NewsCashner, Vitters to play in Fall League
Cubs' top prospects will join roster of Mesa Solar Sox
By Carrie Muskat / MLB.com
08/25/09 4:46 PM ET
CHICAGO -- Andrew Cashner, the Cubs' No. 1 pick in the 2008 Draft, and third baseman Josh Vitters, the top pick in 2007, will play for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.Cashner, who is pitching for Double-A Tennessee, will be joined by lefties John Gaub and James Russell, and right-hander Blake Parker, who were all pitching for Triple-A Iowa.
Catcher Welington Castillo and shortstop Starlin Castro also will play for the Solar Sox. Castro, 19, who played on the World team in the All-Star Futures Game, will be the youngest player in the league. He has hit .300 at every level since he was signed by the Cubs in October 2006, and through Monday, was hitting .300 in 19 games at Tennessee with nine RBIs.
Vitters has been slowed by a hand injury this year, and was batting .237 with two homers, five doubles, two triples and 15 RBIs at Class A Daytona.
Castillo spent time with the big league team in Spring Training, and was batting .218 with 11 homers and 38 RBIs in 87 games for Tennessee.
Cashner began the season at Daytona, where he posted a 1.50 ERA in 12 starts, and was moved up to Tennessee in early July, where he has a 2-3 record and 3.57 ERA in 10 starts, striking out 38 over 45 1/3 innings.
Bo Porter, who played for the Cubs and is currently a coach on the Florida Marlins, will manage the team, which will play its home games at HoHoKam Park in Mesa, Ariz., while Dennis Lewellyn, who has been a coach in the Cubs system, will be the Solar Sox pitching coach.
The 18th annual Arizona Fall League season begins Oct. 13 and runs through Nov. 19 with the Rising Stars game on Nov. 7 and the championship game set for Nov. 21. Every game can be followed live on Gameday on MLB.com and MLBFallBall.com.
Carrie Muskat is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
