Minor League Musings

[jumbo]

On 8/31/2026 at 6:44 PM, gflore34 said:

It's got to be back issues again, wouldn't think?  Man, back issues stunted/ended Bryant' career, doesn't exactly give one confidence Conrad will ever be healthy for a prolonged period.

Wasn't Conrad a top 5-10 pick w/o the injury? I get the risk of betting on his health. 22 years old, back likely not toast, but who knows.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA released their DSL top 35 prospects and one Cub made it: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/top-35-dominican-summer-league-mlb-prospects-in-2026/

[Jason Ross]

On 9/1/2026 at 8:00 PM, jumbo said:

Wasn't Conrad a top 5-10 pick w/o the injury? I get the risk of betting on his health. 22 years old, back likely not toast, but who knows.

He didn't have back injury in college, however. This is a new back injury suffered this year. 

He was coming off of a season ending surgery last season, however. 

[We Got The Whole 9]

There's just not much reason to care at all about Conrad this season. It's almost over, he played enough to know he is probably destined to be a Major Leaguer in the next couple years. Pretty sure he'll fly through the system next year and be a big name for 2028. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.thecubreporter.com/2026-acl-cubs-continuation-camp-bridge-final-stats

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Glad Riley was able to avoid surgery.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

[Funky-daddy]

Rojas has a 929 ops since joining the Mets 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

BA's Cubs minor league player of the year was Owen Ayers: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/owen-ayers-cubs-2026-minor-league-player-of-the-year/

[jumbo]

For anyone into podcasts, the Cubs on Deck podcast is a pretty fun one. Bryan Smith (author of the piece above) is one of the contributors. I listen to it throughout the season. They are doing their postseason awards and went with Hartshorn for player of the year. Check 'em out

[JunkyardWalrus]

On 9/16/2026 at 5:48 PM, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Jayden Murray?

Edited September 25 by JunkyardWalrus

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-top-10-mlb-hitting-prospect-performances-of-2026/

[Bertz]

17 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/the-top-10-mlb-hitting-prospect-performances-of-2026/

Fangraphs doesn't have chase rates that low in the minors, but it does have swing rates.  Hartshorn's was 41%, which by extension means we now know his chase was 17%

17% Chase / 88% Z contact is rarified air.  It's not a slam dunk star, while there's a lot of Soto and Tucker and Betts in that vicinity there's also some like Robbie Grossman and Jonathan India at their peaks, but still that's exciting especially knowing what kind of power Josiah has.

[Bertz]

Quote

 

slamcactus: I’ve asked Brendan this but I’m curious about your thoughts too. Any thoughts on why, for all their recent success developing pitchers, the Mariners haven’t produced a single even halfway decent pitching prospect from Latin America recently? Seems like a weird disconnect and, if it’s about focusing their scouting efforts on hitters, a potential missed opportunity.

Eric A Longenhagen: Some of the “blame” can be attributed to how difficult it is to develop Latino pitching, period. The 40-man timeline compresses their development, guys like Francisco Morales and Helcris Olivarez get added prematurely because they have big stuff, and then they can’t develop as strike-throwers quickly enough to stick on the roster. Look around the game and there aren’t a ton of DOminican starters, generally.

 

Thought this was interesting.  Even teams that are objectively crushing it with minor league pitching dev are having a tough time getting anything out of LATAM.

[Post Count Padder]

Not sure where to put this but

Quote

The Cubs have claimed right-hander Julian Aguiar off waivers, according to the Reds.  There hadn’t been any indication that Aguiar had been designated for assignment, but he’ll now look to continue his career with one of Cincinnati’s division rivals.  A corresponding move will need to be made since Chicago has a full 40-man roster.

Selected in the 12th round of the 2021 draft, Aguiar made his big league debut with the Reds in 2024 and posted a 6.25 ERA over seven starts and 31 2/3 innings.  An elbow sprain that September led to a Tommy John surgery, and Aguiar missed the entire 2025 season while rehabbing.  More injury problems led to some stops and starts to Aguiar’s 2026 campaign, limiting him to 58 minor league innings before he finally made his return to the Show last week.  Aguiar was charged with two earned runs in three innings of relief in the Reds’ 6-4 win over the Cubs on September 18, and he was optioned back to Triple-A the day after that cup-of-coffee outing.

FG and Pipeline had him as a top 20 prospect recently and he was a top 10 prospect and considered borderline Top 100 by FG in 2024. Was an infielder before transitioning to pitching in high school I think I read. An interesting add for next season if he sticks around through the winter.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Every MLB Pitching Prospect Who Added 2+ MPH Fastball Velocity In 2026: 

In order to qualify for the sample, each pitcher must have thrown at least 100 fastballs in 2026 and at least 50 fastballs in 2025. The year-over-year jump is listed alongside each pitcher’s 2025 average fastball velocity and their 2026 average fastball velocity.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/25-mlb-prospects-who-boosted-production-with-exit-velocity-gains-in-2026/

25 Notable EV Gainers In 2026:

[allen6510w]

So that explains Luis Mata's mid-season promotion from the ACL to low-A despite a 34/37 K/W in 30.1 ACL IP!  Based on his velocity jump, I'm sure he'll be in the mix to start in low-A next year. 

I wonder if Jhon Cabral's velocity bump occurred before or after he was released and picked up by the Cubs? 

Valdez was signed as an OF in February of 2022, so he is already Rule 5 eligible.  Good to see such a bump in his 2nd year pitching. 

 

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]