Kevin Alcántara (Photo by Stephanie Lynn)
MLB
AAA
Game Recap
The I-Cubs were facing off against a potential future Hall of Famer on rehab assignment (Zach Greinke).
Jared Young had a big day at the plate (and it bears pointing out again that the Cubs are now giving him reps at 3B, presumably in an attempt to increase his versatility as a potential bench bat). Hitting a very long home run off Grienke is an accomplishment in itself.
Deep fly for JY! pic.twitter.com/pEJ3QBV6tz
The second time may just be the charm for David Bote as well. He looked good at the plate for the second straight game as he restarts his rehab. Fingers crossed, but Chicago may just have some reinforcements available soon.
It wasn’t a good day to be a Cubs pitcher though. Starter Robert Gsellman was knocked out of the game after giving up four runs in the 3rd, and then each of the three relievers allowed the Storm Chasers to score as well.
Top Performers
Jared Young: 2-3, HR (11), 2 R, 2 RBI, BB (.261)David Bote: 2-4, RBI (.216)Darius Hill: 1-3, 2B, R, BB, CS (1) (.396)
Injuries, Updates, and Trends
It’s been a rough season thus far for Brendon Little. He missed April with an injury, then did manage to post a 0.00 ERA over 9.2 IP in May despite a very high walk rate, but things have taken a turn for the worse in June. He’s now given up a run in all six of his appearances this month (12.38 ERA) as opposing teams have now begun to get some hits against him in addition to the walks. The stuff still looks good and he’s missing some bats, but the command and control have got to improve if he hopes to make a run at a 40-man spot during the 2nd half of the season.
AA
Game Recap
The top of the order did its job as Yonathan Perlaza, Jake Slaughter, and Matt Mervis combined to reach base seven times and hit all four of the Smokies extra base hits. The rest of the lineup couldn’t hold up their end through, and the 5 run hole that Riley Thompson (0.1 IP, 5 H, 5 R, BB, 0 K) dug the team in the 1st inning proved too much to overcome.
It was Thompson’s first start since returning from a month on the Developmental List, and the results couldn’t have been worse. There wasn’t a good camera for the game, so I can’t comment on how, why, or if concern is warranted, so for now I’m just going to chalk it up to a bad day implementing whatever changes they made while working with him these past few weeks. Chris Clarke did have a great piggyback outing. He was forced to enter in the 1st, and proceeded to strike out eight while putting up zeroes on the scoreboard over the next 5.2 innings to give his team a chance.
Top Performers
Jake Slaughter: 1-2, HR (6), 2 R, RBI, 2 HBP (.367)Yonathan Perlaza: 2-4, 2B, 3B, R (.235)Matt Mervis: 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB (.303)Chris Clarke: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K (4.86)
High-A
Game Recap
I’ll take a solid outing from Kohl Franklin at this point. It at least gives him a bit of momentum to build upon in his next time out. He allowed just one hit and one run through three innings yesterday, exiting with his team tied 1-1.
There just wasn’t much offense for the Cubs in this one. They’ve recently lost much of their power production to promotion, and are currently forced to rely on stringing together singles and walks to score most of their runs. That’s a tall order, and the results have been inconsistent, as you would expect.
Top Performers
Kohl Franklin: 3 IP, H, R, 2 BB, 2 K (10.13)Jake Washer: 1-3, 2B, BB (.298)Yohendrick Piñango: 1-4, 2B (.260)Luis Verdugo: 1-3 (.226)
Low-A
Myrtle Beach 6, Fredericksburg 2
Game Recap
For the second time this week Kevin Alcántara came up just short of hitting for the cycle. Well, he actually did better than hitting for the cycle earlier this week as he hit a second homer in lieu of a double, but this time around he did come up one hit short (a triple) of completing the cycle.
There are still the occasional rough games mixed in, as you would expect from a 19-year old in Low-A, but the big games outnumber the bad ones, and even when he’s just okay he tends to do something to help contribute to Myrtle Beach’s frequent victories.
Standing 6’6″ with long arms, he is a hitter who would be naturally susceptible to having a long swing, and it will be an ongoing battle with pitchers trying to bust him inside in an effort to prevent him from getting his arms extended. Think of how teams always attacked Kris Bryant, hard inside, and soft away. Alcántara will face the same test.
This isn’t the greatest example since it’s an offspeed pitch, but the swing mechanics are the same for fastballs, and Alcántara shows the same ability against velo.
What I’ve love in his progression this season is that he already shows the approach and mechanics necessary to combat that approach by opposing pitchers. Alcántara regularly lets the ball travel deep and takes it the other way. And there are few 19-year olds I’ve seen recently who manage to do so with as much power as him. The other key is the way he has condensed his swing and shown the ability to stay inside the ball and get the bat through the zone on inside pitches. He does so fluidly, and again, with power.
His mechanics may need to change as he fills out his frame, and it’s possible he loses a bit of that fluidity and quick twitch, but it is such a good sign that he already knows how to use his tools at such a young age, and the hope is that someone so capable of adjustments at this stage in their career will be able to continue to do so as he ages.
Will be interesting to watch Alcántara develop physically. I know PCA odds on favorite to be in CF but no prospect is sure thing. Need to develop other options. Alcántara might just maintain his athleticism as he fills out. If he does he becomes a unicorn as CF capable of 30+ HR. https://t.co/44EYGI0O0D
Alcántara wasn’t the only story in this one. Sparkplug second baseman Juan Mora had himself another good game, with three hits, including his fourth homer. Tyler Schlaffer scuffled a bit in April when he would end up giving up a homer that would ruin an otherwise solid outing, then struggled a bit with his command in May. He’s settling in so far in June though. He did have one clunker, but even including that he’s posted a 3.79 ERA and 12-to-1 K-to-BB ratio over 19 IP.
We call him Juan Baseball for a reason.
Mora touches all the bases with an inside-the-park home run! pic.twitter.com/Tgzg4oxXab
Top Performers
Kevin Alcántara: 3-4, 2B, HR (10), 2 R, 2 RBI (.286)Juan Mora: 3-5, HR (4), 2 R, 2 RBI (.279)Ezequiel Pagan: 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, HBP (.273)Tyler Schlaffer: 5 IP, 4 H, R, BB, 6 K (4.65)Jose Miguel Gonzalez: 2.2 IP, H, R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (6-0, 3.76)Adam Laskey: 1.1 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K (S, 4, 0.00)
ACL
DSL
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Daily Cubs Minors Recap
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