Carlos Pimentel was indeed the starter for the Pacific Coast League in last night’s Triple A All-Star game, and as the starter he looked pretty good. Over two innings of work he struck out four and allowed a run on two hits. Only the International League starter matched his two innings on the hill, and no one matched his four strikeouts. From a prospect ranking perspective his success did not mean a great deal, but from a hypothetical trade stand point it is nice to see him perform well in a game that was well watched by scouts and baseball executives. Pimentel won’t be a major trade piece, but every little bit helps. Following a disastrous eight-walk outing in early June, Pimentel has posted a 1.78 ERA and 3.78 FIP over his last six starts, with a 23.1% K rate and a 7.5% BB rate.
Arismendy Alcantara also had a pretty good day. He played the entire game, first in center field and then at second base, and finished one for four with a double. Alcantara was the only player on either team to play both in the outfield and on the infield in this game, and his double was pretty nice as well. On the year at AAA, Alcantara is hitting .252/.309/.462.
Unfortunately the PCL lost the game 4-3, but it was good to see the Cubs’ entrants playing pretty well despite the loss.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – Only Iowa’s All Stars were in action yesterday. Tennessee – Each team scored in just one inning, but Montgomery scored more. The Smokies lost 4-1. Myrtle Beach – Pitching lifted the Pelicans to this 5-2 win. South Bend – South Bend could not hang onto their early lead. They lost 6-4. Eugene – Thanks to a seven run inning the Emeralds won 8-4. Arizona – The Cubs out hit the Royals, but lost anyway 5-3.
Performances of Note
[Tennessee] Felix Pena stumbled in the third inning, but otherwise put up zeroes. Over 5 innings he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4.
[Tennessee] Tayler Scott continues to pitch very well in relief. This time he posted 2 innings of scoreless baseball featuring a hit and a strikeout.
[Myrtle Beach] I hope you didn’t give up on Jen-Ho Tseng when he struggled a bit earlier this season, because he is back to pitching pretty well. Coming off some significant excellence in his last start, Tseng allowed 2 runs (one earned) on just 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2 over 7 innings in this one. And then Josh Conway struck out one in a flawless inning of relief.
[Myrtle Beach] Kevin Brown homered for the 3rd time for the Pelicans, and Jacob Rogers launched his 11th. Chesney Young hit his first long ball in High A.
[South Bend] Including his 0.2 innings in this game, Daniel Lewis (who is one of the best and more unlikely stories in the farm system) has given up just one hit and has not allowed a runner to cross the plate in July. He has now pitched 8.2 innings across his 4 July appearances.
[South Bend] Charcer Burks walked and stole his 19th base before exiting the game early. Gleyber Torres finished 1 for 5 with steal number 13, David Bote added his 4th steal during a 2 for 4 game, and Jeffrey Baez stole his 15th while going 2 for 3 at the plate.
[Eugene] Oscar De La Cruz struck out 5 in his 4.1 innings on the mound. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks, and is starting to look mighty interesting as a 20-year-old in his first year in the States. Francisco Carrillo allowed one run on 4 hits in his 3.1 innings of relief while striking out 3.
[Eugene] Ian Happ doubled and finished 3 for 4. It was Happ’s fourth multi-hit performance in his last five games.
[Arizona] Pedro Silverio turned in 3 good innings of relief in this game. He allowed a hit and 2 walks while striking out 2. Casey Bloomquist struck out a pair in the hitless final frame.
Looking for a handy way to see how several members of the Cubs’ 2015 draft class are performing? Check out this handy page at MLBFarm.com. Not surprisingly Ian Happ is leading the group in OPS, but Ian Rice and and Donnie Dewees really are not all that far behind (sample size alerts everywhere). Meanwhile, Ryan Kellogg has looked good on the mound in Eugene, and although reliever Dave Berg has struggled some at his current stop, the notable part is that his current stop is High A Myrtle Beach. In other words, the Cubs’ 2015 draft class is off to a good start.
And while you are on that site, check out how the Cubs stack up against the other farm systems. I’m pretty happy to see that the Cubs’ hitting prospects are second in baseball in walk percentage (behind Houston) and are sixth in stolen bases, for example.
Elliot Soto is a joy to watch on the infield, and lately he has been hitting pretty well as well.
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NEWSLETTER
Carlos Pimentel was indeed the starter for the Pacific Coast League in last night’s Triple A All-Star game, and as the starter he looked pretty good. Over two innings of work he struck out four and allowed a run on two hits. Only the International League starter matched his two innings on the hill, and no one matched his four strikeouts. From a prospect ranking perspective his success did not mean a great deal, but from a hypothetical trade stand point it is nice to see him perform well in a game that was well watched by scouts and baseball executives. Pimentel won’t be a major trade piece, but every little bit helps. Following a disastrous eight-walk outing in early June, Pimentel has posted a 1.78 ERA and 3.78 FIP over his last six starts, with a 23.1% K rate and a 7.5% BB rate.
