Don't you hate it when you get so busy that you don't even have time to write an article for your own blog? Anyway, I'm making up for it today by doing a longer article on some late Cubs thoughts and news.
The MiLB Rule 5 draft usually isn't a big deal, since the MLB Rule 5 draft usually gets most of the focus. But since that has been postponed, and since this lockout isn't giving us much to be excited about, this year it is a highlight event.
The Cubs were originally penciled in for the 7th pick, but with a couple teams passing they got the 5th pick instead. With that pick, they selected Conor Menez from the Giants, and then passed in the second round, leaving the Cubs with that one pick.
- Menez is 26 years old with 0 MiLB options remaining, meaning he'll be with the Cubs MLB team at least some of the time. He's made MLB appearances in 2019, 2020, and 2021, logging a grand total of 42.1 IP.
- Overall, in all his MLB appearances, he has a 4.04 ERA, 41.4% GB rate, 25% K rate, and a 5.01 FIP. He had a rough year with Triple A this year, posting a 6.75 ERA in 42.2 IP. But he does give some interesting stats that we'll talk about
- He throws a FB, slider, changeup, and curve, throwing his slider 62% of the time, compared to a 34% with his fastball. He averages 91 MPH with his FB, and 83 MPH with his slider.
- He does give Kyle Ryan vibes, with the beard and the stats, but one interesting thing is his arm slot. He changed his arm slot from one year (2020) to lower in 2021. Interesting bullpen addition, I guess we'll see how it works out.
One thing that doesn't seem consistent with what Hoyer and the Cubs had said before the offseason is that they were looking to move away from contact-pitchers and try to get some power-pitchers (high-velo, high k-rate). They got Miley and Stroman to add to the rotation, both of which are contact-reliant pitchers. While I like that the Cubs got Stroman, and I'm not complaining, it is somewhat of a mystery.
Are the Cubs done with adding to the rotation? If they did add another, you would think it would be a high-velo type pitcher, like Rodon, for example. But if they do not, that brings up another question: can the infield handle the high-contact rate?
None of the infielders the Cubs have right now are top-quality, gold-glove defenders, with the exception of Hoerner, who was a gold-glove finalist at second in 2020. That means that with the high number of groundballs, you need a solid defense, which is currently not one of the Cubs' strong suits.
Of course, the main hole is at shortstop, which Correa could fill potentially, but there is absolutely no guarantee the Cubs will end up getting him. If they do not, there isn't a big list of top-defender shortstops the Cubs could get.
And, as a result of that, more groundballs will get through, leading to more hits, leading to more runs scored, leading to more games lost. So, it really isn't that small of a deal, and it's definitely something that should be seriously considered by the Cubs.
Recently, Clint Frazier has been saying how much he likes the Cubs, and Chicago, even saying he "was glad not to be on the Yankees anymore". That has met with some venom from former and present Yankees players like CC Sabitha, and others, saying "he wasn't really that good" and other nasty stuff. While I get in a sense where they're coming from, as he was viewed as a future Mike Trout as a prospect and then really let people down, just leave it alone.
Personally, I'm hoping he'll go on a tear in 2022 and prove them all wrong.
Comments
Post a Comment