Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 06/16/11

June 16, 2011 By 7 Comments

Welcome to the new, expanded addition of the Down on the Farm Report. With new teams getting ready to play, reports will now be posted on Monday and Thursday.

Thursday’s report will cover games from Sunday through Wednesday, with a weekly recap of action in the Dominican Summer League and the Arizona Rookie League.

The Monday report will look the same as before, with additional coverage of the Class-A Short-Season Boise Hawks. Monday’s report will cover games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, as well as any late results from Wednesday.

And now, on to Thursday’s Down on the Farm Report. Low Class-A – Peoria Chiefs (33-33)
The Peoria Chiefs have lost three straight to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this week, including dropping a double-header on Wednesday. The Chiefs will close out their series with Wisconsin on Thursday, and then open a weekend series with Quad Cities.

High Class-A Daytona Cubs (46-20)
With their forty-fifth win on Monday night, the Daytona Cubs clinched the Florida State League North title and a spot in the playoffs. The 8-6 win over Clearwater turned into a real nail-biter, as the D-Cubs squandered a 6-0 lead. Aaron Kurcz was on the hill for Daytona, striking out four in three scoreless innings. Matt Loosen took over in the fourth, and allowed three earned runs in his two-plus innings. Jeffry Antigua followed and allowed three more runs (one earned) in 1.2 innings. Oswaldo Martinez earned the win by blanking the Threshers for 1.1 innings, while Marcus Hatley went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his third save.

The D-Cubs jumped out to a 6-0 lead thanks mostly to Logan Watkins, who was 3-for-3 on the night. Rubi “The Expensive Cuban” Silva scored three of Daytona’s runs, while Evan Crawford, David Macias, and Matt Cerda each drove in two runs.

Click Here for Complete Box Score

The story on Tuesday night was Zachary Rosscup. Rosscup simply dominated, shutting Brevard County out for five innings and fanning nine as Daytona defeated the Manatees 3-1. Jordan Latham followed and allowed an unearned run with three strikeouts. All-Star Frank Batista picked up his fourteenth save with three-up, three-down in the ninth.

On a night where runs were at a premium, the D-Cubs leading hitter Evan Crawford went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Chad Noble was 2-for-4, also with a run scored. Logan Watkins was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Click Here for Complete Box Score

Daytona will close out its series with Brevard County on Thursday, and then will be off for the Florida State League All-Star break.

Double-A – Tennessee Smokies (41-24)
Robert Coello pitched his best game of the season, as Tennessee closed out their series with Carolina with a 2-1 victory on Monday. Coello scattered three hits while striking out five, as he baffled the Mudcats for six innings. Ryan Searle and Kevin Rhoderick picked up holds, as the usually reliable Rhoderick allowed an earned run. Rafael Dolis went 1-2-3 in the ninth for his seventh save.

Rebel Ridling was the big stick for the Smokies, going 3-for-4 and driving in one of the two runs. Steve Clevenger was 2-for-4, while Brett Jackson was 1-for-2 with two walks, driving in the other run.

Click Here for Complete Box Score

Tennessee’s Wednesday night game was postponed due to rain. A double-header will be played on Thursday.

Triple-A – Iowa Cubs (30-36)
Opening the week with a loss to Omaha, Iowa came back to defeat the StormChasers 11-5 on Tuesday. Alberto Cabrera earned his first Triple-A win, but he’ll probably have to take a few of the I-Cub hitters out for dinner. Cabrera struggled, allowing five earned runs on ten hits, including two home runs. However, he did strike out six batters. Scott Maine then came in and slammed the door, striking out four in his two innings for his second hold. Marcos Mateo added a scoreless ninth.

On a night when Iowa pounded out fifteen hits, the biggest sticks belonged to Scott Moore and Ty Wright. Moore was 2-for-5, slugging a three-run homer; Wright was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Fernando Perez, Bobby Scales, Marquez Smith, Jonathan Mota, and Matt Camp all had multi-hit nights.

Click Here for Complete Box Score

Ramon Ortiz gave the bullpen a rest, as he pitched eight innings in a 9-5 victory over Omaha on Wednesday. Ortiz struck out three and allowed four earned runs on two home runs. John Gaub also allowed a solo home run in his inning of work.

Ortiz benefitted from an eight run eighth inning that included Bobby Scales’ grand slam and a solo blast by Bryan LaHair. Ty Wright, Chris Robinson, and Matt Camp joined LaHair in having multi-hit nights, as the contributed to Iowa’s thirteen hit attack.

Click Here for Complete Box Score

Short Season-A – Boise Hawks (0-0)
The Boise Hawks will begin their season on Friday, June 17 at Eugene. The Hawks have their home opener Wednesday, June 22 against Tri-City.

Here is the opening roster for Boise:

PITCHERS
Kyler Burke
Willengton Cruz
Dustin Fitzgerald
Jin-Young Kim
Luis Liria
Hector Mayora
Austin Reed
Santo Rodriguez
Jose Rosario
Yilver Sanchez
Bryce Shafer
Charles Thomas
Yao-Lin Wang
Ben Wells

CATCHERS
Yaniel Cabezas
Carlos Romero

INFIELDERS
Vismeldy Bieneme
Wilson Contreras
Wes Darvill
Dustin Harrington
Paul Hoilman
Brad Zapenas

OUTFIELDERS
Pin-Chieh Chen
D. J. Fitzgerald
Reggie Golden
Ben Klafczynski

DISABLED LIST
Jose Guevara, C
Tarlandus Mitchell, P
Jesus Morelli, OF
Eric Rice, P
Jose Valdez, OF

Rookie – AZL Cubs (0-0)
The Arizona League begins play in Monday, June 20, as the Cubs face the Giants.

