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.
Carlos Zambrano Handled the Move to the Bullpen Like a Professional, Even if He Was Upset
Now that Carlos Zambrano is back in the rotation and pitching reasonably well (that is to say, the result have been reasonably good even if his pitches don’t look so good), questions are resurfacing about the Cubs’ decision to put Zambrano in the bullpen when Ted Lilly was ready to return to the rotation from offseason surgery.
Was it the right decision? Would he have turned his season around as a starter and avoided all the ugliness that percolated last month? What does he really think? We’ll probably never know the answer to the first two questions, but we’re getting a view to the third – because Carlos is talking.
Does he ever wonder if he’d be pitching like this had he stayed in the rotation from the outset?
“What do you think?” he replied. “The situation we were in, when they moved me to the bullpen, it was kind of weird. But at the same time, they needed somebody in the bullpen in the eighth inning. We were losing a lot of games in the seventh, eighth innings. I think from my perspective we get too desperate too soon. To make that decision, that’s OK. But you know what? I’m trying to finish the season strong and trying to be consistent and prepare for this last month.”
The Cubs were 5-9 at the time and John Grabow and Esmailin Caridad had failed as set-up men for Carlos Marmol. Sean Marshall eventually filled the role admirably, but not until the ill-fated experiment to move Zambrano.
At the time, Zambrano thought it was temporary, saying former manager Lou Piniella told him “when they find a guy and trade (for a) guy and get that guy here, I will be back to the rotation.”
He played the good soldier, even while his handlers were criticizing the decision behind closed doors. Chicago Breaking Sports.
And Z’s handlers had all the reason in the world to criticize the move – a good 8th inning pitcher is worth vastly less than a good starting pitcher. But, of course, at the time, Carlos was neither.
Interesting to learn that Zambrano was, in fact, told that the move was temporary pending a trade for a late-inning reliever, which never ultimately came. We all suspected as much, but now we have confirmation.
Zambrano’s description of the move as “too desperate too soon” is made even more obvious in retrospect – the team was a whopping 5-9 at the time. But then again, it’s easy to forget how well Carlos Silva and Tom Gorzelanny looked at the time. So maybe, despite everything, it was the right move.
See, we still have questions.
The Problem with an Interim Manager Like Mike Quade: Tyler Colvin to Remain in the Outfield
Being the manager of the Chicago Cubs – even in a mere interim capacity – brings with it certain indelicacies. Most notably? The microscope. Every move you make is scrutinized by a rabid pack of irrational freaks.
Today, I am but one of those freaks.
Cubs interim manager Mike Quade took the reigns yesterday, and in his first lineup, there were more than a few surprises: Alfonso Soriano had been dropped to 7th (good move), Geovany Soto was back to 8th (bad move), and Blake DeWitt was batting leadoff (more on that in a bit). But the most surprising move was a guy that didn’t move: Tyler Colvin was back in right field, not at first base, where we’d been told for days he would be playing this series.
And it wasn’t just a one-game aberration, either. Quade says he doesn’t expect to put Colvin at first any time soon.
“Nothing imminent for me there. We’ll pick a spot,” Quade said. “Maybe see him over there in a late-inning game, where maybe it makes sense to do that. It’s something that we’ll look at, but sparingly, probably.”
Colvin, who started in right field, has been working out at first since the Cubs traded three-time Gold Glove Award winner Derrek Lee to the Braves on Wednesday. The rookie hasn’t played first since his sophomore year in college at Clemson. He had his most intense workout Sunday under the tutelage of bench and infield coach Alan Trammell.
“It’ll hold off. I guess I’m not quite ready,” Colvin said. “It’s good to work over there and I’ll do the work on the side and I’ll be ready for it. It’s fine taking fungos the whole time, but game speed, that’s different. Once I get some balls hit hard at me, I’ll see what I do with those.” cubs.com.
Here we see the clear problem with having an interim manager like Mike Quade. Do I mean that Quade is, himself, a problematic manager? Of course not. I’m sure his managerial style is just fine.
