Position Analysis – First Base After examining the catching position throughout the organization, it’s time to move to the infield with the next report to summarize and project how the minor league system looks on a position-by-position basis. Today, the CCO will look at a position that has a great deal of questions: First Base. First Base Over the past four seasons, Anthony Rizzo has started 615 of a possible 648 games at first base for the Chicago Cubs. Fans better hope that trend … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 01/18/16
Pitching once again took center stage last week as Armando Rivero continued to impress in Venezuela. Fernando Cruz was a bright spot in Puerto Rico, while Felix Pena is starting to make some noise in the Dominican Republic. With high heat to start out a cold week, here’s today’s Down on the Farm Report. Note: Coverage of the Winter Leagues runs from Sunday to Saturday Dominican Winter League Estrellas de Oriente Oriente needs to get their act together if they want to represent their … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 10/01/15
Position Analysis – First Base The position analysis series continues with a look at a position that has some questions in the Cubs’ system: First Base. First Base For the third straight season, the Cubs decided against having a prospect at Triple-A and used 10 different players at first base for the Iowa Cubs. Getting the most reps was third baseman Christian Villanueva, who lined up there 35 times. The I-Cubs also used catchers at first base: Taylor Davis 30 times, Taylor Teagarden had … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 08/26/15
Another star is rising out west as Eloy Jimenez is turning his potential into production for Eugene. Meanwhile, South Bend got a gutty performance from Erick Leal, and Jen-Ho Tseng set a career high for Myrtle Beach. In Tennessee, Willson Contreras continues to be a rock in the line-up, and Javier Baez is still streaking in Iowa. All of the early week storylines play out today in Down on the Farm Report. Short Season Class-A – Eugene Emeralds (32-32) Due to technical difficulties, the … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 07/10/15
Grabbing the spot light are the high-flying Eugene Emeralds, who have the best record in the Northwest League thanks to the play of Donnie Dewees and Frandy Delarosa. There was some tough luck as the Myrtle Beach offense has suddenly gone cold and squandered excellent pitching efforts from Michael Heesch and Jen-Ho Tseng. South Bend is also in a scoring drought and wasted a good performance by Erick Leal. There was a resurgence from Bijan Rademacher, a home run from Kyle Schwarber, and a … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 10/10/14
Position Analysis – First Base A series of reports over the off-season will summarize and project how the minor league system looks on a position by position basis. Today, the CCO looks at a position that was once a strength in the organization but now has some questions: First Base. First Base For the second straight season, the Cubs decided against having a prospect at Triple-A when they left Justin Bour unprotected, and he was selected in the Rule 5 draft. In his place, the Cubs used … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 10/17/13
Position Analysis The CCO’s off-season look at each position in the Cubs’ system continues today. The series of articles to summarize and project how the organization stacks up on a position by position basis has already looked at the infield and catcher, next up is the outfield starting with left field. … [Read more...]
Cubs Down on the Farm Report – 10/03/13
Position Analysis The CCO’s off-season series of articles to summarize and project how the minor league system looks on a position by position basis continues today. Earlier this week, the focus was on second base and last week we took a look at third base and shortstop. Next up is a position that continues to be a strength of the system and may be the best example of the front office’s idea of position redundancy: First Base. … [Read more...]