Cubs Top Prospect Spotlight: Will Sanders

[Billy Reich]

Image courtesy of © MANDATORY CREDIT: Austin Hough / South Bend Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Chicago Cubs have had one of the top ranked farm systems in baseball after accumulating talent over the past few years. After graduating top names such as Pete Crow-Armstrong, Matt Shaw, Miguel Amaya, Michael Busch and Cade Horton, the team turns to the next crop of rising prospects to bolster trades and amass the next critical mass of talent. 

Jed Hoyer & Co. have done a great job adding depth to the farm via trades, deep drafting, and great development. One of the surprising movers this season has been Will Sanders, a 23 year old holding his own against Triple-A hitters in just his second year of pro ball.

Will Sanders was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the fourth round with the 113th overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft out of the University of South Carolina. Sanders was a projected first-round pick in 2023 after he put up a 3.43 ERA and a 9.2 K/9 in 81 ⅓ innings for USC, but he ended the season with a foot injury and struggled to regain his form in the 2023 season. At the end of his junior season, Sanders finished with a 5.46 ERA with worse hit and walk rates compared to the previous season which saw him plummet down draft boards. The Cubs took a chance on the righty, seeing above-average potential in his splitter and his elevated strikeout numbers.

Sanders has been viewed by many as a sort of “jack of all trades, master of none” pitcher. He has a fastball that touches 97 mph, but the lack of movement on the pitch raises concerns that it won’t be a reliable swing and miss tool in the majors despite garnering more whiffs this season than last. His arsenal contains average complimentary pitches as well; he can throw a 50-grade curveball and slider to keep hitters guessing, but neither of the pitches brings anything particularly special to the table. 

His best pitch is an above-average splitter that he uses as a changeup against both lefties and righties, and gathers above average swing and miss from both sides of the plate. 

Sanders had a lot of success this season in Double-A, earning a promotion to Triple-A in just nine starts. It’s easy to see why — he put up a 2.64 ERA and showed a ton of success by limiting walks to keep runners off the basepaths. In his time in Knoxville, Sanders let up just 1.2 walks per nine innings pitched, showcasing control that allowed him to utilize his pitch mix effectively. This forces opposing pitchers to swing at subpar pitches in the zone where Sanders can rely on his defense to make plays for him.

While his four-seamer has gotten more swing and miss this season, his success has stemmed from his 6’6” frame that allows for a unique vertical approach angle (VAA) that lets his stuff play up a bit. His bread and butter has been his splitter that he uses as a strikeout tool off of his fastball.

Sanders has struggled a little bit since receiving his promotion to Triple-A Iowa, but none of his pitches are falling apart and he’s giving his team a chance to win the game every time he takes the mound, pitching for five or more innings and giving up four or fewer runs in each of his five starts at the level. 

Sanders reminds me a lot of Jordan Wicks in the way that he relies on control and his changeup to get outs. He has a large arsenal of pitches that can keep hitters on their toes enough to induce weak contact. He’s going to limit free bases, but he’ll suffer from allowing a few more hits than the development staff would like. If he can keep his control and continue to hone the splitter, I view his ceiling as a back-of-the-rotation kind of guy that can eat innings for a staff. That’s not to say that he can’t be a rotational mainstay — as the major league pitching landscape changes, more and more teams are running six-man rotations, and having someone who can reliably get you 5-6 innings and four runs or less can be extremely valuable. It’ll be interesting to see how Sanders can finish off his season at Iowa, and if he’s able to build more shape into his fastball this offseason, his stock will keep rising.

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[Jason Ross]

In a weird way, Will Sanders reminds me of Colin Rea. I don't mean that in a particularly bad way, either, but he's kind of a "kitchen sink" kind of pitcher. Last night, per Statcast here are is pitch numbers:
Fastball: 29
Change: 24
Slider: 18
Curve: 15
Sinker: 9
Cutter: 1

That's a pretty normal Statcast breakdown, too. He throws a lot of different types of pitches to create deception through numbers. You can never sit on a single pitch. I've never been personally wowed by any single offering, but you don't kind if he's going to throw his fastball, or his slider, or maybe it'll be a sinker, or what if changeup? 

Do think he'll have an MLB career in some fashion. I don't think there's a lot of ceiling, but that's okay. Think about where the Cubs would be without Colin Rea this year? Or Milwaukee the years prior when he was their top inning eater. There is value in compiling in a day and age of TJS. 

[Billy Reich]

45 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

In a weird way, Will Sanders reminds me of Colin Rea. I don't mean that in a particularly bad way, either, but he's kind of a "kitchen sink" kind of pitcher. Last night, per Statcast here are is pitch numbers:
Fastball: 29
Change: 24
Slider: 18
Curve: 15
Sinker: 9
Cutter: 1

That's a pretty normal Statcast breakdown, too. He throws a lot of different types of pitches to create deception through numbers. You can never sit on a single pitch. I've never been personally wowed by any single offering, but you don't kind if he's going to throw his fastball, or his slider, or maybe it'll be a sinker, or what if changeup? 

Do think he'll have an MLB career in some fashion. I don't think there's a lot of ceiling, but that's okay. Think about where the Cubs would be without Colin Rea this year? Or Milwaukee the years prior when he was their top inning eater. There is value in compiling in a day and age of TJS. 

I think this is a great point, Jason. With pitchers suffering injuries at the rate they are and raw "stuff" being valued more than ever before, having a guy like Sanders in your lengthened rotation to "eat innings" and provide solid rotational depth over the course of a 162 game season is going to be incredibly valuable moving forward.

More importantly, the emergence of guys like Sanders is going to be a boon for the organization if they're able to continue to develop these kinds of arms. In recent years the Cubs have spent a lot of time and money scouting and paying for mid-back of the rotation arms. Not having to sign guys like Taillon, Rea, or Smyly is going to pay dividends when they have those type of arms internally and can re-allocate those funds elsewhere.