Weekend Quick Hits: No Position Change for Colvin, Six Men in the Rotation, The Smokies Must Win ,& More

The Chicago Cubs are red hot for the first time this year! They've one five in a row and have looked sharp ever since Mike Quade took over the team. They swept the Cardinals this week and won the first game in Florida last night behind a great outing from Ryan Dempster.

By the final week of the regular season, more frequent posting is expected to resume!

For now, let's catch up:

• Tom Gorzelanny will return to the rotation on Friday as the Cubs host the Cardinals.
• Moving Tyler Colvin to first base has been put on hold for now according to Cubs.com.
• Mike Quade mentioned yesterday that the younger players will see action in the final game of the series on Sunday. Sam Fuld, Brad Snyder, Jeff Samardzija, and Welington Castillo are all expected to be in the starting lineup tomorrow.
• Today is the 51st birthday of Ryne Sandberg!
• The Cubs Double-A affiliate in Tennessee will play Jacksonville tonight in game four of the Southern League Championship series. It is a must-win game for the Smokies, who trail the best-of-five series two games to one.
• Brandon Guyer was named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Year and Chris Archer the Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
• The Cubs are going with the six-man rotation for now.
• The schedule for 2011 was released this week. Click here to check it out. The Cubs open up at home against the Pirates.

We plan to have several posts during the week this coming week, including a Former Cub Update. A soon as the regular season ends, the best time of the year for blogging starts. Come to Everything Cubs everyday this winter as we help you though your offseason with features, news, and plenty of rumors.

The Down on the Farm Report 7/3/10

With all my other writings on the Cubs system, I haven't had much of a chance to update this site on Cubs prospects yet this season. Now that the present isn't looking so great, it's a perfect time to look to the future! If you are not aware yet, I tweet about the Cubs minor league system. Go to www.twitter.com/cubsfarmupdates. Also, I write a Down on the Farm Report twice a week (Mondays and Thursdays) over at www.ChicagoCubsOnline.com.

Now let's get into how the future Cubs are doing, level by level.

AAA-Iowa Cubs
Overall Record: 43-37
Place in Division: 3rd, 0.5 GB of first
Leading Hitter: Matt Camp, .302
HR Leader: Jason Dubois, 11
RBI Leader: Micah Hoffpauir, 54
Best OBP: Bobby Scales, .389
Best ERA: Thomas Diamond, 2.53
Best WHIP: Jay Jackson, 1.10
Most Wins: Casey Coleman, 7
Most Ks: Thomas Diamond, 87
Saves Leader: Brian Schlitter, 12- promoted to MLB
AAA-All Stars (July 14): Pitcher Thomas Diamond and SS Darwin Barney
Futures Game: Manager Ryne Sandberg will serve as a coach for the World Team

AA-Tennessee Smokies
Overall Record: 48-32
First Half Finish: First Place, clinched playoff birth
Second Half Record: 6-5
Place in division: 2nd, 1 GB
Leading Hitter: Tony Campana, .321
HR Leader: Russ Canzer/Ty Wright (promoted to AAA), 10
RBI Leader: Ty Wright, 51- promoted to AAA
Best OBP: Blake Lalli, .383
Best ERA: Hung-Wen Chen, 2.96
Best WHIP: Austin Bibens-Dirkx, 1.01
Wins Leader: Hung-Wen Chen, 8
Ks Leader: Craig Muschko, 8
Saves Leader: David Cales, 10
Southern League All-Star (July 12) Starters: Blake Lalli, Robinson Chirinos, and Tony Campana
Southern League All-Star Reserves: Steve Clevenger, Ty Wright (replaced on roster, callup)
Southern League All-Star Pitchers: Austin Bibens-Dirkx, Hung-Wen Chen, David Cales, and Ryan Butcher
MLB Futures Game: Outfielder Brett Jackson will play for U.S. team, manager Bill Dancy will be a coach for team U.S.A.

