Top Ten Emerging Cub Prospects

[Guest]

i'm guessing you just forgot about beliveau, because it doesn't make a ton of sense to have batista and harman on your list for beating up on low A batters while beliveau is dominating AA.

 

Yeah, I just missed him... I only keep up with the Cubs prospects on a very part time basis.

 

Tell me about him & what is your list?!?

 

i don't know that much about him except that he's very tough on lefties, strikes out opposing batters at a high rate and allows few hits. all of those things have strong correlation with future success in the majors.

 

Low 90s FB, plus slider.

[CubsWin]

i'd have a really hard time coming up with a cubs list right now. obviously brett jackson, mcnutt and baez (assuming he signs) would appear toward the top, but the cubs just have a huge amount of guys who profile as average major league players if they reach their ceilings - generic middle relievers (beliveau, harman), average starters (whitenack, beeler, struck), average hitters (lemahieu, flaherty, etc). then there are young but raw guys throughout short season ball.

I would add Szczur and Ha to your list of prospects who profile as above average. With the possibility of some the young guys from short season emerging to be that in the future like Wells, Golden, etc.

[Little Slide Rooter]

i'd have a really hard time coming up with a cubs list right now. obviously brett jackson, mcnutt and baez (assuming he signs) would appear toward the top, but the cubs just have a huge amount of guys who profile as average major league players if they reach their ceilings - generic middle relievers (beliveau, harman), average starters (whitenack, beeler, struck), average hitters (lemahieu, flaherty, etc). then there are young but raw guys throughout short season ball.

I would add Szczur and Ha to your list of prospects who profile as above average. With the possibility of some the young guys from short season emerging to be that in the future like Wells, Golden, etc.

 

I agree with Szczur, but I think Ha profiles with the average hitters group. His best tool is reportedly his defense.

[Guest]

Average hitters with plus defense are better than average players. And 20 year old CFs hitting .303/.336/.483/.820 are better than average anyway.

[Guest]

Ha has better present power and I think he will continue to have the advantage over Szczur there. And his arm is such an incredible weapon in the outfield.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Jacskon, Ha, and Szczur could one day very well end up a very good, speedy outfield for us. They'd cover a ton of ground between them. There may be no such thing as a gapper. Probably at least 3 years away though.

[davell]

I agree that Szczur and Ha have better than "average major leaguer" potential, to go along with B Jax, Vitters and McNutt.......I'm not going to include any of the recent draftees(although, It'll be fun to look at how many possibilities from this draft class COULD make this list.) That said, I'm OK with going ahead and labeling Struck in this category of average starter(body type being the issue for me, which may not even be a good enough reason honestly). I can even understand Whitenack, if for nothing else, the injury is going to impede his progress for sure. But Beeler? I'm not seeing anything yet out of him that doesn't have me very excited. Big guy, very solid velo, and very solid control. Is he just a two pitch guy? Or is there something else I'm missing on him? Because he appears to have just about everything we were gushing about last year with McNutt. Right?

[TruffleShuffle]

I agree that Szczur and Ha have better than "average major leaguer" potential, to go along with B Jax, Vitters and McNutt.......I'm not going to include any of the recent draftees(although, It'll be fun to look at how many possibilities from this draft class COULD make this list.) That said, I'm OK with going ahead and labeling Struck in this category of average starter(body type being the issue for me, which may not even be a good enough reason honestly). I can even understand Whitenack, if for nothing else, the injury is going to impede his progress for sure. But Beeler? I'm not seeing anything yet out of him that doesn't have me very excited. Big guy, very solid velo, and very solid control. Is he just a two pitch guy? Or is there something else I'm missing on him? Because he appears to have just about everything we were gushing about last year with McNutt. Right?

 

mcnutt has allowed 144 hits in 180 innings while beeler has allowed just over a hit per inning. mcnutt's k rate is a little higher too. just based on the stats, mcnutt looks like a guy who could be a #2/3 whereas beeler looks more like a guy who is a #3-5 - more hittable and working off his control rather than great stuff. but i don't know enough about beeler's stuff to say how good it is relative to mcnutt's stuff.

