Cubs Minor League Wrap -- July 16

by Josh Timmers on Jul 17, 2009 4:34 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

I'll try to do this as a story rather than as a front page fanpost like I did last night. Maybe I should do these a little earlier in the evening.

Full schedule again tonight.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs scored six in the seventh and five in the eighth to triumph over the cacophony of the Nashville Sounds, 11-4.

Esmailin Caridad started and allowed four runs on nine hits over six innings. He walked three and struck out three.

Justin Berg got his fourth win with an inning of scoreless relief. A runner reached on an error, but Berg promptly got the next batter to hit into a double play to end the inning.

First baseman Matt Craig hit home run number four, a three-run homer, in that six-run seventh. Craig went 2 for 4 and scored twice.

Second baseman Nate Spears didn't enter the game until the sixth inning, but he was 2 for 3 with a double and four RBI. Right fielder So Taguchi was 2 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored.

Aaron Miles was 0 for 3 in his rehab start.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies blotted out the Jacksonville Suns, 9-2.

Jeremy Papelbon had a great start tonight, allowing only one run on three hits over five innings. He didn't walk anyone and struck out five. But Alex Maestri got the win with a perfect inning of relief, striking out one.

Catcher Welington Castillo has had a miserable season, but tonight he banged out three hits, including two doubles, in five at bats. He scored once and had three RBI.

Third baseman Marquez Smith went 2 for 3 with two walks. He had three RBI and scored once. Center fielder James Adduci was 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. He also stole a base.

Daytona Cubs

The Daytona Cubs fell to the Tampa Yankees, 5-3.

Starter Dan McDaniel saw his record fall to 5-7 by allowing four runs on eight hits over five innings. McDaniel also walked three and struck out one. One of the four runs was unearned, but it was his error, so he can't complain.

Center fielder Tony Campana and Robinson Chirinos were both 2 for 3. Chirinos also drew a walk and Campana earned himself an umpire ejection in the fifth inning.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs were flooded by the West Michigan Whitecaps, 11-7.

Marcus Hatley's evening only lasted two innings. He allowed five runs on seven hits, including two home runs. He failed to strike anyone out and walked one.

Chris Siegfried took the loss in relief. He gave up four runs on five hits over 2.2 innings. Siegfried walked three and struck out two.

First baseman Rebel Ridling was 2 for 4 with his ninth home run of the year. Ridling scored once and had two RBI. He also walked once.

Right fielder Kyler Burke hit his seventh homer in the third inning. Burke was 2 for 5 with two runs scored and the one RBI.

Catcher Michael Brenly was 2 for 3 with a walk and two runs scored, but Bob will probably be bragging about him stealing home tonight. It was the back end of a double-steal with shortstop Junior Lake taking second base. Lake was 2 for 4 with a run.

Second baseman Ryan Flaherty was 2 for 5.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks' offense exploded tonight in a 14-5 drubbing of the Yakima Bears.

Starter Josh Whitlock got his first start of the season tonight and he made it a great one. Whitlock only allowed one hit in four shutout innings. He didn't walk anyone and struck out four. He didn't get the win because he didn't go five, so the win went to Eduardo Figueroa, who allowed two runs over two innings. Does that rule make sense to anyone?

When June ended, Logan Watkins was hitting .231. After he went 5 for 6 tonight with a double, his average has risen to .344. Watkins scored three times and had one RBI. Watkins is 16 for 23 over the past five games. I think that's what they mean by "in a zone."

Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee was 3 for 5 with a double and a triple. Lee had four RBI and scored twice. Second baseman George Matheus was 3 for 5 and scored twice.

Center fielder Brett Jackson was only 1 for 2, but he walked four times. It wasn't the opposing pitchers either, since the rest of the Hawks only had one walk.

First baseman Justin Bour homered for the first time for Boise. He was 2 for 4 with a walk. He scored twice and had two RBI.

Catcher Richard Jones had a double and four RBI in a 2 for 6 game. Right fielder Jae-Hoon Ha was 2 for 5 with a run scored.

AZL Cubs

Beat the Padres, 5-4.

Tweet Comment 24 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

So Miles is doing just as good at rehab, as he was here in the bigs? O-fer

by chiavsfan on Jul 17, 2009 6:29 AM CDT reply actions

Let's hope

he keeps it up. Maybe they’ll just eat the contract. I’d rather they pay him not to play rather than pay him pay him to play badly.

by Southside Steve on Jul 17, 2009 7:49 AM CDT up reply actions

I think we'd all rather have that.

