Apparently, I missed the comeback of the century yesterday. As I didn’t witness the earth-shattering win, I’ll let Carrie Muskat tell you all about it:
MESA, Ariz. — Carlos Silva allowed eight runs on 10 hits and hit a batter in 2 1/3 innings, but a host of Cubs prospects stepped up down the stretch during Monday’s 14-13 win over the Angels.
Cubs infield prospect Scott Moore hit a grand slam in a seven-run sixth, catcher Max Ramirez hit a three-run double in the eighth and Bryan LaHair delivered an RBI single in the ninth for the North Siders’ second straight walk-off win.
Second straight walk-off win? Did someone say “win streak?”No? Well, I’m saying it now–WIN STREAK!
Alas, it wasn’t a happy day for everyone:
In two starts (3 innings), Silva has given up 14 runs (11 earned) and 13 hits and two home runs.
A brisk wind was blowing out to right-center on Monday, but Silva said that did not affect his pitches.
“I was feeling pretty good. Most of them were singles that were hit through the hole (between infielders),†Silva said. “You get out there and try to do your work. You’re usually not concerned with results. But you need results when you are competing for a starting spot in the rotation,†he said.
Silva knows he needs to pitch better to quiet his critics.
“When I pitch good, nobody says anything,†said Silva, who was 10-6 with a 4.22 ERA in 21 starts in 2010, his first season with the Cubs. “I feel good. I feel strong. I’m going to be fine.â€Â
Oh Carlos, does someone have a little bit of a victim complex? To be fair, I’m not sure if people say anything when you “pitch good” or not, because I can’t remember back that far. Anyone else? Can anyone remember if anyone said anything the last time Carlos pitched well? Perhaps I’ll consult the microfiche at the local library.
So heeeeey! Have you been moping around the house, just waiting for someone to give you a rundown of where Starlin Castro stands at this point in his career? Lucky for you, Bruce Miles is happy to oblige.
Shortly after Mike Quade took over as manager, he benched Castro for three games after a lapse in concentration. But at the end of the year, Quade made sure to preserve Castro’s .300 batting average and send the kid out on a high note.
The expectations are no less for Castro this season. He turns all of 21 on March 24, and he’s the most exciting position player the Cubs have developed and sent to the big club in years.
Here are the key issues:
Defense:
Believe it or not, some people with the Cubs last year felt they had the wrong scouting report on Castro. That is, they thought he would field much better than he would hit.
Turned out it was the other way around.
Castro turned in a hitting line of .300/.347/.408 with 3 homers and 41 RBI. He also committed 27 errors and had more than his share of problems around the bag.
(snip)
The Cubs believe Castro will continue getting better offensively, although it’s difficult to say how much power he’ll develop. He hit a combined 4 homers last year between the Cubs and Double-A.
Castro walked 29 times and struck out 71 in 463 at-bats. That’s a walk percentage of 5.7 and a strikeout percentage of 15.3.
He had a batting average on balls in play (BABIP) of .341, well above the league norm, which is around .300. Some stats-oriented people don’t expect Castro’s BABIP to drop drastically because of his speed and contact ability.
Colorado’s Troy Tulowitzki is considered by many the best shortstop in the National League. His hitting line last year was .315/.381/.568 with 27 home runs. His walk rate was 9.1 percent, and his strikeout rate was 16.6 percent.
Salt River Fields
Today Big Z and the rest of the streaking Cubs travel to the Rockies’ SICK new Spring Training facility, Salt River Fields (pictured) for a 2:10 pm CT start.  While Salt River Fields has received rave reviews from players and fans alike, can anyone  tell me why a team would possibly need that many diamonds for Spring Training? I mean, does every player working on his swing or mechanics get his own field to practice on? Are they hosting fast-pitch softball tournaments on the weekend?
You can listen to today’s game live on MLB.com.
I’m guessing the extra fields are either because:
1) they were hoping to have a shared facility with another team, or
2) they built it for local little leagues or something, or
3) they wanted to have their minor league and major league spring training camps in the same place.
Agreed – I would bet that some city funds were plowed into it with the understanding that they could use the fields for little league, etc.
Though those fields are pretty big for little league (laughing).
Where the Rockies play, they share their stadium with the Diamondbacks. As is typical for most new spring training facilities, each team has 6 practice fields (the Cubs currently have 4) and usually one or two extra ‘diamonds’ for infield practice.
If you see a pitcher of the White Sox facility at the Camelback Ranch, you’ll see a similar layout as that one as they share their facility with the Dodgers.
pitcher.. (snicker).
oops.
“Believe it or not, some people with the Cubs last year felt they had the wrong scouting report on Castro. That is, they thought he would field much better than he would hit. Turned out it was the other way around.”
Somewhere out there, there’s a scout with dyslexia inadvertently changing the future for countless players.
So Silva claims most of the hits were”hit through the hole(between infielders)”.Kind of sounds like he felt it was the infielders fault? The sportcasters in LA,talked about the win by the Cubs as an example of how Angels pitching may not be up to snuff…..
its going to be a long season for Silva if he publicly blames his teammates for his earned runs
Quade was saying much the same…sounds like the company line, but Silva probably has one more chance this spring before the Cubs begin the process of designating him for assignment.
who’s this Max Ramirez? any good info on him?
I’ve heard that he’s a slightly above average prospect who’s about a year away from making Koyie Hill extremely nervous…
he just became Julie’s favorite prospect
He was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox from the Rangers, then within a week by the Cubs from the Red Sox. I think he’s out of options, so he’ll be exposed to waivers again if he doesn’t make the team. I seem to remember him not having much for defensive skills.
Though he hasn’t shown it much yet in the big leagues, Ramirez is supposed to be an offensive catcher.
As Carl said, he is out of options and that is how the Cubs claimed him of waivers.
Also, as Carl said, he has been placed on waivers twice already this past off-season and will likely be placed on waivers again once spring training is over.
Assuming Koyie Hill continues to forget how to throw out base-runners, Ramirez could be an upgrade for the Cubs at backup catcher for, at the very least his likely better offensive production. Ramirez is really bad behind the plate though, and teams will likely run on him at will.
I, personally, like having a good defensive backup catcher, and Welington Castillo is probably the best fit for that, but if it comes down to Koyie or Castillo, Koyie will inexplicably win out because the Cubs still think Koyie is good defensively even though he’s been pretty bad behind the plate for about 1 1/2 seasons now.
Isn’t Koyie’s contract guaranteed? There’s a chance that Hendry could trade him for bench splinters, but I would guess most teams would just wait for the Cubs to DFA Hill. They’d still have to pay him the excess salary over league minimum IF someone picked him up to start the season. So rather than throwing at least that 400 grand down the drain (even though it is already a sunk cost), the Cubs are going to keep him on the Major League roster.