Results tagged ‘ Brett Jackson ’
Updated: Cubs Top 20 Prospects
MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo has done an updated top 100 prospects lists as well as each organizations top 20. Mayo will probably come out with a list prior to the 2013 season, but here is where Cubs prospects stand as of now according to Mayo. To check out the entire top 100 list and to read a little more on these Cubs prospects.
1. Javier Baez – SS (#24)
When the Cubs picked Almora they new his bat was going to play and that is exactly what happened. The Cubs top pick from 2011 was outstanding in his time with Peoria this year hitting .333/.383/.596 with 12 home runs, 33 RBIs and 20 stolen bases. He struggled a bit when moving to Daytona, but overall it was very successful season for the young shortstop.
2. Albert Almora – OF (#52)
The Cubs top pick in this years draft didn’t sign right away, but when he did he didn’t disappoint. He started with the AZL Cubs and moved to Boise shortly after. Combined he played in 33 games hitting .321/.331/.464 with two home runs and 19 RBIs. He also hit 12 doubles.
3. Brett Jackson – OF (#74)
It has been an interesting year for Brett Jackson who has dropped a bit in the prospect watch. The good news first he has made it to the show and when he makes contact does some damage as he left Iowa with 22 doubles, 12 triples, and 15 home runs, to go along with 27 stolen bases. He also plays great defense, the bad news is he has really struggled making contact striking out over 200 times between his two stops.
4. Arodys Vizcaino - RHP (#76)
Vizcaino was considered one the Braves best young pitchers and was deemed untouchable last year. Things changed a bit this year as he missed the entire season after elbow surgery in March. The Cubs are very pleased to have acquired Vizcaino, but it remains to be seen how he will recover from surgery. Lets hope it is as a starter, but at the least he is a power arm out of the pen which the Cubs need badly as well.
5. Jorge Soler – OF (#77)
Jorge Soler did quite well in getting accustomed to baseball in America. He is still very raw, but at 20 the Cubs feel very strongly he will be a big contributor to the big club in the future. He spent time with the AZL Cubs and moved to Peoria where he finished the year. He combined to hit .299/.398/.463 with five home runs and 25 RBIs in just 34 games.
6. Matt Szczur – OF
The speedy outfielder had a nice season in Daytona hitting .295/.394/.407 with 38 stolen bases, but struggled a bit in 35 games with Tennessee.
7. Trey McNutt - RHP
McNutt did not have the year he was looking to have going 9-8 with 4.26 ERA. He struggled a bit and was moved to the bullpen, but maybe it will be better for him and the Cubs.
8. Junior Lake -SS
Lake played the entire year in Tennessee and did a pretty good job going .279/.341/.432 with 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, and 21 stolen bases. He is still very raw and will continue to work on his game.
9. Pierce Johnson – RHP
The Cubs took Johnson with the 43rd overall pick in this years draft and he did quite well making six starts, two with the AZL Cubs and four with Boise.
10. Josh Vitters - 3B
The former first round pick, number 3 overall finally put it all together this year in Iowa hitting .304/.356/.513 with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. The PCL All Star got the call up, but has struggled so far with the Cubs, but at only 23 the future is still very bright for Vitters.
11. Dillon Maples – RHP
It took a while for Maples to make his first appearance, but when he did he showed signs of what he could be. He was a bit inconsistent in his six appearances, but he will have more opportunities next season to show what he has. He has tremendous upside.
12. Robert Whitenack - RHP
Coming off of Tommy John surgery Whitenack struggled pitching for Daytona going 1-6 with a 5.96 ERA. Although the numbers don’t look good, remember he is coming off of major surgery and has good upside.
13. Dan Vogelbach - 1B
Not many Cubs prospects did as much damage as Vogelbach did this year. The big first baseman played in 61 games this season between the AZL Cubs and Boise Hawks. He hit .322/.410/.641 with 17 home runs and 62 RBIs.
14. Ben Wells – RHP
A 2010 draft pick the 19-year-old Wells missed most of the season with a right elbow strain. He made a few appearances at the end of the year, but will look to stay healthy in 2013.
15. Paul Blackburn – RHP
Another 2012 draft pick Paul Blackburn was chosen 56th overall out of high school. He made nine appearances for the AZL Cubs going 2-0 with a 3.48 ERA.
