First place Tennessee won three out of four thanks to the outstanding pitching of Corey Black and Dae-Eun Rhee. Not to be outdone, second place Iowa took three out of five with the streaking Kris Bryant, Arismendy Alcantara, and Josh Vitters. Meanwhile, a Boise blowout on Friday night gave hope to better days ahead for the Hawks. All of this, and much, much more, is inside today’s Down on the Farm Report. … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 06/26/14
Winning seems to be the key word across the minor leagues to start the week as Iowa received excellent pitching performances from Dallas Beeler and Tsuyoshi Wada, while Kris Bryant provided the muscle. Tennessee evened their season record thanks to the hot hitting of Stephen Bruno, Rubi Silva, and Christian Villanueva. Daytona moved into first place with the bats of Albert Almora and Dan Vogelbach coming to life. Meanwhile, Kane County keeps chugging along thanks to Jacob Hannemann and Kyle … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 06/16/14
The “big fly” played a prominent role to end the week in the minors. First Round pick Kyle Schwarber had two round-trippers for Boise and Justin Marra also went deep as the Hawks began their season. Kane County received homers from Yasiel Balaguert, Jordan Hankins, and Jacob Rogers as the Cougars finished the first half of their season. Taylor Davis was able to deliver a pinch-hit home run for Tennessee, while Javier Baez had a game-winner for Iowa. So look out in the bleachers, as they’re … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on Farm Report – 06/12/14
Rainy weather caused delays, postponements, and doubleheaders across the minor leagues to begin the week. Pitching seemed to dominate as Kane County received fine efforts from Jen-Ho Tseng, Tyler Skulina, and Daury Torrez. Daytona’s Rob Zastryzny has been pitching better of late, and Eduardo Figueroa did well for Tennessee, while Tsuyoshi Wada continues to chug along in Iowa. So instead of trying to play 'Find the Ball' during the next rain delay, why not look at today’s Down on the Farm … [Read more...]
Cubs Notes from Down on the Farm – 06/08/14
For those who might want to write off draftees Kyle Schwarber and Mark Zagunis as catching prospects, not so fast. The Cubs’ minor league developmental staff seems to have done a good job in coaching players at the catching position in the lower levels. Daytona’s Willson Contreras was converted to third base after the previous administration felt he would not develop as a catcher. The present staff worked hard with Contreras, and he is now considered the second best defensive catcher to Kane … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 06/05/14
All-Star assignments were a big part of the news to start the week as 15 players from the Cubs’ organization will be representing their respective teams with Triple-A yet to be announced. Kane County’s Jose Arias, Paul Blackburn, Jordan Hankins, and Will Remillard were named to Midwest League squad. Gioskar Amaya, Marco Hernandez, Andrew McKirahan, Felix Pena, and Bijan Rademacher are Daytona representatives in the Florida State League and the Southern League made Tennessee players John … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 06/02/14
The Cubs’ minor league system saw two of its teams trending the wrong way as Tennessee has lost seven straight despite a homer binge by Kris Bryant, while Daytona has lost five games in a row. Kane County split their four games to end the week as the Cougars received a combined shutout by Justin Amlung, Michael Wagner, and Tyler Bremer. And between the raindrops, Iowa was able to go 2-3 as home runs by Ryan Kalish, Arismendy Alcantara, Christian Villanueva, and Brett Jackson provided the … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 05/26/14
Kris Bryant and Javier Baez made most of the headlines in the minors at the end of the week as the top two prospects in the system extended their hitting streaks into double digits. Baez continued his streak on Sunday and extended it to ten games with a two-hit performance that included a grand slam. Bryant’s hitting streak came to an end at ten games on Sunday. There were several excellent pitching performances down on the farm. Juan Carlos Paniagua had an excellent outing while Paul … [Read more...]
Cubs Notes from Down on the Farm – 05/25/14
Recent actions by the Cubs’ organization speak volumes, without directly saying anything, as to how they feel about the pitching staff at Daytona. With the starting rotation at Tennessee hit by injuries to right handers C.J. Edwards, Ivan Pineyro, and Pierce Johnson, along with Matt Loosen placed on the restricted list, they chose to sign minor league free agents right handers Joe Gardner and Julio Rodriguez rather than promote anyone from Daytona. To be truthful, RHP Felix Pena was the only … [Read more...]
Updates on Edwards and Tseng, Minor Signings and Cubs News from Down on the Farm
Jaron Madison, Cubs Farm Director, provided an update Thursday on C.J. Edwards. Madison said Edwards has begun a throwing program at the Cubs complex in Mesa and the Cubs are "shooting for around the All-Star break" for him to return. According to a report from Comcast SportsNet, Edwards probably could have pitched through the fatigue and inflammation in his shoulder and Madison pointed out that he wanted to. The Cubs decided to shut him down, build him up slowly and make sure he was ready … [Read more...]