Cubs Farm System And Prospects Discussion Thread

[beckdawg]

Also holy crap at Tseng tonight

8 IP, 5 hit 2 Er, 2 BB 8 k's. Did all of that in 100 pitches. His k rate has really spiked past few starts. He's been like 9 k/9+ last 6 starts.

 

[CSF77]

Just noticed his performance.

7-2 2.80 ERA 7.86 SO/9 1.14 WHIP

They have to promote him now. 36 starts at AA.

 

[CSF77]

AA
Tseng 7-2 2.80 ERA
Clifton 5-4 3.69 ERA
Underwood 6-4 4.66 ERA

A+
Juston Steele: 5-4 2.39 ERA
Thomas Hatch: 3-6 3.33 ERA
Albert Alzolay 6-1 2.83 ERA

A
Duncan Robinson 5-5 1.90 ERA
Manuel Rondon 7-2 4.57 ERA
Bryan Hudson 2-2 3.99 ERA
Jose Paulino 2-2 5.94 ERA
Dylan Cease 1-2 2.76 ERA


Honestly they could just promote Tseng then promote Albert Alzolay and Duncan Robinson.

AAA current rotation:

Scrubs:

Aaron Brooks: 4-5 6.06 ERA
Seth Frankoff 1-4 3.07 ERA
Williams Perez 3-7 5.98 ERA
Casey Kelly 4-1 5.08 ERA
Zach Hedges 0-2 8.10 ERA

 

[beckdawg]

Don't forget about Rucker in A+. 1.45 ERA over 4 starts with 10.74 k/9 and 2.32 bb/9

 

[chibears55]

Schwarber 1-4 3 Ks in Iowa last night

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Quick correction, it's Adbert Alzolay. My current favorite name in sports.

Not rock solid information but a guy I know that covers South Bend says that Cease is likely to be promoted to Myrtle Beach in the next week or two.

 

[CSF77]

Don't forget about Rucker in A+. 1.45 ERA over 4 starts with 10.74 k/9 and 2.32 bb/9

His numbers are good for sure. But You would want more than 4 starts before moving up again. That would be his 2nd promotion.

 

[CSF77]

Quick correction, it's Adbert Alzolay. My current favorite name in sports.

Not rock solid information but a guy I know that covers South Bend says that Cease is likely to be promoted to Myrtle Beach in the next week or two.

He is the most talented arm in the system. But he needs to start pitching 6 innings per game on a regular basis. Promoting won't help him here. He has pitched 6 innings 1 time this year. He is avg 3.85 per game.

If he gets the promote it would not be deserved.

 

[beckdawg]

His numbers are good for sure. But You would want more than 4 starts before moving up again. That would be his 2nd promotion.

It's more than 4 starts. He's given up 7 runs in 56.1 Innings. That's a 1.12 ERA with 77 k's(12.3 k/9), 7 walks(1.12 bb/9) as a pro. He's been utterly dominate since getting drafted. No one in the cubs system including Cease has been more dominant over the past 2 years.

 

[CSF77]

It's more than 4 starts. He's given up 7 runs in 56.1 Innings. That's a 1.12 ERA with 77 k's(12.3 k/9), 7 walks(1.12 bb/9) as a pro. He's been utterly dominate since getting drafted. No one in the cubs system including Cease has been more dominant over the past 2 years.

That is the issue. He has only 4 starts as a big league pitcher. He is just starting to get 6 innings in per game. When he was promoted then they converted him over.

That said I feel he needs 6-8 starts to condition his arm before moving him up. He is going through a adaption right now and iot is not the right time to push him into a new coach/manager/catcher/higher level hitters etc.

Once he is established as a starter then you make those decisions.

 

[CSF77]

Still he seems to be a impact unheralded guy in the system. You give him 20 starts pitching at this level teams will start calling about him. Cubs IMO should let him spend this year just establishing him as a starter. Then when he hits AA push his development to AAA. If you think about it, if this is legit production he jumps in the rankings like Alzolay did. They notice guys but it is going to take 10-20 starts of high level performance to get them to vs 4 starts.

 

[CSF77]

Alzolay: 5.2 IP 7 SO 2 ER. 7-1 2.85 ERA 8.81 SO/9. MLB.com kicked him up to #21 in the system but honestly there is not a better starter in the system right now. It is not like he is dominating younger players. He is wrecking his peers.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

SS Aramis Ademan is a guy that should be on everyone's radar. His defense is ahead of his offense but he's starting to improve in that area. He went 3-4, 2B, R, 4 RBI yesterday for Eugene. He's got a long way to go bu he could be special.

 

[CSF77]

SS Aramis Ademan is a guy that should be on everyone's radar. His defense is ahead of his offense but he's starting to improve in that area. He went 3-4, 2B, R, 4 RBI yesterday for Eugene. He's got a long way to go bu he could be special.

They have him ranked high but I see him as trade bait

 

[beckdawg]

Hudson seems interesting to me. He's starting to strike out more people. In 4 of his last 5 games he's struck out at least 5. He's still giving up way too many hits but he's generating a crap load of ground balls at 63.2%. I doubt he really breaks through this year but you can start to see his tools coming together. And given his enormous size and being lefty he's going to be pretty intriguing next year I think.

 

[CSF77]

He has a big 12-6 hammer. They signed him based of his raw tools and has been slow to put it together. Once he masters locating his fastball and being able to throw his hammer for a strike he will be nasty

 

[beckdawg]

So circling back to the draft... of the top 20 picks the cubs have signed everyone but Lange(30th), Nelson Velazquez(#165), Jeremiah Estrada(#195), I believe technically haven't released the info on #345 Rollie Lacy but pretty sure he's locked in, #435 Luis Vazquez, In all of those cases except for Vazquez there's decent belief already they will sign. Vazquez doesn't appear to have any info one way or another.

In terms of 21-40, #675 Skyler Messinger, #795 Bryce Bonnin, #855 Kier Meredith, #1005 Joe Donovan, #1095 Tanner Allen, #1125 Alex Cornwell, and #1185 Cooper Coldiron have all indicate they wont sign. That's not too surprising as all of them but Coldiron are HS players. The players who haven't indicated one way or another if they will sign are #825 Darius Vines, #975 Hunter Ruth, #1035 Andrew Karp, #1065 Ben Ramirez and #1155 Russell Smith. All the rest are either signed or are indicating they will sign.

So what intrigues me about all that is the cubs did sign Brandon Hughes(16th rounder pick 495). BA had him rated as the 240 best player in the draft and he's a CF prospect. He apparently has thrown 88-91 as a lefty off the mound as well so it would seem he's got a pretty good arm. He doesn't have a ton of power but he has hit .304/.377/.427 and stole 50 bases in 159 games. So, I have to believe he's gotta pretty good defensive profile and he can hit just not for power. In the 16th round that seems like a potential steal to me.

3B Ramsey Romano also signed. BA had him as #494 and cubs got him in the 31st pick #945. Others of note who are still unsigned are Hunter Ruth(32nd round pick 975), Andrew Karp(34th round pick 1035), Ben Ramirez(35th round pick 1065) and Russell Smith(38th round pick 1155). BA has those 4 #135 overall, #253, #259 and #455. If the cubs manage to sign any of those guys that'd be another big boost to this years draft class. Ruth seems possible given he had TJS. Karp may also be possible as he's a college jr. I'm guessing Ramirez and Russell don't sign however.

 

[beckdawg]

Man myrtle beach has a really good pitching staff with Adbert, Hatch, Rucker, Oscar De La Cruz and Steele. Also Dakota Mekkes out of the pen has been dominant. Steele last night threw 6 IP, 4 hits 1 Er, 1 bb and 5 k's.

Also for what it's worth I don't know much of anyone on the cubs second DSL team but they have been putting up monster scores the past few games. Their past few games have gone 11-2 W, 10-4 W, 7-5 W, 1-5 L, 15-4 W, 2-8 L, 8-9 L. Looking at their roster Jeinser Brete is hitting .324/.425/.382 as a 17 year old 3B. Orian Nunez is hitting .337/.390/.413 as an 18 year old 2B. Alonso Gaitan is hitting .303/.343/.394 as a 19 year old LF. Franklin Tineo is hitting .313/.439/.516 as a 22 year old C. Jonathan Soto is hitting .359/.429/.500 as an 18 year old C.

There's very little scouting available on the internet for guys that low in systems but I'm guessing you can probably disregard the guys over 18. Brete signed for $100k last IFA period. So, he may be something half decent. Nunez got $100k the year prior to last.

5-foot-10, 165-pound infielder Orian Nunez is a bat-first infielder with a grind-it-out approach, and a polished offensive game. I have seen him mostly at second base where he fits best in terms of his offensive game, which should be centered around getting on base and doubles power. He can also play third base;

 

[beckdawg]

Also on the other DSL team the cubs have Fernando Kelli is probably worth keeping an eye on. He's a CF with good speed. He's hitting .310/.396/.356 as an 18 year old.

Fernando Kelli was another switch-hitting, speedy center fielder the Cubs signed in this 2015 IFA class. He shows good range in the outfield, and his slight build (6-feet tall and 180 pounds) indicates his game will built around getting on base and taking advantage of his plus speed. He needs to add some strength, and his bat isn’t as far along as his baserunning and defense at present;

Christopher Morel is also on that team. His numbers aren't as impressive atm. He's hitting .233/.342/.400 as a 3B/SS but he just turned 18 last week and he was one of the bigger IFA bonuses in 2015.

Christopher Morel is a lean infielder who played shortstop as an amateur in the Dominican Republic but has since moved to third base, where has shown himself to be an above-average defender with a strong arm. Though he is still lanky with much physical projection remaining, Morel can hit for surprising power because of his ability to corral his loose build into plus bat speed, and he employs an attacking approach at the pate. Morel didn’t play organized ball at all last year because a freak injury in which he lacerated his arm, so the Cubs will start him in the DSL this month.

 

[TC in Mississippi]

Man myrtle beach has a really good pitching staff with Adbert, Hatch, Rucker, Oscar De La Cruz and Steele. Also Dakota Mekkes out of the pen has been dominant. Steele last night threw 6 IP, 4 hits 1 Er, 1 bb and 5 k's.

Also for what it's worth I don't know much of anyone on the cubs second DSL team but they have been putting up monster scores the past few games. Their past few games have gone 11-2 W, 10-4 W, 7-5 W, 1-5 L, 15-4 W, 2-8 L, 8-9 L. Looking at their roster Jeinser Brete is hitting .324/.425/.382 as a 17 year old 3B. Orian Nunez is hitting .337/.390/.413 as an 18 year old 2B. Alonso Gaitan is hitting .303/.343/.394 as a 19 year old LF. Franklin Tineo is hitting .313/.439/.516 as a 22 year old C. Jonathan Soto is hitting .359/.429/.500 as an 18 year old C.

There's very little scouting available on the internet for guys that low in systems but I'm guessing you can probably disregard the guys over 18. Brete signed for $100k last IFA period. So, he may be something half decent. Nunez got $100k the year prior to last.

Interesting Fangraphs piece on Dakota Mekkes from last year.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/more-words-than-youd-expect-on-the-cubs-10th-round-pick/