Cubs Minor League Wrap -- August 4

by Josh Timmers on Aug 5, 2009 12:51 AM CDT in Minor Leagues

Man, I never thought Boise, playing in the Pacific Time Zone, would be over before Peoria.

Iowa Cubs

The Iowa Cubs lost to the New Orleans Zephyrs, 3-1.

Starter J.R. Mathes took the loss, allowing the three runs, one of which was unearned, over his six inning start. Mathes gave up seven hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out three.

Right fielder So Taguchi hit his third home run of the season in the first inning to give the I-Cubs an early lead. Taguchi was 2 for 4.

Tennessee Smokies

The Smokies were outslugged by the Carolina Mudcats, 9-8.

Starter Hung-Wen Chen only lasted three innings tonight, giving up five runs on six hits. Chen walked one and struck out three.

Brian Schlitter pitched the ninth inning and got the loss when he allowed an unearned run. Schlitter surrendered two hits. He struck out two and didn't walk anyone.

Shortstop Starlin Castro was 2 for 4 with a walk in his AA debut. He scored once and had two RBI. However, it was his error in the ninth that led to the eventual winning run.

First baseman Russ Canzler was went 2 for 4 with a double. Canzler also had two RBI and scored once. Left fielder Ty Wright with a run scored.

Catcher Geovany Soto continued his rehab tonight with a solo home run. It was his only hit in three at-bats.

Daytona Cubs

Did not play.

Peoria Chiefs

The Chiefs outlasted the Beloit Snappers, 7-4 in 14 innings.

Starter Chris Archer was long gone by the time this was over, but he was solid in throwing six shutout innings. Archer allowed three hits, walked three and struck out two.

Chris Huseby pitched the final two innings to get the win. Huseby allowed no runs on one hit. He didn't walk anyone and struck out four.

Shortstop DJ LeMahieu was 2 for 7, including a two-run triple that broke the tie in the 14th inning. He also scored twice, including that third run in the fourteenth inning.

Center fielder Brett Jackson was 3 for 6 including his first home run in the Midwest League, a three-run homer in the seventh inning.

First baseman Rebel Ridling was 2 for 6 with a walk. Third baseman Jovan Rosa was 3 for 4 with a double and an RBI.

Boise Hawks

The Hawks were soaked by the Everett Aqua Sox, 6-4.

Su-Ming Jung started tonight and allowed one run on a solo home run. He gave up two hits total in his three innings of work. Jung walked one and struck out three. This is actually Jung's second appearance since coming back from an injury--I missed the first one in all the hullabaloo surrounding my move and my internet problems.

Josh Whitlock got the loss. He gave up one run on three hits over 2.2 innings.

Shortstop Hak-Ju Lee led off the game with his first professional home run. Lee was 2 for 4.

DH Robert Wagner hit his first home run in the fourth inning. It was a two-run home run. Wagner was 1 for 4 along with solving a murder alongside Stephanie Powers.

AZL Cubs

Did not play

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Vitters Watch:

Top prospect Josh Vitters suffered a left hand injury that has put him out of action at Class A Daytona since July 28. It’s the same hand problem that limited Vitters to 65 games last year.

by Outshined_One on Aug 5, 2009 2:09 AM CDT reply actions

Brooks Raley signed

for supplemental first round money.

by Raisin on Aug 5, 2009 2:47 AM CDT reply actions

see fanshot i posted

for discussion on it

churchofbaseball.com

by MJMars on Aug 5, 2009 8:23 AM CDT up reply actions

Ryan Flaherty?

What is the latest on him? I can look up his stats, but does anyone know what the organization seems to be thinking about it? I see they are playing him at 2B a lot. Watched him in college…seems like a good kid.

"Cub fans like to think of things in catastrophic terms." - Crane Kenney

by NashvilleBlue on Aug 5, 2009 7:26 AM CDT reply actions

He's most likely a 2b down the road

maybe 3b. Doesn’t have the range for short. He has a really nice swing and has shown some solid pop this year, but has overall been a little underwhelming. His line is .254/.316/.436 and he has struck out 70 times.

churchofbaseball.com

by MJMars on Aug 5, 2009 8:26 AM CDT up reply actions

Man, they are not afraid to push Castro are they?

He’s 19 and already in AA. The defense seems to be a bit of a concern. He’s made a lot of errors. Hopefully he can figure that part of the game out, and continue to develop as a hitter.

by SouthernCub on Aug 5, 2009 8:56 AM CDT reply actions

At 19, he has time to work on the defense.