16. Jeimer Candelario - 3B
Candelario played the entire season at Boise and at only 18 the corner infielder showed he can hit a little bit. The switch hitting Candelario hit .281/.345/.396 with six home runs and 47 RBIs.
17. Gioskar Amaya – 2B/SS
Amaya played his season in Boise and put up some good numbers. He his .298/.381/.496. The 19-year old filled up the stat sheet with six doubles, 12 triples, and eight home runs. He also drove in 33 and stole 15 bases.
18. Tony Zych - RHP
Zych shared time between Daytona and Tennessee out of the bullpen. He combined to going 5-4 with a 3.67 ERA with 64 strikeouts in 61.1 innings.
19. Alberto Cabrera – RHP
Cabrera, who moved to the bullpen this year started in Double-A, but quickly moved to Triple-A before finally ending up with the big club. His minor league numbers were really good going 4-1 with 3.11 ERA with 74 strikeouts to only 14 walks. He has struggled since coming to the Cubs, but we’ll see where he factors in going forward.
20. Marcus Hatley – RHP
Hatley pitched well in Tennessee out of the bullpen going 3-1 with a 3.40 with 46 strikeouts in 45 innings. He then got the call to Iowa where he struggled in his time there.
It is good to see the Cubs have five players who are inside the top 80 in MLB. You can also see the emphasis the Cubs placed on pitching, drafting Pierce Johnson and Paul Blackburn in this years draft as well as bringing in Arodys Vizcaino in the Paul Maholm deal. Looking a little further into things is the talent Theo Epstein and company brought in this year. They obviously brought in the three pitchers above as well as Albert Almora and Jorge Soler. three of those five are inside the Cubs top five and Pierce Johnson makes it four in the top 10. The exciting thing is there are more who they brought in who I would guess are close to cracking this top 20 and who may even show up in the top 20 before the 2013 season gets underway. Keep checking back this offseason as we will talk more in-depth about these prospects as well as many more.
Thanks for Reading,
-Mark
September 7 – 9, 2012; @ Pirates – Series Preview
Let’s hope the Cubs have some fire left over from yesterday as they could use some of that on the field this weekend against the Pirates. The season is becoming historically bad, and facing another contender on the road is not going to make it any better. 
The Cubs come into this series losers of six straight with only two wins in their last ten games. Anthony Rizzo is one guy that has been earning his paycheck of late as he is hitting .423, with a double, three home runs and three RBI’s in his last seven games. The pitching staff on the other hand should give their money back to the organization. The Cubs staff has a record of 0-6 with a 7.20 ERA, such is life in September with a bunch of guys basically trying out for next season. The Pirates have been mediocre as of late as they try to summon the energy for one final push for the postseason, they trail both Atlanta and St. Louis in the race for the Wild Card by 1.5 games.
Friday September 7, 2012
Cubs:Travis Wood (4-11, 4.64 ERA)
Pittsburgh: A.J. Burnett (15-5, 3.63 ERA)
Saturday September 8, 2012
Cubs: Jeff Samardzija (8-13, 3.91 ERA)
Pittsburgh: James McDonald (12-7, 3.90 ERA)
Sunday September 9, 2012
Cubs: Chris Rusin (0-2, 9.00 ERA)
Pittsburgh: Jeff Locke (0-1, 4.82 ERA)
Season Series: Pirates lead 6-3
Prediction: Cubs Win Series 2-1, how do you like those apples?
Thanks for reading,
- George
August 31 – September 2, 2012; vs. Giants – Series Preview
Time to play spoiler as the West Division leading Giants roll into town for a weekend series. Ever since the Giants got the news that Melky Cabrera was going to be suspended they have taken off, and now hold a four game 
lead over the Dodgers in a race for the Western Division crown. The Giants are getting it done with a balanced attack as they are right in the middle of the pack in runs scored and ERA in the National League. The Cubs are going to need to have a solid offensive approach against the Giants if they want to take this series. The Giants are a baseball team in every sense of the word, they play, and win as a team. If the Cubs can do the same thing, and have an approach like they did in the series finale against the Brewers they might be able to play spoiler. The team could look rather different come Saturday as the rosters will expand, Sveum has cautioned that there might only be six or so call ups, we’ll see, and of course keep you updated.
