Weekend Minor League Report

This weekend, I spent the majority of my time watching the US Open, the World Cup, and College World Series, so luckily I missed the ugly performance the big league club displayed against the Detroit Tigers.

Here are a few bullet points that summed up my experience this weekend:

• Phil Mickelson & Colin Montgomerie blew it.
• US Soccer has a tremendous opportunity to capture this nation on Thursday if they can make it to the round of 16. They need to beat Ghana, and Italy must beat the Czech Republic to advance.
• Andrew Miller has nasty stuff, and the UNC/CSF baseball game on Friday night was great. My alma mater, the Tarheels, after the win against Clemson yesterday, are now one win away from the championship series.
  
• The Ghana/Czech Republic match on Saturday was some of the most riveting soccer that I have watched in some time. OK, so it is the first soccer match that I have watched since the last World Cup, but it really was riveting.
• I saw Marquez Smith and Tyler Colvin, both Clemson Tigers drafted by the Cubs each get an at-bat yesterday against UNC. Marquez Smith struck out and Tyler Colvin popped up with men in scoring position, so both guys will fit in nicely with the Cubs.
  
• I have a wonderful wife and kids that made Father's day great yesterday.
  

Now onto to Cubs minor league system:

• Sean Gallagher made his first AA start going only 5 innings and walking 4, but wasn't terribly overmatched. Watch Gallagher, as this is a big test for a guy who is only in his 2nd year of professional ball.
• Jake Fox and Matt Craig posted 0-1 and 0-2 efforts in the FSL all-star game, while Sam Fuld went 1-4 in the leadoff position.
  
• Mark Reed went 8-14 over the weekend and raised his average back to .343
• Donald Veal (5-3) went 6 shutout innings and lowered his ERA to 2.69

Here are some reasons why you should be excited about the start of the Boise Hawks season today:

• #1 Cubs Prospect, Mark Pawalek will take the mound for the Hawks. Be patient with Pawalek, but watch his IP/K ration and K/BB ratio as these numbers will be more telling than his ERA and wins and losses
• Cubs inked 2nd rounder, Jeff Samardzija, to a 5 year deal and he will start out in Boise. It is likely that Samardzija will move up quickly, if he is successful.
• Here is the Boise Roster which includes several 2006 draft picks, Samardzija (5th), Steven Clevenger (7th), brother of Red Sox closer, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jeremy Papelbon (19th).