[Guest]

I agree that Szczur and Ha have better than "average major leaguer" potential, to go along with B Jax, Vitters and McNutt.......I'm not going to include any of the recent draftees(although, It'll be fun to look at how many possibilities from this draft class COULD make this list.) That said, I'm OK with going ahead and labeling Struck in this category of average starter(body type being the issue for me, which may not even be a good enough reason honestly). I can even understand Whitenack, if for nothing else, the injury is going to impede his progress for sure. But Beeler? I'm not seeing anything yet out of him that doesn't have me very excited. Big guy, very solid velo, and very solid control. Is he just a two pitch guy? Or is there something else I'm missing on him? Because he appears to have just about everything we were gushing about last year with McNutt. Right?

 

mcnutt has allowed 144 hits in 180 innings while beeler has allowed just over a hit per inning. mcnutt's k rate is a little higher too. just based on the stats, mcnutt looks like a guy who could be a #2/3 whereas beeler looks more like a guy who is a #3-5 - more hittable and working off his control rather than great stuff. but i don't know enough about beeler's stuff to say how good it is relative to mcnutt's stuff.

 

The stats match the reports on their stuff. McNutt throws harder (94-98 vs. Beeler's 92-94). McNutt also has a good change which he can get outs with to go along with his FB and power curve. Most reports on Beeler don't even mention a change, just the FB and slider.

[CubsWin]

Any scouting reports on Rhoderick's stuff? I remember him having a good FB, but I don't know about anything else. He and Beliveau could be ready soon. I'd like to see both be given a long look for bullpen spots next season. You can throw Dolis in that group as well if his control improves.

[CubsWin]

The minor league season is now three months old, and the short-season teams have been in action for three weeks. It's time to take another look at the Cubs top ten emerging prospects.

 

Here's the original list:

 

1. Robert Whitenack, RHP, 22 (AA)

2. Jae-Hoon Ha, OF, 20 (A+)

3. Austin Kirk, LHP, 20 (A-)

4. Micah Gibbs, C, 22 (A-)

5. Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, 22 (AA)

6. Justin Bour, 1B, 22 (A+)

7. Nick Struck, RHP, 21 (A+)

8. Dallas Beeler, RHP, 21 (A-)

9. Brett Wallach, RHP, 22 (A+)

10. Frank Batista, RHP, 22 (A+)

 

With the emergence of some of the younger prospects in short-season and Dominican leagues, I think this list changes quite a bit. You can make solid arguments for Ha, Kirk and possibly Struck and Bour. Rhoderick and Batista are still in the discussion, but Gibbs' bat has really fallen off, Beeler is struggling after a very aggressive promotion to AA and Wallach has not been impressive at all.

 

Meanwhile, there are a number of 20-and-under prospects worthy of consideration. At the top of that list is 19-year-old 2nd round pick Reggie Golden. He's hitting .313/.432/.463 while going 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. 19-year-old, 5th round pick Wes Darvill, who showed some mastery of the Arizona League last year, is surpassing those numbers in the Northwest League so far this season. 18-year-old, right-hander, Ben Wells hasn't exactly dominated the NWL in his first 5 games, but he hasn't been terrible either, holding opposing batters to a .247 average with a 2.3 GO/AO. Plus, he's 18 and in the NWL. 19-year-old, SS, Arismendy Alcantara is holding his own in the Midwest League. Plus, he's 19 and in the MWL. 6'4", 20-year-old, right-hander Starling Peralta has put himself on the prospect map with a good debut in Peoria and a 24/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 16 hits in 18 innings so far. 19-year-old, third baseman Dustin Geiger has been tearing up AZL pitching to the tune of a 1.077 OPS. And latin american prospects Gioskar Amaya, Marco Hernandez, and Oliver Zapata are all 18 and OPSing around .850 for Mesa. And we haven't even mentioned the prospects in the Dominican Summer League yet. Of course, a lot of these younger guys suffer from SSSS, but you gotta go with what you got.