The problem is: he’s up for the Cubs full-time gig in 2011. So when it comes to making choices on a game-to-game basis, Quade is going to make the choices that help the team win today – even if the choice is at the expense of the future of the organization. Quade has himself called his interim job an “audition.” Does anyone really believe he’s going to do anything that lessens the chance he’ll win during his audition? More on the conflicting incentives the Cubs have created, after the jump.
Praise Jeebus: John Grabow to the DL, Andrew Cashner Called Up
Word broke late last week (and then picked up steam over the weekend) that Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Andrew Cashner, recently placed in the AAA Iowa bullpen, would be called up this week. As Tom Gorzelanny was moved to the bullpen – making it a four-lefty pen – we all knew that one of the lefties would go to make room for Cashner.
It wasn’t going to be Sean Marshall or Tom Gorzelanny, so that left rookie James Russell (whose ERA has been around 2.00 all year) and John Grabow (whose ERA has been around 9.00 all year). The Cubs took the cop out route, and I thank them.
Chicago Cubs left-handed reliever John Grabow was put on the 15-day disabled list on Monday with knee tendinitis, and in a corresponding move, the team has selected the contract of top pitching prospect Andrew Cashner from their Triple-A Iowa roster.
Cashner will be brought along in the bullpen so that he can find a comfort level, according to manager Lou Piniella in statements before Sunday’s game. The 23-year-old first round pick (19th overall) of the 2008 draft had been a starter at Triple-A until last Thursday. Since then he has thrown two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, one last Thursday and one on Saturday.
Cashner was a closer at Texas Christian. Cashner is projected as a closer eventually or possibly a top-of-the-rotation starter.
Grabow missed time earlier this month with the same knee problem. The veteran pitcher, who signed as two-year contract with the Cubs in the offseason, has been ineffective most of the 2010 season. Grabow’s role was to be the primary sertup man for closer Carlos Marmol. That role has been taken over by Sean Marshall. ESPN Chicago.
Whether Grabow’s knee is actually hurt, it matters not. The Cubs simply could not boot Russell in favor of keeping Grabow, regardless of Grabow’s bloated two-year contract.
Now, we’ll just hope that Grabow’s knee actually is bothering him and affecting his performance, that he’ll rehab it nicely and slowly, and he won’t come back until/unless he’s moderately effective again.
As for Cashner, the Cubs obviously hope he can be the late-inning righty they’ve been missing all year. He’ll be eased into the role, but if he can throw strikes, he’s got the stuff to handle it. His stint in the Iowa pen was incredibly short, but obviously the Cubs felt like they couldn’t wait.
Carlos Zambrano Set to Return to Rotation Next Week
Chicago Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano will come home next week – on the road. When the Cubs face the Pittsburgh Pirates, Zambrano will be one of their starting pitchers.
The Cubs are not going to have a six-man rotation, but who will be bumped has yet to be determined.
“We don’t have to concern ourselves with it until next week, and we have some days off coming up,” Piniella said. “It’ll be a fairly smooth transition.”
Zambrano made four starts before he switched to the bullpen to help bridge the gap to closer Carlos Marmol. In 11 relief appearances, Zambrano is 0-1 with a 4.76 ERA, giving up six runs on 16 hits over 11 1/3 innings. Three of those runs came in a relief outing on May 14 against the Pirates that prompted Zambrano to ask to return to starting.
“We’ll use him short with the idea that on this coming road trip, we’ll insert him into the rotation,” Piniella said.
Zambrano’s outing Monday went better than expected. The Cubs projected him throwing 65-70 pitches and he easily threw 73, facing Tyler Colvin and Jeff Baker.
“He’s ready to go,” Piniella said of Zambrano, who was 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA in four starts. “His velocity was good. He worked on his split finger, worked on his cutter. He had a nice workout, a real nice workout.”
Gorzelanny may be the odd man out of the rotation. Carlos Silva is 6-0. Ryan Dempster is 2-4 with a 3.73 ERA heading into Tuesday’s game, but he has gone six or more innings in each of his starts. Ted Lilly and Randy Wells both are better suited for the rotation. cubs.com.
I’m not sure I agree with the logic that Randy Wells is simply “not suited” for the bullpen given Lou’s previous statement that the two guys he considered when bumping Zambrano to the pen were Zambrano and Wells. Further, that still leads me to believe Wells is the most likely guy to get bumped.
The timing of Z’s return, based on turns on the rotation, implies that the one bumped will be Tom Gorzelanny (starting tonight), Ted Lilly (starting tomorrow), or Randy Wells (next in the rotation). In theory, those are the guys that line up to start in the Pirates series.
There is not an off-day until after the Pirates series, so unless there’s going to be some kind of weird, short-rest shift going on, if Z is to return in Pittsburgh, those are the three candidates to be bumped.
Obsessive Zambrano Bullpen Watch: Back to the Rotation
As we speculated, the “move” from short relief to long relief is just a stop along the way of returning Carlos Zambrano to the Chicago Cubs’ rotation. No timetable on the return, but it will come as soon as Zambrano gets his arm strength and stamina back up.
“We’ll put him back in his usual habitat, and that’s starting baseball games and we’ll go from there,” manager Lou Piniella said on Tuesday of Zambrano, who was the Cubs’ Opening Day starter. “I just don’t know how long it’ll take, and I told Carlos to be honest with me and let me know when he’s ready.”
How eager is Zambrano to start again? On Tuesday, he was taking batting practice with the other Cubs starting pitchers.
Zambrano moved to the setup role on April 22 after going 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA in four starts. The team needed a right-handed setup pitcher to bridge the gap to closer Carlos Marmol and also had to make room in the rotation at that time for Ted Lilly, who was activated from the disabled list.
But now, after eight relief appearances and a 6.23 ERA, Big Z will be used in long relief until he’s built up enough stamina and arm strength to return to starting.
“‘Z’ gave it a good shot,” Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. “I think when he went to the ‘pen with the one-inning-type potential, I think we all thought that when somebody goes from starter to the ‘pen, they pick up juice and you get the one inning, let’s go blow-it-by-people [approach]. We thought he was the right candidate for it.”
But Zambrano’s velocity didn’t pick up, and in his last couple of relief outings, he’s had trouble warming up quickly. His last short outing was on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he gave up three runs on four hits in one inning and took the loss.
“It’s no secret that for the last year, year and a half, he’s not throwing as hard,” Hendry said. “We thought [moving to the bullpen] might — short term — pick up his velocity, too.” cubs.com.
We can only hope that Zambrano is effective in his return to the rotation. And by we, I mean Lou Piniella and Jim Hendry. Of course, even if Z is effective, the two will still get grief about removing a guy like Z from the rotation in the first place.
It’s a class no-win situation, but it’s a situation that they created from whole cloth. It was a terrible decision when it was made, and it remained a terrible decision when it was unmade.
And to suggest that the reason Zambrano to the bullpen failed was because “he just couldn’t pick up his velocity” is a slap right across Zambrano’s crazy face. That last statement by Hendry is as throw-under-the-bus as it gets nowadays with carefully worded statements to the media and all.
The whole damn thing just stinks.
Obsessive Zambrano Bullpen Watch: Cubs Changing Z’s Role
All things Carlos Zambrano and the bullpen have reached obsessive status. And the saga is taking another almost unbelievable turn. I say “almost” unbelievable, because I would have thought moving Zambrano to the bullpen in the first place would have been as close to unbelievable as things could get.
“We’re going to change Zambrano’s role,” Piniella said after the Cubs topped the Rockies, 4-2, in 11 innings. “We’re going to start stretching him out a little bit and gain some stamina and arm strength, and we’ll leave it at that.”…
When asked whether the switch meant Zambrano was returning to the rotation, Piniella clarified his statement.
“I didn’t say ‘rotation,’” Piniella said. “I said we’re going to change his role in the bullpen.”
The change means the Cubs will rely on lefty Sean Marshall as the prime setup pitcher for Carlos Marmol.
Zambrano talked to Piniella and pitching coach Larry Rothschild about the change before Monday’s game.
“[Piniella] told me today there may be a chance to go back to the rotation,” Zambrano said. “We’ll see how everything works in the next few outings for me.”
Zambrano wasn’t happy about going from starter to reliever but accepted the switch.
“I’m happy,” he said. “As long as this team is happy, I’m happy for this team. Like I said, whatever this team wants me to do, I’ll do. This is a business. They’re the boss. If the boss wants me to go close games, I’ll close games. If the boss wants me to start games, I’ll start games. It’s their choice.”
The Cubs are 11-13 since Zambrano moved to the bullpen, and they have won four of the eight games in which he’s pitched in relief. In four starts, he was 1-2 with a 7.45 ERA. On Friday, he was the losing pitcher against the Pirates, giving up three runs on four hits over one inning.
“I had to get used to that role — it’s not that easy,” Zambrano said about being the setup man. “The guys out there [in the bullpen], they’re used to that. I tried my best, I tried to do my best as setup man. So far, I only had trouble with one game and that was the game against Pittsburgh. I think I did a pretty decent job. I think I did a good job as a setup man.” cubs.com.
No, Carlos. You didn’t. If your 6.23 ERA as a reliever were not confirmation enough, this move is.
There is simply no polite way to say it: moving Carlos Zambrano to the bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster. Lou Piniella is conceding his bone-headed move, and Carlos Zambrano is being stretched out for a return to the rotation.
No one has quite admitted this is the case, but it must be true given that any of the starting pitchers could be a “long reliever,” and while Zambrano may have been the best choice among them to become a right-handed setup man, surely he’s not the first choice as long reliever.
So what does that mean for the future of the rotation? Here’s hoping it means the Cubs plan to cash in on the early success of Carlos Silva (or Tom Gorzelanny) and make a trade.
Cubs to Turn to Sean Marshall and James Russell in Later Innings
It was clear after two games that the most reliable pitcher in the Chicago Cubs’ bullpen right now is Sean Marshall. Why, then, was Lou Piniella consistently using Marshall early in games – soon after the starter had been smacked around? Whatever the reason, Piniella has had a change of heart, and will look to use Marshall in more crucial late-game situations. He also says that youngster, and fellow lefty, James Russell will get a look in later innings.
“Marshall is a real nice option for us right now in the eighth inning,’’ said Piniella, who watched rookie right-hander Esmailin Caridad and veteran John Grabow struggle in the eighth much of the first week.
“We can use him that way. He’s throwing the ball as well as [anyone] we have in the bullpen.’’
Marshall has allowed just one hit in four appearances, without a walk, and nine of his 15 outs have been strikeouts.
Russell has pitched only twice, but also hasn’t allowed a run and, as important, has stayed away from the walks that have plagued others in the pen.
“We’ve been holding him back a little bit,’’ Piniella said of former All-Star pitcher Jeff Russell’s son. “He’s throwing the ball well. So we’re going to give him an opportunity, too.’’
The bullpen has 12 of the team’s 22 walks in about half (17 1/3) as many innings as the rotation has pitched (32 2/3).
“We need to get one of our right-handers to become a little more productive,’’ Piniella said. “We’ve just got to give them the ball and see what happens.
“We’ve relied basically on what we thought would be our shorter people the first week,’’ he added of Caridad and Grabow. “Those were the plans we had coming out of spring training. And certainly you don’t chuck them after a few days. You stay with it. But, boy, all these games that we’re playing that are close, there’s never any respite. You can’t rest anybody. So we’re going to have to incorporate a few more people into the thing and see how it works out.’’ CHICAGO SUN-TIMES.
Lou is quite right that he must find an effective righty in the pen besides closer Carlos Marmol. But for now, he will have to go with the hot hand, and give the ball to guys he knows will throw strikes, and will give the Cubs a meaningful chance to stay in games.
