Thanks to BN’er Eric, who’s on the scene for today’s intrasquad game at Cubs camp and is an awesome dude, we’ve already got video of Jorge Soler dropping a BOMB on Nick Struck. Soler took the 3-1 offering from Struck way out to left field. Let the overreactions begin (seriously: it’s OK to irrationally enjoy this).
This just happened five minutes ago:
Brett Taylor is the lead writer at Bleacher Nation, and can also be found as Bleacher Nation on Twitter and on Facebook.
– May 23, 1:41 AM
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That just sounded beautiful off the bat
Man, what a sweet sound to hear again. Can’t wait for the season
Fantastic!!!!!!
Now go pick on another team’s pitcher.
Lake follows w/triple off the wall.
Lots of XBH’s so far today…I like it!
The Northwest Herald The Northwest Herald @InsideTheCubs
Entering the bottom of the 3rd here at HoHoKam Stadium. White team (pros) beating Blue team 3-1.
they’re all pros u fucking moron
You tell him Harrry! (I don’t know what is going on what is happening here?)
Whoa whoa whoa. Take it easy.
And February’s Douchenozzle award goes to …
Couple ways to look at it:
Well Soler’s bomb is reason enough why Struck was left of the 40….
Soler is THAT good, so it doesn’t impact our perception of Struck…
Then again, after the BOMB, Lake hit a triple… Then again, again, Lake is do or die time to get his MLB experience in…
Or it’s a couple at bats in an intrasquad game in February.
It was more of a reply to the jest of overreacting…
Your response to me was far too realistic…
Very Nice! Thanks for posting.
The Northwest Herald @InsideTheCubs
Schierholtz hits a HR off the RF foul pole … now it’s 5-1 White team
how far did it fly?
Right field 350′
Was that a Southwest reference?
SCHAWWWINGGGG
Soler = Takes 7 ball on 2 AB’s. Selective. nice.
That’s what i thought right away. Seeing him hit a BOMB is cool but when I read the description the 3-1 count stood out more to me than the HR. I can see where it would be easy for a young guy to get anxious this early in the year and be tempted to swing away like crazy.
Think Baez pressing in his first outing.
Castro flashing a lot of leather today.
I hate to think it, but what if 2014 we end up with:
LF Rohan
CF Jackson (L)
RF Soler
1B Rizzo (L)
2B Baez
3B Lake
SS Castro
C Castillo
???
Serious question, but who is Rohan?
Also I would love to see that lineup.
I just don’t see Greg Rohan winning an everyday job. Could be wrong but just highly doubt it. He is a nice enough player who could be a bench guy. This year will be his age 27 year so he needs to make it this year and I don’t even think he was invited to Spring training.
Rohan is not a big leaguer. Certainly not a starter. He was in A as a 26 year old. Also almost 0 chance Baez is up at the beginning of the year next season.
Then Theo and Jed completely, totally and utterly failed in the 2014 offseason.
The odds that Lake, Soler AND Baez would be ready to go at the start of next year is less than the chances I have of hitting a $500M Powerball three times in a row and not splitting the jackpot. Heck, the odds that all three of them are legit MLB’ers is about the same as me hitting a $500M jackpot.
Yeah, that’s a really bad lineup. Worse than 2013 lineup.
Mike, who is Rohan? just asking.
Soler not the only one with the long ball.
The Northwest Herald @InsideTheCubs
Bogusevic homers off of Dolis, a no-doubter to right-center field. But the White team still leads 5-3 in the 5th.
What I like is how quickly he flips the bat away and takes off for first base. No gazing, no pause at all in fact. I mean, unlike a lot of folks, it doesn’t bother me when other guys *do* take their time to let the moment linger — that’s gotta be a cool feeling to send one going going gone — but it’s all the more badass to be like, “Been here before,” and get to business rounding the bases and moving on with your game. Pro play, man.
I thought the pitchers were suppose to be ahead of the hitters? THIS TIME OF YEAR.
Arizona – dry air and nothing but fastballs.
Yeah, it is hard to get a good grip on the ball when it is that dry, and grip is the first half of the battle for breaking pitches, or even getting good movement on a fastball. Of course, if you could get the grip, then you should be able to get a better break given the greater barometric pressure when air is dry. (Scottsdale is only about 500 feet higher than Chicago, so there’s not a huge difference because of that.)
http://www.squidoo.com/barometric-changes
Above shows a graph of daily barometric readings for the cities of Tampa, Baltimore and Scottsdale. Scottsdale clearly has the lowest avg. pressure.
Under similar conditions moist air is less dense than that which is dry however, unconfined hot air is less dense than that which is cooler; gas expands when it gets with heat thus creating more space between the molecules.
The ball is harder to grip on dry days? I have to admit that I have no idea on that one.
Castro now 3 for 3. Double and 2 singles.
How’s Baez doing?
0 for 2 and a FC. Doubled off first on line drive to Castro.
Thanks for the updates, much appreciated.
Typical of Castro to not even think about drawing a walk.
3-3 and all u can say is that he isn’t trying to draw a walk…. pick something better to criticize for cryin out loud
I bet he didn’t even see 10 pitches in those 3 ABs!
It’s called hitting, not walking. It’s an intrasquad game. Hes just getting the swing warmed up. Sheesh.
The fact that this was only an intersquad game, the fact that it’s only the start of spring training, and the fact that Castro went 3-3 are all legit reasons not to worry too much about whether he was trying to draw a walk.
