Who is the Cubs #9 Prospect?

[ScrubMD]

I think people are severely underestimating Hendricks at this point.

 

Hendricks is the pitching version of Villanueva. A safe bet to be solid but unspectacular. I think the 3 3B's slot in the next 3 spots for me, and then it's a tough choice between Hendricks, Vizcaino, and Zastryzny. I keep thinking of guys that deserve to be top 10, and then realize it's a list of about 20. It's a good problem to have.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Hopefully this will look stupid even a few months from now, but Vizcaino doesn't even cross my mind for the top-10.

[jersey cubs fan]

Whoever voted dunston must hate this system.

[Guest]

Hopefully this will look stupid even a few months from now, but Vizcaino doesn't even cross my mind for the top-10.

 

I was going to strongly consider him around this point(and maybe still not too far down), but that convention announcement really took the wind out of my sails. Hopefully it was unelegant wording and we can actually get him pitching in real games at the start.

[craig]

...I'm buying into the power as legit. ...he [Villanueva] was one of the younger "22 year olds".

 

I do think he can be a .750 - .780 OPS guy in the bigs. Combine that with his defense …. That's a pretty solid prospect to be slotting in at #9, even in a strong system.

 

...Villanueva post May 1: 448 PA, .274/.327/.504, 96/27 K/BB, 18 HR

Toss in the great defense and I think he gets sold short a bit. ...

 

Yeah, if Villa can indeed become a .750-.780 guy, then he's going to be a really good asset starter. Certainly his age and his May-on numbers would seem to suggest that he's got a shot. Absolutely a pretty solid prospect to be #9. Most guys with that age/power/stats distribution would seem to project very well.

 

This will be a big year for him to see if his second-half offense will be sustainable, or if we'll see further age-based improvement. I always assume that the AA to AAA jump for a hitter should be an easy one, and going to PCL should result in HR/OPS jump. But the more experienced AAA pitchers tend to be better breaking ball guys, which can sometimes expose certain hitters. Is Villanueva a dead-pull fastball guy who might have some trouble?

 

As good as his stats look, I'm not sure I get the sense that a lot of scouts believe strongly in him as a hitter or a HR guy. We shall see.

 

His defense is super promising and he can make sick plays, I totally buy all that. But it's also reality that he made 24 errors,

That's twice what most big-league regulars have in a full 6-month season. Pedro Alvarez is the only guy in the majors with more last year. Hopefully Villanueva will continue to make great plays but will get more consistent and error-free at the same time. We shall see.

 

Nice prospect. A year ago, I wasn't too keen on either Villanueva or at all optimistic on Hendricks. Now both look surprisingly interesting, and that Dempster trade looks pretty nice.