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Young Cubs, 8/7-8/9: High Dose of Low-A

Top 10
Name Level Stats
Gleyber Torres Low-A South Bend 5-12, 3 RBI, 3 SO, 2 RS
Kyle Schwarber MLB MLB
Billy McKinney AA Tennessee 4-8, 2 RS, 5 RBI, 2 BB
Albert Almora AA Tennessee 5-11, 5 RS, 3 RBI, 3 BB
Pierce Johnson AA Tennessee 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Dan Vogelbach DL DL
Carson Sands Short Season Eugene DNP
Jen-Ho Tseng Hi-A Myrtle Beach DNP
Carl Edwards Jr. AAA Iowa Cubs 2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
The Others
Name Level Stats
Javier Baez AAA Iowa Cubs 1-9, 2 RS, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 K
Jeffrey Baez Low-A South Bend 5-13, 4 RS, 1 BB, 5 SO
Ian Happ Low-A South Bend 2-7, 2 RS, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 3 SO
Arismendy Alcantara AAA Iowa Cubs 1-10, 6, SO
Christian Villanueva AAA Iowa Cubs 4-10, 1 RS, 4 RBI, 1 BB

Over on the main site I wrote up a Ten Pack entry on Ian Happ… Gleyber Torres is young and raw, but there’s stuff to dream on there. I’ll be writing up a full Eyewitness Report for the main site and it should be out soon… Jeffrey Baez had a good weekend and I saw him for a good portion of those at-bats. Here are my notes on him: physically maxed out, very little projection left in the body; potential for bad weight; high-waisted player with a power bottom; above-average bat speed; leveraged swing; poor approach; saw a high portion of spin and swung through them; doesn’t pick up bad spin well; overly aggressive approach; plus arm strength in right; surprisingly athletic considering size. Baez has earned some accolades of late and he’s stayed hot, but I don’t see much else here besides an org soldier… I also saw Jake Stinnett this weekend. Lean frame, low three-quarters arm slot; balanced spine; crossfire; effort in the delivery; fastball was 89-91 with moderate run and below-average command early; command improved as outing went on but the velocity waned; Slider was 76-80; 10-4 movement, replicated fastball arm slot well; flashed above average for me and got stronger as the outing went along; used his change sparingly; flashed moderate drop and mild fade; average deception. The velocity and effort don’t really do much for his case in my mind. I saw a backend starter… At the start of the season, logic would’ve dictated that Almora should have ascended to the the top spot in the Cubs top 10 rankings, but struggles with his hit tool have blunted some of his prospect shine. He’s enjoying a hot streak now, but he will have to continue it to overcome some of the marks going against him… The seven strikeouts are really good for Pierce Johnson, but even more inspiring is the one walk in seven innings.

Teams
Name Level Standings/Notes
Eugene Emeralds Short-Season A Ball 5-5, 1.5 GB
South Bend Cubs Low-A 21-22, 5 GB
Myrtle Beach Pelicans High-A 26-18, 2.5 GB
Tennessee Smokies AA 21-21, 6 GB
Iowa Cubs AAA 64-51, 4 GB

What to watch for

I’ll have full reports on Gleyber Torres and Jeff Baez this week. I’ll also write up Jake Stinnett this week as well. I will be closely monitoring Carl Edward Jr.’s walk rate as the Cubs could still use some bullpen help with the big team and his skillset figures to work perfectly in a bullpen role.

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1 comment on “Young Cubs, 8/7-8/9: High Dose of Low-A”

Joel

Great stuff — love the thoroughness.

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