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

by Al Yellon on Aug 5, 2009 10:03 AM CDT up reply actions

I think it wil be interesting

to see how his defense is outside of Daytona. Daytona along with many other low level ballparks is known for being a terrible infield. With that said it sounds like a lot of errors are throwing errors but maybe not having to worry about bad hops and such will help him figure out the throwing part

by CHCOWNTHECENTRAL on Aug 5, 2009 10:41 AM CDT up reply actions

He's off to a bad start in that case

as he made a big error last night in TN.

And while it is true that fields in the low minors can be a little iffy in the upkeep department, is that true in the Florida State League? I only ask because most of the teams (not the Cubs) play in the spring training facilities of their major league team. I have to question whether teams would allow those places to go bad over the summer.

I don’t know the answer—I’ve never been to a FSL game. But it would seem odd to me if the FSL fields were really bad.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 5, 2009 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions

the one FSL game

i went to a few weeks back in St Lucie, the field was in great condition

by DartmouthCubsFan on Aug 5, 2009 12:03 PM CDT up reply actions

As one would expect

from the Spring Training home of the Mets. Thanks for the info.

by Josh Timmers on Aug 5, 2009 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions

Daytona's field

has a repuation of being really bad.

by Raisin on Aug 5, 2009 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Daytona field #2

Daytona is a city park. It has no club affiliation like all thee other parks in the FSL and its infield is one of the weaker if not the weakest upkeep in the league. Except for this year, this last four or five years Daytona leads the league in attendence and its fun to watch games there.

by Slamdog on Aug 5, 2009 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions

I played in the FSL

the fields are immaculate.

Now don’t get me started with the SL or SAL leagues. There are some brutal tracks down there.

I wouldn’t worry about his fielding until he reaches 22 years old. He’s 19—that’s a college freshman. His throwing will setlle down as he matures.

by socalbob on Aug 5, 2009 1:17 PM CDT up reply actions

While I don’t know about the FSL. The soon-to-be former ST home of the Diamondbacks and White Sox TEP wasn’t exactly in good shape during the season…and that’s a AAA park.

by Donbedouin on Aug 5, 2009 4:18 PM CDT up reply actions

True...

but it seems like they’re rushing him up the ranks in spite of the defense. I guess the idea is that the difficulty of defense doesn’t increase by the same increment as the difficulty of hitting as you move up the minors. So he can work on defense at any level of the minors, and the difficulty isn’t that much greater.

by SouthernCub on Aug 5, 2009 10:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Dont worry about it

Listen to socalbob. In 1993 there was a hall of famer to be shortstop at Greensboro who made 56 errors, his name is Derek Jeter. So I wouldnt worry about the errors. George Brett used to make a ton of errors even his 1st years in the big leagues. Castro will be fine.

by Slamdog on Aug 5, 2009 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm not worried about it...

Just commenting on how quickly he’s being pushed. The guy was a bit of a surprise to be promoted to the Daytona roster, and now midway through the year he’s been promoted again. It’s just interesting given the defensive issues.

by SouthernCub on Aug 5, 2009 2:41 PM CDT up reply actions

Question for Chicagoans

Did Pat, Ron or anyone else seriously suggest putting Jake Fox at second base? Over at the mlb.com boards (yeah, I know) they’re talking about it like it’s a serious possibility. Now I can believe that Fox asked to do it—the only reason he hasn’t asked to pitch is because it wouldn’t get him in the game everyday—but I can’t believe anyone is seriously considering it.

So is this really being discussed on Chicago sports talk or is this just more insanity from the mlb.com boards?

by Josh Timmers on Aug 5, 2009 2:51 PM CDT reply actions

Hershiser mentioned it on Monday's game

I just don’t see him as a 2nd baseman. The range just wouldn’t be there. I can’t see him making a good turn at 2nd on DP’s either.

by rlpete on Aug 5, 2009 3:39 PM CDT up reply actions

the turn wouldn't be a problem

he would be able to practice for a few days and get the concept, I’m sure.

The range would be the factor. Would his offense at 2B offset the defensive deficiency enough where he would be above league average? I do not know if we cold answer that today.

Jake has been around baseball his entire life, so we should give him a little credit. We heard he cannot play 3B and he can play it fine. We heard how he has no business catching and he was prett darn serviceable when he filled in. You just don’t know until given the opportunity. Just because he’s thicker and heavier doesn’t mean he’s not a very good athlete. <not directing this paragraph to you, but rather in general>

by socalbob on Aug 6, 2009 12:01 PM CDT up reply actions