NEWSLETTER
Because it happened during a hot streak, and during a time with a million injuries, we moved on quickly from the fun and exciting Tommy Nance story. Now it just feels normal to have him up and pitching in close baseball games. Last night was a little down from a stuff perspective: 94.1-96.4 mph with the fastball, shakier breaking ball command, lots of foul balls. But he threw strikes, challenged Pirates hitters, and got his job done. I don’t know where the story goes from here, but when we look back at one of the best 3+ week bullpen runs in franchise history, we won’t be able to erase his name from the contributors list. It’s just such a great story of persistence.
Let’s break down the day in the minors for the Cubs.
Five Stars of Cub Farm, 5/26.
5. Many fun guys with solid offensive nights. Hopefully details tmrrw at BN.
4. Derek Casey.
3. Lefty closers: Burl Carraway and Scott Kobos. (And I see you, Kyle Ryan)
2. Double-A Darius Hill. Again.
1. DJ Herz. 3.2 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 5 K. DUDE!!
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) May 27, 2021
Honorable Mention: The Tennessee Bullpen
Let me cherry-pick some numbers from the guys who pitched last night.
Scott Effross, last 5 appearances: 14.1 IP, 11 H, 0.63 ERA, 2 BB, 17 K.
Ethan Roberts, last 5 appearances: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. 50 K%.
Manny Rodriguez, last 6 appearances: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 5 BB, 10 K.
Five: Hitters Galore
It was one of those nights where there were about six or eight guys with similar games, and rather than choose between them, let’s explore the studio space and give them all a shout. From the top level down:
Sergio Alcantara might not have been picked as the injury call-up to replace Nico Hoerner, but he’s doing his darnedest to convince Cubs management that he deserves a call-up before Dee Gordon. Get this, after two singles and a walk yesterday, Alcantara has reached base 20 times in his last eight games. That’s a .645 on-base percentage … Also with two hits in the Iowa loss: Abiatal Avelino, Trayce Thompson and newly-promoted outfielder Vance Vizcaino … Miguel Amaya singled and walked twice, which I mention mostly to say that he’s now drawn seven free passes in his last five games (21 PA) … The 7-8-9 of the Tennessee batting order all scored two runs: D.J. Wilson, Erick Castillo, Connor Myers … Delvin Zinn followed his top spot showing in Five Stars on Tuesday with another great game last night, reaching and scoring twice while notching three steals. He’s now 17-for-17 on the base paths … Solid-ish games for Cole Roederer and Chase Strumpf that I want to quietly mention … I’m hoping to do a longer feature on Yohendrick Pinango soon, but it’s sparked by his recent hot streak: 11-for-28 during a seven-game hitting streak … Also two hits on the Pelicans: Edmond Americaan, Pablo Aliendo, Jonathan Sierra.
Four: Derek Casey
Two indicators had been suggesting Casey was pitching far better than his mid-fives ERA entering last night: he was sixth in the organization in FIP and second in the organization in CSW% (glad to have Minor League Splits back publicly accessible). Casey did a nice job stranding runners in this one, something that had been a particular bugaboo in two of his three previous outings.
Three: Carraway, Kobos, & Ryan
Good showing for the southpaw relievers. I want to highlight Burl Carraway, who pitched his most comfortable game as a professional last night, throwing strikes on 11 of his 16 pitches. This breaks a four-appearance stretch where he’d thrown more balls than strikes, which was set off by his five-walk May 13 appearance. The bad news for High-A hitters is that Burl seemed locked back in last night, and even during that down stretch, he never allowed a hit. It all makes for a weird professional line so far: 6.1 IP, ZERO H, 4.26 ERA, TEN BB, 11 K.
Let’s break down the 4 ABs from last night, and you’ll see each K pitch in the below vid:
First, vs RHH: high FB ball (96 mph), FB middle called strike (94), FB high-away foul, FB middle-in backwards-K.
Second, vs RHH: bounced FB ball, FB middle-away called strike, FB middle-away foul, FB dirt ball, FB up-away K (elite life).
Third, vs RHH: FB low-in ball (96), FB low-in ball, FB mid-away called strike, FB mid-away F9.
Fourth, vs LHH: FB outside corner called strike (95), FB inside corner foul, CV dirt away K (nasty).
Need more of that curveball in my life, Burl!
https://twitter.com/CubsZone/status/1397741663972478976
Two: Darius Hill
We focused on Hill in a previous version of Five Stars, so I won’t go too in-depth here beyond to say: don’t take him out of Tennessee now. While the intention was to have Hill start in *Low-A*, he’s now the straw that stirs the drink two levels higher, and I think the Cubs have to let things play out for him. In his last nine games with the Smokies: 16-for-42 (.381), just six strikeouts in 45 PA (13.3%), hits in eight games.
What a nice job keeping his hands in on this one for his first home run since August 14, 2019:
Darius Hill’s Checklist:
✔️home run
✔️four RBI
✔️three runs scored#SmokiesBaseball #GoSmokies pic.twitter.com/RbipcfwRVY— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) May 27, 2021
Hill is hitting a combined .341/.364/.435 in 89 combined plate appearances between Low-A and Double-A so far this year.
One: D.J. Herz
3.2 hitless innings before he reached the 60-pitch max. It was mostly eaten up by a single 11-pitch plate appearance where Herz finally went curveball after the hitter fouled off about five straight two-strike, high-away fastballs. He also struck out Red Sox 2020 first-round pick Nick Yorke with three swinging strikes in the second inning: the first two on secondaries, then he missed with two high fastballs, then blew a fastball by Yorke in the zone. A good sign.
And Todd’s absolutely right about this one, despite a good fight from Cayne Ueckert:
https://twitter.com/CubsCentral08/status/1397708023934619648
