and not shortstop. Wonder why Vitters was not in there???

Nice to see the strong pitching. Coleman gets very little respect but he put up some solid numbers and is in AA the first full year after getting drafted. That is pretty good. I like seeing the shift of McDaniel to starting. He can always shift back to the bullpen. I am surprised that Jackson has not pitched for Tenn yet…maybe tomorrow?

As usual thanks for the great wrap up!

I’ve been quite high on Casey Coleman and Dan McDaniel, higher than most. In my top 20 arms, I had McDaniel 9th and Coleman 12th. I’ve said it before, but I don’t think Coleman is that far behind Jay Jackson, and I am more intrigued with Dan McDaniel than I am with Andrew Cashner (now, this isn’t to say that I view Coleman and McDaniel as better talents than those two).

Like Jackson, Coleman is an athlete who played other positions (now, he isn’t a Jay Jackson level athlete). Coleman has excellent lineage, so one can think that he might have some more oomph in the fastball, as he hasn’t been a full-time pitcher. He throws an excellent 2-seamer that sits in that 89-91 range, and is able to run a 4 seamer with a bit more oomph. He throws a change and a curve, and in an interview before the year, he indicated he was toying with a cutter. He’s just got more depth to his arsenal than Jackson does right now, but Jackson’s potential is higher. Both have been aggressively pushed, and Jackson, on account of better potential and better performance has gotten more acclaim, with Coleman somewhat lost in the shuffle. As noted, he had a solid line tonight. What I especially liked, though, was the fact that he ran into a roadbump in the 3rd inning but he buckled down and prevented the big inning.

Dan McDaniel was the Cubs 14th round pick from Chabot College, and we got him away from Oklahoma State. He fell partly due to some struggles his final year at Chabot, but he was hurt, otherwise he would’ve gone higher (and thus, because of the struggles, some thought he would go to Oklahoma State to rebuild his stock). I don’t recall how much over slot he got, but he got enough. He got off to a red hot start dominating as Peoria’s closer. I desperately wanted to see us move him into the rotation, and am so very glad to have seen it happen. He’s a good power arm that can run it in there in the mid-90’s, and he complements it with 2 breaking balls and a changeup. The curve is his better breaking pitch. He has an aggressive approach and attacks hitters. There were some control problems last year that might need to be ironed out a bit. The reason I’m more intrigued with McDaniel than I am with Cashner is because I think McDaniel has a better shot to develop as a starter than Cashner does, and I don’t think McDaniel’s 1-2 punch (fast/curve) is that far behind Cashner’s. What I love about tonight’s start, though, is that he was sharp. I don’t mind the low K count, as he was pushed aggressively and making an offseason transition to starting. I think the K’s will come. The fact that he only had 1 walk, coupled with a 10-5 GO/FO ratio were two positive signs. I also liked the fact that he succeeded when he didn’t have much margin of error. It was a tight game all the way, so he couldn’t falter.

Let’s see, what else from those two games -

Daytona -

I really hope nothing is wrong with Jovan Rosa. He was playing 3rd today but left early after scoring a run. Jake Muyco has really taken to pitching. Like a couple others in our system, he has an attack mentality that should bode well for the pen. Marwin Gonzalez got another start. Looks like the Cubs are intent on getting him some AB’s, at least early. I’ll say it again – watch him. Don’t have expectations, but watch him.

The first rule of thumb when writing about the minor league season early is to not get caught up in things. Starlin Castro’s good start was just that – 2 games (still wouldn’t surprise me to see Starlin flipped with Ryan Flaherty a month or so from now, irregardless of how he is doing, with Flaherty perhaps moving to 2nd in Daytona). That said, Drew Rundle’s disappointing start caught my eye. Again, it’s early, but 0/9 with 4 K’s isn’t, well, for lack of a better word, good. Again … early, but last year, a lot of people were really caught up onto Rundle’s brief stretch of hot hitting in Boise in the summer. I had my doubts, and still do. I hope I’m wrong. Another guy struggling, but with less rope, is Jon Wyatt, at 0/8 with 1 K. On Castro real quick – an 0-2 night happens. I like the fact that he grabbed a walk. It’s a real good sign for the kid, better than all his singles to start the year (IMO). Samson went 1/3 with a walk, Canzler had 2 hits, Smith went 1/2. What was disappointing? 0/4 from Colvin with 2 K’s … but again, the keyword is … early.

