Funny how all of the posts I'm making about Chicago's baseball teams are revolving around the minor leagues. However, that's going to be the case when there are 2 teams that are in the middle of a rebuild. However, having positive things to say about any level of a team's system is a good thing, you'd just like to have positive things to say about every level of a team's system. Still, the Cubs teams in Boise (Short Season A) and Daytona (High A) have given fans, once again, plenty of reasons to be excited for the future of the big league team.
Both teams have steamrolled their way through the first rounds of their playoffs series and are now in the championship round.
For Boise, they won game 1 against Salem-Keizer 3-0 behind 7 innings of 2 hit, 0 walk ball from Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is a high risk/high reward type of pitcher, and after periods of struggling, he overall seems closer to the high reward side. He still has a long way to go, but for a pitcher whose major issue has been control, going 7 innings without giving up a walk in a playoff performance is a very encouraging thing.
In game 2, it was almost exactly the opposite. Boise's offense was strong early and held to an 11-7 win. Kevin Encarnacion and Danny Lockhart both had 3 hit games, and Justin Marra had 4 RBI. Duane Underwood, another high risk/high reward type pitcher who wasn't picked far behind Blackburn, in the same draft, didn't have a great night. He's had a roller coaster season himself this year, his part was mostly bad, but remember he just turned 19 this past July, so he still has a long way to go.
As for Daytona, they won game 1 6-1 against Dunedin (Blue Jays) after a 2-3 performance by #2 overall pick Kris Bryant, and a total of only 6 hits, but 4 walks. Corey Black (the main return in the Soriano trade) was outstanding, giving up only 5 hits and a walk in 5 innings to go with 7 strikeouts. The bullpen stuck out 5 more while giving up 1 unearned run and 3 hits over 4 innings.
Game 2 for Daytona was a 4-0 shutout. Kris Bryant went 3-3 with a double, and Anthony Giansanti and Wes Darvill both had 2 hits. The real highlight was once again the pitching. CJ Edwards (the real main piece in the Matt Garza trade) pitched 5 innings of ball, giving up 0 hits and 1 walk along with 8 strikeouts. Ryan Searle wasn't much worse, giving up 2 hits and 1 walk over the last 4 innings, to go with 5 strikeouts.
Now in the second round, Daytona won 5-0 tonight over Charlotte. They were able to score 5 runs despite getting absolutely nothing from Dan Vogelbach or Kris Bryant (except for a Vogelbach walk, which didn't lead to him scoring, Bryant's hitless night dropping him to .500 for the playoffs). Once again, it was the pitching. Pierce Johnson, who has been outstanding lately, pitched 5 scoreless innings, giving up 5 hits and striking out 6 while walking none. The bullpen wasn't quite as dominant, giving up 4 hits and 3 walks over the last 4 innings, but none of them scored and the shutout was completed.
Tennesse is starting their playoffs tonight. Right now they're down 3-1 against Birmingham in the bottom of the 8th. It's not over yet, but I guess you can't expect them to win every last one.
The main excitement that this generates is that in a system that is really getting known for the immense talent they have with the bats, it looks like the pitching may be really legitimately starting to be coming around. Not just in that they have minor league teams who have guys who can pitch at that level, but Blackburn, Black, Johnson, and Edwards are all legitimate prospects who could very well see the light of day.
With every next level these guys go up and play well, the excitement becomes more and more legitimate. It'll never be a sure thing until we're a few years into that player's career, but Javier Baez is someone who you can say has a legitimate shot at being a good ball player someday. Guys who are playing well at high A are also guys who you can say have a legitimate chance. Before this year there was still a lot of question for all of those guys in the Cubs system. Baez had struggled late last year after being called up to high A, Soler was still shaking rust off for most of last season, and Almora had barely seen the light of day. Now all of these guys are moving up. Bryant is there now and has torn up everyone (outside of his very short stint in rookie ball). This is no longer a team of lottery tickets, if this is a pick 5, 2 or 3 numbers have been called right on a couple of these guys. Getting those last 2 numbers right is still a huge thing and something that is FAR from certain, but there's at least legitimate hope with these guys.
Even better, there's more guys being added. Bryant was one this year. The Cubs also had an amazing international signing class, although those guys are mostly even further off than most high school draft picks. However, more guys emerged. This year the big one was Arismendy Alcantara. He struggled a bit down the stretch (He's played 34 more games this year than he ever had before, don't forget that), but his OPS still stands over .800, and the guy is a middle infielder. He could be the second baseman of the future for the Cubs. He gets on base well, is a good base runner, has solid pop in his bat, and while the error totals are high, he projects to be a solid defender as well.
There are still other prospects like Arodys Vizcaino, who has had a rough rehab from Tommy John surgery, Matt Szczur (probably a future 4th outfielder who, after this past week with an E:60 segment, is probably the country's favorite Cubs prospect), Mike Olt (probably trade bait, but potentially good trade bait), and Christian Villanueva, a 3rd baseman whose glove projects very well and has shown some good power this past season that says he may not be just a defensive guy there in the future.
It's one thing to say how good all these players look with their physical abilities or whatnot, but now these guys are showing it in playoff situations. Sure, its not 100% good news, but 5/6 playoff games so far is pretty darn good, especially when it's what the organization is not as well known for that is what is winning them games at one of the levels.
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