Cubs Minor League Wrap--August 1

by Josh Timmers on Aug 2, 2009 1:08 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

Apparently there's some "bromance" on the Boise Hawks.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs zapped the New Orleans Zephyrs, 14-0.

The I-Cub pitching staff threw a combined one-hitter tonight. Starter James Russell gave up the lone hit in his four innings. Russell walked one and struck out two.

Justin Berg got the win in relief because Russell didn't go five. Berg walked one and hit one in his two innings. He struck out one Zephyr.

B.J. Ryan, John Gaub and Blake Parker finished out the game with an inning a piece. Ryan and Gaub both struck out two in perfect innings. Parker walked one and didn't strike out anybody.

Catcher Chris Robinson led the 19 hit I-Cub attack today by going 4 for 5 with a double. He scored twice and knocked two in. Center fielder Matt Camp was 3 for 5 with a stolen base and three runs scored. Third baseman Nate Spears was 2 for 4 with two walks. Spears scored once and had two RBI.

John-Ford Griffin was 2 for 5 with a double. He scored twice and batted one in. Shortstop Darwin Barney had two doubles in a 2 for 6 game. Barney had one RBI.

Bobby Scales had the lone I-Cub home run tonight, his fifth of the year in AAA. Scales was 1 for 5 with a walk and three RBI. He scored twice.

Even second baseman Aaron Miles got into the act. Miles was 2 for 6 and scored twice.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies won their sixth in a row tonight as they deep-fried the Carolina Mudcats, 4-1.

There was a good rehab appearance tonight by David Patton, who allowed one unearned run in a three-inning start. Patton gave up two hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out four.

Marco Carillo got the win with three innings of shutout relief. Carillo gave up one hit, didn't walk anyone and struck out one. Brian Schlitter got his 15th save by pitching the ninth inning. He allowed one hit, but erased the runner with a double play. Schlitter didn't walk or strike out anyone.

Right fielder Tyler Colvin is on fire right now, following up yesterday's 5 for 5 with a 3 for 3 game, including a double and his eighth home run of the season. He also reached once on catcher's interference. Colvin scored twice and had two RBI.

Shortstop Jonathan Mota was 3 for 5 with a double, although he also committed two errors. Center fielder James Adduci was 2 for 4 with a triple and a stolen base. He also scored once.

Catcher Welington Castillo had two doubles in a 2 for 4 game. He had one RBI.

Daytona Cubs

The D-Cubs were shut out by the Charlotte Stone Crabs, 8-0.

Starter Rafael Dolis didn't make it out of the third inning tonight. He allowed three runs on five hits over 2.2 innings. Dolis walked two and struck out four.

The D-Cubs only had two hits tonight.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs clipped the South Bend Silver Hawks 3-2.

Austin Biebens-Dierkx started tonight and picked up the win with eight solid innings. He allowed two runs on four hits. He only walked one and struck out five.

Chris Huseby got his fourteenth save with a hitless ninth, although he did walk two batters, albeit one intentionally.

Second baseman Ryan Flaherty was 3 for 4. DH DJ LeMahieu went 2 for 3 with a walk. Brett Jackson's 28 game on-base streak came to an end.

Some kid I've never heard of named Michael Brenly hit his fourth home run of the season tonight, a solo homer in the third inning. Brenly was 2 for 3 with a walk and scored twice

Boise Hawks

The shutouts continued tonight as the Hawks blanked the Vancouver Canadians, 9-0 behind a seven-run third inning.

Christopher Rusin, Yohan Gonzalez and Dionis Nunez each threw three innings of the shutout.

Right fielder Jae-Hoon Ha went 3 for 5 with a double. Ha scored twice and had two RBI. First baseman Justin Bour went 2 for 5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.

AZL Cubs

Beat the Rangers 7-6.

Geovany Soto was the DH tonight and he went 1 for 3 with a double and 2 RBI.

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Comments

Apparently, Patton, suffered a "relapse"

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/aug/02/ortiz-still-looking
-for-answers/

"You pain, me pain"-Hak-Ju Lee

by SydKyd on Aug 2, 2009 1:17 AM CDT reply actions

gee wiz

i guess the season really is over

He can throw a fastball at 87MPH and make you look like a fool. He can spray lines drives to right field. He can put up with crappy offense and take the loss. He is Randy Wells. He is the most interesting pitcher in the world. Stay healthy, my friends.

by jesus christos on Aug 2, 2009 2:17 AM CDT up reply actions

This is actually

Good news for the Cubs. This means we can stash him on the DL for the rest of the season and keep him. Otherwise, the Cubs were going to have to soon make a decision about calling him up or letting him go.

