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Jose Ceda
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Pos: LHP. HT: 6’5”. WT: 205.
2006 Totals: 3-0, 3.52 ERA, 46 IP, 63 K, 22 BB, .194 AVG. AGAINST.

Is it too early to get excited about a 6’5”, 19-year-old right-hander with mid-to-high 90s heat and solid control thus far in his career? We think not.

The Cubs got Jose Ceda from the Padres’ farm system this past July in the trade that sent Todd Walker to San Diego. After joining the Cubs, Ceda yielded all of five runs and 11 hits in 23 innings. He struck out 32 and walked just nine, and now has a strikeout-to-walk ratio just shy of three to one through his first two years of pro ball.

How high is Ceda’s ceiling? So much so that both the Cubs and Padres likened his potential to such marquee names as Lee Smith and Jose Mesa.

Ceda can reach as high as 99 mph on the radar gun according to Padres Director of Professional and International Scouting Randy Smith.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean success, but it sure is a nice way to start,” Smith told MadFriars.com (the Padres’ equivalent to Inside The Ivy on the Scout.com network).

Ceda features a slider and changeup in his arsenal, and while pitching for the Mesa Cubs of the Arizona Rookie League, he fanned 21 batters in 12 innings, yielding one earned run for a 0.75 ERA in five outings with the club.

“It will be interesting to watch him develop,” Fleita said. “His arm works real well. He throws in the mid 90’s. We love the guy and think he has a great ceiling. We’re excited to have him.”


Steve Clevenger
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Pos: SS/3B. HT: 6’0”. WT: 185.
2006 Totals: .286 AVG, 63 G, 11 XBH, 21 RBI, .722 OPS.

Like Camp, the seventh-round pick from this past year’s draft did not disappoint in short-season A ball, and Clevenger’s coach at Chipola Junior College in Florida, Jeff Johnson, believes the 20-year-old is as well-polished of a hitter as you’ll find anywhere.

“He’s got gap-to-gap power and occasional home run power,” Johnson told us this past June. “He can really swing the bat. He’s very sound and fundamental. He’s just a very polished hitter.”

Playing against talent that mostly exceeded his age in Junior College, Clevenger batted .389 in his final season with Chipola and maintains a smooth, gap-to-gap approach at the plate. After arriving in Boise for his first taste of pro ball, he would lead the team with a .363 on-base percentage.

Despite hitting only two home runs at Boise, don’t be surprised if the left-handed bat adds some power to his swing — especially if he makes the move to third base, where he garnered some looks during Instructs.

Speaking of defense, Clevenger has the versatility to take on a number of infield positions. He struggled with 11 errors at second base (second highest in the league at his position) at Boise, but was primarily a shortstop in college. Thus, it’s likely those numbers were part of a learning curve.

Defensively, he has very good hands and average major league arm strength,” Johnson said of Clevenger after the draft. “He’s very smooth. I could perceive him moving to third base somewhere along the way.”
The move to third hasn’t happened ... yet.

Clevenger came to the Cubs primarily as a shortstop. Immediately upon arriving in Boise for the start of his professional career, however, he went right to work as the Class Low-A club’s starting second baseman.

He is now one of the many low-level Cubs prospects in the organization’s annual Instructional League camp in Arizona, where it’s no surprise that defense is front and center on his plate this month.

“I’m pretty much working on second and third base to see which position fits me better,” Clevenger says of Instructs.

And while Clevenger’s career is still in the beginning stages, he also proved Johnson right with regards to hitting this past season.

“As far as being a good, polished hitter, he’s as good as anybody out there,” Johnson said of the left-handed hitting Clevenger, who finished tied for ninth in the Northwest League in average with a .286 mark in 63 games.

“Average-wise, I think he’ll hit well everywhere he goes.”

Indeed, Clevenger’s numbers with the bat didn’t take much of a hit during the ascension from the junior college level to the minor leagues. He would overcome a 5-for-30 performance at the start of the season to finish with the fourth best batting average overall among Hawks players.

Clevenger struck out just 28 times in over 200 at-bats and drew almost equally as many walks with 26 on the year for a team-best .363 OBP.

He got on a roll midway through July, batting .358 in 25 games that month and having drawn 15 walks to only 11 strikeouts once August began.

“I thought I could have done a little bit better,” Clevenger said of his season at the plate. “I started off slow and then started to pick up toward the end.”

Clevenger made all 62 of his regular season starts at second with the Hawks and committed 11 errors while posting a .966 fielding percentage.

As modest as he is about his numbers at the plate, he believes the transition to second came with fairly decent success.

“I felt pretty good there. There’s a big difference between second and short,” he stated. “Turning the double plays is different. At short, everything is in front of you whereas at second base, you have to wait on everything.”

Now, he’s ready for another new position on the infield.

“It’s two totally different positions and it takes time to get used to both of them,” Clevenger said.

Inside The Ivy: What kind of a hitter do you see yourself as?

Steve Clevenger: I’m more of a line drive, gap hitter. I have some power, but I maintain a gap-to-gap approach.

Inside The Ivy: How would you rate yourself defensively?

Steve Clevenger: I’d say I’m above average. It just depends on where you play.

Matt Camp
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Pos: CF/2B. HT: 6’0”. WT: 175.
2006 Totals: .289 AVG, 74 G, 15 XBH, 37 RBI, .702 OPS.
It didn’t take long for the four-year college product of North Carolina State to impress the Cubs.

“Of the type of players I worked with in Instructs, the base-stealer types, he was the one that stood out,” said Cubs Outfield/Baserunning Instructor Bob Dernier.

Primarily the starting center fielder for Class Low A Boise, Camp led the Northwest League with 87 hits and later went to the annual Instructional League camp in Arizona, where he got some work in at second base.

The 22-year-old was drafted as an outfielder, but spent parts of his college career with the Wolfpack as a shortstop and second baseman. Along the way, injuries and errors helped lead to his transition to the outfield, he said.

Camp strikes us as a gritty, hard-nosed player that runs the bases well and will sacrifice his body on every ball hit his way. He showcased a keen eye for the strike zone at Boise, drawing 27 walks and whiffing only 32 times atop the Hawks’ lineup for a .350 on-base percentage.

With his speed, if Camp can continue on that pace as he progresses, he will most certainly be a force to reckon with once on the base pads.

Inside The Ivy: What are you working on at the moment?

Matt Camp: They’ve got me working at second base in order to become a utility player. In college, for most of the time, I was a second base/shortstop guy. I went through some injuries and errors in the infield, so that’s what brought me to the outfield. Our coach knew I was versatile. I went out and ended up taking it home. The Cubs knew that when they drafted me, so they let me do my thing in Boise. But once I got to instructs, they decided to put me back in the infield to see what I can do. Hopefully I’ll be able to move through the system. If I’m playing outfield and a man goes down at a higher level, I can play second base and still be a leadoff hitter. That’s a plus for me.