Class-A Advanced Daytona Cubs
Overall Record: 39-40
First Half Finish: 5th, 7 GB
Second Half Record: 5-4
Place in Division: Tied for 2nd, 2 GB
Leading Hitter: Brett Jackson, .316 promoted to AA-Tennessee
HR Leader: Brett Jackson, 6
RBI Leader: DJ LeMahieu, 51
Best OBP: Brett Jackson, .420
Best ERA: Chris Archer, 2.86
Best WHIP: Chris Rusin, 1.07
Win Leader: Chris Archer, 7
K Leader: Chris Archer, 82
Saves Leader: Luke Sommer, 6
FSL All-Stars: (played in the game on June 12): Jackson, Rafael Dolis, Aaron Shafer

Class-A Peoria Chiefs
Overall Record: 41-36
First Half Finish: 3rd, 5.5 GB
Second Half Record: 3-5
Place in Division: Tied for 6th, 3 GB
Leading Hitter: Greg Rohan, .290
HR Leader: Justin Bour, 8
RBI Leader: Greg Rohan, 50
Best OBP: Matt Cerda, .370
Best ERA: Su-Min Jung, 3.74
Best WHIP: Jeffry Antigua, 1.37
Wins Leader: Trey McNutt/Rob Whitenack, 6
Ks Leader: Try McNutt, 70 promoted to Daytona
Saves Leader: Jordan Latham, 10
Midwest League All-Stars (June 22): Hak-Ju Lee, Logan Watkins, Matt Cerda, & Trey McNutt
Futures Game (July 11): Hak-Ju Lee, World Team

Updates from this year's draft picks, the Boise Hawks, and the Mesa Cubs next time!

End of the Week Quick Hits: Minor League All-Stars, Tracy Released, Dusty on the Cubs, and More

• According to a post from ESPNChicago.com, Chad Tracy cleared waivers and opted for his release instead of reporting to AAA-Iowa.
• Jeff Dickerson reports that Carlos Zambrano will need a minor league tune-up start before rejoining the Cubs pitching staff after the All-Star Break.
• On Sunday at Noon CT, the MLB All-Star Selection Show will be live on TBS. One player from each team has to be named to the Midsummer Classic, so there will be at least one Cub. Carlos Silva, Marlon Byrd, Carlos Marmol, and Alfonso Soriano are the four Cubs that have a shot.
• Phil Rogers of the Tribune tossed out the name Sean Marshall for the NL team, but it's tough for a middle relief guy to be an All-Star.
• Dusty Baker says that managing the Cubs is tough because the fans are restless after 100+ years without a World Series.
• Writer George Castle thinks the Lou needs to make three changes: move Castro to the two hole, move Colvin to the middle of the order, and move Cashner to the rotation.
• The Cubs and the City of Mesa are holding meetings in effort to reach a formal agreement to keep the team in the city for Spring Training, according to the Tribune.
• Ryan Theriot is out of the lineup again today, making it three straight days without a start. Mike Fontenot is batting second and playing second, with Koyie Hill behind the plate and Tyler Colvin leading off in left.
• Former Cub Sean Gallagher was DFA'd by the Padres yesterday.
• Mark Prior's agent says that one club wants to sign him after his workout this week. Tom Krasovic tweets that 15 scouts were there and Prior hit 90 mph.
• A GM poll conducted by ESPN.com says that most general managers think that Jim Hendry is the easiest guy to make a deal with.
• The Padres are looking to add some offense, so MLBTR speculates that Xavier Nady could be an option for San Diego.
• Dan McNeil thinks that Carlos Zambrano is a lost cause.
• The Cubs are 11 games under .500 for the first time under Lou Piniella.
• Iowa Cubs Darwin Barney (SS) and Thomas Diamond (RHP) have been named to the Triple-A All-Star Game, which is Wednesday July 14 at 6:00 on MLB Network.
• The Tennessee Smokies send nine guys to the Southern League All-Star game on July 12. Blake Lalli, Tony Campana, and Robinson Chirinos are all in the starting lineup. Steve Clevenger (catcher) and pitchers Austin Bibens-Dirkx, David Cales, Ryan Butcher, and Hung-Wen Chen are also on the squad. Outfielder Ty Wright was selected as well, but he has been replaced because of his promotion to AAA-Iowa.

That's it for now, but I'll keep you posted on Everything Cubs as always.