9 replies to this topic

[Spriggs]

I haven't opened one of these before, so I hope this is OK. In case anyone was wondering about Dillon Maples, I wanted to pass this along:

I talked to one of the AZL Cubs at the game the other day (Saturday night) about Maples. The player told me that Maples has been having some really nice bullpen sessions over the last few weeks and he expects that Maples will see some action within the next week or so. Let's hope so. I'd really like to see what we have.

PS... I wish it was "Dylan" instead of Dillon.

[Crockett]

Thanks for this update.

I am just wholly concerned his arm will keep falling off with his mechanics.

[Oswego Chris]

sadly...he may be our only legit starting pitching prospect we have...and he really isn't even a prospect yet...

[Brett]

Thanks for passing that on, Spriggs.

[Luke]

Sounds like he's right on schedule. Good stuff.

sadly...he may be our only legit starting pitching prospect we have...and he really isn't even a prospect yet...

You mean other than the guys taken in the 2012 draft, right?

[Tommy]

Have Robert Whitenack and Trey McNutt washed out?

[Luke]

Have Robert Whitenack and Trey McNutt washed out?

Not in the least. McNutt has had some blister problems that slowed him early this season and he has been inconsistent when he has been on the mound, but he still projects as a very good late inning reliever (more likely) or No 2 starter (less likely) for the Cubs.

Whitenack had Tommy John surgery last summer. He is healthy enough to pitch, but he's still getting all his pitches back. His season should probably be looked at as an injury recovery year. From a prospect perspective, he still looks like a very good potential No 3 starter. We won't be able to get any kind of an accurate read on Whitenack until next year.

[Dumpgobbler]

We're quite pitching thin. Even successful guys in our system already (Kirk, Jorkish, Rhee, guys in that mold) aren't even locks to be back end starters really. Kurcz was probably our most legit BP arm heading into this season. I think we're going to have to start transitioning Mcnutt to BP status here soon. I think we have the arms to fill a few spots in the BP and maybe a #5. I do like Rosario and Wells though. Wells, Blackburn, Rosario, Mcneil, Maples and Underwood could all get there, but it will obviously take some time because they are all very young. I think Pierced Johnson could get through the system quite quick, and was considered on the same tier as pitchers like Wacha pre-arm issue. Theres a lot to like about the arms we got this draft, and I think this front office will churn out more good classes then bad.

The front office knows we need TOR pitching badly. Expect to see a good arm from a Dempster deal, and a couple good arms from a Garza deal.

[Luke]

Kurcz was a promising reliever, but he wasn't the best in the system when he was dealt. I'd take Tony Zych or Alberto Cabrera over him easily.

I think we'll find out after the season that the Cubs are no longer in awful shape pitching wise. They have the bullpen, mid rotation, and back of the rotation prospects all over the place. Front of the rotation is the only real issue, but even in that department the Cubs have markedly improved in the past 12 months. I'll be very surprised if the system is not at least adequate with potential No 1s and No 2s by Aug 1.

[Dumpgobbler]

Kurcz was a promising reliever, but he wasn't the best in the system when he was dealt. I'd take Tony Zych or Alberto Cabrera over him easily.

I think we'll find out after the season that the Cubs are no longer in awful shape pitching wise. They have the bullpen, mid rotation, and back of the rotation prospects all over the place. Front of the rotation is the only real issue, but even in that department the Cubs have markedly improved in the past 12 months. I'll be very surprised if the system is not at least adequate with potential No 1s and No 2s by Aug 1.

I wish I was as confident as vou are about our pitching. You could make a case for BP/back of the rotation pitchers. Kirk, Jorkish, Rhee, Francescon, Struck and Beeler could get a chance at a 4/5 role at some point, but I'm not overconfident in any of them really. Rosario, Ben Wells and Maples are the sweet spot that has a chance at being a mid with a shot a possibly more, but all are very young at this point, with Maples not even throwing yet. Then you have a slew of guys like Mcnutt, Jay Jackson, Zych, Whitenack, Antigua, Cabrera, and Beliveau, among others, will all probably get a shot at the BP at some point.

Now the new guys we just drafted are interesting. Underwood should probably be on par with Maples at this point. Johnson is a mid rotation guy. Blackburn could be more then a mid. McNeil is like a Wells clone. Heesh, Prieto, Conway, Lang and others are very intersting.

Now, we have absolutely no pitchers in the MLB top 100. No Barnes, Bundys, Skaggs, Millers, or anything close to that level. Hopefully we can change that soon.