Cubs Minor League Wrap--May 25
by Josh Timmers on May 25, 2009 10:19 PM CDT
in Minor Leagues
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PrintHappy birthday to me, I guess. I guess my present is a very light report tonight. I'd rather have a win.
Iowa Cubs
The Cubs fell to the Sacramento River Cats, 5-3.
Jeff Samardzija lost the battle to former Cub Sean Gallagher today. The Shark gave up four runs on eight hits over only 4.2 innings. Samardzija walked two and struck out five.
Right fielder Richie Robnett went 1 for 4 with an RBI triple in the second inning. Robnett also scored in the second.
Tennessee Smokies
The Smokies were once again vassalized by the Birmingham Barons, 8-2.
Starter Casey Lambert took the loss. He allowed three runs on nine hits. He walked one and struck out one.
The Smokies were beaten by the guy who wasn't just traded for Jake Peavy; Aaron Poreda.
DH Blake Lalli went 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Shortstop Darwin Barney was 2 for 4 with a double.
Daytona Cubs
The Florida State League took Memorial Day off to remember those who died in service to this country. But that means it's now six days and counting since the D-Cubs have played.
Peoria Chiefs
The Chiefs were rained out. Josh Vitters was named the Midwest League's Offensive Player of the Week, to no one's surprise.
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Happy Birthday, Josh. Mr. T was friggin’ great in the WGN booth. I was cracking up.
"The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money." --Ernie Banks
Yeah, I did, I thought it was great.
He was colorful and interesting in the booth with Len & Bob, and his singing was more like screaming at the fans…it was WAY better than Denise Richards, we can agree to that, right?!!
"The riches of the game are in the thrills, not the money." --Ernie Banks
First act of Tom Ricketts?
Ashcan the celebrity 7th inning stretch song.
Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings ...
On this, you have my 100% agreement.
Either that, or let Ron Santo do it every day. That’d be in the spirit in which the whole thing was created in the first place.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I've long thought
they should just let Santo do it. That’s what I wanted them to do in 1998, actually.
I guess I could stomach it if they had local celebrities do it on Fridays or something. If Oprah or Barack Obama was willing to do it, I sure as hell wouldn’t say no. But enough of all these clowns who have no connection to the Chicago or the Cubs.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 11:34 AM CDT up reply actions
Happy Birthday
Sorry. No win for you. Or any of us…this sucks.
100 years would have been nice, but 101 years still has a nice ring to it.
wait, Mr. T is a lefty??
How much would he want to replace Cotts in our pen??
by CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) on May 25, 2009 11:38 PM CDT reply actions
He already is
What do you think he was doing? he wasn’t actually throwing out the ceremonial first pitch, he was actually auditioning for lou. lou decided that mr t has better control and stuff then cotts. also every time he strikes a batter out he yells “I pity the fool who thinks they can hit Mr. T.!!”
It better happen...
by Chicago White Sux on May 26, 2009 7:20 AM CDT up reply actions
oh and Happy Birthday!
Love your work on these reports… “vassalized” is awesome.. LOL
by CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) on May 25, 2009 11:39 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks to everyone
for the wishes.
Yes. Barney is supposed to be a very good defensive shortstop—although the one guy we had on the ground in TN wasn’t very impressed. Might have been a bad night.
From all accounts though, Barney has a very high baseball intelligence. He might not have the greatest quickness, but he combines good hands, a solid arm and an ability to anticipate where the ball is going to be—both in positioning and reading the ball off the bat. This is according Baseball America, at least.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 1:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Doesn't have Theriot's speed
I’ve compared him to Jack Wilson before.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 11:26 AM CDT up reply actions
wish i could have
given some info on vitters. however, my ticket for today is good for any other game this season, and i am sure i’ll be back there. we’ll see how much “scouting” i can do with a cold one in the hand, but i’ll do my best.
It's not about money. It's about winning and getting over the hump. We've had the appetizer now, but we left the main course on the table.
