Cubs Minor League Daily: Great Timing

javier baez aflOne of the best parts of the recent promotion of Baez to Tennessee is the timing. By the time I show to up to see the Smokies in person on August 12 and 13 Baez will have had a month to settle in to playing at the Double A level. I was already looking forward to that trip, but now August can’t get here fast enough.

The absolute dream scenario would be for Kris Bryant to almost immediately be assigned to Double A after he signs. I don’t expect it, but that would be ridiculously awesome.

Scores From The Weekend

Iowa
Friday – This one wasn’t pretty. Three errors and just three runs led to a 10-3 loss.
Saturday – The Friday game was suspended and completed on Saturday, and that meant the Saturday was treated like a doubleheader and only seven innings were played. The Cubs didn’t score in any of those innings and lost 1-0.
Sunday – A seventh inning seven run out burst carried the Cubs to an 8-5 win.

Tennessee
Friday – Early scoring carried the Smokies to this 3-1 win.
Saturday – Despite the first inning heroics of their new shortstop, Tennessee lost 8-2.
Sunday – The Smokies were rained out.

Daytona
Friday – The surging Cubs beat Brevard County 5-2 on Friday.
Saturday – In their first game of the post-Baez era, the Cubs won again 6-5.
Sunday – They dropped the rain shortened Sunday game, though, 5-2.

Kane County
Friday – It took a five run eighth, but Kane County pulled out the 8-7 win.
Saturday – They were blanked on Saturday, though, 5-0.
Sunday – This game went little better. The Cougars came up short in a 12-5 game.

Boise
Friday – The Hawks allowed six in the third and lost 9-3.
Saturday – The big inning burned Boise again as they lost 5-3.
Sunday – Boise forced extra innings, but they lost the game 3-1 in ten.

Arizona
Friday – In a well pitched game, the AZL Cubs came up short 3-1.
Saturday – Five errors helped sink the AZL Cubs in this 11-4 loss.
Sunday – A run in the eighth pushed it to extra innings, but the AZL Cub ultimately lost in ten 4-2.

Performances of Note

  • [Iowa] Pitching the game on Saturday was Barret Loux, and he actually pitched pretty well. He struck out 6 in 6 innings while giving up a run on 4 hits and 4 walks. Other than the walks, that is a very nice outing.
  • [Iowa] Logan Watkins had 2 hits and a walk on Friday. On Saturday he followed that up with another walk, and on Sunday reached twice on a walk and a single. He also stole his 8th base.
  • [Iowa] Donnie Murphy hit his 10th home run in his first at bat on Sunday, and then was lifted. Anthony Giansanti took his place in the lineup and proceeded to go 1 for 3 with a double.
  • [Tennessee] Alberto Cabrera struck out 7 in 7.2 innings of work on Friday. Now that his last bad start was over a month ago, I think it’s time to add Cabrera’s name to the list of near future promotion candidates.
  • [Tennessee] Arismendy Alcantara doubled and homered on Friday, raising his home run total to 12. He also stole his 21st base.
  • [Tennessee] Newly promoted shortstop Javier Baez did indeed begin his Double A career with a bomb. Christian Villanueva hit his 11th homer a few innings later.
  • [Daytona] Pierce Johnson struck out 5 in 5 innings for Daytona over the weekend, and it earned him his first High-A win.
  • [Daytona] Florida agrees with Pin-Chieh Chen. The speedy outfielder reached base 8 times over the weekend (5 of those on walks) and hit both a double and a triple in the process. His High-A line now reads .375/.500/.450 with 9 walks, 9 strike outs, and 6 steals (sample size alert).
  • [Kane County] Sheldon McDonald struck out 3 in 3 scoreless innings, but that was pretty much the extent of the good news on the mound for Kane County this weekend. The pitching for the Cougars has not been very good lately.
  • [Kane County] Albert Almora (his 3rd) and Dan Vogelbach (his 13th) both homered on Friday. Almora also put together a 3 for 4 day that included his 4th steal on Sunday.
  • [Kane County] With two more doubles this weekend, Gioskar Amaya is keeping his hot streak alive. While his season OPS is just .715, his OPS over his last ten games is .991. That stretch includes half his 4 home runs, four multi-hit games, and just 3 strike outs.
  • [Boise] Shawon Duston did not have a hit on Friday or Saturday, but he walked twice in each game. On Sunday he tripled to open the game and finished 2 for 3.
  • [Boise] Trey Masek and Tyler Skulina saw action on Friday, and both looked pretty good. Masek struck out 3 in 2 innings of work, and Skulina fanned 1 in a hitless frame.
  • [Boise] Second round pick Rob Zastryzny also made his debut this weekend. He pitched one inning on Sunday and struck out 2 while giving up one free pass.
  • [Boise] Andrew McKirahan struck out 4 in 2.1 innings of hitless relief on Sunday. His ERA remains a tidy 0.00.
  • [Arizona] Alex Santana worked 5 innings in the Friday loss. He finished with 2 K, 2 BB, and 2 R on 3 H.
  • [Arizona] Two innings in Sunday’s game were pitched by Starling Peralta. He struck out 3 in that span, and allowed a run on 3 hits.
  • [Arizona] Jeffrey Baez hit his first home run of the season on Sunday.
  • Other News

  • With both Soler and Baez out of the picture, the new 3-4-5 sequence for the Daytona Cubs appears to be Wes Darvill, Dustin Geiger, and Ben Carhart. Geiger is in the middle of a breakout season and has been getting plenty of attention in this space. Wes Darvill, an infielder, is a fairly raw athlete with a lot of potential but who hasn’t quite put it all together yet. Carhart was aggressively promoted to Daytona in his first full season out of college, and so far has held his own there. He has not shown much power, but he’s done enough to keep his name in play as one of the Cubs’ many fringe guys.
  • The best thing about the numbers being posted by Yasiel Balaguert in Boise is the walks. In 71 games last season Balaguert walked just 15 times. In 23 games this season he already has 13.
  • Yes, Bryant has until Friday to sign and there are no real signs of progress (at least, not publicly). No, I’m not worried in the slightest and you shouldn’t be either. This is going to come down to the final few days, but absolutely everyone with any connections to the prospect or draft scene is certain that Bryant will sign. There is a chance this will fall a part at the last second, but then there is a chance that a lot of unlikely things will happen [Brett: Asteroids!]. I’m not worried about freak asteroid strikes or an uprising of man-eating giant pandas, nor am I worried about Bryant not signing. [Brett: Holy crap, I inserted that asteroids bit before I’d read the next line! Luke and I are on the same page, man … ]
  • written by

    Luke Blaize is the Minor League Editor at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @ltblaize.

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