Let’s hope it happens.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 17, 2009 7:53 AM CDT up reply actions

anything we should know

about watkins?

by tim815 on Jul 17, 2009 7:10 AM CDT reply actions

I believe he was drafted out of H.S. in 2008, so he's still very young. He's supposed to be quite athletic.

by thehat34 on Jul 17, 2009 8:10 AM CDT up reply actions

good athlete

he was a a former prep QB from the midwest. Shows good discipline at the plate, doesn’t project to hit with much power. Leadoff hitter type, has dabbled some in the OF so could be a consideration in CF as well.

by toonsterwu on Jul 17, 2009 9:28 AM CDT up reply actions

presumably that would be

vincent l. watkins, drafted in the 21st round, ss, that is listed as ‘UNSIGNED’ on the cubs website. don’t worry, matt cerda carries the same notation.

if i lived closer to chicago, maybe i volunteer to be the team’s fact-checker.

so you don’t consider the ’08 draft page an aberration, rusin is listed with no signing date.

by tim815 on Jul 17, 2009 11:00 AM CDT up reply actions

late-night dislexia

just to clarify, kyler burke hit his 7th home run in the 3rd inning, not his 3rd home run in the 7th inning.

get some sleep josh :0)

watkins is apparently super-athletic and an on base machine. i know john sickels pegged him as a sleeper to keep an eye in the cubs organization.

by circuitclout on Jul 17, 2009 8:11 AM CDT reply actions

cool. and thanks.

hopefully he ‘gets’ baserunning.

by tim815 on Jul 17, 2009 9:05 AM CDT up reply actions

Sorry

My schedule in the summer has me doing these after midnight. I’ll correct.

by Josh Timmers on Jul 17, 2009 12:25 PM CDT up reply actions

Josh, are you still following Jay Jackson on Twitter?

Did you notice that disturbing, cryptic message from him last night?

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jul 17, 2009 8:15 AM CDT reply actions

sad if true

by toonsterwu on Jul 17, 2009 9:28 AM CDT up reply actions

hopefully it's more like lost in the mall kind of lost...

than the alternative.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Bill Potter on Jul 17, 2009 9:58 AM CDT up reply actions

That's what I'm hoping, too.

Maybe he couldn’t find him after the game or something. Kinda creeped me out.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jul 17, 2009 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions

understandable.

it’s very vague, but I’m hoping it’s less ominous than it could be.

I love to play baseball. I'm a baseball player. I've always been a baseball player. I'm still a baseball player. That's who I am. - Ryne Sandberg

by Bill Potter on Jul 17, 2009 10:16 AM CDT up reply actions

Yeah, his tweets are, um, interesting to begin with.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jul 17, 2009 10:26 AM CDT up reply actions

Yes

He does say some odd stuff from time to time. This one was scary though. But it could mean a few different things, not all of which are tragic.

by Josh Timmers on Jul 17, 2009 12:29 PM CDT up reply actions

Well, looking on the bright side...

…I’d assume if something awful did happen it would have made the news by now. I just searched Google News and looked at the Des Moines Register site and don’t see anything. It was probably nothing.

I've committed to tweeting about the Cubs for the rest of the season. (Does that sound as ridiculous as I think it does?) Anyway, if you're on Twitter, you can follow me here.

by daver on Jul 17, 2009 3:25 PM CDT up reply actions

do i even wanna know?

i don’t tweet, but i don’t want him to end up on milk cartons with bart colon.

by tim815 on Jul 17, 2009 11:56 AM CDT up reply actions

Can I ask

what he said??

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." ~Alvin Dark

by DamonBerryhillsMitt on Jul 17, 2009 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions

I don't know if it's the type of thing to randomly post

but I’ll post his twitter link (I don’t tweet either, I just googled it when I saw daver’s post).

http://twitter.com/TheJuggernaut13

by toonsterwu on Jul 17, 2009 11:58 AM CDT up reply actions

That's peculiar

Thanks for the link!

"Every player should be accorded the privilege of at least one season with the Chicago Cubs. That's baseball as it should be played - in God's own sunshine. And that's really living." ~Alvin Dark

by DamonBerryhillsMitt on Jul 17, 2009 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Yes

And I don’t know what it means either.

by Josh Timmers on Jul 17, 2009 12:23 PM CDT up reply actions

AZL Cubs

As Ca Cub Fan and I briefly discussed in the other thread, our 4th round pick got a start yesterday in AZL. Rusin was a senior at Kentucky. Won’t overpower you, two breaking balls and a changeup gives him a “typical” mid-end of the rotation lefty arsenal. Intriguing to follow since intriguing lefty starting pitching is basically non-existent in our system. Didn’t do anything that exceptional (2ip, 2 bb, 1 K). I expect to see him move up to Boise, with an outside shot at Peoria by summer’s end, barring an injury. For college guys, particularly senior lefties like Rusin, AZL is largely used to get their feet wet with pro ball before moving on.

by toonsterwu on Jul 17, 2009 9:32 AM CDT reply actions