However, saying that “it’s called hitting, not walking,” is not a valid reason. Research has conclusively shown that simply getting on base and not making an out, by whatever means, is the factor with the greatest impact on a team’s ultimate success at scoring runs. In light of that fact, insisting on the importance of hitting over walking is just silly.
Other site said Baez shaky in the field and was robbed by Castro on one play
[...] Soler debuted with a bomb off of starter Nick Struck. You can see the homer here, if you haven’t already. Irrational exuberance hit a high point, and Soler immediately [...]
Just an intrasquad but it’s hard not to be impressed with Soler. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him start in Daytona this year… he didn’t say he’d be in Chicago by 2014 if he wasn’t confident in his abilities.
Obviously going to hit 50 HRs when we call him up halfway through the season…I love irrational spring ball! So excited
Not sure if you posted this, but heres two more views of the Soler Home Run. Thing was a bomb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLINyB4l0JE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImPG42xf6wY
I love the fact that Soler was around 2B by the time the ball landed.
Brett do you think Soler has overtaken Baez as the Cubs number 1 prospect?
Hahahahahaha.
It’s a-freakin’-MAZING what one HR will do for the fanbase’s opinion of you.
I’ll say this: nothing in Spring Training (yet, or probably throughout) would change my opinion of the prospect pecking order. But Baez, Soler, and Almora are such a close three at the top that I wouldn’t rip anyone who had Soler on top (presuming they had Soler on top long before this week).
For me, it’s still Baez, Soler, Almora, as it has been for a while. But they’re all really, really close.
but Baez didn’t hit any homers…
Remember when he was the top prospect and people were thinking that Baez was gonna get called up to the bigs this year?
Im one of those guys. I still think baez is the better player with the higher ceiling, and I still feel there is a chance we might see him this year. I just think Soler has shown that he is more mature and maybe more MLb ready. And I started feeling this way before Soler hit his HR.
There is no chance you will see Baez in 2013. Baez will start at high A and you may see him at AA in 2013. 2014 will be in AA then maybe AAA. I would expect him at AAA in 2015 with a call up some time that season after they save a year of service time.
You do realize that Mike Trout, who was not considered the prospect that Baez was, when they were each drafted, started the 2011 season off with 111 at-bats in rookie ball, after only playing A+ the year before, finished the season in the majors. I am not implying that Baez is as good, better or worse then Trout, just stating where Trout started that year. So stating that Baez will not see the majors because he is starting at A+, 2 full levels above rookie ball, makes no sense. Stating that you doubt he sees the majors is one thing, but saying that is the reason that he absolutely will not is absurd. Now Trout put up great numbers in AA that year and earned his promotion, something that Baez will also have to do when he reaches AA in order to get that September call-up. If Baez puts up number even close to what trout did his 2nd full year in the minors between A+ and AA, I willing to bet he then will recieve that Sept call up.
There is 0% chance Baez gets called up in 2013 and a very small chance he gets a callup in 2014. Trout is the exception to the rule and the Cubs are not going to rush their prospects. Look how they handled Rizzo with watching his service time and wanting to get his 500 AB’s in AAA.
I would say a 15% chance in 13 and a 99% chance in 14. If Baez rips Daytona til mid may, rips Tennessee til mid july, plays well in Iowa til Sept, why not call him up and “expose” him with the big club in Sept. He’ll see what he needs to work on, before returning to the minors after ST 2014 to get the “rest” of his at-bats before returning to the majors for good in mid 2014.
I would say there is about a 0-1% chance he doesn’t see the majors in14. He would have to play himself out of the majors. If what I suggested for 13 doesn’t happen, it will definitely happen in 14 with a permanent return in 15. In other words, he will definitely see the majors at some point next year.
I feel if he rip A and AA then he will get the call like Castro did.
Damn Bigg J you beat me to it
1 game…literally ANY player in professional ball could have had the game that Soler had yesterday. ANY PLAYER (yes, even Tony Campana)
I will go with every other prospect professional out there and think that Baez is the better prospect until we have at least 1 more season of data to say otherwise.
I said I feel like Baez is the better player with the Higher Ceiling. I agreed with you, so why are you debating that with me. I have read several articles though, that point to Baez being immature and Soler being very mature. No way have I moved Soler in front of Baez in the rankings. I just said that Soler devolment wise, and “mental” goes into development, is ahead of baez. Yesterday’s game has absolutely no effect on my feelings. If it did, I would be talking about how great of a player Schierholtz is also. Baez is definitely, IMO, the better prospect.
BTW, there is absolutely no way Campana could have hit a ball as far a soler did on that play.
The Soler part was directed to the matruity portion of your comment.
The Baez part was more for the group as a whole.
Laugh all you want at that comment, but Soler has impressed greatly. Its not even that he hit a homerun, but his patience at the plate hitting the homer on a 3-1 count and then walking on a full count right after as well as making nice plays in the field. It is pretty clear from Sveum’s comments that he is much more impressed in what he sees in Soler than Baez. Soler is a freak specimen.
It’s. Been. One. Game. — And it wasn’t even a game! It was a glorified scrimmage.
“Irrational exuberance hit a high point, and Soler immediately overtook the number one prospect spot in the system according to all rankings services.”
Indeed.
Also, the decisions being made about Soler are not Sveum’s call. He may get to express himself to the front office guys, but JJT are making the call on Soler, not the major league manager.
From Jesse Rogers on espn
I’m new around here but not sure how Baez was ever ahead of him…so, yes. And easily..hence 9 years and 30 mil