Cubs Minor League Wrap -- August 30

by Josh Timmers on Aug 31, 2009 12:28 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

If you can believe it, I turned off today's Cub game and watched opera on PBS instead. That's how bad things have gotten. (No, I'm not an opera fan, but my wife is and my baby girl loves all music. So there was a bit of making the rest of the family happy going on there. But my wife is a baseball fan too, so it wasn't to stop an argument of anything.)

It may be the Dog Days of August in the majors, but it's crunch time in the minors.

Iowa Cubs (71-65)

The I-Cubs won their fifth game in a row today with a 2-0 shutout of the Oklahoma City RedHawks.

Starter Mitch Atkins has had a rough season, but today he was great, throwing six shutout innings. He allowed only five hits. He gave up one walk and struck out eight.

David Patton, John Gaub and Blake Parker each tossed a shutout inning to end the game. Parker got his 21st state with a perfect inning. He struck out two.

Shortstop Andres Blanco led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on a groundout to give the Cubs a lead they would never relinquish. Blanco was 1 for 3 with a walk. Catcher Chris Robinson went 2 for 3.

The I-Cubs are in second place in the PCL American North Division, tied with Nashville and one-half game behind Memphis. The Cubs hold the tie-breaker over Memphis, but Nashville has the tie-breaker over the I-Cubs. They have seven games left: four against Omaha and three against Albuquerque.

Tennessee Smokies (34-29)

The Tennessee Smokies were mauled by the Mobile Bay Bears, 5-1.

Andrew Cashner ran into trouble today, giving up all five runs in six innings. One of the runs was unearned. Cashner allowed six hits. He walked two and struck out only one.

Right fielder Tyler Colvin hit his thirteenth home run today. He was 1 for 4 with the one RBI.

West Tennessee also lost, so the Smokies remain tied for first. The Smokies have two more games left with Mobile, and then play a five game series at West Tennessee that will decide the second-half champs.

Daytona Cubs (27-35)

The D-Cubs were beaten by the Clearwater Threshers, 4-2.

Starter Craig Muschko took the loss. He went seven innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. Muschko walked one and struck out three.

DH Brandon Guyer hit his second home run tonight, a solo home run in the ninth inning. Guyer was 2 for 4 with a double and the home run. Guyer scored twice. First baseman Jake Opitz went 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Peoria Chiefs (39-23)

The Chiefs banged out 24 hits as they harvested the Cedar Rapids Kernels, 16-5.

Jeffry Antigua started and got the win. Antigua pitched six innings and allowed five runs, four of which were earned, on seven hits. Antigua struck out five and walked no one.

Josh Whitlock got the three-inning save, but he really earned it. He was perfect for three innings. He struck out one.

First baseman Rebel Ridling was 4 for 6 with a double and four RBI. Ridling took over the Midwest League lead with 96 RBI.

Left fielder Nelson Perez was 5 for 6 with two doubles. Cruz scored twice. Second baseman Ryan Flaherty went 2 for 3 with a walk, two runs scored and two RBI.

Third baseman David Macias went 2 for 6 with an RBI and a run scored. Shortstop DJ LeMahieu was 3 for 6 and scored three times. Catcher Mario Mercedes went 2 for 6 with a double, three RBI and one run scored. DH Junior Lake went 2 for 6 with two RBI and two runs scored.

Center fielder Jose Valdez has had a successful start to the Midwest League. He went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

Boise Hawks (31-36)

The Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak by cleaning up the Tri-City Dust Devils, 2-1.

The Hawks pitching staff allowed only two hits tonight. Starter Kevin McNutt went three innings and allowed one run on one hit. He walked three and struck out three.

Austin Kirk made his Boise debut a successful one. He picked up the win by pitching three innings and allowing no hits. He walked one and struck out three.

Daniel Keefe pitched the final three innings and got his fourth save. He gave up one hit and one walk while striking out four.

Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee was 2 for 5 with a stolen base and a run scored. First baseman Justin Bour was 3 for 3 with two walks, a double and a stolen base. Left fielder Derrick Fitzgerald went 3 for 5 with a steal.

