The Iowa Cubs had a better week and so did the Tennessee Smokies. The Daytona Cubs lost three in a row before beating the Palm Beach Cardinals in 10 innings on Thursday, 1-0. Sean Gallagher had a good week, despite losing on Thursday night to New Orleans, 5-1. Gallagher gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 2/3 innings. The Smokies lost on Thursday as well but Tyler Colvin doubled and Ryan Harvey hit his second home run of the year in the loss.
Here is the latest from down on the farm....
This week there are updates on a couple rising prospects and maybe a falling one. As a whole, the system keeps improving, pitching wise. The hitting needs to step it up, but having a pitch rich system is better than a hitting one -- and can put the Cubs in position to make trades. A mid-season deal can drastically improve a team (see the 2003 version of the Cubs) and give them the boost to make noise in the playoffs. Time will tell.
IOWA CUBS (6-6) - 2nd place - PCL American North
Statlines of note (Click to enlarge)
The Iowa Cubs have improved in the standings this past week by going 4-2. They've done this with a balance between hitting and pitching. The I-Cubs have had games rained out and already had to play a double-header. Two Iowa Cubs have already been called up to the big league club, Sean Marshall and Eric Patterson and it's only the third week of April It was somewhat surprising to see Patterson get called up instead of Matt Murton but if they are going to play Mark DeRosa in left field the move makes some sense.
To this point in the season, Murton is a singles hitting machine but I believe he will get his slugging percentage in the 400s before long. Sean Gallagher has been throwing the ball well and has been keeping hitters off the base paths, evident by his .176 opponents batting average against. Most fans only remember him from his work out of the bullpen last year for the Cubs, but that has been his worst stint as a professional. Gallagher has bounced back this spring and is on track for a great AAA season.
Mark Holliman is an interesting prospect. He ranked number 27 on Baseball America's list of top Cubs’ prospects. He throws in the mid-80s and reminds me of Jamie Moyer, due to his craftiness on the mound, except he is right handed. Also, he has already thrown a no hitter in the minors. I doubt he will make an impact in the bigs but then again Moyer has been in the majors more than two decades.
TENNESSEE SMOKIES (8-6) - 3rd place - Southern League North
Statlines of note (Click to Enlarge)
The Smokies have been relying on their pitching for wins. This is evident by them still being dead last in average, on-base percentage and slugging. The Smokies winning 5 of 8 games over the last week is a testament to their pitching strength.
The Shark has been keeping up his end of the bargain. Jeff Samardzija has been lights out this season. He had a great duel with the Dodgers' top pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw last week and came out on top. Seems like he is in line for a mid-season call up to Iowa.
Tyler Colvin has been improving so far but he still needs to work on his strike out to walk ratio in order to warrant a call up to AAA. His strike out to walk ratio has been dismal his whole career and that has always been his downside. Ryan Harvey has had an up and down career as a Cub but this season he has been improving and is showing signs of becoming a prospect again.
On the flip side, Donald Veal is still struggling to get a grasp on his command and has been getting hit pretty hard; opponents are hitting .283 against him. Veal needs a rebound year this season after struggling a year ago.
DAYTONA CUBS (6-7) - 4th place - Florida State League East
Statlines of note (Click to Enlarge)
The Daytona Cubs are on a 3 game losing streak and are looking to turn things around soon. Adam Harben is showing why he is on the Cubs' 40-man roster. Harben has looked good so far in his two outings this season. I think he will warrant a call to AA later on this season if he continues putting together good outings. Alessandro Maestri has been starting games but I think his future is in the bullpen. He features a mid-90s fastball and a hard slider that ranks high in the system but he needs to work on his off-speed stuff.
Tony Thomas is showing no signs of cooling down. Think of him as another version Eric Patterson with slightly better hitting skills and lesser defensive prowess at 2B. Welington Castillo made the update because he already has shown solid defensive skills but he is showing improvement with his offense. This bodes well for him and his future in the organization.
PEORIA CHIEFS (6-8) - 6th place - MID Western
Statlines of note (Click to enlarge)
Dae-Eun Rhee has been the talk of this team and rightfully so. He has been pitching great for a 19 year old but there should be no rush to send him up any higher than he is now. His strikeout to walk ratio is great for a pitcher his age -- and so is everything else he does.
Ryan Acosta has been good too but not as good as Rhee. The opposition is still hitting for too high of an average against him but he will mature as the season goes along. This team needs to improve their offense if Ryne Sandberg wants to start winning games.
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Great read Raul. wow! for Dae-Eun Rhee and the Shark! Also Matt Murton should be playing in the major leagues. Evidently he is rock solid; since he has never let his [call-ups and sent-downs from the minors]affect his game. If only he could be a good defener...he would be an allstar. Maybe somebody somewhere will make him a 1st baseman.
In my perfect world, he would have been an infielder but thats not gonna happen now. If he were a first basemen I think it would be worse since they are expected to have power. A team will get Murton and stick him in a corner OF and he will hit 290-300 and hit 15-20HRs and they will be happy to take it. Why cant we be happy?
Listened to Matty on the I-Pregame Show. The thing is that the guy takes it all in stride too. He just talked about how he feels he just needs to keep up what hes doing. He said that he knows hes a major leaguer playing in the minor leagues and he lets his record speak for itself.
I hope to see Matt Murton soon.
I really like Matt Murton as well, but I tend to feel that he really had his opportunity last year, and really didn't take advantage of it. He's a fine hit-for-average hitter, with limited power. But he's a liability defensively (I saw him in person last year miss easy plays that were embarrasing), and he is also prone to baserunning lapses as well.
Last year he only had Floyd to really compete against, and couldn't seize the opportunity. I'd take DeRosa over him in the outfield any day. Hopefully Matt's good minor league numbers will translate to a good trade package for him (and the club).
Look at 2006 Matt Murton, and tell me if that wouldnt make do while "Hip-Hop" (Again, thanks Jim) is on the shelf.
.297 AVG / 22 2B / 3 3B / 13 HR / 62 RBI / 5 SB
Id take that. 2007 was a wash because of Cliff Floyd. And Matt amitted his start wasnt what he wanted it to be. And his second half was really nice even platooning.
Bryan, I agree. Matt's a platoon guy, not a difference maker. And I'd also take DeRosa over him in left, as well as probably dozens other in exchange for Soriano. I also fully agree that Murton is at-best an average fielder, if that. Last year he attributed to numerous unearned runs based on his outfield adventures.
There's word out that the Rays have interest in Murton--to go with Upton in center and Crawford. I would trade Murton and a top 10 prospect like Donaldson + for a top lefty prospect (either Houser or McGhee at AA and pitching lights out) and another prospect or two. To honor our AL Faithful, I would include Emeel Saban, (from AL) and a lefty high OBP OF, now in Low A.
Strike the "h" on McGee above. Because he is a top 2 or 3 type prospect, Houser may be a more likely trade with the prospect pitching rich Rays. Houser's line at AA: 15 IP, 5 H, 2 W and 12 SO. I offer Donaldson (or Castilla) because the Rays need catching.
I always find it somewhat intriguing that when you read articles from Stark, Gammons, etc on the "up and comers", or "those poised for breakout years", that our youngsters never hit those lists. I guess they are indeed over-valued in our own minds. It would be nice to see a "surprise" up and comer show up sometime though.
Thank goodness Soto is the real deal!