Kyler Burke And Casey Coleman Named Cubs Minor League Players Of Year

by Al Yellon on Sep 14, 2009 3:41 PM CDT in Chicago Cubs News

I'll have the game preview post up in about 20 minutes, but I wanted to get this posted separately, as the press release just came out:

The Chicago Cubs today announced outfielder Kyler Burke and right-handed pitcher Casey Coleman have been named the organization’s Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. The two will be honored during an on-field ceremony prior to Chicago’s 12:05 p.m. CT game against the Diamondbacks on Saturday, October 3 at Wrigley Field.

Burke, 21, batted .303 (141-for-465) with 43 doubles, three triples, 15 homers, 89 RBI, 78 walks, 93 runs scored and a .405 on-base percentage in 132 games for Single-A Peoria. He led the Midwest League in doubles, was second in on-base percentage and extra-base hits (61), third in runs scored and slugging percentage (.505), tied for third in RBI and sixth in batting average.

In just his second professional season, Coleman went 14-6 with a 3.68 ERA (61 ER/149.0 IP) in 27 starts for Double-A Tennessee, helping the club to the Southern League North Division title. The 6-foot-1, 180-pounder tied for the league lead in victories, surrendered two or fewer walks in 18 of his starts and tossed 6.0 or more innings 13 times. He was named to the Southern League All-Star Team after finishing the first half 9-4 with a 2.93 ERA (32 ER/98.1 IP) in 17 starts.

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Whoo hoo

you go mountain boy

If the world didn't suck we would all fall off.

by carolinacub on Sep 14, 2009 3:51 PM CDT reply actions

Congrats to them both.

Catch my act on Twitter as @dat_cubfan_dave.

by daver on Sep 14, 2009 4:02 PM CDT reply actions

Wow, nice numbers for both of them!

Especially Burke. What jumped out at me is the amount of walks he got. That bodes well for our future (and his).

I’m also excited about this Starlin Castro in AA. I think he may be the SS of the future for the Cubs. reminds me a little bit like Rafael Furcal.

If you think you've seen it all...just wait!

by CubFanSince1970 on Sep 14, 2009 5:43 PM CDT reply actions

aaron miles is the SS of the future

people who swing at the first pitch should get punched in the face

by jesus christos on Sep 14, 2009 6:16 PM CDT up reply actions

One guy that Castro

gets compared to a lot is Tony Fernandez. Don’t know if that’s better or worse than Furcal. It’s a little different.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions

doesn't have Furcal's speed

and expectations are that Castro’s power will develop.

by toonsterwu on Sep 15, 2009 11:42 AM CDT up reply actions

Tremendous!!!

by Slamdog on Sep 14, 2009 5:43 PM CDT reply actions

Remember, this isn’t the “Who’s the top prospect?” award but who had the best season. Still, both of these players could have major league futures ahead of them. Burke’s been disappointing the previous two seasons, but he really put it together this year and because he signed (with SD) out of high school, he’s still young enough to believe he might have a great future ahead of him. He, along with TN’s Guyer, are two of the best pure athletes in the system. Even more impressively, he started drawing walks at a good clip this year. And he’s big enough to turn all those doubles into home runs one day. As I said in my midseason update, the sky is the limit as far as upside on Burke goes.

The real reason for concern is that this is his third season in the MWL and if he thought making the jump to low-A from the Northwest League was tough, just wait until he tries to make the jump to High-A or AA. He’s going to have to nail those leagues on the first try, too.

He could be as good as Paul O’Neill in the majors. He might even be better. On the other hand, there’s a better chance he never makes it as a regular at all. But you gotta have hope.

As far as Coleman goes, he’s a guy who throws strikes and pitches to contact. Guys like that are rarely aces, but they can be productive major leaguers, as Randy Wells is showing. He’s done a great job keeping the ball down and getting groundballs. Coleman’s a smart pitcher too—he knows his limitations. He’s also the son of a former Cub, so we always like to see our legacies doing well.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 6:17 PM CDT reply actions

(thinks of Todd Hundley and Matthews JR)

Have we ever seen a legacy do well?

Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.

by nji232 on Sep 14, 2009 6:19 PM CDT up reply actions

Hmm good point

Adam and Andy LaRoche aren’t bad.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions

Unless you mean

playing for the Cubs. I’d sure like to get Ivan DeJesus Jr. and test theory—even with his injury.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 6:24 PM CDT up reply actions

I hope you mean for the Cubs

because a certain first ballot HOF’er ending his career in Seattle would beg to differ with you.

The 3 generations of Boones and Bells have been successful. Don’t forget that Casey Coleman is also a potential 3rd generation player.

One son who actually had his best years for the Cubs in an otherwise mediocre career was Brian McRae.

by rlpete on Sep 14, 2009 8:36 PM CDT up reply actions

Hal McRae and Ken Griffey

never played for the Cubs, though. Neither did any of the Bells or Boones. Casey’s dad Joe played for the Cubs in 1976 (long before Casey was born, naturally.) In fact, Joe was long retired when Casey was born, although he was coaching and Casey spent a lot of time in the dugout with him. In fact, Joe is still coaching in the minors—he’s the pitching coach for the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the Florida State League.

I’m sure we’re talking about sons of former Cubs. What I don’t know if we’re talking about only kids of Cubs who played for the Cubs or just kids of Cubs in general. I’m having trouble thinking of any Cubs whose son played for the Cubs other than Todd Hundley and Gary Matthews Jr.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 10:45 PM CDT up reply actions

Yeah I meant sons of Cubs playing for the Cubs

Derrek Lee is a successful baseball legacy for us.

Just say no to players named Aaron on the Cubs.

by nji232 on Sep 14, 2009 10:53 PM CDT up reply actions

True

but DLee’s dad never played in the majors, just his uncle. Lee’s dad did have a successful career in Japan, though.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 10:57 PM CDT up reply actions

Throws strikes , Pitches to contact

Sounds like some guy I remember . he had a pretty good career in fact I would say he an ace.

"I am not ashamed to say I love Greg Maddux" - Jim Hendry
Me either Jim

by Doggie Stalker on Sep 14, 2009 6:57 PM CDT up reply actions

That guy

had really good stuff when he was young. Combine that really good stuff with throwing strikes and pitching to contact, and you’ve got a Hall of Famer.

by Josh Timmers on Sep 14, 2009 7:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Danger Sign

For Burke is his high BABIP. Hopefully, he’ll keep cutting down on his strikeouts while maintaining his walk rate. That could be enough to negate a big drop in BA next year.

I reject your reality and substitute my own.

by WayneCampbell08 on Sep 15, 2009 8:33 AM CDT reply actions

fair points

and let me be the first to say that, while I finally came around in ranking Burke in the top 10, I’m still wary. But on a side note, even his luck adjusted line for the season would be considered excellent (park and luck adjusted line from MLS – .281/.388/.472).

by toonsterwu on Sep 15, 2009 11:44 AM CDT up reply actions