Results tagged ‘ Paul Blackburn ’
7/24: Around the Cubs Minor League System
Tuesday July 24 minor league recap.
Peoria was off.
The AZL Cubs were at it again on Tuesday beating the AZL Indians 9-2. Jorge Soler did it again, hitting his second home run in four games. This one off the scoreboard in left. Soler would add another hit ending the night 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Ben Carhart continued his hot hitting going 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. He also drove in three and scored a run. Speaking of hot, Shawon Dunston Jr. had two more hits, a double and a triple plus he scored three runs from the lead off spot. Albert Alomora did not have a hit, but did drive two runs in and scored two. 2012 Comp. pick Paul Blackburn recorded his first win of the season, pitching two scoreless innings in relief. Another good win for the Cubs in the AZL.
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Boise got another great pitching peformance out of their staff on Tuesday beating the Yakima Bears 2-1. Ian Dickson was tremendous thowing six no-hit innings before being removed in the seventh. Dickson struck out four en route to his second win of the season. Hunter Ackerman gave up a run, but struck out three in 2.1 innings and Michael Hamann closed it out recording his first save of the season. Jeimer Candelario had a nice night at the dish going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. In his first game as a Hawk, Dan Vogelbach was 2-for-4 with a double. Gioskar Amaya, Stephen Bruno, and Trey Martin each added a hit and Bruno scored a run. It is nice to see the Hawks pitching have a nice couple days here.
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Daytona held on to beat Brevard County 4-3 on Tuesday night. Matt Loosen started and got the win pitching six innings while allowing two runs on only three hits. He also walked three and struck out eight, lowering his ERA to 2.81. Ryan Searle struck out two in the seventh and AJ Morris pitched the last two recording his first save of the season. Rubi Silva went 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Ronald Torreyes, Matt Szczur, Rebel Ridling, and Micah Gibbs all had a hit. Daytona will play two on Wednesday.
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Tennessee was back in action Tuesday pounding Jacksonville 9-2. The Smokies showed some power hitting three home runs on the evening. Junior Lake was 2-for-5 with a double, a homer, and two RBIs. Greg Rohan added two hits of his own including a home run and Michael Brenly connected on his fifth homer of the year. Nelson Perez had his best day since going to Double-A as he went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Michael Burgess also added two hits and scored two runs. Eric Jokisch got the start and the win for the Smokies giving up one run on four hits in five innings pitched while striking out eight. Brian Schlitter, Kevin Rhoderick, and Casey Weathers combined to pitch the last four innings allowing one run and striking out five. This is the way to come back after a day off.
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Another day another bad loss for Iowa, losing 15-9 on Tuesday. Offensively Iowa couldn’t have done much more on Tuesday scoring nine runs on twelve hits. Welington Castillo was 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Brett Jackson hit his 14th home run of the season and drove in two. Josh Vitters had one hit and also drove in two as did Alfredo Amezaga. Dave Sappelt and Diory Hernandez each had two hits as well. The pitching was terrible yet again on Tuesday. Rogrio Lopez got the start and promtly gave up eight runs in 3.2 innings pitched. Ryan Rowland-Smith took the loss as he gave up three more runs in just 1.2 innings. Iowa continues to struggle.
Thanks for Reading,
-Mark
7/19: Around the Cubs Minor League System
All teams back in action on Thursday July 19.
Jorge Soler made his much anticipated debut on Thursday night, but the AZL Cubs fell to the AZL Mariners 4-3 in 12 innings. It was not quite the debut we were looking for from Soler as he went 0-3, grounding out twice and lining into a double play. The Cubs got RBIs from David Bote, Daniel Lockhart, and Justin Marra. Marra also had two hits on the evening. Paul Blackburn got the start on Thursday and pitched three innings allowing one runs on three hits. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino struck out five in four innings out of the pen and Daniel Adrian struck out four in three scoreless innings. Chad Martin took the loss giving up the winning run in the 12th inning. Not the type of game we become accustomed to from the Cubs in Arizona.