 

So the list (in no particular order) goes:

 

Ha

Kirk

Struck

Bour

Rhoderick

Batista

Golden

Darvill

Geiger

Wells

Alcantara

Peralta

Amaya

Hernandez

Zapata

 

Throw in the DSL guys:

 

Candelario (17) - 3B .366/.471/.491

Penalver (17) - IF .281/.406/.333

Arcila (18) - RF .263/.375/.516

Baez (17) - CF .303/.384/.418 with 21 SB in 24 attempts

Santana (17) - RHP 0.86 WHIP in 35 IP

Morel (17) - RHP More than a K per IP, 1.08 WHIP

 

That's 21. This is tough. Who makes your top 10?

[toonsterwu]

Any scouting reports on Rhoderick's stuff? I remember him having a good FB, but I don't know about anything else. He and Beliveau could be ready soon. I'd like to see both be given a long look for bullpen spots next season. You can throw Dolis in that group as well if his control improves.

 

Rhoderick, to the best of my recollection, is a 92-94 fastball guy with a good slider.

[toonsterwu]

The minor league season is now three months old, and the short-season teams have been in action for three weeks. It's time to take another look at the Cubs top ten emerging prospects.

 

Here's the original list:

 

1. Robert Whitenack, RHP, 22 (AA)

2. Jae-Hoon Ha, OF, 20 (A+)

3. Austin Kirk, LHP, 20 (A-)

4. Micah Gibbs, C, 22 (A-)

5. Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, 22 (AA)

6. Justin Bour, 1B, 22 (A+)

7. Nick Struck, RHP, 21 (A+)

8. Dallas Beeler, RHP, 21 (A-)

9. Brett Wallach, RHP, 22 (A+)

10. Frank Batista, RHP, 22 (A+)

 

With the emergence of some of the younger prospects in short-season and Dominican leagues, I think this list changes quite a bit. You can make solid arguments for Ha, Kirk and possibly Struck and Bour. Rhoderick and Batista are still in the discussion, but Gibbs' bat has really fallen off, Beeler is struggling after a very aggressive promotion to AA and Wallach has not been impressive at all.

 

Meanwhile, there are a number of 20-and-under prospects worthy of consideration. At the top of that list is 19-year-old 2nd round pick Reggie Golden. He's hitting .313/.432/.463 while going 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. 19-year-old, 5th round pick Wes Darvill, who showed some mastery of the Arizona League last year, is surpassing those numbers in the Northwest League so far this season. 18-year-old, right-hander, Ben Wells hasn't exactly dominated the NWL in his first 5 games, but he hasn't been terrible either, holding opposing batters to a .247 average with a 2.3 GO/AO. Plus, he's 18 and in the NWL. 19-year-old, SS, Arismendy Alcantara is holding his own in the Midwest League. Plus, he's 19 and in the MWL. 6'4", 20-year-old, right-hander Starling Peralta has put himself on the prospect map with a good debut in Peoria and a 24/3 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 16 hits in 18 innings so far. 19-year-old, third baseman Dustin Geiger has been tearing up AZL pitching to the tune of a 1.077 OPS. And latin american prospects Gioskar Amaya, Marco Hernandez, and Oliver Zapata are all 18 and OPSing around .850 for Mesa. And we haven't even mentioned the prospects in the Dominican Summer League yet. Of course, a lot of these younger guys suffer from SSSS, but you gotta go with what you got.

 

So the list (in no particular order) goes:

 

Ha

Kirk

Struck

Bour

Rhoderick

Batista

Golden

Darvill

Geiger

Wells

Alcantara

Peralta

Amaya

Hernandez

Zapata

 

Throw in the DSL guys:

 

Candelario (17) - 3B .366/.471/.491

Penalver (17) - IF .281/.406/.333

Arcila (18) - RF .263/.375/.516

Baez (17) - CF .303/.384/.418 with 21 SB in 24 attempts

Santana (17) - RHP 0.86 WHIP in 35 IP

Morel (17) - RHP More than a K per IP, 1.08 WHIP

 

That's 21. This is tough. Who makes your top 10?