-rod beck
It's still your Birthday on California time, so...
…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sorry the Cubs didn’t get u anything
"I always tell the truth -- Even when I lie"
Not my birthday, it's Josh's.
Happy Birthday to Josh.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
Josh Vitters should be in Daytona yesterday
Jeff Samardzija? It’s like getting worked up over Sergio Mitre. Spellcheck simply isn’t that interesting of a pitching prospect when you take away the unearned hype and signing bonus.
Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings ...
And oh yeah, kids
…there’s NO Santa Claus!!
by CubFanInCanberra (9387milesfromWrigley) on May 26, 2009 8:00 AM CDT up reply actions
Why, so he can sit on his ass
With the rest of the D-Cubs?
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Is Samardzija on a breaking-pitch-count again?
Do we know? Because if he’s not doing what he did for the first part of last year, he’s not looking good statistically.
Derrek Lee is good.
He's not looking good statistically because he's not really a good pitching prospect
Peel back the hype, the Notre Dame thing and the insane signing bonus and there isn’t a whole lot that really wows. If it weren’t for any of those things then nobody would be talking up Samardzija to any degree.
Awww, come on guys, it's so simple maybe you need a refresher course. It's all ball bearings ...
Happy Belated Josh.
Was at the Chiefs game Sunday. Vitters was impresive. Looked good in the field too. The second hit of the game he made a diving stop to his left and a strong throw across the diamond. Agree with BLou (that was shocking to write) Vitters’ call to Daytona is getting to be overdue.
Brenly was solid behind the plate as well. Could turn into a servicable back-up down the road. I do admit, that I haven’t seen too many games, and am making that statement on a small sample size.
Josh, keep up the great work on these posts. Always an enjoyable, and informative read.
by Tangled Up In Blue on May 26, 2009 11:17 AM CDT reply actions
I agree that
Vitters should be promoted, but Daytona can’t seem to get a game in these days. Right now I’d wait until there’s at least a week of good weather forecasts.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions
Good point.
IMHO Vitters has proven that he is healthy after last season, and is continuing to improve in the field. Once Daytona gets on track playing again, would be nice to see Vitters get a chance to test himself at the higher level.
Overall, though, it is nice to see the Cubs taking their time with the kid. Again, know it is a small sample size with Vitters, but I like the fact that the Cubs haven’t run him through the minor league system. Hopefully, the organization has learned from previous adminstrative mistakes and will let these guys mature and grow so when they get the call to Chicago they will stay and contribute.
by Tangled Up In Blue on May 26, 2009 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions
Just checked the weather forecast
for Daytona Beach Florida. Scattered or isolated thunderstorms for every day in the next ten days.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 12:09 PM CDT up reply actions
That's pretty typical for Florida in the summer, isn't it?
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I guess
but Daytona has got to catch a break in the weather. They played their last game a week ago today. I wouldn’t be surprised if Oneri Fleita is sitting in his office right now screaming “I didn’t agree to be the #%$@$ weatherman!”
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 1:12 PM CDT up reply actions
LOL!
In related news, a Google search for “Fired Florida Weathermen” has come up empty.
by Tangled Up In Blue on May 26, 2009 1:15 PM CDT up reply actions
Maybe the Cubs should switch affiliations to the California League, then.
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I'd be all for that
but teams east of Colorado seem to think it’s the worst thing in the world to be stuck in the Cal League. In fact, the California League was going to pare back to eight teams next season as Bakersfield and High Desert were going to move to the Carolina League and then the eight Pacific and Mountain time zone teams could take the eight Cal League franchises. But the economic crash has killed that because there aren’t any owners or cities in the Carolinas willing to take on a minor league team right now. The owners of the Bakersfield team are driving up and down the state of California right now trying to find a new stadium without any luck.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 1:29 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes very typical for Florida summer
Derrick Rose-2009 ROTY Tyrus Thomas-2009 MIP...hope I'm at least half right
by CHCOWNTHECENTRAL on May 26, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions
Oh, on Brenly
I saw him play and while he doesn’t have a lot of tools, he was one of the best technique catchers I’ve seen in the minors. He makes the transition from glove to throw better than any catcher I’ve seen in the minors.
