Cubs Minor League Wrap -- April 10

Even if the Twitter thing is abbreviated, that’s the point. I just signed up for it and this was the first thing I chose to follow. Thanks Josh!

As I’ve posted elsewhere, I went to tonight’s Chiefs game and took notes. There’s a short version of this over on Sickels’ blog, but here are my longer notes…

-As always, I had a ball at O’Brien Park. The atmosphere is great and very family-friendly. Considering that I paid $5 for a ticket and got seats two rows behind home plate, I really cannot complain about the accommodations. If you ever get the chance, I really encourage you to take the trip down to Peoria to catch a game.

-That out of the way, today’s game was not very friendly weather-wise. It was 50 degrees when I got to the park and the temperatures dipped down into the low 40s as the night went on. There was also a swirling wind that didn’t exactly help matters, either. The grass and warning track appeared to be slick from rain earlier in the day, as there were a few stumbles and slips in the outfield.

-Considering it’s early in the season and the weather was cold and windy, this was not the best of days to evaluate talent.

Anyways, onto my game notes…

-Chris Carpenter looked pretty good. The radar gun wasn’t working in the early going and I wasn’t in the mood to harass anyone in the stands about their readings, but when the gun got back up, Carpenter was working in the low 90s. He was regularly hitting 92/93 in the 5th inning, which was nice to see. His breaking pitch (I think slider?) had very nice late break on it and his change had some good action. His change had nice action and he used it periodically. He started hanging his secondary stuff in the 4th and 5th innings and the Cougars made him pay for it. However, he worked around it and made the most of what he had. I remember hearing he has trouble with command/control on occasion, but he looked pretty sharp tonight with some clean mechanics.

-What in the heck happened to Huseby? The guy was working in the 80s when he came out of the pen. Maybe the Cubs are trying to build up his arm strength for later in the season when he’ll be starting, but considering how much the Cubs forked over to sign him when they drafted him, this is not what I expected to see at this point in his career. He didn’t have any control problems, but that’s about the only good thing I can say about him.

-The 0 BBs for the Chiefs is noticeable, but in fairness to them, the Cougars’ pitchers were doing a solid job of working the strike zone tonight. Plus, they had plenty of hittable pitches for the Chiefs tonight.

-With Josh Vitters…there’s not a whole lot I can really say about him from tonight’s game. There was one ball hit his way the entire night and that particular ball was a tough play for any 3B (low and hard grounder to his left that got under him as he laid out for it). His ABs looked fine and his swing was pretty nice, but he didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy. The one thing I did like was that he made a conscious effort to use all fields, even if he only got one hit out of it.

-I see both sides of the argument with Ryan Flaherty sticking at SS. On the one hand, the guy looks kind of awkward at SS. On the other hand, he did a good job out there tonight defensively. He handled the routine plays and made some fairly nice plays tonight. I still don’t think he’ll stick at SS, but I understand why the Cubs want to see if he can stick there.

-Nelson Perez is the kind of talent that excites me and yet worries me. His double was a frozen rope down the opposite field line. He has a cannon of an arm that has fairly good accuracy. However, he had an AB where he saw a steady diet of breaking balls and looked completely lost against them as he flailed away. I can definitely see why his walk numbers last season were not so good.

-Junior Lake looked alright. His error was on a bad hop on a ball that froze him. Much like Perez, his double was a frozen rope down the opposite field line. He made some decent plays at 2B, although it was pretty clear that he still has some work to do in terms of getting comfortable with his position. He had a scary moment during the game when a shallow pop fly was hit out his way. He seemed to have waved off CF Tony Campana and made the catch, but for whatever reason, Campana dove head-first for the ball and took out Lake’s legs. Thankfully, both of them got back on their feet quickly afterward.

-Josh Harrison has the potential to be one of those mighty mite types of guys. Standing next to guys like Flaherty, Perez, and Lake (all 6’2 and over), he looked like a midget. However, Harrison did a very good job at the plate tonight, laying down a beautiful bunt single and splitting a gap. He also was a nuisance on the basepaths and seemed to have pretty good instincts out there.

I wish they had gameday for all 4 levels. I was following AA/AAA all night, and it was sort of interesting. Of course, it’d be nice if they had the pitch f/x stuff for it. I’ll try to keep this brief, but no promises Archie. I just type as I go.

Oops – meant to say Harrison would have problems finding defensive time, not AB time.

Daytona -

Odd game. It was an excellent pitcher’s duel, with former top prospect Mark Rogers trying to work his way back and containing Daytona, but then the bullpens came in and the gates opened. The most exciting note of the night had to be Starlin Castro. At the very least, he’s not overmatched. Very enthused about the start, although being realistic on expectations.

Marwin Gonzalez got another start. Again, I’m not saying he will definitely breakout, but this kid has tools. He had a SB tonight. Now, he faces offensive and defensive questions – he started in LF tonight, which should be more of an indication on the Cubs trying to find a spot for him than anything on Nate Samson, who I do like. As for Samson, I do like him, and I had a conversation with someone last year who suggested Samson had a bit more pop in his bat. If that shows, he’ll raise his value a lot more (and become similar to, say, Nate Spears).

