For the second straight week Pelicans’ first baseman Yasiel Balaguert has been named the Carolina League Player of the Week. His weekly line of .406/.412/.719 included a pair of home runs. For the month of July Balaguert hit .339/.380/.542, but strikeouts continued to be a bit of an issue. His 30 strikouts in month helped contribute to his season K% of 22.7%. That isn’t terrible for a slugger in A ball, but it is also a sharp increase over what he posted last season (15.9%).
Joining Balaguert with weekly honors isEloy Jimenez. Jimenez put up a ridiculous weekly line of .600/.607/1.080 with four doubles and a pair of homers. In the second half of the season Jimenez has a line of .346/.377/.579 with four homers. If he keeps that up over the the final month, Jimenez is going to be entering some very elite territory in the off season prospect rankings.[adinserter block=”1″]
Don’t forget that August is the final month of the minor league season. If you haven’t made it out to the ballpark to see a minor league game or two, your time is running out. The season wraps up around labor day, and then we are in the playoffs.
We only have video of one of Zastryzny’s strikeouts, his final one to end the fifth. Check it out here.
The pitcher the Cubs gave up at the deadline yesterday, Jesus Castillo, was a candidate to make the mid-season Top 40 list. Through 33 innings, this 20 year old right hander had piled up 38 strikeouts on his way to a 3.27 ERA. He was pitching in Eugene, so most of his promise was projection, but there was promise there. That said, he is exactly the kind of guy that the Cubs have quite a few of and who makes perfect sense to include in a trade for a rental (assuming rental trades are ever a good idea, and at best I think the jury is still out on that).
Castillo has been traded before. He came to the Cubs, along with Erick Leal, in the Tony Campana trade. Campana provided the Diamondbacks with a total of -0.1 bWAR after that trade, so assuming Joe Smith produces any positive value whatsoever (his current season bWAR is 0.4), the Cubs have soundly won the Campana trade if we just flip Castillo with Smith on that tally. And that is before we factor in Leal, who is emerging as a very nice pitching prospect in his own right.
I got to see a lot of friends yesterday, which felt like a very good use of the holiday weekend. Fill that bucket. Hope you have a chance to do something like that today or tomorrow. The Cubs have now...
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CUBS LINEUP — The first Cubs-Cardinals game of the season was banged on account of rain last night, which is a bummer, because it was Shota Imanaga night. The Cubs are using the unexpected night off to buy Imanaga some...
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The game has been banged. It will be made up a month from now (instead of tomorrow, for some reason). https://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1794181927660073067 CUBS LINEUP — The Cubs have their ace, Shota Imanaga, on the mound against a sub-.500 team, who's starting...
[ankin_law] Another pitcher on the mend, and getting closer to a return to the big league team. Jordan Wicks has been out since April 23 with a forearm strain, and the Cubs have quite wisely been careful bringing back one...
That's right. ANOTHER one. Thus, I have to start with the same intro: The Chicago Cubs are seriously going off on the minor league pitching signings here after the start of the season. Sure, you sometimes see one, but this...
I won't bore you with the same spiel about how Shota Imanaga is pitching like the best starting pitcher in baseball right now. You already know it in your heart and soul. (Although, it's never actually boring.) Instead, I simply...
As the offseason draws nearer, trade and free agency rumors are bound to increase. That means we should of course expect to hear Zach LaVine's name resurface a bit more. Earlier this week, we saw LaVine's name linked to the...
On Sunday, aiming to finish off a series sweep, Pablo Lopez takes the mound for the Minnesota Twins (28-23) against Jon Gray and the Texas Rangers (24-29), with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 PM ET.Keep reading to find out all...
The Minnesota Twins (28-23) will vie for their fifth straight victory when they host the Texas Rangers (24-29) on Sunday at 2:10 PM ET on BSN. The Twins are listed as -166 favorites by oddsmakers, while the Rangers are +140...
Entering Sunday's matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals (24-26), the Chicago Cubs (27-25) are on a three-game losing streak. The contest starts at 7:10 PM ET on ESPN with the Cardinals listed as -138 favorites, while the are +118 underdogs...
The Chicago Cubs (27-25) take on the St. Louis Cardinals (24-26) at 7:10 PM ET on Sunday following a three-game losing streak.The Cardinals will give the nod to Sonny Gray (6-2, 2.87 ERA), who is eyeing win No. 7 on...
Today's NBA playoff schedule has just one contest -- the Minnesota Timberwolves squaring off against the Dallas Mavericks.NBA prop bets for today's games are available, so if you're interested in placing a bet or building a parlay, you'll find those...
The Houston Astros (23-29) and the Oakland Athletics (22-32) meet in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday at 4:07 PM ET. The Astros are -173 favorites on the moneyline to win the series over the Athletics (+146).Houston's...
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The Arizona Diamondbacks (25-27) host the Miami Marlins (18-35) Sunday to close out a three-game series. The Diamondbacks are favored (-187) to win the rubber match, which starts at 4:10 PM ET from Chase Field.Blake Walston gets the starting nod...
NEWSLETTER
For the second straight week Pelicans’ first baseman Yasiel Balaguert has been named the Carolina League Player of the Week. His weekly line of .406/.412/.719 included a pair of home runs. For the month of July Balaguert hit .339/.380/.542, but strikeouts continued to be a bit of an issue. His 30 strikouts in month helped contribute to his season K% of 22.7%. That isn’t terrible for a slugger in A ball, but it is also a sharp increase over what he posted last season (15.9%).
