Russell, Baez and Happ are one middle infielder too many, and it will be interesting to see which one will be considered expendable, perhaps in the next offseason (or the one following) or perhaps much sooner if we consider Theo’s urge in the heat of July to push his chips toward the middle of the […]
I knew they would trade Eloy, because that’s their MO, as long as they have a chance at the playoffs. The minor-league pitcher surprised me, because he’s supposed to be a stud and they need pitching, but Epstein tries not to rely on pitching prospects. So it was all inevitable once you appreciate Epstein’s boldness. […]
With the Cubs’ minor-league teams approaching the halfway mark (around seventy games), here are two predictions: Tell me who the Cubs’ two best prospects are and I will tell you that they will be traded before the deadline. I’m referring to position prospects only. The Cubs certainly won’t be trading Dylan Cease. It’s arms like […]
Lester, Hendricks, Davis, maybe Edwards. You see any other good pitchers on this team? Any on the way? The Cub brass needs a deal like the ones that once netted them Schilling and Beckett. I think that’s going to be their MO just like is was in Boston, because McLeod can draft hitters all day […]
At the time, I thought Maddon was overmanaging, but there’s something I might have been overlooking, something that was made vivid in the recorded conversation between Rizzo and Ross: the bad case of nerves that was afflicting the younger players like Rizzo but maybe not the more experienced ones like Ross. Maddon had to be […]
John Smoltz did a pretty good job of analyzing what everybody could see last night during game five of the World Series–everybody, that is, who wasn’t occupying a spot in the Cub dugout. What Smoltz diagnosed was Cleveland’s strategy with Baez at the plate. Throw him a first-pitch strike, Smoltz said, and then throw him […]
Here is the list of Cub hitting prospects for 2017 based on full-season minor-league numbers. The ranking looks at total bases, walks, steals and games played. It takes the sum of total bases + walks + SBs, adjusts it slightly, and divides by games played to arrive at a score. (Hitting prospects are starters, not […]
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Posted 14 October 2016
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prospect § Running
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Tagged: david bote, donnie dewees, eloy jimenez, gleyber torres, ian happ, ian rice, jacob hannemann, jeffrey baez, john adreoli, lane adams, mark zagunis, rashad crawford
The minor-league numbers are in for this year, so this is our final ranking of pitching prospects going into 2017. Prospects are ranked according to the formula K9-(H9+BB9). That’s strikeouts per nine innings minus the sum of hits-per-nine and walks-per-nine. Thus we only look at four numbers–innings, hits, walks, strikeouts. What else is there? Well, […]
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Posted 14 October 2016
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prospect
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Tagged: armando rivero, brian matusz, casey bloomquist, felix pena, jack leathersich, jared cheek, jose paulino, kyle miller, Kyle Morrison, kyle twomey, Mark Malave, nick sarianides, Oscar de la Cruz, pedro araujo, rob zastryzny, ryan kellogg, Ryan McNeil, spencer patton, trevor clifton
With under three weeks left to the minor-league regular seasons, these are not final numbers, but they’re close. This is an updated list (through August 20) of Cub pitching prospects ranked according to the formula K9-(H9+BB9). That’s strikeouts per nine innings minus the sum of hits-per-nine and walks-per-nine. Thus we only look at four numbers–innings, […]
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Posted 21 August 2016
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pitching ace § prospect
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Tagged: armando rivero, brian matusz, casey bloomquist, cj riefenhauser, felix pena, greyfer eregua, jack leathersich, james farris, jared cheek, jose paulino, kyle miller, kyle twomey, nick sarianides, pedro araujo, preston morrison, rob zastryzny, ryan kellogg, spencer patton, tanner griggs, trevor clifton
The Eugene Emeralds won their 13th consecutive game last night. The Cub system is solid–first-place solid–at the lower levels (Eugene, South Bend, Myrtle Beach) while Tennessee and Iowa are second-worst in their respective leagues. Go figure. All I would say is that to win at the upper levels, you need starting pitching. For example, Myrtle […]
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Posted 18 August 2016
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pitching ace § prospect
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Tagged: brad markey, david berg, david garner, duane underwood, jake stinnett, james farris, jeimer candelario, paul blackburn, pierce johnson, preston morrisson, rob zastryzny, trevor clifton, tyler skulina