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Comments

Get the kid to appreciate opera early. That will pay off.

Moreso than watching a team apparently play out the string.

And how does Nelson Perez go 5-6 with 2 doubles when his team plates 16 on 24 hits and not get any RBI?

by tim815 on Aug 31, 2009 7:22 AM CDT reply actions

It's amazing

how much that kid loves music. Any kind of music will do. Well, I haven’t tried heavy metal or anything like that. That Ozzie Osborne “Worlds of Warcraft” commercial scares the crap out of her, so it’s probably best not to try.

Her favorite song? Probably Jimmy Buffett’s “Fins.” I’d say “Go Cubs Go!” comes in a close second. She’s also a big Mozart fan.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 31, 2009 11:49 AM CDT up reply actions

Nelson Perez

Here’s how his day went at the plate
1st at bat 2nd inning. Flies out to Cf with one on and no outs.
2nd at bat 3rd inning. Single to Rf with man on 1st and 2nd and no outs. (presuming he hit the ball to hard to score the runner, plus no outs and it was still a ball game at the time.)
3rd at bat. 4th inning Double to lead off the the inning.
4th at bat. 5th inning Singles to lead off the inning.
5th at bat 7th inning Singles with man on 1st and one out.
6th at bat. 9th inning Doubles with Lemahieu on 1st and proceeds to run into an out at 3rd base with Lemahieu on 3rd base and gets tagged out with a 15-5 lead. (assuming he ran with his head down or Lemahieu was tired and didnt feel like scoring)

by Slamdog on Aug 31, 2009 9:13 AM CDT reply actions

Also

Good to see draft class (2009)pitch all of the game in Boise with McNutt, Kirk and Keefe shutting down the much old tri city club.

by Slamdog on Aug 31, 2009 9:14 AM CDT reply actions

Peoria's MI

Question for you Josh (or anyone else, for that matter) about the Peoria middle infield. For context, I always gloss over the minor league updates, but consider my knowledge of our minor league system to be a surface understanding. So I certainly may have just missed something.

I thought that Flaherty wanted to play SS? Has he officially moved to 2B (as many projected when he was drafted) or is this there more of a middle infield rotation with he, LeMahieu, and Lake all being possibilities at either SS or 2B?

BTW… this is my first BCB post, though I’ve been reading for quite a while. So if format or anything is messed up, my apologies in advance!

by fsuapollo on Aug 31, 2009 10:04 AM CDT reply actions

Flaherty

I’m sure he might prefer to be a shortstop, and many accounts indicated his ability there has been better than anticipated. That said, a lot of people thought, coming out, his future was at another position. With Castro/Lee ahead, he’s better off learning other spots, which may boost him up (for example, I could see him get jumped to Tennessee to start 2010 as a 2nd/3rd option). A lot of comparisons were made to Utley coming out – I thought that was a bit overboard (as I do on most comparisons of a prospect to an elite player).

Short of it is, his future is probably at another spot. Add in that, increasing his ability to play elsewhere would enhance his chances, and it makes sense for him to be tried in several spots. Has he been officially moved to 2nd? I don’t think there’s an “official” move. He’s gotten time at 3rd partly because he could profile there, but also because Rosa got hurt. There’s very few guys that can somewhat dictate the position they want to play. One example is Casey Kelly, arguably the Red Sox top prospect due to his pitching, but he wants to play short and the Red Sox had to agree to that to get him to sign (Tennessee football scholarship to compete against). Short of it is, you need some leverage to force the team’s hand.

