Vitters Promoted to Peoria

InsideTheIvy.com has reported that Josh Vitters has been promoted to Peoria along with Leon Johnson, while Jonathan Mota moves to Daytona and Andrew Rundle has been sent back to Extended Spring Training. Vitters hadn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball in Arizona, but the Cubs must have seen something from him in the past week that warrants a promotion. AZ Phil at The Cub Reporter predicted a move was upcoming but thought Jeffrey Rea would be the one to go to Peoria instead of Vitters.

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How long till Murton returns?

So, it appears Fukudome is starting to be considered as an option in centerfield and Pie has fallen out of the Cubs plans for everyday play.  I’ll say Murton is back in 14 days.  Do you take the over or under and why?

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Does Fantasy Mirror Reality for the Cubbies?

I love my PS3. I also love my newest addition, MLB 08 The Show. As any Cub fan would do, the first thing I did when I got the game was start a new franchise with my beloved Cubbies. I’ve run through about 20 games of the season, so I thought I’d share a few things that stand out…

• Despite going 15-5, the Cubs are in 3rd place behind the Brewers and get this, the Reds
• Carlos Zambrano and Ted Lilly have combined to go 5-0 with an ERA around 2, while the rest of the starting rotation is 4-3 with an ERA in the mid-4s.
• Ryan Dempster, who is the Cubs closer in the game, has already blown 2 saves, has an ERA of 7.00, and is no longer my closer as of last night. Kerry Wood will be my closer as I must match reality as closely as possible.
• Tom Jung, aka Kosuke Fukudome, has been just OK, hitting around .250 with a couple homeruns, but does have two game winning hits already.
• Alfonso Soriano and Derrek Lee lead the team in home runs with 7 a piece, while Soriano has the best batting average of any regular, hitting .337.
• The bullpen has been very good with the trio of Carlos Marmol, Bob Howry, and Kerry Wood all competing for innings. Scott Eyre, whose virtual shoulder is healthy, has yet to give up a run in 10 appearances.
• Felix Pie is hitting in the low .300s with 4 stolen bases.

Those are the highlights, and I’m sure all of us will be thrilled if the Cubbies jump out to a 15-5 start. Curious about other’s performances? Just ask!

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Jose Ceda has a (Not So) Secret Admirer

If ranking Jose Ceda the Cubs #4 prospect wasn’t enough evidence, Jim Callis and Baseball America have yet again stated that they are high on hard throwing reliever in their latest edition of Ask Baseball America.

Callis is asked which players could move up the top 100 lists the most…

My leading candidates to make a significant surge from the bottom half of the Top 100 are Athletics righthander Fautino de los Santos (No. 60), Pirates third baseman Neil Walker (No. 61), Marlins righthander Brett Sinkbeil (No. 68), Rangers catcher Taylor Teagarden (No. 80), Angels righthander Jordan Walden (No. 81) and Phillies lefthander Joe Savery (No. 90). And going off the board with prospects who couldn’t make the Top 100, I’ll take Diamondbacks outfielder Gerardo Parra, Cubs righthander Jose Ceda, Pirates righty Brad Lincoln (I picked him last year, right before he needed Tommy John surgery), Orioles third baseman Bill Rowell, Braves lefty Cole Rohrbough, Braves righty Julio Teheran and Red Sox outfielder Josh Reddick.

Ceda is also mentioned again in another question regarding the Cubs possible interest in Brandon Inge…

But if the Cubs do want Inge, they’re loaded with catchers who might interest the Tigers. Projected starter Geovany Soto and 2007 supplemental first-round pick Josh Donaldson aren’t going anywhere, but that still leaves Welington Castillo, Steve Clevenger and Carlos Perez as possibilities. Likewise, Chicago wouldn’t part with Jose Ceda, but they have a number of relief prospects, including Billy Petrick, Alex Maestri and Jose Ascanio.

Ceda has already had quite an interesting spring, getting invited to camp with the big club for the first time and then subsequently getting hit quite hard. Hopefully, the experience will serve as a benchmark for Ceda going into a season where the Cubs’ brass expect improvement.

Going into the season, there have been multiple reports that say that Ceda will actually begin the season in the starting rotation, likely with the Tennessee Smokies. Doing so will allow Ceda to work on his secondary pitches, instead of relying on his dynamite fastball, exclusively.

As a result, don’t be surprised if Ceda’s numbers suffer a bit early in the season. It will be important for the organization to communicate with Ceda in regards to his goals in expanding his arsenal of pitches, while not being discouraged by any struggles that might occur.

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Favorite Time of Year

As a guy that writes about college hoops in the off-season, this is my favorite time of the year.  In fact for the last 5 years at least, I’ve taken the Thursday and Friday of the ACC Tournament off as well as the Thursday and Friday of the NCAA Tournament.  Throw in the fact that the Cubbies are starting to play a little baseball in Arizona, the weather in NC is perfect, and my son’s baseball is starting up and I wouldn’t change a thing.

So, I’m curious what others think, what’s your favorite time of the year?

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Five Guys You’ll Know This Time Next Year

Covering the minor leagues for several websites over the past few years, I’ve come to realize that reader interest in minor leagues often varies from person to person. There are those like myself who check the minor league box scores every morning, others who check out the stats for their team’s farm clubs periodically, still others that browse the top 10’s of their team to see who is going to come to the big club soon, and finally those that could care less until the player shows in the majors. While the latter group probably saves themselves quite a bit of frustration, the minor leagues certainly has it’s place to the daily fan.

Today, I’d like to present to you a few names that likely aren’t on the Cubs’ Top 10 Prospects lists you’ll find on the web. These are guys that will hopefully take a step forward in the organization this year…

Robert Hernandez

Just 19, Hernandez won’t turn 20 until October, but throws strikes, walking just 28 in 103.2 IP, while giving up just over a hit an inning. Hernandez can touch 92-93 but is projectable as he is still filling out his body.

Jovan Rosa

I’ve got to have at least one hitter in the bunch, and Rosa is a good selection. Rosa is a third basemen that has really good pop in his bat and good size, think an Albert Pujols type build.

Rafael Dolis

Dolis has a big arm, and before getting injured last year started to put things together. Dolis just turned 20, and went 3-1 with an ERA of 1.80 last season at Peoria.

Ryan Acosta

The son of former Cubs pitching coach, Oscar Acosta, Ryan was as polished as you will find a 18 year old in his first professional season last year.

Larry Suarez

Suarez has a big arm but just hasn’t figured out the finer arts of pitching. When and if Suarez figures things out, look for his stock to skyrocket.

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Fascinating Minor League Article

Over at InsideTheIvy.com, they just posted a great Q & A that has some good information on the following players…

1. Geovany Soto
2. Ryan Harvey
3. Josh Donaldson
4. Sean Gallagher
5. Jose Ceda
6. “Uncle” Jesse Estrada
7. Josh Vitters
8. Jeff Samardzija
9. Darin Downs
10. Tony Thomas

One of things that was mentioned was that the Cubs planned on moving Jose Ceda back to the starting rotation (which is the first I’ve heard of this). I’m curious what others think. Ceda has an absolutely golden arm, but has had shoulder problems and has never really pitched extended innings. Why move him back to the starting rotation?

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