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The pitching for Boise did their job on Thursday, but the Hawks still lost to Eugene 2-1. Ian Dickson got the start and took the tough loss. He gave up two runs, one earned in five innings. He also struck out five, his record now stands at 1-3. Hunter Ackerman was outstanding in relief striking out four and allowing only one hit in three innings pitched. All of the Hawks offense came off the bat of Stephen Bruno who had the only two hits for Boise. He also drove in Gioskar Amaya who reached on a walk. This is a tough one to swallow as the pitching did so well, unfortunately the hitting did not.
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Peoria dropped another to West Michigan losing 4-2. Yao-Lin Wang started and took the loss allowing three runs in the second inning, one earned in just 1.2 innings pitched. Josheph Zeller pitched well in relief allowing one unearned run on seven hits in 5.1 innings. He struck out three and lowered his ERA to 1.69. Javier Baez did it again going 2-for-4 hitting his ninth home run of the season and stealing his 17th base. Chadd Krist only was able to muster up one hit tonight as his average dropped to .462. Dustin Geiger added a hit and scored the only other Chiefs run of the day. Peoria will look to get back on track tomorrow.
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It is tough to win when you allow four runs in one inning and then a single run four innings in a row. Daytona didn’t disprove this losing 8-3 to Jupiter. Austin Kirk took the loss allowing five runs in five innings pitched. His ERA stands at an impressive 2.88. Hunter Cervenka, Scott Weismann, and AJ Morris all gave up a run in their inning of work out of the bullpen. The good news came from one of the Cubs top prospects Matt Szczur. He was 3-for-4 with a triple, run scored, RBI and his 33rd stolen base of the year. Ronald Torreyes was 2-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Elliot Soto added two hits driving in one run and Rubi Silva also had an RBI. Not a good loss all the way around for the Cubs.
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After giving up three in the first Tennessee tried to mount a comeback, but it ultimately came up short losing 4-3 to Chattanooga. Eric Jokisch took the loss allowing three runs on six hits in five innings. Kevin Rhoderick hopefully got back on track Thursday striking out all four of the outs he recorded. Marcus Hatley pitched a scoreless inning giving up three hits, but striking out one. Juan Apodaca hit a double and drove in two runs. Jae-Hoon Ha was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Logan Watkins drove stole his 19th base of the season and drove in his 36th run of the season. It was a good comeback attempt, but turned out to be another disappointing loss.
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Casey Coleman got scratched from his start so Ryan Rowland-Smith took his place and struggled giving up five runs, three earned in just four innings pitched. All of those runs came in the second and Iowa could never rebound losing 9-1. Offensively Brett Jackson was 2-for-4 with the Cubs lone RBI. Dave Sappelt and Blake Lalli each had two hits and both had a double. Adrian Cardenas and Welington Castillo had doubles as well. Other than that not much excitement coming from Iowa on Thursday night.
Thanks for reading,
Mark
7/14: Around the Cubs Minor League System
A look at the Cubs minor leaguers on Saturday.
The AZL Cubs did it again on Saturday beating the AZL Padres 13-3. After a couple rough nights, Timothy Saunders got back on track going 4-for-6 with a double, home run, three runs scored, and five RBIs. He raised his average back up to .493. Equally as impressive has been Dan Vogelbach, and he didn’t disappoint on Saturday. He had two hits, including a double and drove in four. The Cubs got three hits out of Daniel Lockhart and Jacob Rogers and they combined to score five runs on the night. Shawon Dunston Jr. and Garrett Schlect each added two hits a piece and Carlos Penalver hit a triple and drove in two. One of this year’s supplemental picks Paul Blackburn got his first start of the year. He pitched one inning and allowed a run, but it was good to see him pitch. Carlos Martinez-Pumarino recorded his third win of the season striking out four and allowing only one hit in three innings. The Cubs have been really impressive so far.
