Minors: Jackson hot, Huseby hitting
Things will get a little crowded in our one-room bloghouse today, what with it being another Cubs-Sox weekend, so stick with us and remember to keep scrolling down. Got another interesting minor-league report this morning, and we’ll come back later with the roster move to make room for Aramis Ramirez.
We'll start with Brett Jackson and Class A Daytona. Brett his sixth homer of the year yesterday in a 6-1 victory over Dunedin to open the second half. Jackson, last year's No. 1 pick out of Cal, has a six-game hitting streak, having gone 11-for-26 (.423) with 8 runs, 2 homers, 2 triples and 7 RBI in the streak. Can you say promotion? His line is .305/.407/.498 for and OPS of .905 with 16 doubles, 8 triples, 6 homers and 38 RBI.
Brooks Raley got the win, going 5 innings and giving up 2 hits and 1 run. He's 4-5 with a 5.07 ERA. DJ LeMahieu had his 24th multihit game, going 3-for-4. He has hit safely in eight of his last nine games. Ryan Flaherty (2-for-4) hit his second homer.
Moving down before we move back up, sometimes-pitcher Chris Huseby was DH again for Boise, and he went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBI.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2010/06/25/1244989/huseby-pitches-hits-for...
Huseby had severe control problems earlier this year at Daytona. In the linked story, he tells Chris Langrill of the Idaho Statesman that things are going better.
"I think hitting is a way to kind of take my mind away from the mound, instead of constantly focusing on that," he told the paper. "It's a way to kind of have fun again.
"I started out just missing (at Daytona). Then it got in my head a little, and I started aiming instead of just rearing back and throwing it. The last few weeks, it's really coming around."
Huseby's pitching coach at Boise is onetime Cubs reliever Jeff Fassero, part of that fun 2001 team.
Back up at Tennessee, Austin Bibens-Dirkx came back with a 5-inning, 3-hit, 1-run performance as the Smokies beat Carolina 2-1. Bibens-Dirkx got a no-decision; he's 5-3 with a 3.63 ERA. David Cales picked up his 10th save. Nate Samson and Russ Canzler homered.
At Iowa, Thomas Diamond gave up 4 runs in 6 innings, and Sam Fuld broke a 4-4 tie with a run-scoring single in the seventh as the I-Cubs beat Omaha 5-4. Diamond is 5-2 with a 2.66 ERA. Fuld went 4-for-4 with a walk, a double, 2 runs and the RBI. Justin Berg (3-1) got his third win with 2 scoreless innings.
He's seeing the same lackadaisical approach to baseball from his teammates that we are and he finally exploded, like we'd all like to. Give the guy credit for caring and showing some passion for the game.... unlike the guys playing behind him. He's doing what Piniella and Hendry should have done as far back as last year instead of coddling these guys.
Z just wrote himself a one-way ticket out of town, unfortunately the Cub culture remains behind for the rest of us to endure.
Combine that with Soriano's deal...and Fukudome's deal....and the Ramirez deal that is going to be even more rich next season....
The national laughingstock is what the Cubs remain.
Yeah but look at how all these guys are doing at single A!
what Ricketts said from day one. spend smart, stay within. this year was Hendry's, next year, i believe will be different. hate to say it but "wait till next year".
He (Ricketts) has a long term plan in place, and he's following it by not wasting money. Step 1 is maximizing revenue streams. If he cans Hendry now or at the end of the year, it makes no difference.
Oh Gawd... This is so retarded. How can you even pretend to know what's on Rickett's mind and what his plans are or his timeframe???
How can you maximize revenue streams to any benefit in the existance of declining attendance and customer spend due to the poor product offered on the field? It's like trying to swim upstream against a swift current. People aren't stupid and won't pay for something they perceive as offering little value for their money!
So long as Ricketts doesn't understand that it's the team, stupid..... any additional revenue he brings in as a result of advertisng will be more than offset by the loss from attendance, viewership & listenership.
Rome is burning, and he's playing the fiddle.
Pretty excited about some of Tim Wilken's draft picks. If the Cubs can commit (and stick) to building the team organically and only plugging a hole here and a hole there with young FAs/trade targets or established veterans on short contracts, then this is going to be an exciting team to watch in 2 years.
I appreciate the daily minors' updates Bruce!
Enjoy Cubs-Sox.
Hoops