Minor League Report 06/17/08

Iowa: New Orleans (36-36) 11, @ Iowa (41-30) 3 Hitters: Pie:2/4, R, 2B, K Torres: 1/4, R, HR, RBI, 2 K Pitchers: Estrada (24 y.o. RHP): 4 IP, 1 H, 7K Tennessee: Mobile (0-0) 0, @ Tennessee (0-0) 13 Hitters: Colvin: 1/5, R, RBI Fox: 3/4, 2 R, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI Deeds: 3/4, 3 R, 2B, RBI, BB Castillo: 2/5, 2B, 2 RBI, K Pitchers: Veal: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K Ceda: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 4 K Daytona: Palm Beach (41-27) 8, @ Daytona (34-34) 7 Hitters: Thomas: 1/4, R, 2 BB, K, SB Adduci: 3/4, 2 R, 2 BB, SB Wright: 3/4, R, 2B, 4 RBI, BB, K, Sacrifice, Outfield Assist Pitchers: Ruhlman: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K Peoria: 2nd half of season starts June 19. The Chiefs finished 30-38, in 7th place out of 8 teams in the Midwest league's Western division. First half studs: Marquez Smith(23) (.300/.367/.524) as a 3B-2B guy who was scorching hot once the calendar has turned to end of May and up until the end of the season in June. In a league with an aggregate batting line of .249/.321/.369, that's a pretty special half (or quarter if you think about it) season. Dylan Johnston's(21) put up a respectable .275/.347/.472 line and is in his 2nd go-round with Peoria, meaning a promotion is likely. The only thing stopping him from a real shot is K-ing 62 times in 193 AB's. People have made it to the show with less power though, that's for certain. Jovan Rosa(20) showed us something in his first taste of the MWL, but slumped a little recently. He's currently hitting .290/.368/.412, but he's also much more strikeout prone than patient at this point (23/58 BB/K), and hasn't shown a ton of power, although 19 doubles suggests that may come later as he matures. Luis Bautista(23) split time with Josh Donaldson(22) and Mario Mercedes(21) at catcher, but still managed a .308/.354/.462 line in just 91 AB's and bears watching as the season goes on. With decent depth at C in the minors, the Cubs are going to have some problems with promoting prospects down the road, but for now it's good to let some players (Donaldson for instance) get their feet under them. As can be expected in a severe pitchers league, there were several players on the Chiefs who posted very good ERA's in the first half. Notables: Dae-Eun Rhee (19): 26.1 IP, 18 H, 0 HR, 8 BB, 21 K, 1.38 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2.06 GO/AO, early injury put damper on great start to season. Back now, he's a good bet to be a very good starter the 2nd half. Hung-Wen Chen (22): 59.1 IP, 56 H, 3 HR, 12 BB, 36 K, 3.34 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 1.21 GO/AO Roberto Hernandez (19): Served 50 game suspension and struggled a little on his return (5.28 ERA in 15.1 IP), mostly due to one bad start vs. Clinton(4.1 IP, 6 ER), the best team in the MWL at the half-water mark. Alberto Cabrera (19): Struggled with his control (30 BB and 7 HR in 52 IP) he's notable mostly because he's a 19 y.o. Dominican in a full season league. Jordan Latham (21): 43.1 IP (all in relief), 34 H, 3 HR, 11 BB, 42 K, 1.87 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 1.73 GO/AO. He was drafted by the Cubs in 2006 after not signing with the Pirates following high school in Boise, ID. Played with Boise last year, they're working him mostly multi-inning outings, perhaps building his stamina for starting. Richard (Blake) Parker (23): 43.1 IP (all in relief), 30 H, 1 HR, 17 BB, 46 K, 1.25 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 1.50 GO/AO. Boise: Opened the season yesterday. Here's their roster. No notably missing names, aside from Larry Suarez, who is injured if I remember correctly. Eugene (0-0) 5, vs. Boise (0-0) 6 Hitters: Josh Harrison(20 y.o. 2B, U of Cin.): 2/2, R, 2B, RBI, BB, SF, SB, CS Jake Opitz(21 y.o. SS, Englewood, CO): 1/1, R, GW HR, RBI, came in to pinch run for Harrison in 6th, hit walk-off HR to lead off 9th Josh Vitters(18 y.o. 3B, Anaheim, CA): 0/3, RBI, BB, 2 K Kyler Burke(20 y.o. OF/1B, Chattanooga, TN): 1/2, R, HR, RBI, 2 BB, K Ryan Keedy(22 y.o. 1B, U of A-B): 3/4, R, 2B, K Pitchers: Marcus Hatley(20 y.o. RHP, Honolulu, HI): 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 K, 4-3 GO/FO AZL Cubs: Start June 22. No roster announcements yet. Assuming they really have a roster instead of playing with whomever shows up to the ball diamond that day. Which reminds me, I should plan a trip to Arizona for just such a thing. I'd qualify as an undrafted free agent. If you're reading this scouts, I'm interested. Just give me a little notice to smooth it over with the Missus. DSL Cubs1: DSL Rockies (7-8) 5 @ DSL Cubs (9-5) 1 Hitters: Albert Hernandez(19 y.o. LF): 1/3, 2B Nelson Pierre(20 y.o. 2B): 1/3, R, BB, SB, E Pitchers: Diego Encarnacion(18 y.o. RHP): 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 5-10 GO-FO DSL Cubs2: DSL Cubs2 (7-8) 2 @ DSL Dodgers (9-5) 6 Hitters: Miguel Salazar(19 y.o. SS): 1/3, 2B, RBI, S Jesus Morelli(18 y.o. OF): 0/2, 2 BB, 2 K, CS, PO, E Carlos Morales(19 y.o. OF/3B): 2/4, RBI Pitchers: Luis Liria(18 y.o. RHP):6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 8-5 GO-FO I'll probably talk more about players from teams as the first halves end in their respective leagues. A few first halves have already ended, and I'll get to most of them Saturday when I have a day off. Let me know if there's any particular player you specifically want to see stats for any given day. I've picked quite a few to highlight, but if there are more I'm more than welcome to doing them. I'm still getting into the routine for these, if you want to see something else, let me know.