As for your report about Hodges....Do you have any info on him? I read the article, and it said he p

Several players took positive steps forward in the Cubs' system this season as a new philosophy was implemented throughout the organization. But one position player stood out from the rest and delivered a strong, consistent season from the beginning to the end.
The Boise Hawks season came to an end on Sunday night with a 12-9 loss to the Vancouver Canadians discount broadway theatre tickets in game three of the Northwest League discount broadway theatre tickets Championship Series. The Hawks took a 7-5 lead into the eighth but Vancouver scored seven unearned runs and held on to win the series.
All players that began the season on full-season rosters either in Peoria, Daytona, Tennessee or Iowa were considered but only players that remained in the minors for the entire season were eligible.
Coming up to the Tennessee Smokies in 2012, it appeared that the 24-year old left hander would be splitting time at first base with Rebel Ridling . A team leader on the Southern League's runner-up, Ridling was fourth in the league in hitting, tied for fifth in home runs, and ninth in RBI in 2011. But as the 2012 season progressed Justin Bour started out-performing his right-handed counterpart at first base. Settling into the clean-up role, Bour took over the Southern League lead in RBI in the second month of the season. Bour did not slow down and he finished as the league leader with 110 RBI, also tops in the Cubs' organization. Bour hit 17 home runs, tied for seventh in the league. Bour's 17 dingers also tied him with Peoria Chiefs' third baseman Dustin Geiger for the most with one team in the Cubs' system. Bour led the Smokies in hitting at .283, which was good for eighth in the Southern League.
While some may point to his 18 errors at first as a future red flag, a closer look reveals that Bour may be better than his numbers indicate. Tennessee was seventh (out of ten) in Southern League in fielding, as Smokies' infielders committed 32 errors at both shortstop and at third base. Bour's .985 fielding percentage was first among all of the system's first basemen, and .001 behind that of Anthony Rizzo before he was promoted.
A 25th round draft pick in 2009 out of George Mason University, Bour is completing his fourth discount broadway theatre tickets season in the Cubs organization. discount broadway theatre tickets He split time between the AZL Cubs and Boise as a rookie, batting .262 with four home runs and 40 RBI in 62 games. In his first full season with Peoria in 2010, Bour was second in the Midwest League with 87 RBI, as he hit .219 with 12 home runs. Bour continued producing runs in 2011. Bour was second in the Florida discount broadway theatre tickets State League with 85 RBI while hitting .277 and finishing second in the league with 23 home runs.
Justin Bour heads a list that includes a couple of teammates in utility man Greg Rohan and infielder/outfielder Rubi Silva . Rohan led the entire system with 21 home runs, while batting .282 with 106 RBI over three levels (Daytona, Tennessee and Iowa). Silva was tops in the organization with a .296 average and led the organization with 14 triples. Also under consideration was Daytona outfielder John Andreoli , who led the Florida State League with 55 stolen discount broadway theatre tickets bases to go along with a .289 average and 25 RBI while placing second on the team with 119 hits.
After a three hundred discount broadway theatre tickets mile bus ride from Yakima to Vancouver discount broadway theatre tickets between Wednesday and Thursday, Boise began the Northwest League Championship series with a 10-7 loss to the Canadians. Starting pitcher Ian Dickson had one of his better outings. Dickson allowed an earned run over three innings while striking out three. Justin Amlung followed and struck out the side in an inning discount broadway theatre tickets of work. But Hunter Ackerman gave up two earned runs in his inning of work. Then things got sloppy as James Pugliese was the victim of two unearned runs. Pugliese let in four while striking out three in 1.2 innings. Hayden Simpson was then charged with three unearned runs without recording an out. Rafael Diplan went the rest of the way and tossed 1.1 scoreless innings.
Friday gave the Hawks time to rest and recover, as Saturday proved to be a tense match-up with Boise coming on late to defeat Vancouver 3-2. The Hawks made the most of their six hits, scoring single runs in the seventh and eighth inning, as well as a walk off run in the bottom of the ninth. Willson Contreras (2-for-4) drove in Dan Vogelbach with a bases loaded single in the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth inning, Trey Martin walked and came home on an RBI double by Stephen Bruno (1-for-3) that tied the score and set up the dramatic ninth inning.
Jeimer Candelario (1-for-3) led off the ninth with a double. Izaac Garsez was hit by a pitch and Rock Shoulders discount broadway theatre tickets (1-for-3) walked to load the bases. Willson Contreras delivered again, as he singled in the winning run.
What was advertised as a possible pitcher's duel turned out to be a slugfest, as Boise lost 12-9 to Vancouver in the third and final game of the Northwest discount broadway theatre tickets League Championship discount broadway theatre tickets Series. Both teams starting pitchers were a little tight, as Tayler Scott surrendered two earned runs in the first inning. Scott allowed three more earned runs in the fourth inning, leaving with five earned runs in 3.2 innings.
