Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya smiled on the point out of right-hander Ben Brown.
“He’s nasty,” Amaya mentioned.
Amaya caught all 4 of Brown’s begins at Double-A Tennessee earlier than the Chicago Cubs promoted the 6-foot-6 right-hander to Triple-A Iowa over the weekend. Brown posted an 0.45 ERA in 20 innings at Double A, surrendering only one earned run whereas totaling 30 strikeouts and solely six walks.
“Awesome dude,” Amaya mentioned. “He trusts his stuff, he attacks the zone and goes after hitters. That’s why he’s having success.”
Brown, acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on the commerce deadline final yr for reliever David Robertson, has shortly positioned himself to earn a call-up. Before he will get to that time, the Cubs wished to get a greater understanding of the place he’s in his growth by shifting him as much as Iowa. The “enhanced-grip” baseballs Major League Baseball is testing within the Double-A Southern League have noticeably affected pitch motion.
General supervisor Carter Hawkins and pitching coach Tommy Hottovy highlighted the worth of getting Brown out of the tackier baseball atmosphere at Double A. Brown, 23, is scheduled to make his Triple-A debut Thursday.
“We’re candidly trying to figure out the effect of the baseballs in Double A and how much that plays into the form of some guys,” Hawkins mentioned. “He’s done really well, regardless, but getting him back to the old baseballs at Triple A and getting back his comfort level there will be helpful to really have a better sense of how close he is to the big leagues.”
The stickiness of the Double-A baseballs has created a higher-than-normal spin fee, mentioned Amaya, who counseled Brown for making that work to his benefit.
“If guys are going to be part of our depth piece and part of the guys that we feel like can help us, we need to make sure that they’re in Triple A using balls that they’re going to be using here and not trying to jump back and forth between Double A and here,” Hottovy mentioned.
“He’s just really impressed with his demeanor, his personality. He knows who he is. He knows what he can do well and he also knows what he has to work on and keeps it very simple. It doesn’t really need to be any harder than that, honestly.”
Starting pitching depth gave the impression to be an organizational power popping out of spring coaching. One month into the season it already is being examined. While the Cubs have depth in numbers, usable choices have taken a success.
Right-hander Adrian Sampson is sidelined in Iowa with an infected proper shoulder blade. Right-hander Caleb Kilian struggled in his big-league season debut Saturday, extending his inconsistency when receiving major-league possibilities, albeit in a small pattern dimension of 4 begins. Right-hander Javier Assad has been working to construct up after starting the season within the Cubs bullpen.
“My experience as a farm director is it’s always feast or famine, like there’s never an in-between stage, like, ‘Oh, this is nice, it feels good,’ ” Hawkins mentioned. “It always feels like you have too much or you have too little. And I think we’re running into that right now.”
The Cubs recalled Assad on Wednesday and put catcher Yan Gomes on the seven-day concussion injured record, retroactive to Tuesday.
Right-hander Kyle Hendricks continues to work towards his return. He made his second rehab begin with Iowa on Wednesday, throwing 62 pitches (34 strikes) in 2⅔ innings. Hendricks allowed two hits, 4 runs on a grand slam, three walks and struck out three. The Cubs focused him for 4 innings or between 60 and 65 pitches.
“When you talk about all the new moving parts that you have in the course of the season with the roster, it can’t just be a couple of guys — it needs to be a group of guys that can step up,” Hottovy mentioned. “It’s not similar to, oh, you have got this Rolodex of names you may name up and so they’re going to come back up and throw seven innings and shut out a staff. It’s extra about how you should use all of the items collectively as a result of it’s a puzzle.
“It’s a good test for us continue to work as a group to put guys in the best chance to be successful.”
After the Cubs’ 2-1 loss Wednesday at Nationals Park — their fourth one-run lack of the street journey — supervisor David Ross mentioned right-hander Jameson Taillon would return from the injured record Thursday to begin the sequence finale. Taillon went on the IL retroactive to April 17 with a left groin pressure. He got here out of Tuesday’s simulated sport feeling good, establishing Thursday’s return.
“Stability in the rotation is huge,” left fielder Ian Happ mentioned. “You throw the five guys that are going out there every day, especially a pretty proven group besides Hayden (Wesneski) making his first full season, everybody else has had a lot of success. Getting JMo back in that rotation will definitely bring some stability here.”
Brown’s growth and Jordan Wicks’ encouraging final three begins at Tennessee will add to the starter choices.
Brown’s electrical fastball, complemented by his curveball and a sweeping slider he developed within the offseason, has fueled his success. The Cubs like how he assaults the strike zone and wish him to proceed to house in on his secondary pitches to spherical out his repertoire and improve the effectiveness of the run he can produce together with his fastball.
“He’s coming at you,” Hottovy mentioned. “He’s not afraid to attack the strike zone. He’s not afraid to come at some of the best hitters in the league.”
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Source: www.bostonherald.com