 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs