The Bullets are a Prospect Explosion and Other Bullets

August 4, 2012, by Brett Taylor Chicago Cubs

I’m finally going to see ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ today after weeks of avoiding spoilers. I don’t see too many movies in the theaters these days, so I’m pretty excited.

Matt Garza threw yesterday, but not for as long as he or the Cubs might have hoped. The birth of his daughter this week naturally caused him not to do much work for a few days, so he was coming in pretty cold. He’ll throw again today, and the Cubs are still waiting to see if he can start on Tuesday. At this point, the Cubs would be best served letting him get to 100% before he starts. A dominant stretch of starts from here on out would be quite the good thing for both Garza and the Cubs.
As I hinted at in the post about Chris Volstad’s call-up, and then again in the post about the Cubs looking at Derek Lowe, Sveum says he anticipates giving Chris Volstad a long look in the rotation from here on out so the Cubs can see what they have.
Cubs’ brass and Dale Sveum met yesterday, as planned, to discuss the organizational plan for guys like Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. “We didn’t determine anything, but we had some good conversations about some of the guys that will be up in September for sure,” Sveum said, according to the Tribune. “But when and how all that’s going to play out … they’re still in the development process … The development clock is where we want it …. [Jackson and Vitters] have gotten their development in. It’s just a matter of when we decide to do it- this month or wait until September.”
Javier Baez and Brooks Raley are your Cubs’ position player and pitcher of the month for July. From the announcing press release, on Baez: “Baez, 19, batted .368 (39-for-106) with six doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 20 RBI and 21 runs scored in 28 July games for Peoria. Last month he led the Midwest League in hits (39), total bases (72) and slugging percentage (.679), and was second in extra-base hits (16), batting average, runs scored and OPS (1.076). Baez was named Midwest League Player of the Week for July 9-15, and his 39 hits were the most in a month by a Peoria player since Justin Bour had 40 in August of 2010.” On Raley: “Raley, 24, posted a 2.12 ERA (7 ER/29.2 IP) in five July starts for Iowa, walking just 12 while striking out 28 and limiting opponents to a .254 batting average. His 2.12 July ERA ranked fourth-lowest among Pacific Coast League pitchers. Raley allowed two or fewer runs in each of his five outings while recording three quality starts, and surrendered just two home runs in 132 batters faced.”
Ben Badler chatted at Baseball America, and there were plenty of nice Cubs-related tidbits. The best? It wouldn’t surprise Badler if the Cubs had a top 5 farm system by next Spring. (Edit: I’m awesome at reading. Ben said that WOULD surprise him. I say it depends on the trades the Cubs can make, but quite unlikely. That’s why I thought it was so nice of him to say….)
A feature on former Cubs prospect/player Adam Greenberg, who’s still playing baseball after his scary debut with the Cubs (he’s the kid who had one plate appearance in the bigs, and it was a fastball to the helmet).
A feature on Boise prospect Dan Vogelbach, including quotes from his hitting coach, Bill Buckner.
Tim Sheridan over at Boys of Spring has an *excellent* video package on Cubs’ prospects who’ve made their way through Arizona this year, including an interview of Albert Almora. It’s pretty much 7+ minutes of Cubs prospect porn, and if you’re remotely into that kind of thing, you should get some popcorn and enjoy: