Chicago Cubs Prospect Primer: Trey McNutt
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post, written by a friend of the program, Scarey from Sons of Ivy. When it comes to Cubs prospects, few know the organization better than Scarey, and he’s offered to throw us some of his insights, teed up here for you with minimal editing from yours truly. Up today, the Cubs’ most surprising pitching prospect success story, Trey McNutt.
In his first full year as a professional baseball player, Trey McNutt is taking on all challenges.
Kenneth McNutt, or Trey as he prefers, was drafted as a 32nd round pick in the draft last year. McNutt wasn’t especially notable at Shelton State Community College, but the Cubs did their homework and put in an over slot bonus offer that was the equivalent of about a 6th round pick. He signed on the dotted line and got to work in the Arizona Cubs and was quickly promoted to A- Boise to finish out the 2009 season.
To start out 2010, McNutt was once again in Boise but was quickly promoted to A+ Daytona. Just nine starts after his A+ promotion, McNutt was then elevated to AA Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. I am not a believer in using wins/losses record to evaluate a pitcher, but that doesn’t make the fact that McNutt took his first loss in August any less impressive. This while he sported a 2.37 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 10.6 strike outs per nine innings. Also noteworthy? McNutt just turned 21.
McNutt has credited his quick progression to an increase in fastball velocity since entering the Cubs system. From an interview written in The Daytona Beach News Journal, McNutt explained, “I got drafted and my arm just started getting stronger and stronger — don’t know if it’s because I just played longer and it kept building, but it just jumped.”
The 6’4 205lb McNutt pairs his dominating fastball with a late breaking power curve. He is working on a third pitch he can throw consistently, but scouts have noted that his fastball and curve are plus pitches that can get him to the big leagues. He’s already pulled in one accolade this year as a Midwest League All-Star with the Peoria Chiefs, he’s working on being named the 2010 Cubs minor league player of the year and, in my opinion, has the possibility to be a Baseball America top 100 prospect. [ed. I'm not sure McNutt will be able to beat out Chris Archer for the Cubs' system's pitcher of the year, let alone player of the year - but it's nice to have enough top prospects to be able to have such a discussion.]
Carlos Silva Has Successfully Unsuccessful Rehab Start
Carlos Silva started his second game for the Single A Peoria Chiefs last night, and successfully threw in the 5th inning. Successful, that is, in the sense that his heart held up. In all other respects, however, the outing was a disaster – he gave up five earned runs in just 4.1 innings on five hits and two walks. At least he struck out five.
Where he goes from here is uncertain. If the Cubs feel he’s ready to return, they could bump Casey Coleman from the rotation as soon as early next week – unless Tom Gorzelanny misses time with his hand injury, in which case Silva might just take his spot in the rotation. The Cubs may decide to let Silva have another rehab start before committing a spot in the rotation to Silva. Either way, we should know soon.
Enhanced Box Score: Pirates 3, Cubs 5 – September 1, 2010
It will shock you as much as it will disgust you: the Chicago Cubs just beat the Pittsburgh Pirates… IN A SERIES!
Tom Gorzelanny went out early, but the bullpen stepped up. Andrew Cashner is quietly turning his season around – just enough that the Cubs will probably toy around with the disastrous notion of keeping him in the bullpen next year, rather than maximizing his value in the rotation.
Tom Gorzelanny May Have to Write With His Other Hand For a While
Chicago Cubs pitcher Tom Gorzelanny took a comebacker off his left (pitching) hand today. After trying to make a play on the Jose Tabata ball, Gorzelanny went to the dirt, and was pulled from the game. X-rays haven’t shown much yet.
X-rays of Tom Gorzelanny’s left hand were inconclusive Wednesday but did show there was no displacement and the Cubs pitcher will have a CT scan on Thursday. Gorzelanny was hit by a line drive by Pittsburgh’s Jose Tabata in the third inning Wednesday. The pitcher will undergo more tests on Thursday once the swelling has subsided. Muskat Ramblings.
Inconclusive does not necessarily mean his hand is jacked; it could just be incredibly swollen. If Gorzelanny is out for an appreciable period of time, Casey Coleman may get a reprieve to stay in the rotation when Carlos Silva returns next week.
Seven Chicago Cubs Prospects Will Play in the Arizona Fall League, Including Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters
Two of the Chicago Cubs’ last four first round picks will get the opportunity to play in the prospect-heavy Arizona Fall League this, well, Fall. Third baseman Josh Vitters and outfielder Brett Jackson will compete against some top tier competition, and will have the opportunity to refine their skills. Recall that, following a successful 2009 season, the Arizona Fall League is where Starlin Castro announced to the world that he was a legit top prospect.
Vitters and Jackson will be joined by five others, which in total makes a very strong showing for the Cubs.
Vitters has been sidelined with a broken hand after he was hit by a pitch in late July. He began the season at Class A Daytona and batted .291 with three homers and 13 RBIs in 28 games, then was promoted to Double-A Tennessee, where he batted .223 in 63 games.
“Vitters is healthy,” Cubs player development director Oneri Fleita said. “He’ll start taking ground balls this week. He starts hitting next week. The plan is to be ready for the instructional league [on Sept. 15] when we arrive and he’ll play in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll get the at-bats he missed and then go to our winter program in Arizona and get ready for Spring Training.”
Jackson also began the season at Daytona and hit .316 in 67 games with six homers, 19 doubles and 38 RBIs. He was moved up to Tennessee on June 27 and was hitting .274 in 55 games with five homers, 11 doubles, five triples and 23 RBIs. Jackson was hitting .250 in August.
