Minor League Report: May 28-June 3, 2012
Iowa Cubs – After missing several games due to injury, Anthony Rizzo is back in the lineup and went 2-for-4 with a double in his return on Saturday. Josh Vitters has five home runs in his last 10 games and has re-emerged as a legitimate prospect. Vitters has an .801 OPS this season. Brett Jackson has been surging after a poor start lately, with an OPS well over 1.000 over his last ten games, with 3 home runs and 3 triples during the stretch. The Iowa Cubs are 23-31 in second place and eight games out of first as they followed up their six game winning streak with a four game losing streak.
Tennessee Smokies – Junior Lake got off to a hot start as he joined the Tennessee lineup late, and is still batting .280. However, in his last 10 games, Lake is batting a minuscule .227 with 16 strikeouts as opposed to no walks. Lake figures to snap out of his slump eventually, and still has a quite respectable .790 OPS. The Smokies are 24-33 and eleven games out of first as they sit in fifth in their division, or dead last like the major league team.
Daytona Cubs – Normally, the only prospect really focused upon in Daytona is Matthew Szczur, who was ranked a top 100 prospect in baseball by Baseball America this off-season. However, following Szczur has become a “Where’s Waldo” situation, as there have been no reported injuries, but Szczur hasn’t played a game since May 31st. Szczur still hasn’t hit for any power whatsoever this season, but has a .395 OBP in the last ten games he has played in. The Daytona Cubs are 23-31 and in sixth place, last in the North Division, and thirteen games out of first.
Peoria Chiefs – The big story in Peoria lately has been the arrival of the #3 prospect in the Cubs organization, 2011 first round draft pick Javier Baez. After going 2-for-4 on May 28th, Baez followed up his performance with three consecutive hit-less games before going 2-for-5 on June 1st and homering in back-to-back nights on Saturday and Sunday, despite starting Sunday’s game on the bench. Early scouting reports say that in Baez’s recent games he has had some web-gem quality plays at shortstop. The Chiefs are 25-32 and in seventh place in their eight team division, ten games out of first place.
Boise Hawks – Have Yet to Start Season
Mesa Cubs – Have Yet to Start Season
DSL Cubs1 – The DSL Cubs1 started their season on Saturday with an 8-1 loss at the hands of the DSL Rockies. The squad couldn’t play fundamental baseball in the opener, as they committed four errors and a caught stealing. Center Fielder Roberto Caro hit an RBI double as part of a 2-for-4 night. Third Baseman Adonis Paula went 3-for-4.
DSL Cubs2 – The Cubs second Dominican squad fared better than the first, with a 7-1 victory over the DSL Pirates2 on Opening Day. The star of the game was Shortstop Luis Acosta who went 3-for-5 with 3 doubles and 4 RBIs. Daury Torrez earned the win by allowing just one run on three hits over five innings of work. Torrez recorded four strikeouts and his onl mistake was a Ulises Montilla home run.