Of course, it’s bad news if he doesn’t make a full recovery for next season.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 2, 2009 2:41 AM CDT up reply actions

Or at least until September.

by Donbedouin on Aug 2, 2009 3:14 AM CDT up reply actions

He struck out the last hitter

he faced. but hurt his foot.. go figure.

by tim815 on Aug 2, 2009 4:35 AM CDT up reply actions

I hope

Next season he can start in Iowa. He actually doesn’t have bad stuff, just isn’t ready to help the big league squad yet and obviously has been hindering roster management.

by Raisin on Aug 2, 2009 10:39 AM CDT up reply actions

Rule 5 pick

Not sure if Patton was on the major league roster for 30 days or not but if he wasn’t then he’ll have to start next year on the major league roster until he reaches 90 days to satisfy the rule 5 draft then he could be sent down

by CHCOWNTHECENTRAL on Aug 2, 2009 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions

Yes

Patton was on the major league roster the first three months of the season.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 2, 2009 11:29 AM CDT up reply actions

Yup... he just has to sit on the DL for the next month, and then he's all set...

He spent like 91 or 92 days on the big league roster before being sent to the DL. Now, he can come back up in September when the rosters expand, and then go to Tennessee or Iowa next year.

And it actually works out in the Cubs’ favor this year. By being on the DL, he gives us an extra bit of roster flexibility in the event that the team makes the playoffs.

by SouthernCub on Aug 2, 2009 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions

That's right!

Didn’t think of that. If the Cubs acquire a pitcher after September 1, we can name David Patton to the post-season roster and then replace him with that pitcher. The Frankie Rodriquez Loophole.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 2, 2009 1:06 PM CDT up reply actions

And here we have another good reason...

… NOT to put Chad Fox on the 60-day DL.

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

by Al Yellon on Aug 2, 2009 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions

Shocking... absolutely shocking...

by SouthernCub on Aug 2, 2009 11:18 AM CDT up reply actions

Soto

Is off to AA now.

Shame that Patton got hurt when he looked so good. I hope the Cubs stick him at AAA and start him next year.

by Raisin on Aug 2, 2009 1:29 AM CDT reply actions

AB-Dixx

has now had two straight outstanding starts a Peoria. Apparently he had some control problems with the Mariners last year but thus far his BB/K is 2/22 and we’ve moved him from relief to starter. But the most interesting thing is his 1.62 GO/AO ratio. He’s obviously getting by on few pitches per hitter or he wouldn’t be getting that deep into the game.

The downside is that he is 24 already. It will be interesting to follow him this year and see if his game holds up.

If you like Selig's handling of the steroid issue, you'll love his choice for next Cub owner.

by tharr on Aug 2, 2009 3:57 AM CDT reply actions

i'm always happy to see a Cubs pitcher

doing well <<cough, trade bait>> no matter how old he is. some guys just <> develop late.

since i’m relatively new to following the Cubs Farm System (the last year or so), I have a question. This year, Boise’s staff has been getting throttled, but the other teams’ staffs have been at least adequate. Back in the day, when our system was terrible, did we have a bunch of guys (like AB-Dixx or John-Ford Griffin) who were ’a bit old for their Class in the minors, filling in to not make us look as bad as we really were?

I don’t mind a non-prospect here or there (though either hyphen guy might come in handy one way or another), but if our system is now to the point where quality now only needs to be added significantly to the Low A pitching staff (the other levels merely need upgrades, particularly in the outfield), that really isn’t that bad.

by tim815 on Aug 2, 2009 4:46 AM CDT up reply actions

Every system

has “organizational guys” who’s purpose is to field a full team and be good teammates to your real prospects. Of course, sometimes those organizational guys end up helping you anyway, like Bobby Scales did earlier this season. You could argue Blanco was one, except that Blanco is still young enough that it was realistic to expect that he might still have a future ahead of him.

I wouldn’t call ABD an organizational guy though, just to be clear. Griffin is though.

Back before Tim Wilken was hired as scouting director, the Cubs had a philosophy of loading up on minor league pitching on the theory that you could always trade pitching for what you need at the major league level. That’s one of the reasons for the whole “no positional all-stars out of the farm system between Girardi and Soto” thing. Since Wilken took over, our system has gotten more balanced.

Boise and the Northwest League are tough places to pitch, but I think it’s safe to say that the Hawks have a below average pitching staff this season.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 2, 2009 10:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Brenly, Tennessee, and Soto

Michael continue to outperform my wildest expectations. I expected him to be adequate behind the plate, but, like Mazola in the day, be No-Stick. A kid who went to college should be able to eventually hit in the MWL, but he’s hitting .295. I presume he’ll try Daytona in 2010 if not sooner. Not bad for an apparent nepotism pick in the 36th round.

Daytona has been a bit shorthanded since the Harrison trade (he had a couple hits last night in Lynchburg iirc). Nothing against Marwyn Gonzalez or Jericho Jones, but MG will have to go elsewhere to get any PT at AA ball and JJ is hitting .129. With Vitters hurting and JH gone, Daytona could use another hitter or two.

Its a good thing Geo is rehabbing. Maybe he’ll be ready for the Colorado series. Geo owes Koyie Hill bigtime.

by tim815 on Aug 2, 2009 5:01 AM CDT reply actions