Tag Archives: casey coleman

First do no harm

So far, Josh Vitters looks like a beta version of the player he will become. By contrast, Starlin Castro, Hak-Ju Lee, Brett Jackson and D.J. LeMahieu have shown polished two-way skills that may propel them to the majors while Vitters is working on his glove, his plate discipline, his power stroke. Either way–whoever gets there [...]

2009 pitching prospects

Prospects are ranked according to my Marmol Index, strikeouts-per-nine-innings minus hits-per-nine-innings.
These are the best arms in the Cub minors, not necessarily the best pitchers. For one thing, I don’t use walks in the formula, although I list walks and calculate K/BB. Perhaps the Marmol Index slants toward relief pitchers, who throw harder when they’re out [...]

A team to watch

Many Cub fans saw the report recently that their team was 27th in organizational talent rankings according to Baseball America. Observant fans know, however, that there was a lot of healthy ferment last season in the Cubs’ lower minors, and that the high-A Daytona team, for example, won the Florida State League championship with [...]