That’s both good and bad. Good in that he can do that, of course, but bad in that he’s never going to get any better with better coaching. He’s already gotten major league catching instruction and learned all there is to learn.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 12:16 PM CDT up reply actions
Just being able to do that...
… ought to get him a look at being a major league backup, wouldn’t you think?
"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra
I do
If he can hit enough (which isn’t much for a major league backup).
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 1:10 PM CDT up reply actions
Thanks for the insight.
Hopefully Brenly can improve his bat just enough to get some looks at the ML level as a back-up.
IMHO, a team could do a lot worse than sign a techniquely sound back-up catcher, who arguabley could transition into a nice coach after his playing career is done.
He seemed to handle the staff well. Which, seemingly, can’t be all that easy with guys coming and going in Low-A ball.
by Tangled Up In Blue on May 26, 2009 1:14 PM CDT up reply actions
If Brenly becomes
a suitable backup do we keep him around and trade away Castillo? Castillo should have some descent value and keeping him as a backup seems like a waste. Soto is fairly young and should be behind the dish for years to come.
Derrick Rose-2009 ROTY Tyrus Thomas-2009 MIP...hope I'm at least half right
by CHCOWNTHECENTRAL on May 26, 2009 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions
That's not something
I’d worry about. Brenly is at least three years away if at all. Who knows if even Soto will be any good by then? There’s also Matthew Cerda behind Brenly—likely headed to Boise in less than a month.
I also think that Welington Castillo may have been passed by Steve Clevenger as the top catcher in the Cubs system right now. Kevin Goldstein quoted a scout last week as saying Clevenger has the stuff to be a starting catcher in the major leagues.
I’d trade Castillo if it would get us something decent at the trade deadline. I wouldn’t give him up for a Matt Karchner, but for a real player I would.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Do you know
how Castillo is viewed around the league? Have his struggles at the plate this year cost him a lot of value? I remember last year that scouts seemed real high on him and suggested him being Sotos backup beginning next year. Wasn’t he one of the top catching prospects in MiLB last year?
Derrick Rose-2009 ROTY Tyrus Thomas-2009 MIP...hope I'm at least half right
by CHCOWNTHECENTRAL on May 26, 2009 4:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Have no idea
what other teams are thinking about Castillo right now. I doubt his stock has dropped much: 22 games isn’t a lot to evaluate him on, even if he is only hitting .195. He does have 4 HRs in those 82 ABs, so he is showing some developing power—that’s as many as he hit in 324 ABs all last season.
I’m just guessing, but I think there’s some frustration that Casillo isn’t showing more development behind the plate. The tools are all there but he’s not learning how to use them effectively. Give Michael Brenly Castillo’s tools and you’d have a major prospect.
As far as being a top catching prospect last season, I’d say Wieters, Posey, Teagarden, Conger, Max Ramirez, Lou Marson and even Josh Donaldson would rank higher. Probably could come up with another seven or eight players. I’m looking at one on-line ranking from the off-season that has him as the #22 catching prospect. He’s never been a blue-chipper, just a solid prospect in a weak system.
by Josh Timmers on May 26, 2009 5:48 PM CDT up reply actions
Those pants...
make me want to fight evil-doers! USA USA!
I haz blurg: hotbeans.wordpress.com
by digitalbenjamin on May 26, 2009 11:27 AM CDT reply actions
Weather Forecast
The D-Cubs are playing in Jupiter, FL tonight against the Palm Beach Cardinals. (Yes, the Palm Beach Cardinals play in Jupiter and share a stadium with the Hammerheads,)
Currently: Raining. Chance of Thunderstorms tonight: 50%
Is there any chance of playing a bunch of games at Tropicana when the Rays are out of town? (Yeah, I know. That’s on the other side of Florida.)
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