Cub's Prospect Watch And Development Discussion Thread

[brett05]

Go Cubbies!!!

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[Mr. Cub]

Go Cubbies!!!

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Haha you lose a bet or something? Or do you just really love the Cubs and pretend not to? It's OK, though. We'll accept you.

 

[brett05]

Haha you lose a bet or something? Or do you just really love the Cubs and pretend not to? It's OK, though. We'll accept you.

The amazing Cubbies scored one lousy run yesterday so for a week im a fan boy

Go cubbies!!!

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[CSF77]

CHICAGO -- Left-hander Chris Rusin said he had never gone past the sixth inning of a game without giving up a hit. On Wednesday, he went all the way.

Rusin threw a no-hitter and helped himself by hitting a two-run single to lead Triple-A Iowa to a 3-0 victory over New Orleans.

Rusin struck out three and walked two for the win, throwing 118 pitches, 72 for strikes. It's the first no-no by an Iowa Cubs pitcher since Reggie Patterson did so in 1984.

"I was just trying to keep the ball down like I did all game," Rusin said. "I was going to keep pounding until they made an adjustment. I just kept doing what I wanted to do."

He received a congratulatory Gatorade shower from his teammates. Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio said he called the lefty as well.

Three New Orleans players reached against Rusin, including Josh Rodriguez, who drew a one-out walk in the first and a leadoff walk in the seventh. Rusin was at 104 pitches through eight innings.

"I didn't know how many pitches I had," Rusin said. "I was going to keep pitching until the Cubs pulled me out."

Rodriguez made the last out of the game, htiting a pop fly to shallow center that Matt Szczur snared.

A fourth-round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, Rusin, 27, made seven starts with the big league team in 2012, and another 13 starts last season. This year, he was called up as insurance for the bullpen, and pitched five innings in relief against the Cardinals on April 12. In that game, he gave up one run on three hits.

 

[SilenceS]

Bryant has huge night 3 for 4 with 2 homers.

 

[brett05]

Bryant has huge night 3 for 4 with 2 homers.

Hall of Fame. Waive the wait. Im getting my tickets now

Go Cubbies!!

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[Capt. Serious]

Funny how the Javy Baez hyped train cooled off when he can't hit AAA pitching.

 

[dabynsky]

Funny how the Javy Baez hyped train cooled off when he can't hit AAA pitching.

Funny you post this after he has three hits today.

Do yourself a favor and check how he started and finished last season.

 

[Boobaby1]

Funny you post this after he has three hits today.

Do yourself a favor and check how he started and finished last season.

LOL. But for A-Ram, he was a cancer for the Cubs because he started off slowly. :yep:

 

[dabynsky]

LOL. But for A-Ram, he was a cancer for the Cubs because he started off slowly. :yep:

Find where I ever posted that A-Ram was a cancer, and you might have a point. If you bother to check, you might find where I have been one of the most outspoken critics of the "numbers-gather" narrative around Aramis that many here subscribed to while he was a Cub.

 

[beckdawg]

Find where I ever posted that A-Ram was a cancer, and you might have a point. If you bother to check, you might find where I have been one of the most outspoken critics of the "numbers-gather" narrative around Aramis that many here subscribed to while he was a Cub.

People were really criticizing Ramirez? I can see 2010 where he hit .241/.294/.452 but he also had a BABIP 50 points lower than his career marks. I have been critical of Soriano's last couple of years with the cubs. However, that's because his OBP went from ok to poor pretty quickly. Ramirez on the other hand other than 2010 had .360ish OBP most of his time with the cubs.

I honestly don't see any reason why anyone would hate on him. In fact, someone like Theo should in theory have realized he's a piece you can build around. The fact that they didn't is the reason I'm fairly sure ownership made the front office reduce payroll around $25 mil from 2011 to 2012. Ramirez was a pretty consistent .280/.350/.500 type player. Sure he doesn't fit long term into a rebuild but he only signed for 3 years of which this is the third and he's only 36 now. I suppose they had Vitters but he's still not progressed to the majors for any lengthy period and they even moved him off 3B anyways. So, I really see no legit reason the front office would willingly avoid re-signing him unless they had no other choice(eg ownership cut budget).