Here is the opening roster for the AZL Cubs:

PITCHERS
Hunter Ackerman
Rafael Diplan
PJ Francescon
Ramon Garcia
Ryan Hartman
Alvido Jimenez
Pete Levitt
Casey Lucchese
Sheldon McDonald
Jon Nagel
Amaury Paulino
Felix Pena
Starling Peralta
James Pugliese
Colin Richardson
Jean Sandoval
Brian Smith
Luis Villalba
Joe Zeller

CATCHERS
Johan DeJesus
Brian Inoa
Alberto Mineo

INFIELDERS
Gioskar Amaya
Travis Garcia
Dustin Geiger
Gregori Gonzalez
Marco Hernandez
Max Kwan
Kenny Socorro

OUTFIELDERS
Eduardo Gonzalez
Dong-Yub Kim
Blair Springfield
Oliver Zapata

Dominican Summer League
This week in the Dominican Summer League, the Cubs 1 team has a record of 7-7 and the Cubs 2 team is currently 7-6.

Outfielder Mayke Reyes has taken over the lead in hitting with a .350 average, Reyes also has a home run, nine RBI, and eleven stolen bases in twelve attempts. Outfielder- 1B Xavier Batista leads with three home runs. Right-handed pitcher Alexander Santana continues to shine at 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA, 1.00WHIP, and ten strikeouts in 19 innings of work.

On Cubs 2, 3B Jeimer Candelario continues to lead in hitting with a .366. C-2 also has their own version of “double trouble” with lead-off hitter 2B Antonio Gonzalez hitting .271with four stolen bases, while SS Carlos Penalver is hitting .286 with five stolen bases. Right-handed pitcher Jose Arias hasn’t gotten any work since last week, yet he still leads the starters with a 1.93 ERA, while lefty Victor Garcia has thirteen strikeouts.

News and Notes
The Chicago Cubs released RHP Thomas Diamond; outrighted OF Brad Snyder to Iowa; optioned RHP Casey Coleman and OF Tyler Colvin to Iowa; called up RHP Chris Carpenter from Tennessee. Right-handed pitcher Ty’Relle Harris was assigned to Tennessee from Iowa. Shortstop Dustin Harrington was assigned to Boise from Daytona. Right-handed pitcher Bryce Shafer was assigned to Boise from Peoria.

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  • Anthony

    Aaron, saw your writeup on 20th pick Klafczynski, you seemed interested, so I did some searching.

    He was actually ranked #99 by Baseball America Class of 2007 high school and played USA Baseball TOS in 06. Saw a few articles that mentioned he wanted to go to college first. He was honored, along with Heyward and Revere as the top 3 outfielders in 07 by the ABCA/NHSBCA.

    Was an 08 college freshman all american with CBNLS/Rivals/Baseball America.

    There are a couple blogs on his defense, arm strength, and athleticism from summer ball with the 09 Bourne Braves and 2010 Keene Swamp Bats, where he was an all star and won their wood bat HR Derby. Ihere is a link on the NECBL where you can watch him throw and hit HR’s along with an interview.

    I heard he went undrafted in 2010 by choice, from a scouting buddy, as pre-draft calls weren’t enough to forego senior season. From the Kent State website:
    Klafczynski, wraps up his four-year career as one of the most prolific hitters in school history. He finishes as the career leader in total bases (520) and runs scored (211), second in hits (312), doubles (79) and RBIs (197) and eighth in home runs (37). He was a First Team All-MAC pick in 2011, hitting a team-best .368 with a team-high 91 hits, 19 doubles and 57 RBIs. He began his career by being named a Collegiate Baseball All-America selection and closed it by being named to the 2011 NCAA Austin All-Regional Team after batting .375 with six hits – including two doubles — with three RBIs during Kent State’s postseason run which included a 7-5 victory over No. 5 Texas on its home field in the regional’s winner’s bracket final.

    • Aaron

      Yeah, He’s definitely my sleeper pick, because there’s almost nobody talking about him, including Cubs personnel as well when they discussed the draft. 

      But that happens with college seniors. Unless, in the rare occasion, they’re drafted in the first round, they’re often forgotten.

      It’s the same thing with Hoilman. Hoilman will get more publicity, because of his prodigious power numbers, but Klafczynski deserves just as much.

  • cubtex

    Wouldn’t that be something if Zach Rosscup turns out to be a better pitcher than Chris Archer? He was basically the throw in from the Garza deal.

  • John_CC

    http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201106/number-crusher-how-blue-jays-slugger-jose-bautista-experimented-his-way-greatness

    This is, in general, a really good article about Jose Bautista’s rise to greatness.  Now I am not going to say that just any prospect can or even could turn out like this, but the main point I glean from the story is that player development takes time.  Without a couple people that were willing to give him a real chance,
    Cito Gaston and the Jays, he would most likely be out of baseball by
    now. 

     ”Baseball is one of the sports where it’s hardest to make adjustments
    and trust in changes,” Bautista says. “Your results immediately are
    affected by making a change, and at least at the beginning, in the short
    term, it affects them negatively. Your production goes down when you
    make a change. It might help you in the long run, but it’s really tough
    to trust in yourself. You feel like your role gets affected, and maybe
    negatively. I knew I needed to make changes to become successful in the
    future. But if I did them and didn’t pick it up in one or two months, I
    might’ve been out of a job anyway. It’s hard for guys to do that, and I
    know because I went through it.”

  • Tom U

    Thank you to everyone for their comments.

  • Cubbyflynn

    what happened to C Jeff Vigours from last year’s draft and why is blair springfield still in Rookie?

    • Tom U

      I’m still trying to research exactly what happened with Jeff Vigurs, but a .165 batting average at Boise may be a clue.

      Springfield has hit .202 and .169 in two years at rookie ball. He just turned 20 years old in February, so he has a lot of time for improvement.