 

Really think Luis Liria would be in my top 10 of emerging Cubs prospects. A bit surprised at the scouting report noted the other day - stuff out there had always suggested a plus change instead of a good breaker, but it seemed like the report the other day suggested the opposite. Either way, he's been fairly strong.

 

Golden would, as of now, be solidly in my Cubs top 10 prospect list. Last year, the working assumption had been that his approach and development was a bit behind, but he had huge potential. So far, he's showing awfully well in Boise right now and I would love to see him move up and finish in a full-season league.

[Little Slide Rooter]

Beeler and Whitenack are both still very much on my list. I'm not sure if Marwin Gonzalez could be considered emerging. He's 22 and in AAA, and seems to be having a breakout year, although he's been in the system since 2005.

[Guest]

Bour's numbers are getting worse by the day. He's really been tailing off.

 

If you're looking at short season, don't forget the aforementioned Liria, Willengton Cruz and Pin-Chieh Chen.

[toonsterwu]

Buddy of mine who saw Bour recently said that his swing seemed all out of sorts compared to earlier in the year. That said, when you are slumping, things can look that way.

 

Looking at the numbers, seems like there's been a measure of bad luck for him the last month and change. Granted, he seemed to be quite lucky his first two months, and particularly May. He wasn't going to maintain that ridiculous pace early, but the more important question had always been how much power he would develop. His ISOP is down quite a bit in June/July, more in line with last year, so we'll have to see if he can find that stroke again.

 

Another guy who has tailed off tremendously is Ha. Actually, outside of April, he's been quite bad at the plate in FSL play. Certainly, one could argue a measure of bad luck, but he did seem to be a bit lucky in April. The more worrisome trend is how his power production has been tailing off tremendously. Here's hoping he turns it around. His combination of tools and stellar defense probably keeps him as a top 10 prospect in our weakened system, but earlier this year, he seemed to be building momentum as a possible top 5 prospect in our weakened system.

[toonsterwu]

Beeler and Whitenack are both still very much on my list. I'm not sure if Marwin Gonzalez could be considered emerging. He's 22 and in AAA, and seems to be having a breakout year, although he's been in the system since 2005.

 

Marwin has been one of the bigger surprises for me this year. I've always been intrigued with his potential, since he does have some tools to work with, but he never put it together at the plate, and the Cubs gave him ample opportunity.

 

I haven't heard enough on his defense this year, though, and I still think he's more of a utility guy. Could find a role in the bigs because of his versatility.

[Guest]

Another guy who has tailed off tremendously is Ha. Actually, outside of April, he's been quite bad at the plate in FSL play. Certainly, one could argue a measure of bad luck, but he did seem to be a bit lucky in April. The more worrisome trend is how his power production has been tailing off tremendously. Here's hoping he turns it around. His combination of tools and stellar defense probably keeps him as a top 10 prospect in our weakened system, but earlier this year, he seemed to be building momentum as a possible top 5 prospect in our weakened system.

 

Agreed. He's really come back to earth. In fact, his slash stats are nearly identical to Vitters'.

[tspain]

What about Contreras? No one has mentioned him, and I think he is going to be a player to be reckoned with, so I will throw his name into the mix. Why not mention by you guys? forget? or not like?

[CubsWin]

What about Contreras? No one has mentioned him, and I think he is going to be a player to be reckoned with, so I will throw his name into the mix. Why not mention by you guys? forget? or not like?

To be quite honest, there were a lot of other guys I thought about and could've included but didn't because I was literally falling asleep while writing the post. Liria is deserving. He's putting up the numbers. The only knock you could make is he's doing so as a 21 year old in the NWL. And Contreras has the pedigree as a bonus baby, he's just 19, so I agree, he should be in the discussion as well.

 

So that brings the list to 23. Who makes your top ten? I might as well create a top five and draw the rest out of hat for all that I know. But I know there are people on this site that know a whole lot more than I do...

[CubsWin]

The minor league season is now 4 months old, and the short-season teams have been in action for almost 2 months now. It's time to take another look at the Cubs top ten emerging prospects.