August 31, 2012 – September 2, 2012; Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
Here are this weekends pitching matchups.
Friday August 31, 2012
San Francisco: Madison Bumgarner (14-8, 2.93 ERA)
Cubs: Chris Volstad (1-9, 6.28 ERA)
Saturday September 1, 2012
San Francisco: Tim Lincecum (7-14, 5.30 ERA)
Cubs: Justin Germano (2-4, 5.91 ERA)
Sunday September 2, 2012
San Francisco: Matt Cain (13-5, 2.82 ERA)
Cubs: Travis Wood (4-11, 4.71 ERA)
Season Series: Giants lead series 4-0
Prediction: Giants sweep series 3-0
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Win Wild One at Wrigley
I mentioned while watching the end of the game, it really doesn’t matter what the Cubs record is, seeing them win a game like that is fun and gets you pumped for what this team could be one day. What a crazy day at Wrigley, haven’t seen one of these summer day games in a while. This one started out well enough as the Cubs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind a Starlin Castro triple and Anthony Rizzo double, then things got familiar. By familiar I mean bad, as in the Brewers started beating the crap out of Cubs pitching, again. The Brewers scored five times in the 3rd, and two more times in the
fourth to take a 7-3 lead. They weren’t done there as they plated two more in the 6th to make it 9-3 and all but assured themselves of a four game sweep. Not so fast, the Cubs came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth inning, they scored six times on four hits to even the game at nine. It didn’t take long for the Brewers to grab the lead back as they scored once in the 7th and once in the 8th to build an 11-9 lead heading to the ninth. That’s when the Cubs of 2012 turned into the Cubs of 2015, okay I’m getting ahead of myself, but the Cubs ninth inning is exactly what everyone is hoping to see on a daily basis on the Northside of Chicago. Each guy worked the count and made sure that the pitcher was the one in trouble, the end result was a thrilling 12-11 walk off victory, the 50th of the season. The Cubs walked 11 times this afternoon, that is outstanding, a number of guys had tremendous days, too many to mention here, the box score can do the talking. I will say this, Starlin Castro had an outstanding day at the plate, not just because of the results, but because he worked every at bat especially in the ninth when he got down 0-2 before working the count to 3-2 and singling up the middle. Great win!
Sveum Postgame
Game Highlights:
Full Video Recap
Rizzo’s Game Tying Double
Castro’s Big Hit in the Ninth
Cubs Six Run Sixth
Jackson’s Big Double
Rizzo Just Misses a HR
Castro Legs Out a Triple
Thanks for reading,
- George
August 27 – 30, 2012; vs. Brewers – Series Preview
The Cubs look to continue their success on the longest home stand of the year as they welcome the Brewers to town for a four game set. Revenge might also be on the Cubs mind as they were swept by the Brewers last week in Milwaukee. At this point both teams are playing
out the string, but it’s an important time for many young guys as they are trying to impress the front office heading into next year. One guy that is doing that lately is Brett Jackson, after struggling immediately after his call up Jackson has made the necessary adjustments to find results. It seems to be working as Jackson was 4-for-8 against the Rockies with two home runs and three RBI’s. He will look to continue that success against a Brewers team that is finally finding some traction, just a little too late to salvage this season. The Brewers are 7-3 in their last ten games and are playing much better baseball of late. They are led by reigning MVP Ryan Braun who is putting up similar numbers this year, if the Cubs want to get that revenge against the Brewers they are going to have to shut Braun down. Surprisingly the Cubs have limited Braun this year, sure he is hitting .304 against the Cubs this year but he only has one home run, and four RBI’s.
August 27, 2012 – August 30, 2012; Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
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Here are the pitching matchups for the four game series.
Monday August 27, 2012
Milwaukee: Marco Estrada (1-5, 4.23 ERA)
Cubs: Justin Germano (2-3, 5.40 ERA)
Tuesday August 28, 2012
Milwaukee: Yovanni Gallardo (13-8, 3.62 ERA)
Cubs: Travis Wood (4-10, 4.76 ERA)
Wednesday August 29, 2012
Milwaukee: Mike Fiers (7-6, 2.98 ERA)
Cubs: Jeff Samardzija (8-11, 4.09 ERA)
Thursday August 30, 2012
Milwaukee: Shaun Marcum (5-4, 3.19 ERA)
Cubs: Brooks Raley (1-2, 6.64 ERA)
Season Series: Brewers lead 10-3; What!? That’s unacceptable
Prediction: Cubs Split Series 2-2
Thanks for reading,
- George
Volstad’s Winless Streak Ends at 24, Rejoice!