I was very pleased to see Jovan Rosa get going. I know I’m higher on him than most. Sweet stroke, good pop in the bat. Whether that current gap power translates to more real power will be the big offensive question, considering his future is likely at first.

Dylan Johnston sort of gets lost by the wayside. It’s not that I have expectations, but paying an occasional eye to him is still worth it, IMO. His ARL is fine. He hasn’t had a hit yet, but the two walks were a nice sight. Marquez Smith got the start at 3rd and went 1/3 with a double and a walk. Like Dylan, he’s worth paying some occasional attention to, although with Vitters behind him, if Vitters pans out, Marquez will be moved around again.

I’ll be curious on reports on Mateo’s changeup. He’ll need that to be more consistent to increase his K rate and challenge lefties. I’ll also be curious if there are reports on Searle. He’s an intriguing arm, particularly since he was productive last year, but the BA report (bad body/makeup) was one that stood out. It could be that he simply got tired and get tagged by a solid lineup, but it is interesting that he fell apart after the error.

Tennessee -

They are facing a solid Marlins AA squad, with top prospect Logan Morrison, and tonight, they faced an intriguing, solid arm in Sean West. Now, West has good stuff, but the consistency on the secondary outings isn’t there yet, and his mechanics still need work, so he can get tagged, as he did tonight. If there’s one Cub I have a personal desire to see succeed, it’s Hung-Wen Chen, and he had a solid outing tonight. He’s sort of a poor man’s Esmailin Caridad – if Hung-Wen could get some more juice on the fastball, then he’d hold some intrigue as an end of the rotation possibility. The Suns were able to work him early, though, so he only lasted 5.1. Not that I had any expectations on Vince Perkins, but he still hasn’t harnessed his abilities as he walked 3.

Thomas came alive, showing what he could do if he ever put it together. If he shows more discipline, he has the ability to be a truly solid player that offers some pop and speed. 4/5 with 2 homers and a double speaks for itself, so I’ll note things I liked. In the 3rd inning, he struck out, but, after he fell behind 0-2, he battled back and forced Sean West to throw 8 pitches, showing patience on two borderline pitches. That’s a good sign. In the 7th, he took 3 pitches from Chris Leroux before finding one he could handle. In the 8th, against Jay Buente, he fouled the first pitch off, took 2 balls, missed on a good pitch before fouling back another pitch in the same location, took a ball, and then took advantage of the 7th pitch for a double, a pitch that was located where he previously missed. Again, just gameday, but man, those are excellent signs for Tony Thomas’ bat.

Lalli went 2/5 tonight. I’m higher on Lalli than most, and in this case, ARL, while a concern, isn’t a big issue yet for me, as it’s only his 3rd year as a pro. I recognize that Lalli is a bit limited and isn’t likely to be a starter. But he just seems like a gamer that can find a role, and I really think his bat can play in the upper levels. If Castillo gets bumped to AAA at some point, don’t be surprised if he gets time behind the plate again. He’s not horrible, but he is below average.

It’s good to see Clevenger behind the plate. The BA ranking really piqued my curiosity, considering BA is largely based off organizational sources. The bats were alive today, but the fact that we only got 1 walk also caught my attention. Matt Camp’s solid day is nice, and his defensive versatility catches attention, but offensively, he’s in that “scrappy” mold as well.

Iowa -

Very intrigued with Ascanio’s start. I’ll be curious how his slider was. With that fast/change combo, a solid slider makes him an intriguing talent. That said, i’m still of the belief that this is aimed more at stretching him out and working his secondary offerings, akin to what they did with Kevin Hart last year. That said, after an early bump, he hit a solid rhythm.

Let’s see, what else caught my eye. Jeff Stevens worked himself into a jam with a HBP and a walk, then proceeded to strike out the top of the order. Bogusevic has some big league bench potential, and so does Manzella. Brad Snyder struck out twice again. To be honest, I’d rather see Doug Deeds or Jason Dubois in there, although Snyder offers defensive value. But I wasn’t a big fan of the two hit or miss OF additions this year in Snyder and Robnett. Fox had an excellent 2/3 day, but what I really liked was the walk in the 3rd, where there were some pitches right off the plate that he didn’t offer at. Spears was solid, but for him to force his way onto a 40 man and stick, he’ll need to show some pop with that bat, to go along with his defensive versatility. That said, I still think he could be Aaron Miles-ish right now (which was what bothered me about the Miles signing).

in about 3 or four years,

seeing an infield/battery of

zambrano/marshall
hoffpauir
theriot
castro
vitters
soto/castillo

for a game, not necessarily as an everyday lineup.

at least our system is starting to produce. yeah, i’ll be interested in the june draft.

We’ve got Caridad starting in AAA, Coleman in AA, I think McDaniel in High A, and Archer in Low A … all 4 are intriguing arms.

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