Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 5-28-25

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa vs. Syracuse (game one), 12:08 pm
Iowa vs. Syracuse (game two), TBD
Knoxville vs. Birmingham (game one), 4:30 pm
Knoxville vs. Birmingham (game two), TBD
South Bend at Quad Cities, 6:30 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Augusta (game one), 4:35 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Augusta (game two), TBD

ACL Cubs have the day off

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Iowa (game one); RHP Connor Noland (43.2 IP, 4.53 ERA, 4.49 FIP, 43 K, 16 BB)
Iowa (game two); RHP Tommy Romero (9 IP, 3.00 ERA, 6.12 FIP, 4 K, 6 BB)
Knoxville (game one): RHP Jaxon Wiggins (8 IP, 4.50 ERA, 2.70 FIP, 13 K, 3 BB)
Knoxville (game two): RHP Grant Kipp (35.1 IP, 3.31 ERA, 4.22 FIP, 43 K, 14 BB)
South Bend: RHP Tyler Schlaffer (25.1 IP, 8.88 ERA, 6.66 FIP, 25 K, 16 BB)
Myrtle Beach (game one): LHP Hayden Frank (31.2 IP, 7.96 ERA, 4.41 FIP, 29 K, 13 BB)
Myrtle Beach (game two): RHP Yenrri Rojas (13.2 IP, 1.98 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 7 K, 7 BB)

[JBears79]

lmao what a daily minor league thread, 7 games 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

The Iowa game that’s getting started is on Marquee:

 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Against Paul Blackburn

[craig]

First HR this month!  After nothing but singles this month, he got a double last game, I think, and now a HR.  Nice.  

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wiggins has 2 Ks in 2 scoreless and hitless innings with 5 whiffs so far.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Wiggins worked around a couple of walks in the 3rd. 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K, 7 whiffs.

Topping out at 97.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

12 whiffs on 68 pitches through 4 scoreless and hitless for Wiggins.

I'm getting awfully close to saying Wiggins is the Cubs second best prospect currently in the minors.

[Jason Ross]

4 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

12 whiffs on 68 pitches through 4 scoreless and hitless for Wiggins.

I'm getting awfully close to saying Wiggins is the Cubs second best prospect currently in the minors.

Yeah, he's a shooting star right now. 

It's not "if Wiggins lands on a top-100 list" but realistically "how aggressive do some people want to be?"

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Assuming Wiggins is done, here is his final line:

The defense behind him didn't help with 2 errors. Ended up with 15 whiffs.

[Rcal10]

24 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Yeah, he's a shooting star right now. 

It's not "if Wiggins lands on a top-100 list" but realistically "how aggressive do some people want to be?"

So do Wiggins and Long join the top 100? The pipeline is still moving guys along. 

[Jason Ross]

6 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

So do Wiggins and Long join the top 100? The pipeline is still moving guys along. 

Long might. Wiggins will.

To clarify; Long is a 1b/DH who doesn't have eye popping power. Industry list makers will hesitate to add a player like that some times. Some will point to his statcast data and the like, which is awesome! But some will see a 15HR 1b.

Wiggins is a 2nd round pick who hits 100MPH. Hes a lot easier to sell. 

[Rcal10]

2 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

Long might. Wiggins will.

To clarify; Long is a 1b/DH who doesn't have eye popping power. Industry list makers will hesitate to add a player like that some times. 

Wiggins is a 2nd round pick who hits 100MPH. Hes a lot easier to sell. 

Agreed. Wiggins is going to be the guy who eventually is the better prospect, but it is nice to see someone like Long also knocking at the door as a top 100 (back end) guy. 

[CaliforniaRaisin]

8 minutes ago, Rcal10 said:

So do Wiggins and Long join the top 100? The pipeline is still moving guys along. 

I think Wiggins and Rojas should be top 100 prospects now but Long isn't. But keep in mind Shaw and Horton will graduate soon, Ballesteros probably will sometime this season and who knows who will get traded at the deadline (and maybe Caissie or Jaguar could drop off top 100 lists?).

This summer's draft is pretty important for the health of the farm system and sexy national prospect rankings.

[Rcal10]

Just now, CaliforniaRaisin said:

I think Wiggins and Rojas should be top 100 prospects now but Long isn't. But keep in mind Shaw and Horton will graduate soon, Ballesteros probably will sometime this season and who knows who will get traded at the deadline (and maybe Caissie or Jaguar could drop off top 100 lists?).