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Two four run innings was plenty for Boise beating Vancouver 9-3. The Hawks were led offensively by Trey Martin and Marco Hernandez. Martin was 2-for-4 with a triple and a home run. He also scored two runs and knocked in four. Hernandez also had two, including two doubles and driving in three. Lead-off hitter Gioskar Amaya did his job well on Saturday going 2-for-3 with a walk. One of his hits was a triple and he scored three runs. Hawks got an RBI a piece from Stephen Bruno and Bijan Rademacher. Ian Dickson got the start, but did not factor in the decision as he only pitched 4.1 innings. Pete Levitt picked up his first win in relief pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. Michael Hamann and Rafael Diplan combined to pitch the last three innings of the game securing the Boise win.
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In a back and forth game Peoria was able to come out on top 9-8 in ten innings. Chadd Krist played the role of hero winning the game with a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth. He ended the night 3-for-6 with two runs scored and an RBI. Javier Baez had his best night as a professional going 3-for-5 with a home run and a triple. He also scored a run, drove in four and stole his 16th base. He now has a ten game hitting streak and his batting average now stands at .319. Taiwan Easterling and Paul Hoilman each had two hits and Easterling drove in two. Michael Jensen got the start giving up six runs in 5.1 innings of work. Yao-Lin Wang got the win pitching a scoreless tenth inning.
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Daytona watched a six two lead slip away late when Palm Beach scored seven times in the last two innings to win 9-6. Despite walking five and allowing six hits starter Austin Kirk was in line for the win, but was let down by his bullpen. Kirk left only allowing two run, one earned in six inning of work lowering his ERA to 2.59. After a dominate one inning of work by Eduardo Figueroa, Jeffrey Lorick and Brian Schlitter really struggled combining to give up seven runs, five earned over the next 1.1 innings. There were a few bright spots from the offense on Saturday for the Cubs. Ronald Torreyes was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. John Andreoli, Rafael Lopez, and Elieser Bonne all had two hits with Bonne driving one in. Matt Szczur and Rebel Ridling each had an RBI a piece and Taylor Davis drove in two. Another tough loss for Daytona on Saturday.
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Michael Burgess and Juan Apodaca‘s power was on display Saturday leading Tennessee to a 4-2 win on Saturday. Apodaca hit a three-run homer and Michael Burgess hit a solo shot, his tenth of the season. That was all the offense the Smokies would need as Dae-Eun Rhee and the bullpen would do all the rest. Rhee gave up two runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out six in route to his sixth win of the year. Tony Zych pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three and Marcus Hatley came in to shut it down. That he did striking out three in two innings of work recording his fourth save of the season. It is nice to see Tennessee come out on top of a well-played game from both teams.
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A seven run second from Omaha was all they needed beating Iowa 7-1. Randy Wells got the start and was terrible allowing seven runs on six hits in just 1.2 innings pitched. As bad as Randy Wells was the offense couldn’t get much going either. James Adduci had two hits and scored a run, the only Cubs player with a multi-hit game. Dave Sappelt drove in the Cubs lone run. Josh Vitters had his 27th double of the season and Brett Jackson also added a hit. Other than that there wasn’t much to the game at the plate. Casey Coleman pitched 5.1 good innings in relief not allowing a run and striking out three. Alberto Cabrera had another nice outing out of the pen striking out one in one inning of work.
Thanks for Reading,
Mark
Full 2012 Cubs Draft Recap
That was a long three days for everyone involved, I will try to break it down to the best of my ability for you. It’s obvious that the Cubs needed to fill their system with pitching depth and it appears that they did so.
The Cubs had 42 picks in this years draft, 40 round plus two compensation (or sandwhich) picks. In years past the draft has been 50 rounds, under the new CBA the rounds were reduced to 40. The breakdown of the 42 picks is as follows, 22 pitchers (18 RHP, 4 LHP), seven infielders, eight outfielders, and five catchers. Of those players 20 were college players, seven were junior college players, and the Cubs drafted 15 high school players.
