Since the Cubs major league team is already blowing games and making bad mental errors, lets focus for a little bit about the hope for the Cubs fans and examine the Cubs minor league system through a couple of games.
The Iowa Cubs, the Triple A team, has gotten off the a 3-3 start. It does not seem that impressive but the individual numbers so far are very good for some of the Cubs top prospect. Cubs top prospect, Anthony Rizzo is already putting the heat on Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer to consider bringing him up in a month or two. Through six games, Rizzo has .391 average with three home runs and nine runs batted in. His fellow teammate, Brett Jackson is also putting the pressure on the front office to bring him up in May or June. Jackson has a .320 average with two doubles, a triple, four runs batted in. Jackson is the Cubs number two prospect and could be brought up before Rizzo with the slow starts of Marylon Byrd and David DeJesus.
Another prospect who is off to a hot start at Iowa is the Cubs top third base prospect, Josh Vitters. The Cubs have had high hopes for Vitters but he has yet to impress the Cubs front office. Maybe this will finally be the year he will break through. Vitters is batting .421 with three runs batted in. It’s still very early in the season so batting averages can be very high and very low, but the hot starts for some of the Cubs top prospects is very good news.
Other notables in Triple A:
- Tony Campana: .333 AVG with five stolen bases
- Adrian Cardenas: .318 AVG, one home runs,and four RBI’s
Down in Double A, the Tennessee Smokies have gotten off to a 4-1 start. A lot of players down in Tennessee are top prospects for the Cubs. #8 prospect, pitcher Robert Whitenack and #10 prospect, shortstop Junior Lake have not yet made appearances yet. The most interesting player to watch in Tennessee is starting pitcher, Nicholas Struck. Struck is not on the Cubs top 20 prospect but he sure pitches like it. Struck dominated all levels of the minors last year. In his one start this year, Struck went six innings allowing four hits and just one run. If he keeps pitching like this, the Cubs will be forced to give him a shot in the majors.
The Cubs have three Single A teams. The Daytona Cubs are the A+ team, Peoria Chiefs are A, and Boise Hawks are A-. Here’s a look at some top players on those teams.
Daytona:
- Ronald Torreyes (#12 prospect): .250 AVG in 12 plate appearances
- Matthew Szczur (#4 prospect): .133 AVG in 15 plate appearances
- Hayden Simpson: 4.1IP 2.08 ERA
- Zach Cates (#20 prospect): 1IP 54.00 ERA
Peoria:
- Pin Chieh Chen (#19 prospect): .250 AVG in 12AB
- Reggie Golden (#9 prospect): .176 AVG in 17AB
Boise has not started their season yet.
Check back in next weekend for the Cubs prospect Update!