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CUBS: DOWN ON THE FARM

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Iowa Cubs, AAA-

Matt Murton- 1 9 .356/.449/.441 It’s a shame this kid is down in AAA. For his sake I hope he’s part of a deal that gets him some big league playing time. He hits. Period.

Felix Pie- 3-35, hitting .086. You can say that he needs to be in AAA to get regular at-bats and develop. But maybe Pie simply fits the role he had when he was sent down: pinch-runner, defensive sub and occasional starter. Maybe that’s how the Cubs are best served too, at least in 2008.

Neal Cotts- 2-0, 2.13. 30 K/9 BB in 25.1 IP. No HRs allowed. Now that the Cubs have settled on Cotts as a reliever, he’s back to doing what he does best–blowing away left-handed hitters. With Scott Eyre the only lefty currently in the pen, don’t be surprised if Cotts gets another look.

Tennessee Smokies, AA-

Donald Veal- 2-4, 3.20. Those numbers look nice, but Veal has only pitched 50 innings in 10 starts. HIs K/BB ratio of 39/26 is not impressive either. Last year his ERA was just under 5, with 73 BBs in only 130 IP. Veal is left-handed and a decent prospect, but this is the guy some observers think is the top pitching prospect in the system.

Jeff Samardzija- Samardzija had a May to forget. 1-2 with a 10.19 ERA. 28 hits allowed in 17.2 IP, 4 for homers. 14 BB against only 12 Ks. His ERA is over 6 for the season. All the signs of being a bust, especially when you consider the price tag.

Tyler Colvin- Another Cubs prospect in regression. After starting out his Cubs career in solid fashion, the 2006 first-rounder hasn’t made any strides. For the season he is hitting just .232/.309/.370, and he has whiffed 46 times in 173 ABs.

Posted by admin on Monday, May 26, 2008 at 6:28 am 
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  • dhaab

    Nice report.

    I don’t get the fascination with Murton. He’s nothing more than a decent 4th outfielder in the Major Leagues. He does get on base (good OBP) but he has very little power with just above average speed. At this point, he’ll probably never be a full-time starter in the bigs.

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    You may be right about him being a 4th outfielder, and he should probably be in the AL.

    But he is also another example of how the Cubs have mistreated prospects. Murton came up in limited duty in ’05 and raked. He then raked again in ’06. He should have been a starter in ’07 but that was Jacque Jones. So he played sparingly and in turn had only a so-so year. Now he’s stuck in AAA while he definitely is a big leaguer.

  • relax

    Lighten up on Samardzija. He had a stellar April and pushed too hard in May. He has way too much talent, drive and determination and will regroup in June.

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    No need to lighten up on him. He really wasn’t that good at ND. His April wasn’t ‘stellar’ either. He’s in his 3rd season with the Cubs and he hasn’t really progressed at all. He looks like a bust right now. But he is just 23 so hopefully he will prove me very, very wrong.

  • relax

    He is not in his 3rd season. He played a little summer ball b4 playing football in the fall of 2006. He reported to Daytona in the spring of 2007. Check out a calendar. It is the spring of 2008. He has played 1 full year with the cubs — A and AA. And I didn’t dub his spring as stellar, the press did. Do a google search and see for yourself. The kid has never been a one sport athlete in his life so now that he has focused himself, give him a chance. He is 23 but the analysts say he is developmentally more like a 20 year old b/c he got into the game late. He really didn’t pitch much b4 college. He will be just fine.

  • dhaab

    I’ll say one thing about Samardzija, he’s got some fervent supporters out there. Maybe it has something to do with Notre Dame. Regardless, he is definitely still very raw as a pitcher. So far it doesn’t look good for him. He’s got a great fastball, but he’s really never been able to get the breaking stuff over for strikes. Reminds me a lot of Chad Hutchinson, who once pitched in the Cards minor leagues. He was a two sport guy as well and never figured out the pitching thing. He eventually went on to play QB for the Cowboys.

  • http://zonersports.com The Zoner

    “He really didn’t pitch much b4 college.” Well he pitched 3 seasons at ND and he’s now in his 3rd (not full) season for the Cubs. The point is he is 23 and a well-paid, higher round draft pick that doesn;t look to be anywhere near ready for the majors. You could argue he should still be in A ball.

    The good news is he has 4 pitches and a ton of talent. The bad news is he can’t locate them. Maybe he’ll be like Rich Hill and be a 25 or 26 year old rookie.

  • relax

    Rumor has it Samardzija is back in the starting rotation and has been sprung from the pen. He’ll pitch tonight.

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