“It’s the first time he’s played 140 games,” Fleita said of the outfielder. “He didn’t get much time off. He’s being challenged. As soon as [the Smokies] get into the playoffs, I’m sure his juices will get going.”
The other Cubs players who will compete for the Mesa Solar Sox in the AFL include pitchers David Cales, Chris Carpenter, Jake Muyco and Kyle Smit and infielder Ryan Flaherty. cubs.com.
The AFL tends to include prospects who are approaching the big leagues, but who need extra work against top competition (though that’s not always the case). Chris Carpenter (not that Chris Carpenter) is one of the Cubs top five pitching prospects, and was recently promoted to AAA Iowa. David Cales has struggled this year after a dominant 2009. Kyle Smit, you may recall, was the reliever received in the Ted Lilly trade. Jake Muyco is another in the long list of Cubs catching prospects converted to pitcher (Carlos Marmol and Randy Wells head up the list). Ryan Flaherty disappointed in AA before being demoted to High A this year.
Report: Fredi Gonzalez is Chicago Cubs’ Top Choice for Next Manager
The Chicago Cubs will search far and wide for their next manager, as they should. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a first choice already – and according to “sources,” that top man is former Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez.
Sources say that Gonzalez is at the top of general manager Jim Hendry’s wish list in the early stages of the process and that he prefers a manager with major-league experience — with Class AAA manager Ryne Sandberg considered the strongest, if not only, serious candidate without that.
Gonzalez’s communication skills with Latin players he has managed, as well as his swift and decisive handling of Marlins star Hanley Ramirez’s loafing earlier this season, are considered significant strengths in his favor.
Gonzalez, 46, has a strong relationship with Hendry that goes back three decades and included time together in the Marlins organization.
Reached by phone Tuesday night, Gonzalez would neither confirm nor deny interest in the job or contact by the Cubs.
”I don’t have anything I can tell you,” he said, ”except Jim and I go back to my high school days. He coached one of the opposing teams when I played. And we worked together with the Marlins.”
Asked specifically whether he had interviewed or expected to, he declined comment. But indications are he’s in the first group of candidates on Hendry’s interview list. CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Gonzalez is also expected to be pursued heavily by the Atlanta Braves to replace retiring skipper Bobby Cox. Gonzalez was a coach with the Braves from 2003 to 2006.
While with the Marlins, Gonzalez had a .497 winning percentage, including back-to-back winning years in 2008 and 2009. He was widely regarded as one of the best young managers in the game, if not one of the best regardless of experience.
For my part, I view Gonzalez and Joe Girardi as options 1 and 1A in the managerial search. If the Cubs land one of them, I certainly won’t complain, but that said, I remain open minded with respect to whomever the Cubs end up with. So far, I don’t see anyone on the list that I’d scream bloody murder about – like I did (on the inside) when the Cubs went with Dusty Baker, and, to a lesser extent, Lou Piniella.
September Call-Ups to Be Delayed for AAA Playoffs
Rosters expand today from 25 to 40, and the Chicago Cubs are expected to call up a number of the young players – most of whom we’ve seen already this year – in the next couple of weeks. In general, though, the Cubs will wait until Iowa’s season, including the playoffs, which run through September 19. Iowa currently holds a half-game lead in their division.
Among the players the Cubs are expected to call up are pitchers Mitch Atkins, Justin Berg, and Jeff Stevens, each of whom recently spent time in the Cubs’ pen. The team is also expected to call up Jeff Samardzija, who has been refining himself as a pitcher at Iowa since being sent down in April. Outfielders Sam Fuld and Brad Snyder will probably also join the Cubs at some point.
The one player the Cubs could really use, catcher Welington Castillo, is not eligible to return to the Cubs until 10 days after he was most recently sent back down to Iowa. That pegs his return on Thursday, unless Geovany Soto goes on the disabled list in the next day and a half.
Ryne Sandberg Officially Interviews for Chicago Cubs’ Managerial Opening
While he manages the Iowa Cubs to a hopeful playoff berth, you’ll forgive Ryne Sandberg if he’s got bigger things on his mind. Yesterday, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry came to interview Sandberg for the Cubs’ open managerial gig. Of course, the concept of an “interview” for a job that the candidate knows all too well, and of a candidate that the potential employer knows all too well is a little silly, but hey, whatever works.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry was in Albuquerque on Tuesday, and it wasn’t only to watch the Cubs’ Class AAA Iowa team as they try to make the playoffs.
Hendry also was there to talk with Iowa manager Ryne Sandberg about the Cubs’ managerial job….
Hendry may have a tough decision to make. Sandberg has not been shy about saying he’s ready to manage in the big leagues as he completes his fourth year as a minor-league manager in the Cubs’ system….
It’s unknown whether Sandberg would accept a major-league coaching job instead of the manager’s position even if Hendry tries to sell him on that option. Daily Herald.
With apologies to Sandberg, it’s hard not to see him emerging as the team’s primary fall-back candidate. The team knows what they’d be getting with Sandberg, so the mere fact that they’re interviewing so extensively suggests that they aren’t sold on Sandberg as a big league manager yet. At least not while the possibility of a perfect fit might be out there. And it would be unlikely that Sandberg would ditch the Cubs for another job before the Cubs actually make a decision.
Thus, the Cubs remain interested in the possibility of Sandberg if they can’t get into Harvard, so to speak.