It was a long day at Wrigley today, to Chris Volstad the six and a half hour day was nothing compared to the over year-long wait to get back in the win column. Twenty-four, that is how many times Chris Volstad made a start on a big league mound between wins. 
For the majority of the day it didn’t look like this game would get played at all as the Cubs and Rockies sat through a two plus hour rain delay before getting underway just before four O’clock local time. Volstad was on right away as he was locating on both sides of the plate and keeping the ball down consistently for really the first time all year. Volstad avoided the big inning which is usually his downfall, he finished his day after 6.2 innings giving up no runs on three hits while walking three and striking out three to get the win. The Cubs offensive attack was finally just that, an attack, as they pounded out nine hits and scored five runs in the victory. Anthony Rizzo, who has been showing some fatigue of late had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-2 with two walks. Starlin Castro also had a good day at the plate going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three runs scored. Brett Jackson continued his solid series today as well as he was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored, he finished the series 4-for-8 with two home runs, three RBI’s, and three runs scored.
Game Highlights:
Volstad’s Great Outing
DeJesus’ RBI Single
Great Catch by Jackson
Castro’s Slick Play
Thanks for reading,
- George
Rockies Return the Favor, Rally to Beat Cubs
One day after the Cubs rallied from a three run deficit to win the Rockies did the same thing. The Cubs built a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning only to see the Rockies get two right back in the fifth. The Rockies didn’t stop there as they scored single runs in the 6th and 7th to take a 4-3 lead. 
The Rockies bullpen took it from there as they tossed five shutout innings to shut down the Cubs to even the series at one. Brooks Raley was in line for the win before the Cubs pen blew a one run lead. Raley finished his day after five innings giving up two runs on five hits while walking three and striking out four. The Cubs looked poised to put up big offensive numbers today after scoring three times in the fourth inning, but they could only manage one hit over the final five innings. Brett Jackson is really turning it on at the plate, he was 2-for-3 today with his 3rd home run of the season, a double, a walk, and two RBI’s. Anthony Rizzo, Alfonso Soriano, and Starlin Castro were the only other Cubs to record a hit in the loss, all singles. The Cubs ran themselves out of two innings as Joe Mather and Starlin Castro were caught stealing in big spots.
Game Highlights:
Jackson’s Two Run Blast
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Put Up a Fight, Sorta, But Fall Short
It was an uphill battle all day long for the Cubs, they were battling not only the Reds but themselves for the better part of the game. Mentally the Cubs were out of it again, Soriano was making base running errors, mental errors in the field, and Luis Valbuena had a 
great time watching the game on the bases instead of actually playing it. With all of that the Cubs were able to erase a 4-1 deficit to tie the game at four in the eighth inning, and made things interesting in the ninth. Brett Jackson somehow managed to hit a double off of all world closer Aroldis Chapman, but was then caught stealing third with one out, that would be something the Cubs would do today, nothing was going right. So you can guessed what happened next, before you could blink the Reds led off the ninth with a triple and two pitches later the game was over with the Reds winning 5-4. Chris Volstad got the start today, and he did an adequate job, not horrible, not terrific, something in the middle, and that’s okay from Volstad. He went six innings giving up four runs on seven hits while walking one and striking out four, if he gets hit I’m fine with it, he needs to avoid the walks and he did that today. David DeJesus led the offensive attack once again going 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored in the loss. The Cubs only had seven hits but they were able to push across four runs as they were 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Cubs travel to Milwaukee to start a three game series tomorrow night.
