Cubs Minor League Daily: Some Prospect Trivia, and More on Kyle Schwarber

kyle schwarber smokiesThe minor league schedule does not get much slower than this. Two of the four active teams were idle yesterday, one of the remaining was rained out, and the lone game was a shutout. The bad kind.

That means it is a good day to do another Prospect Trivia. But I’m going to make it harder this time. Much harder.

And I’m going make you wait until Brett posts the Bullets to find out the answer.

In the 2012 Baseball America Prospect Handbook there appeared a Projected 2015 Lineup that listed a player for all eight fielding position, the five rotation slots, and closer. There are five players on that list who are still playing for the Cubs. Name all five.

Four of them should be sort of easy for you (remember that the 2012 Handbook was published in January of that year). If you get all five (without looking), then you really have been paying attention. If you can get all five AND get their positions right, then I’ll be really impressed.

File your guesses in the comments. And no cheating!

Scores From Yesterday

Iowa – Iowa was rained out.
Tennessee – The Smokies had the day off.
Myrtle Beach – The Pelicans also had the day off.
South Bend – The Cubs did play, but lost 4-0.

Performances of Note

  • [South Bend] Tommy Thorpe pulled together one of his better outings in relief of Zach Hedges (who did not have a good game). Thorpe allowed 3 hits and struck out 3 over 1.2 innings on the mound.
  • [South Bend] Yasiel Balaguert doubled and finished with 2 hits. He had the only extra base hit and the only multi-hit game for the Cubs.
  • Other News

  • In case you missed it yesterday, Brett ran an excellent breakdown of the Cubs potential promotion options for Kyle Schwarber. Down either road Brett outlined, we should see the lefty catcher in Iowa in no more than a few weeks.
  • How would the Cubs make room for Schwarber on the Iowa roster? The easiest answer, I think, would be to send to Rafael Lopez to Tennessee. Lopez is already a solid option as a major league backup and is effectively the Cubs third or fourth catcher right now. His best work is done behind the plate, not at it, and he can just as easily get in his work and stay ready should the Cubs need him on the Tennessee roster as on the Iowa. On the Tennessee roster he would likely split time with one of the breakout surprises of the summer, Willson Contreras. Schwarber, in that scenario, would become the primary catcher for Iowa while continuing to get some extra swings as the DH when the schedule called for one, or maybe, eventually, in left field.
  • 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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