 

[CSF77]

Third baseman Kris Bryant, the Cubs' No. 2 prospect, hit two home runs and drove in a career-high six runs Wednesday, leading Double-A Tennessee to a 12-1 victory against Birmingham. It was his first career multi-homer game.

Bryant, ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect by MLB.com, finished 3-for-4 with four runs, a double and a walk.

The Cubs selected Bryant with the second pick of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, and he has quickly found success as a professional. He hit .336 with nine home runs in 36 games at three levels after signing last summer. He finished the year in the Arizona Fall League, where he was named MVP.

Even a move up to Double-A hasn't slowed Bryant. In 32 games, he is hitting .313 with a 1.028 OPS and leads the Southern League with eight home runs.

One of the beneficiaries of Bryant's offensive outburst Wednesday was right-hander Arodys Vizcaino, the Cubs' No. 8 prospect. He struck out two batters in a perfect ninth inning.

Vizcaino was promoted to Tennessee on Wednesday. He missed the last two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in early 2012, and the Cubs have been easing him back into a routine this season. He started the season with Class A Advanced Daytona, where he struck out 10 batters in nine innings.

Extra bases

• Triple-A Iowa's Tsuyoshi Wada and Class A Kane County's Will Remillard were named the Minor League Pitcher and Player of the Month for April, respectively, by the Cubs on Wednesday.

Wada, 33, went 3-1 with a Pacific Coast League-leading 0.68 ERA in four April starts for Iowa, walking three and striking out 29, good for an average of 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. His 0.65 WHIP led the league, while his .156 opponents' batting average ranked second.

In his first year since signing with the Cubs organization in January, Wada is 4-1 with a 1.21 ERA in six starts for Iowa. He has struck out 38 and walked six.

Remillard, 21, batted .373 (19-for-51) with six doubles, one home run and 15 RBIs in April, his first month in professional baseball since he was selected by the Cubs in the 19th round of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. The right-handed batter finished with a 1.007 OPS, including a .458 on-base percentage and a .549 slugging mark.

A native of Cohoes, N.Y., Remillard is hitting .385 (25-for-65) with eight doubles, one home run and 21 RBIs in 19 games for Kane County this season. He is 9-for-18 off left-handed pitching and has a .340 average (16-for-47) against right-handers.

• Jorge Soler, who injured his right hamstring after his first at-bat April 3 for Double-A Tennessee, was activated from the disabled list on Wednesday. Soler is ranked No. 5 among the club's prospects according to MLB.com.

In addition, right-handed reliever Arodys Vizcaino has been transferred to Tennessee from Class A Daytona. He gave up one earned run over nine innings for Daytona. Vizcaino, acquired from the Braves in July 2012, has been rehabbing from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

• The Smokies announced outfielder Zeke DeVoss has been transferred to Class A Boise. In 23 games for the Smokies, DeVoss was batting .120 (9-for-75) with a home run and six RBIs.

• The Cubs have released right-hander Ryan Searle. In nine appearances for Tennessee this year, the 24-year-old accumulated a 3-1 record and 6.63 ERA, giving up 14 earned runs over 19 innings

 

[CSF77]

expect Bryant promoted very soon. Viz getting promoted is a good sign. I'm expecting his first year back from TJ to be spent in the minors. Next S/T he should be competing for the closer role with Rondon and Strop. I'm still betting Rondon keeping it but Viz has top end stuff. Either was it could become a solid 8/9 combo in years to come.

I believe Jeds "Babying" has caught up to Baez. He has been kept away from playing the spring in cold climates. Which is very silly considering where they Cubs play.

Another instance:

On Tuesday, Cubs general manager Jed Hoyer said he doesn't like to see pitchers throw that many pitches.

"It's a number, and we don't have enough knowledge to know at what number things turn into danger and when they don't," Hoyer said. "We've tried to focus on pitch stress in the Minor Leagues. It's a lot different to throw pitches with the bases loaded, it's a lot different to throw pitches in high-leverage spots."