LeMahieu projects somewhat similarly to Ryan, but the power isn’t there yet. Lake is more a raw, work in progress type. All three have some SS ability, but best guess right now is that none of them stick there and move to other spots. Lake’s been a bit shaky, I think, at short, but he has some natural ability, while LeMahieu has reportedly looked smoother than some thought, although there was a reason Ausitn Nola took over at LSU.

by toonsterwu on Aug 31, 2009 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions

Kelly

has some huge bat questions and I think thats why the Red Sox wanted him to pitch but he did have pretty good leverage with the football deal. Also LSU wanted to get Nola and Mahtook in the lineup because they needed their games. Mahtook took over for Mitchell because he was the better CF with much better range and people at LSU thought Nola had better range, not so much that Lemahieu couldnt play short which he’s proving that he can play ss at Peoria and driving in alot of runs, quite a few when it counts, with that lineup alot of runs will be driven in. Peoria leads the league in batting and home runs.

by Slamdog on Aug 31, 2009 12:18 PM CDT up reply actions

Rebel Ridling

is leading the league in RBI, as I noted above, and Ridling is not exactly a top prospect. Burke is third in the league. It’s helped that the Cubs (mostly) left the Chiefs together all season, as Daytona wasn’t doing anything worthwhile. But yeah, that team has some guys who can get on base and guys who can drive them in.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 31, 2009 12:29 PM CDT up reply actions

agreed

my point was basically that, LeMahieu is the type of guy that could be decent at short, but he’s also the type of guy where, if he’s playing short, you might constantly hear fans chirping to find someone else.

To be fair, though, IIRC, I think DJ had a rough go of it defensively at the start of the year. Probably just a bad stretch, but I thought he was a bit off at the start. Could be wrong.

by toonsterwu on Aug 31, 2009 5:58 PM CDT up reply actions

We have about six guys who are progressing

through the system that, if they make it, would be good enough at short to make signings like Aaron Miles not only unnecessary, but not even worth contemplating.

by tim815 on Aug 31, 2009 8:46 PM CDT up reply actions

He's officially listed

as a 2B by milb.com right now, so I think they’ve moved him. They gave him last year and the start of this season at shortstop. He seems to be playing 2B/3B exclusively now.

Flaherty wanted a chance to play shortstop. He wanted to try and see if he could do it and the Cubs decided that it wasn’t the best position for him. I haven’t heard him complaining about being moved—he knew it was a possibility. He’d probably rather be a shortstop, but I’m sure he thinks he’d rather be a major league second baseman than a minor league shortstop.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 31, 2009 11:12 AM CDT up reply actions

Thanks for all the helpful input...

…that is kind of what I thought might happen.

Thanks for all the updates… I love to glance through them and am glad our system seems to be progressing a bit.

by fsuapollo on Aug 31, 2009 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions

Memphis - Nashville Butting Heads

The AAA Redbirds and Sounds are starting a 4-game series in Nashville tonight at 6 PM central. The good news for the I-Cubs is that one of the Tennessee teams will lose. The bad news is one of the Tennessee teams will win.

The AAA Redbirds finish the regular season with a 5-game series against Oklahoma City in Memphis. There will be a Saturday doubleheader at AutoZone Park because of a postponed game earlier in the season.

If making up that game wasn’t significant in the pennant race, then there would only be a single game on Saturday. They are going to play two that day because the race is so tight. Also, the Albuquerque Isotopes clinched the PCL American South title last night by beating Memphis, 8-3. Memphis, Nashville, or Iowa will face Albuquerque for the PCL American Conference title. It’s nice to see the Dodgers’ AAA affiliate back in Albuquerque. Think of all the talent that passed through there in the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s.

"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Aug 31, 2009 10:05 AM CDT reply actions

2010 Midwest League Schedule Excel Grid

2010 Midwest League Schedule

Peoria at Kane County 2010 Dates

Friday, May 7 – Sunday, May 9
Thursday, July 1 – Saturday, July 3
Saturday, August 14 – Monday, August 16
Wednesday, September 1 – Friday, September 3

Also, the Chiefs don’t come to Bowling Green, Kentucky, next season. That’s disappointing for those of you, who live in middle Tennessee and south central Kentucky. 2010 will be the Bowling Green Hot Rods’ first year in the Midwest League.

"The big possums walk late." - Harry Caray

by memphiscub on Aug 31, 2009 11:34 AM CDT reply actions