Weekend Minor League Report

Here are your Monday Morning Bullets, with all the latest info from the Cubs Minor League System:

• Jeff Samardzija made his Peoria debut and took the loss yesterday. Samardzija went 5 innings, and gave up 2 hits, 3 ER, 3 walks, and only struck out 1. All three runs were given up in the first, and afterwards Samardzija settled down nicely, and reportedly touched 96.
• Felix Pie keeps heating it up down at Iowa, going 5-11 with 2 doubles and a HR combined this weekend. Pie has raised his average to .268 now with his numbers at 268/327/408.
• On Saturday, Rich Hill, who is likely to get the major league call with Carlos Marmol and Sean Marshall both suffering injuries this weekend, moved to 7-1 by going 7.1 IP and only giving up 1 hit, 1 walk, and struck out 14. Finally Hill will have a chance to prove that he has what it takes to make it in the majors. Hopefully, Hill will get more than 1 or 2 starts to prove he has what it takes.
  
• Scott Williamson was traded to San Diego for 2 minor leaguers that will be placed on the Peoria roster. Here is an excellent writeup on the two pitchers acquired.
  
• With the injuries to the Chicago Cubs pitching staff mentioned above, as well as the Scott Williamson trade, both David Aardsma and Michael Weurtz got called up over the weekend.
• Down at Boise, Tyler Colvin has shown that he is probably ready for a promotion where his numbers are now 284/349/516 as he went 2-7 this weekend with a couple doubles.
  
• One of Colvin's teammates, another 2006 draftee Matt Camp, has also turned the corner at Boise and is now hitting .294 in the leadoff spot but needs to improve his stolen base efficiency where he has 6 stolen bases in 11 attempts.

Notes: Baseball America's weekend dish is worth checking out as it discusses Rich Hill's dominance of AAA and his lack of success one level above. Also noted in the dish is a Boise brawl, sparked by Boise outfielder Alfred Joseph. Keeping with the Baseball America and Rich Hill trend, their most recent Ask BA session includes a similar topic. More Cubs and Baseball America info as Today's Daily Dish features mentions of Jeff Samardzija and Tyler Colvin. Also, over at InsideTheIvy.com, there is an article on Mark Pawalek and the reason for his slow start to the 2006 season.