Game Highlights:
Castro’s RBI Single
DeJesus’ RBI Double
Soriano’s Sac Fly
Thanks for reading,
- George
Cubs Take Series Behind Germano’s Gem
Not bad at all for a guy that was acquired in a deal that many people forgot about because it was well before the trade deadline, and the madness that followed. But Justin Germano has quietly made a name for himself in the Cubs rotation, and if he continues to 
pitch like he did today he will have a future on this team. Germano earned his second win of the season going 6.1 innings giving up two runs on five hits while walking one and striking out six. A couple starts back Germano got 14 runs from his offense, today he got seven, he must be the lucky charm the offense has been searching for. I know that David DeJesus really likes when Germano is pitching as he was amazing today, having easily his best game as a Cub. DeJesus was 4-for-4 at the plate with two home runs, he came in with only two on the whole season. He finished the day with three RBI’s, a walk, and two runs scored, quite the day for the Cubs lead-off man. Brett Jackson also turned in a solid performance at the plate going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored. It was great to see that as he has been struggling, so has Starlin Castro and he responded today as well going 3-for-4 with his 12th home run of the season and two RBI’s. The Cubs have an off day tomorrow as they will travel to Cincinnati for a weekend series that includes a double header on Saturday.
Game Highlights:
DeJesus’ Multi-HR Game
Germano’s Stellar Outing
Rizzo’s Heads Up Play
Rizzo and Castro Turn Two
Castro’s 12th HR on the Season
Jackson’s RBI Triple
Thanks for reading,
- George
August 13 – 15, 2012; vs. Astros – Series Preview
If you are a fan of well-played baseball you might want to avoid turning on the Cubs the next three days as they welcome to lowly Astros to town. The two teams are a combined 65 games under .500, the Astros being 40 under 
and the Cubs being 25 under. If you are interested in watching a race for who gets the number one pick in next years draft then this one is for you. The Cubs bats have gone silent, they were already pretty quiet to begin with by they are in full on mute mode right now. They were shut out on Sunday by the Reds, it was their 11th time being shut out this season. It was also the Cubs 11th loss in their last 12 games, and I would venture to say that this stretch of baseball is even worse than the 12 game losing streak earlier in the season. The Astros might be exactly what the Cubs need to get back on track, although they are coming off a series win over the Brewers. The good news is that the Cubs pitching staff won’t have to worry about Carlos Lee this time around as the Astros are much like the Cubs, full of guys trying to make a name for themselves heading into next year.
August 13, 2012 – August 15, 2012: Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL
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Here are the pitching matchups for the three game series.
Monday August 13, 2012
Houston: Armando Galarraga (0-2, 4.70 ERA)
Cubs: Jeff Samardzija (7-10, 4.21ERA)
No one has really heard much from Armando Galarraga since his perfect game that wasn’t while he was with the Tigers. That’s because he has been living in the minor leagues since then aside from a handful of starts with the D-Backs last year. He is now getting a shot to see what he can do at the major league level with the Astros. Galarraga has some experience against the Cubs, making three career starts going 2-1 with a 4.95 ERA and a 1.050 WHIP. Jeff Samardzija is coming off a stellar seven inning start against the Padres and has seen a lot of the Astros, out of the bullpen. He has only made one career start against the Astros, it came this year as Shark allowed two runs over six innings in a loss in Houston in May.
Tuesday August 14, 2012
Houston: Lucas Harrell (9-8, 3.97 ERA)
Cubs: Chris Volstad (0-8, 6.94 ERA)
One of the very few bright spots for the Astros this year has been the performance of Lucas Harrell. Harrell is above .500 this year, that is saying something considering the team his pitches for is 40 games under. Harrell has very limited experience against the Cubs in his career, he only has two appearances out of the pen and has not given up a run. Chris Volstad is coming off his best performance of the year, unfortunately it did not result in a win as Volstad is still searching for one of those, has been since July of last year. In his career, Volstad has been decent against the Astros, he has a 3-0 record with a 4.40 ERA in five career starts. He will win this game.
Wednesday August 15, 2012
Houston: Bud Norris (5-9, 4.93 ERA)
Cubs: Justin Germano (1-2, 4.26 ERA)
For as surprising as Harrell has been, Bud Norris has been equally as disappointing this season. His ERA is hovering around five and he is four games under .500, however Norris has been much better as of late. He has also been outstanding against the Cubs in his career. Norris has had seven career appearances against the Cubs (6 starts), and is 3-3 with a 2.52 ERA. Justin Germano came back to Earth in his last start and the last team he probably wants to see is the Astros. In two career starts Germano is 0-2 with a 12.54 ERA, that’s really all that has to be said about that.
Season Series: Series tied 3-3
Prediction: Cubs win series, 2-1
Thanks for reading, go Cubs!
- George