 

As expected, there's lots of changes from the original list:

 

1. Robert Whitenack, RHP, 22 (AA)

2. Jae-Hoon Ha, OF, 20 (A+)

3. Austin Kirk, LHP, 20 (A-)

4. Micah Gibbs, C, 22 (A-)

5. Kevin Rhoderick, RHP, 22 (AA)

6. Justin Bour, 1B, 22 (A+)

7. Nick Struck, RHP, 21 (A+)

8. Dallas Beeler, RHP, 21 (A-)

9. Brett Wallach, RHP, 22 (A+)

10. Frank Batista, RHP, 22 (A+)

 

Whereas Whitenack and Beeler might still be considered emerging prospects, we really need to see how they are when they return, so let's table them for the time being. Gibbs' and Bour's bats have really fallen off and Wallach has been demoted back to Peoria, so I'm dropping them from this top 10 list. Rhoderick and Batista have been okay, but not great and I think have been passed over by some of the younger talent in the system. That leaves Ha, Kirk and Struck still deserving from the original list. So there's 7 open spots and a lot of worthy candidates. For me, the cream of the crop performance-wise right now are:

 

-Larry Suarez has put together a very good season moving from Peoria to Tennessee and producing all the way.

 

-Jeimer Candelario's numbers as a 17 year old in the DSL are mighty impressive.

 

-Oliver Zapata's plate discipline as an 18 year old is encouraging, plus he just got promoted to Boise.

 

-As a 17 year old, Marco Hernandez put up pretty good numbers in the DSL. As an 18 year old in Mesa, he's OPSing over .900. Did I mention he plays shortstop?

 

-20 year old, right-hander, Roderik Pichardo has risen from the DSL to the MWL in one season. His numbers on the year meet my criteria of less than a hit per inning, more than a strikeout per inning with a decent K/BB ratio. And he's been putting up stats like that for several years now.

 

-20 year old, Taiwanese bonus baby, Yao-Lin Wang has put together somewhat of a breakout season and also meets the above criteria.

 

-Reggie Golden has battled through some injuries this season, but as a 19 year old in Boise, he's shown better than expected plate discipline (IsoD of 0.89) and decent pop for someone his age. The fact that he was drafted so high (2nd round last year) already put him on the radar, so his status as "an emerging" prospect is in question, but it's nice to see the early returns aren't terrible.

 

-Jeffry Antigua has returned to relevance as a left-handed pitching prospect with his performance in the FSL as a 21 year old.

 

-Arismendy Alcantara is hitting just enough to keep himself in the conversation. Of course, it helps that he is doing it as a 19 year old in Peoria.

 

-Aaron Kurcz just turned 21 two days ago and he's put up solid numbers at Daytona especially after moving to the pen. 2.05 ERA, 26.1 IP, 18 H, 36 Ks, 9 BB, .188 BAA. He produced similar numbers last year at Boise. So that's two in a row.

 

Then there's the rest of the field...

 

Casey Harman, Ben Wells, Wilson Contreras, Dustin Geiger, Kyung-Min Na, Gioskar Amaya, Luis Liria, Justin Bour, Willengton Cruz, Sterling Peralta, Carlos Penalver, Jeffrey Baez, Hunter Ackerman, Jose Arias, Alexander Santana, Pedro Araujo, Fransisco Sanchez, Wes Darvill, Victor Garcia and others.

 

These mentions are largely based on performance. Who is on the radar due to tools/stuff that I'm missing?

 

Who makes your top ten emerging Cubs prospect list?

[jumbo]

I think Evan Crawford should get a look. Rohan has done well since his promotion.

[CubsWin]

I think Evan Crawford should get a look. Rohan has done well since his promotion.

Crawford is still striking out way too much for his skill set and Rohan is old for a prospect and a really old for his level.

[Little Slide Rooter]

When does Beliveau get some serious consideration? I know he's 24, making it difficult to refer to him as an emerging prospect, but he's quietly beem very good for the past 4 years. We have some decent LH relief prospects in Gaub and Maine, as well as Russell on the big league club, but Beliveau seems to be a guy who could be a big league late inning reliever very soon.

[RynoRules]

Tawain Easterling? Or I am just in-love with his name and the fact that he went to USC (So Carolina)?