Peoria Chiefs

Talk about the Cardinals minor league baseball
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pioneer98
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by pioneer98 »

And FWIW, Cory Rasmus (a pitcher) just got called up to the Atlanta Braves at age 25. Don't think he's made his MLB debut yet, though.

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pioneer98
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

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The Chiefs failed to score for 38 1/3 consecutive innings, a franchise record, before breaking it today in an 8-4 win. Hopefully it was a fluke.

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go birds
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by go birds »

Thanks for the write-up. I have honestly completely forgotten these names since we've had so much talent come up from the high minors.

Doens't kelly have the highest upside out of that group? Is he going to stick at 3rd?

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Jocephus
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

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Cardinals outfield prospect C.J. McElroy went 2-for-4 for Low-A Peoria on Wednesday night, and is now hitting .315/.361/.369 for the season.
McElroy has seven stolen bases for the season, and is looking more and more like the part of the center fielder with a lead-off approach. He needs to develop more power, or major league pitchers will overpower him, but the former third round pick could turn into another shrewd move by the St. Louis front office.
May 8 - 9:34 AM

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a_smith
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by a_smith »

go birds wrote:Thanks for the write-up. I have honestly completely forgotten these names since we've had so much talent come up from the high minors.

Doens't kelly have the highest upside out of that group? Is he going to stick at 3rd?
they moved him to catcher after last offseason

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go birds
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by go birds »

i knew that....duh.

jim
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by jim »

For the Chicago area GRB'ers - Alex Reyes will be pitching Sunday at Kane County. Alex Reyes entered the season as the highest rated prospect on the Peoria roster. BA ranked him our #7 prospect with an overall rating of 60 with an "Extreme" risk rating. I am looking forward to seeing him.

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mikechamp
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by mikechamp »

Jocephus wrote:

Cardinals outfield prospect C.J. McElroy went 2-for-4 for Low-A Peoria on Wednesday night, and is now hitting .315/.361/.369 for the season.
McElroy has seven stolen bases for the season, and is looking more and more like the part of the center fielder with a lead-off approach. He needs to develop more power, or major league pitchers will overpower him, but the former third round pick could turn into another shrewd move by the St. Louis front office.
May 8 - 9:34 AM
We've got OFs coming out of our...

jim
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by jim »

A scouting report from the Kane County/Peoria game last night:

Kane County won 7-3 on a very strong outing by a right hander named Juan Paniagua. He's not listed in the Cubs top 30 for BA, but I think that might change. Let's concentrate on the Cards prospects.

Alex Reyes: Reyes is listed as our #7 prospect with a rating of 60/Extreme (Score/Risk). For reference, CMart is a 60 as a well (but Low risk). That gives you an idea of the kind of raw talent this guy possesses. Reyes line was 6.2IP/6H/4R/3ER/1BB/7K. The radar gun at the park was barely functioning, but he looked like he was sitting in the low 90's and I did see him reach back and hit 95 on the gun once. He's listed at 6-3/185, I went down to the bullpen and was standing 10 feet from him as he warmed up and I find the 185 hard to believe. He's got a good frame, thick upper legs and muscular. He has to be 200, if not more, and it's a good 200. He will fill out some more, he's a big strong guy. He is still working on commanding his curve ball, but it's a legit MLB plus pitch. He throws it hard, and it has terrific bite. I was 2 rows behind home plate with a perfect view, and even sitting back there he buckled my knees a couple of times. He showed a change up later in the game, that looks like a work in progress but I think he can develop it. His problem last night was just a 4 seam fastball with little movement that he got up. He was overpowering the weaker hitters, but some of the better hitters squared it up pretty good. Every hard hit ball except one (a hanging curve that went for a deep out) was a fastball. The DH for K. County hit a bomb off of him in the 2nd, he was rarely flashing the curve early and guys were sitting on the fastball. He actually threw the ball better as the game went on, in the 6th he minimized damage after a single and an error to retire the top 3 hitters in the order, two on K's.

Summary: He's got the raw materials to be a very good pitcher, he needs to develop the change and a compliment a good fastball with a 2 seamer. Keep an eye on this guy, barring injury he's going to be a MLB pitcher.

--
C.J. McElroy, OF
I audibly chuckled when I saw this guy score from 1st on an extra base hit. When you watch an athlete whose body is absolutely perfectly designed to perform a skill and does so with such ease and such grace, it's a thing of beauty. That's the speed tool for Mr. McElroy, he is a true 80 on the scout scale. He coasted from 3rd to home and every nerve in his body looked so relaxed and he just was floating as he came home. Going around 2nd - that was another story. He had it in high gear, and all I can say is Wow!

At the plate he struggled, he's picked up switch hitting again and did not hit the ball with authority at all. He grounded out 4-3 on the first pitch he saw in the 1st(which was still exciting, every ground out he has a chance), popped up to first base the second trip up, and was just horribly overmatched the third time up when he was caught looking. He walked and scored his last appearance. He's going to really increase his value if he can switch hit and maximize the run tool, if he can we may be looking at the next Billy Hamilton. BA has his listed as our #24 prospect with a score of 50/Extreme.
---
Juan Herrera, SS
1-4, singled his second trip and hit the ball right on the screws his last time up to CF. He has very soft hands at SS, he had a ball come up on him and he made the play without difficulty. Arm looks like a 50, didn't see him run all out. Not much I can say, would like to see him more. I might go to the game tomorrow and get a second look. He has a 45/high rating from BA, and is listed as our #20 prospect.
---
Carson Kelly, DH
Tough night for Carson, 0-4 with 3 weak groundouts and a K. He just didn't look comfortable on any swing, and while I'm not writing him off by any stretch of the imagination this was the biggest disappointment of the night. He just showed nothing at the plate. Again, need more time to see.
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Steve Bean, C
Solid catcher, Tony Cruz better watch out. Very soft hands and terrific receiving skills, although he had two blocked pitches that he couldn't find. He's quick and agile, and has a strong arm. I was getting pop times on his throws between innings and they were right at 2.0-2.1 (2.0 is solid MLB average) and he looked like he was going at 90% speed. He was throwing as hard as he could, but he wasn't going through his footwork as quick I don't think. I think he's .1 more quicker than those times, which would give him a plus arm. That would be in my book a 60 glove/60 arm guy. He does need a loaf of bread and some soup, somebody please tell Mo to increase this young man's meal money. 6-2/190 is what he is listed, and I doubt he's 190. He could put 15 pounds on and it wouldn't hurt him. He was 0-4 but he hit two very high MLB quality fly balls. One of the things I look for in hitters is how the ball comes off the bat, and you can see that even with foul balls. And the ball popped off of his bat. There is potential there. If Carson Kelly was the most disappointing of the night, Steve Bean was the biggest surprise. Lots of if's with him, but he has the toolset to be a solid MLB catcher if it develops. BA has him as our #28 prospect, with a rating of 50/Extreme.
---
Others...
Bryan and a guy named Ringo both smoked the ball off of a weaker relief pitcher in the 9th.

Notes..
They all need to read the chapter on base running in the book "The Cardinal Way". We had a guy picked off of second, a guy caught stealing, and down 7-1 in the 9th Ringo rounded second way too hard on a double and the threw behind him with the 1B trailing. He looked out to me, they called him safe and he jammed his shoulder getting back to the base.

All in all there isn't a sure-fire star on this team, but it's loaded with lots of solid prospects. Definitely try to find a way to see them play if they are near you, it's well worth it.

Socnorb11
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Re: Peoria Chiefs

Post by Socnorb11 »

Great report, jim. Thanks for taking the time.

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