Here’s the full list…
Thanks for reading!
- George
Chicago Cubs Draft Recap…So Far
With how bad the Cubs have been all year and the promise of a bright future, yesterday was like Christmas morning. Well, I guess it was more like what we might get on Christmas morning 3-5 years from now. Still an exciting day for fans as right now it’s one of the few things we can get excited about.
The draft kicked off with a surprise as Carlos Correa was selected number one overall by the Houston Astros. In fact the guy most, if not everyone thought was going number one, Mark Appel, didn’t get selected until number eight by the Pirates. The concern with Appel is his sign-ablity because he is represented by Boras. Before the draft started if you would have told me that the Cubs would have a shot at Appel at number six I would have thought you were crazy, but there he was. The Cubs however went a different direction, and I think the correct one.
Cubs 1st pick, number 6 overall: Albert Almora
I love the pick, the kid is pure character not to mention an elite talent in the outfield.
Scouting Report from Baseball America..
Albert Almora combines a high school player’s upside with the polish of a college hitter. He’s headed to Chicago after the Cubs selected him sixth 
overall.
Almora has tools, game instincts and makeup; his lone weakness is his fringe-average speed, which some scouts describe as below-average. Scouts give him 60s across the board otherwise, with some giving him higher grades for his arm strength. His instincts allow him to play center field at a high level; one scout said he was a 40 runner with 80 range and said he played center field like some players do shortstop, being instinctual rather than reactive like almost all outfielders.
Almora has played for team USA six times already, he’s only 18. I’m very excited to see this kid progress through the system.
Here’s some video of Almora…
Interview with Jonathan Mayo
MLB Netwok’s Piece on Almora (Try not to love this kid)
Cubs 2nd pick, number 43 overall (Supplemental): Pierce Johnson
Here is Jonathan Mayo’s take on Pierce Johnson…
Johnson was moving quickly up Draft boards, but a forearm strain put that on pause. He came back and threw well, with plenty of time to show everyone he’s fully healthy leading up to the Draft.
Johnson has a good three-pitch mix starting with a fastball that is plus at times, touching 94 mph. He’s more successful when he keeps it down in the zone, which he does when he repeats his delivery well. Johnson throws a hard curve that works as an effective out pitch, missing more bats than he does with the fastball. He doesn’t use the changeup as much, but it has the potential to be at least an average pitch in the future. He throws strikes and competes very well on the mound.
Assuming he’s healthy, Johnson should join a solid group of college starters who could go off the board shortly after the top tier, profiling well as a No. 3-type starter at the highest level.
The Cubs got a quite a bit of value with the 43rd pick overall, and it could turn out to be a great pick if Johnson proves to be healthy.
Pierce Johnson draft video..
Cubs 2nd pick, number 56 overall (Supplemental): Paul Blackburn
Here is Jonathan Mayo’s take on Paul Blackburn
After a big performance at last summer’s Area Code Games, Blackburn has continued pitching well this spring to keep him firmly on the prospect map.
The NoCal high schooler has a good fastball that hits 92 mph consistently and will touch a tick or two higher on the radar gun at times. His two secondary offerings – a curve and a changeup – both have the chance to be very effective pitches. He’s generally around the strike zone and thanks to his athleticism and sound delivery, his command should only improve with experience.
The Arizona State recruit has some projectability, meaning his already pretty good stuff has room to get even better. That should get him off the board early enough to keep him from heading to Arizona.
Good command and a ton of room to get better, sounds good to me. The Cubs will be hoping that they grabbed Blackburn early enough to break his commitment to Arizona.
Paul Blackburn draft video…
Round two starts today at 11 AM CST, get ready for more draft coverage as new names will start pouring in very soon.
Thanks for reading!
- George