Samardzija said he talked to Renteria in Spring Training and made it clear he wanted to go deep in games as much as possible.

"I just asked that we have good communication between each other during the game and that's it," Samardzija said. "Bosio was outstanding [Monday]. We knew where we were at and felt great. That's what you want, confidence from the coaches."

Told that the front office may not encourage such outings, Samardzija said it's an "on-field issue for uniformed personnel."

"I'm a grown man at 29, not a prospect at 22," he said. "I feel good. I think I'm grown up enough and responsible enough to understand when I can go and can't go. I'm going to go off that. I've earned my right in athletics to understand my body and where I'm at."

 

[beckdawg]

As dominant as Vizcaino has been in the minors I really wish they could stretch him out to a starter but that doesn't appear to be the plan. I suppose they could just use him as a reliever this year to get him back to pitching and consider their options next year but as much as I would like that it's probably quite unlikely.

 

[beckdawg]

"I'm a grown man at 29, not a prospect at 22," he said. "I feel good. I think I'm grown up enough and responsible enough to understand when I can go and can't go. I'm going to go off that. I've earned my right in athletics to understand my body and where I'm at."

Except there's still apparently notions of trading him despite my opinion they should not. If they are going to trade him they are going to manage him in the way they feel protects them in that regard. I wouldn't say that's babying him. It's protecting your investment.

 

[CSF77]

Except there's still apparently notions of trading him despite my opinion they should not. If they are going to trade him they are going to manage him in the way they feel protects them in that regard. I wouldn't say that's babying him. It's protecting your investment.

Mother henning.

That is the problem with the Cubs. Winning is not a priority with this group. Running a farm system has been the goal.

 

[beckdawg]

Mother henning.

That is the problem with the Cubs. Winning is not a priority with this group. Running a farm system has been the goal.

So they are suppose to run up pitch counts and blow out arms the way Baker did with Wood and Prior? I mean I get where you're coming from. I liked when Nolan Ryan changed the culture of texas' farm system focusing on having pitchers build up stamina. But honestly, there's 28 other teams babying their pitchers in the minors. Washington shut down Zimmerman and Strausburg in the majors. Last season, the cards shut down pitchers. So, the cubs are far from the only team doing it.

 

[brett05]

So they are suppose to run up pitch counts and blow out arms the way Baker did with Wood and Prior? I mean I get where you're coming from. I liked when Nolan Ryan changed the culture of texas' farm system focusing on having pitchers build up stamina. But honestly, there's 28 other teams babying their pitchers in the minors. Washington shut down Zimmerman and Strausburg in the majors. Last season, the cards shut down pitchers. So, the cubs are far from the only team doing it.

But majority doesn't make things right.

Samardzija said he talked to Renteria in Spring Training and made it clear he wanted to go deep in games as much as possible.

"I just asked that we have good communication between each other during the game and that's it," Samardzija said. "Bosio was outstanding [Monday]. We knew where we were at and felt great. That's what you want, confidence from the coaches."

Told that the front office may not encourage such outings, Samardzija said it's an "on-field issue for uniformed personnel."

"I'm a grown man at 29, not a prospect at 22," he said. "I feel good. I think I'm grown up enough and responsible enough to understand when I can go and can't go. I'm going to go off that. I've earned my right in athletics to understand my body and where I'm at."

That's Ace talk right there. :clap:

GO Cubbies!!

 

[Parade_Rain]

Told that the front office may not encourage such outings, Samardzija said it's an "on-field issue for uniformed personnel."

I love this jab at the FO.

 

[beckdawg]

But majority doesn't make things right.

True but the cards have developed pitching well. I mean i personally think teams in general do act very conservative especially when you consider what starters used to do. But, I'm also willing to admit they have a hell of a lot better idea than I do. From what I've read on the issue, it seems to be more the fact that people are pitching year round now which puts more innings on arms than pitchers in the past. If there was less of that then you probably could pitch them more in the minors. However, college coaches in particular may not have a pitchers best interest in mind given that they are always playing for jobs. Also, high school players now often pitch in summer traveling teams and such which AFAIK weren't as big of a thing in the 80's.