Tennessee -

First, I loved the fact that we tacked on three insurance runs in the 9th to break it open a bit. For the most part, Schlitter looked good with his control tonight, outside of missing on the 1 pitch (right down the pike) that led to the homer. Papelbon was attacking hitters, and only threw 9 balls in his 38 pitches, and very few that missed by a lot.

I liked Thomas’ day today as much as I liked his 4/5 with 2 homers and a double yesterday. Why? Tony took two walks today. We know he has a nice swing, but his discipline is, to say the least, erratic. As I pointed out yesterday, there were a couple nice AB’s from Tony yesterday showing patience, and today, more of the same. I’m hoping this is legit improvement in discipline. Let’s start in the first inning. He popped out on the 6th pitch, but he worked himself into hitter’s counts, 2-0 and 3-1. After working him inside in the first, they worked Tony away in the 2nd, and he didn’t bite. Took a solid 5 pitch walk. In the 5th, he didn’t bite on anything away either and was fairly disciplined and took the pitches for a 6 pitch walk. Even his 3 pitch AB in the 8th saw him take a pitch first. I am really loving what I am seeing from Tony Thomas to start the year.

As noted, I’m a Lalli fan. I’m not saying he has starter potential in the big leagues, but I’m fan. Lalli gets bashed for ARL, but it’s his 3rd year of pro ball. As I’ve noted, I think his bat plays for the upper levels of the minors. His homer came on a high and inside pitch. Adduci went 2/4. It’s a shame he doesn’t have much pop in his bat. He’s got enough movement to spot in CF, which is the only place where his bat really plays. I guess there’s a chance that he can be a depth OF option, but that’s probably slim. Barney went 1/3, but his 1 was a double, and Castillo was back behind the dish, going 1/4. I liked Castillo taking some pitches. That’s a good offensive sign.

Thoughts on Peoria’s loss -

Archer was a mixed bag, more good than bad. 4 walks is bad, but the 3 shutout innings with 5 K’s showed us that his good stuff was legit. Let’s see if the coaches can help improve his mechanics. He’s so young. I am curious to see if anyone can provide a report on how his changeup looked. He’ll need to develop that to move on up, as he can get away in the lower levels on the plus breaking ball. That said, that’s what the minors are for, development.

I like Josh Whitlock. Probably just a pen prospect, but the reports on him were good in regards to his approach. I like the fact that he didn’t walk anyone. I loved Rebel Ridling’s line tonight. 1/2 with a double, a SB … but 2 walks. That’s excellent stuff to see, considering the rates last year. Macias/Mercedes were both 1/4. Do either stay in Peoria for long, with some guys getting healthy at XST? I liked seeing Harrison playing in the field, as he needs work there (he only took up 2nd about a year or so ago, I think). That said … ugh, 2 throwing errors. He also got picked off on the bases. He doesn’t have that plus speed, so I’m not sure if I really love this aggressiveness, but I guess it’s the minors. Lake playing short is something I’m intrigued with as well, just to see if he can stick there. Love that he got 2 walks to go with a double. Flaherty went 2/4 with a walk. I wonder when he gets bumped, and as noted, I could see Flaherty to AA soon. Andersen went 1/5 with a single. As I’ve noted, I think it’s make or break for Cliff this year.