This summer's draft is pretty important for the health of the farm system and sexy national prospect rankings.

If the Cubs get a starting pitcher who fits in the top of the rotation at the deadline, their system will take a hit. But that is ok. That is one of the things the system should be used for. Besides coming up and helping the team or becoming an everyday player on the team, they need to be used to acquire proven solid major league talent.

[Bertz]

48 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

12 whiffs on 68 pitches through 4 scoreless and hitless for Wiggins.

I'm getting awfully close to saying Wiggins is the Cubs second best prospect currently in the minors.

I'd probably still put him 5th, but I do think at this point between Jaxon's ascent and some of the warts on the Iowa crew you can pretty easily argue him as high as #1.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Uhh wow:

 

[Tim]

3 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Uhh wow:

 

I pull for him since he went to my high school (~40 years later). But this is pretty much out of nowhere consider the rest of this year.

[JBears79]

I wont be surprised if Wiggins is up on the Cubs late in the season out of the bullpen. 

[craig]

22 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

I think Wiggins and Rojas should be top 100 prospects now but Long isn't. But keep in mind Shaw and Horton will graduate soon, Ballesteros probably will sometime this season and who knows who will get traded at the deadline (and maybe Caissie or Jaguar could drop off top 100 lists?).

This summer's draft is pretty important for the health of the farm system and sexy national prospect rankings.

Wiggins absolutely.  Within the org's minor-leaguers, I'd have him and Moises as the top 2 in whichever order.  With Horton and Shaw graduating, that doesn't leave that many.  

I won't be that surprised, really, if Wiggins and Moises might be the only top-100's left after the season, if they don't add somebody in the draft?

1. Alcantara, Triantos, and Caissie, I assume may be hitting their way off top-100 lists fairly soon, unless something flips?
2. Long, perhaps he'll pop onto the back-end of some top-100's sooner or later.  But as a DH without big HR-production, not sure 100's usually prioritize non-HR DH's that much that often? Nor do I fault them for not doing so. 
3. Rojas, we'll see.  I hope he produces enough and has enough scouting tools to stay on top-100s.  But I'd not be that surprised if he wasn't on all or many.  I'm not really sure what his upside is?  HR-slug?  Plus big-league defensive SS?  Pure contact hitter?  Hopefully he hits enough HR's this year to stay top-100, but we'll see.  

[Bertz]

Medium-warm take: Rojas is our #2 prospect right now and if you promised me Moises would never catch a meaningful number of innings I'd make Jefferson #1.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

1 hour ago, craig said:

Wiggins absolutely.  Within the org's minor-leaguers, I'd have him and Moises as the top 2 in whichever order.  With Horton and Shaw graduating, that doesn't leave that many.  

I won't be that surprised, really, if Wiggins and Moises might be the only top-100's left after the season, if they don't add somebody in the draft?

1. Alcantara, Triantos, and Caissie, I assume may be hitting their way off top-100 lists fairly soon, unless something flips?
2. Long, perhaps he'll pop onto the back-end of some top-100's sooner or later.  But as a DH without big HR-production, not sure 100's usually prioritize non-HR DH's that much that often? Nor do I fault them for not doing so. 
3. Rojas, we'll see.  I hope he produces enough and has enough scouting tools to stay on top-100s.  But I'd not be that surprised if he wasn't on all or many.  I'm not really sure what his upside is?  HR-slug?  Plus big-league defensive SS?  Pure contact hitter?  Hopefully he hits enough HR's this year to stay top-100, but we'll see.  

Jefferson Rojas is 3 months younger than Zyhir Hope while playing at the same level with a higher OPS, better K% and contact % than Hope. All while playing much higher up the defensive spectrum.

If Hope is a top 50 prospect, I think Rojas should at least be a top 100 prospect.

[CaliforniaRaisin]

 

[craig]

3 hours ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Jefferson Rojas is 3 months younger than Zyhir Hope while playing at the same level with a higher OPS, better K% and contact % than Hope. All while playing much higher up the defensive spectrum.

If Hope is a top 50 prospect, I think Rojas should at least be a top 100 prospect.

Totally fair.  *If* Rojas sustains his current production, he'll be top-100 for sure  I'd love that.  Time will tell.  But as a guy who slugged .336 last year, there's a risk that after his wonderful 2-HR night last month, his numbers might regress. We'll see.  I surely hope he can sustain or improve his slug as this year progresses.