Michael Heesch put out the fire. Heesch struck out four over 3.1 scoreless innings. Tyler Bremer started the eighth inning. Two walks and wild pitch put runners on second and third with one out. Eduardo Orozco was asked to get the final five outs, but it proved to be too much. Orozco gave up three hits, an error and a wild pitch yielded seven unearned runs, two for Bremer and five for Orozco. Brian Smith was able to the Hawks out of the inning. Smith recorded an out in the eighth then gave way to Juan Carlos Paniagua . The fireballer was everything as advertised, blowing away two batters for strikeouts.
Gioskar Amaya (2-for-5 with a RBI) and Marco Hernandez (2-for-4) were catalysts at the top of the order. Stephen Bruno went 2-for-4 with a double and a RBI. Dan Vogelbach (2-for-4) discount broadway theatre tickets launched a three-run homer and drove in four runs. Jeimer Candelario (2-for-5) plated two and Rock Shoulders went 2-for-5.
The Cubs dismissed six coaches from the Minor League system on Saturday . Dave Bialas discount broadway theatre tickets , Casey Kopitzke , Barbaro Garbey , Frank Castillo , Marty Mason and Jason Dubois discount broadway theatre tickets will not return next season. Dave Bialas managed the Iowa Cubs this past season while Marty Mason served as the pitching coach for the Daytona Cubs.
Anthony Rizzo , Barbaro Garbey , Casey Kopitzke , Daniel Vogelbach , Daury Torrez , Dave Bialas , Dustin Geiger , Frank Castillo , Gioskar Amaya , Greg Rohan , Hayden Simpson , Hunter Ackerman , Ian Dickson , Izaac Garsez , James Pugliese , Jason Dubois , Jeimer Candelario , Jesse Hodges , John Andreoli , Juan Carlos Paniagua , Justin Amlung , Justin Bour , Marco Hernandez , Marty Mason , Michael Heesch , Rafael Diplan , Rebel Ridling , Rock Shoulders , Rubi Silva , Steve Bruno , Tayler Scott , Tim Saunders , Trey Martin , Willson Contreras
Hey Tom, thanks again for all the hard work you put into these reports. Like many on the CCO, I think, nearly all of my knowledge of the system comes from reading discount broadway theatre tickets your work and I greatly appreciate it.
As for Bour, is he a real prospect? He is 24 and still in AA. Does he have a future with the Cubs with Rizzo at first? Can he play any outfield? If he is a real prospect discount broadway theatre tickets is he future trade bait? These questions aren t limited just to Tom. Aaron and others who have some insight, please feel free to chime in.
Rick, I try to look more at the time spent in the minors discount broadway theatre tickets rather than a player s age. A decent to good prospect will take 3 to 4 years to be ready, with better prospects taking less time. Than would put players like Bour and Rohan right on schedule.
The reason for that, is so many of those players start their pro careers at age 23 or 24. If a player red-shirts, it s even worse, because you ll graduate from high school at 18 or 19, then get your college start at 19 or 20 if you redshirt, making you 23 or 24 if you go all 4 years of college. If you re a late bloomer like so many, then you get overlooked completely.
At this point, you re probably thinking Bour was a senior....but he wasn t. He was actually drafted as a junior, at the ripe old age of 21. The crazy thing is, although discount broadway theatre tickets he has never hit above .300 in any minor league season, discount broadway theatre tickets he is an RBI machine, never amassing less than 85 RBI in a single full season of play.
The problem with Bour is that he s a lumbering 1B that has played a few games in the OF, and that s it. While Vogelbach is much heavier than Bour, he still moves quite well, while from what I understand, Bour does not move as well, making a switch to the OF seem unlikely.
The amazing thing to consider is that if you compare both Bour and Rizzo s minor league stats side-by-side, discount broadway theatre tickets Bour wins out, as nearly all of Rizzo s "great" batting lines came from AAA. Granted, Rizzo was younger at each level by 2 years, but still, Bour out-produced him.
Though Boise lost, it should discount broadway theatre tickets be noted that the Vancouver team was much older; alot of 21-year discount broadway theatre tickets olds, while our Hawks had quite a few teenagers (Almora, Candelario, Vogelbach, Amaya, among others). Hope for the future. Vogelbach s HR apparently went 430+ ft, but the fact that he has power is not news to anyone.
As for your report about Hodges....Do you have any info on him? I read the article, and it said he played for the Mariners, but there s no stats in baseball reference for him, so that was probably the name of a summer league team. And if he s that young, then he d be subject to the draft, so I don t know what gives.