Thoughts on Iowa’s win over Round Rock -

I’ll be very curious on Caridad’s velocity. If he’s sitting in the 92-94 range, then awesome. He was his usual strike throwing self, but I didn’t like the GO/FO ration of 2/7. Reinhard had a solid 1.2 out of the pen (we got him from TB with Andrew Lopez in the Jae-Kuk Ryu deal). With so many other arms for the pen, he sort of gets lost in the shuffle, but he’s a decent pen arm that could be an option late in the year. Waddell came in and neutralized Bogusevic, which was a good sign. I liked how he worked in changing the level. Power sinker Justin Berg came in and gave up an unearned run, but he did give up 2 hits and a walk. Berg does have a power sinker, and his best role in the bigs is as the middle reliever that you hope can get you that double play ball.

Fuld went 1/3 with 2 walks. I think he’s positioning himself, behind Jake Fox, as a next man up option. Fox had an excellent day, and for the most part, I think he is next man up (unless we need a CF or a MI, if the need is simply a bench bat, I think he gets the call). What I loved today wasn’t just the 3/5 with a triple – it was that he worked the count. In the first, he took Fulchino to 7 pitches before popping out. He put himself in a hitter’s count, 2-0, before taking 2 borderline pitches. That’s a good sign. In the 3rd, he got behind 0-1, before taking 2 close pitches for balls and finally singling on the 6th pitch. I liked what he did in the 5th – took 2 strikes, fouled a pitch, and then the next pitch was where the first pitch basically was and he ripped it for the triple. What’s impressive is his adjustment, and the fact that he waited for a pitch to drive, as the bases were loaded with only one out. In the 7th, he put himself in a 2-1 count before getting a single. Even though his last AB was only 2 pitches, he did take a ball first.

Scales was 1/3 with a walk, but he also had 2 errors playing third. Taguchi had a double in 4 AB’s and a walk, but I think he’s probably behind Sam Fuld in the pecking order. Snyder went 0/4 with a K, leaving 5, and look, I like giving toolsy guys a shot, but that’s more in the lower levels. I’d rather see Doug Deeds or Dubois get time than Snyder, as with Snyder, the chances of him putting it together, while not nil, isn’t high, IMO. Rivas had a double in 4 AB’s.

Three Thoughts:

a) Tony Thomas and Jake Fox – I’m hoping that we are seeing signs of overall offensive improvement/discipline from these two. For the former, it’s a matter of righting the ship a bit and showing that he could be valuable to us soon. As I’ve noted before, I was initially pretty harsh on Thomas after the 08 season completed, but when I sat back and thought about it, considering how he played solid in the playoffs, and considering he was skipped a level, he didn’t have a horrid year, he just didn’t have a good year. For the latter (Fox), he could be of use to us this year so it’d be nice to show that he can belong by hitting in AAA.

b) The Pitching and why it matters – I was so excited following the pitching today. Part of it is because I’m high on McDaniel, Coleman, and Archer. I really like those three arms and think all three have solid big league potential. I was fairly conservative on Caridad entering the year, putting him behind Atkins, but knowing full well that my following Atkins all these years might’ve clouded my judgment. If Caridad is throwing more consistently in the 90’s, he’s very intriguing.

But the other reason it matters is that, the one commodity people always go shopping for at the trade deadline is pitching. If some of these arms can step up, we can put ourselves in a better position to make a critical deal. A guy like Caridad could provide value for us as an end of the rotation arm or a ready trade asset. Coleman/McDaniel have enough ceiling that, while they might not be a top piece in a deal, if they perform, they could be a solid 2nd asset. Archer could be the type of upside arm some team gambles on, and if Wilken did receive so many congratulations on landing Archer (he noted in an interview that a lot of personnel folks called to congratulate him on landing Archer), then if Archer performs, he could be the type of high raw talent that can help complete a deal.

Again, keyword is early.

c) Competing -

Fielding competitive clubs isn’t the most important thing, but it’s a good thing to have. I’m a believer that building a winning atmosphere is important, up and down the system. I thought entering the year that we would be competitive on all levels, and while it is early, so far, I like our chances to be competitive. Again, early.

i’d guess under the minor league section