Minor League Discussion & Boxes, 6-14-26

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Scheduled Games (Central Time):

Iowa at Louisville, 12:05 pm
Knoxville at Montgomery, 3:33 pm
South Bend vs. Peoria, 1:05 pm
Myrtle Beach vs. Augusta, 5:35 pm

ACL Cubs and both DSL teams have the day off

Probable Starters:

Iowa: TBD
Knoxville: RHP Brooks Caple (25.2 IP, 3.16 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 30 K, 4 BB)
South Bend: RHP Alfredo Romero (38 IP, 5.21 ERA, 6.05 FIP, 31 K, 33 BB)
Myrtle Beach: LHP Pierce Coppola (25 IP, 2.88 ERA, 2.87 FIP, 37 K, 13 BB)

[CaliforniaRaisin]

8 HRs at high-A. 13 on the season.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

11 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

8 HRs at high-A. 13 on the season.

Normally I'd want him to work through a slump at a new level but I don't think it's gonna happen. I remember speculation that the guys in the Carolina League just couldn't throw enough strikes for him to swing at and that's been exactly the case.

Edited 9 hours ago by Tangled Up in Plaid

[CaliforniaRaisin]

James Triantos hit a 3-run HR that will never count:

 

[muntjack]

A 1.333 OPS in high-A at age 19 is pretty wild.  I think they have to promote him. 

 

[Bertz]

It's rightfully getting overshadowed by Hartshorn but good lord Rojas is hot right now.

Caple kept the ball on the ground like I've been asking for but light on the strikeouts today

[JBears79]

Hartshorn has to be our top prospect...right?

[muntjack]

Without a doubt. 

 

[Tryptamine]

15 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

Hartshorn has to be our top prospect...right?

I mean, I don't see how he isn't a top 20 in the game right now. A 19 year old destroying A+ to this level just doesn't happen very often.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

38 minutes ago, JBears79 said:

Hartshorn has to be our top prospect...right?

Yes, it's not close

[Bertz]

I don't think it's that hard to make an argument for Rojas, but yeah it's Hartshorn.

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I don't think it's that hard to make an argument for Rojas, but yeah it's Hartshorn.

if we believe Rojas can stick at SS at the ML level, then yeah, there's probably an argument

[CaliforniaRaisin]

9 minutes ago, Bertz said:

I don't think it's that hard to make an argument for Rojas, but yeah it's Hartshorn.

The argument for Rojas is if he’s a true big league shortstop and I’m not sure that is true..

[Bertz]

4 minutes ago, CaliforniaRaisin said:

The argument for Rojas is if he’s a true big league shortstop and I’m not sure that is true..

There's also the bear case on Hartshorn's D.  Longenhagen is pretty matter of fact that he's a 1B.  And with how thicc he is already at 19 hard to push back too hard.  I think you're getting at least 10 more runs of defense from Rojas, probably closer to 15, and 20's not out of the realm of reason. 

Hartshorn being better than Rojas at the plate seems likely, but 20+ points of wRC+ is a tall order.  We also have Rojas having (or at least coming close to having) conquered AA, which is a big deal box to have checked.

I think Hartshorn being nearly two full years younger wins out, but the argument is reasonable either way IMO.

[ROJAS4LYFE]

Rojas has been right on the edge of a lot of top 100 lists for the past few years. With him having this power surge you’re looking at potentially a 20/20 guy playing SS? Granted it was only spring training but it looked like he felt pretty comfortable vs the major league pitching that he faced. I feel like his floor is super high.

[Rcal10]

13 minutes ago, Bertz said:

There's also the bear case on Hartshorn's D.  Longenhagen is pretty matter of fact that he's a 1B.  And with how thicc he is already at 19 hard to push back too hard.  I think you're getting at least 10 more runs of defense from Rojas, probably closer to 15, and 20's not out of the realm of reason. 

Hartshorn being better than Rojas at the plate seems likely, but 20+ points of wRC+ is a tall order.  We also have Rojas having (or at least coming close to having) conquered AA, which is a big deal box to have checked.

I think Hartshorn being nearly two full years younger wins out, but the argument is reasonable either way IMO.

Regardless of which is the cubs #1 prospect, both have to be top 50, right? Both doing great things at a young age. 

[Jason Ross]

I really like Harshorn, but I'm going to hold off on putting him number 1 right now for a few reasons:
1. Jaxon Wiggins is both closer, and he had a really, really encouraging year last year. I know it feels like he's dead but like, one good start where he's pumping 100mph and we'll remember the upside
2. Josiah Hartshorn hasn't had a slump yet and I want to see a team attack a weakness. He can't have none. 
3. It's still just two months. 
4. First base remains in play

As of today, I think I'd list them as follows:
1. Jefferson Rojas
2. Pedro Ramirez
3. Josiah Hartshorn
4. Jaxon Wiggins

And I say this as someone who's been a big time Josiah fan. I just need a bit more. Talk to me on draft day. I think a full half season sample of him just cruising will be enough that I'll forgive there being no slump/work through as a fear (which you can say he's just that good or that I'm punishing him for being good, but I kind of expect every young player to have a slump because I like seeing the response and the next step).

I'm in the "slow moving list" camp, so I try to keep things pretty consistent month over month when I can be. 

[Outshined_One]

I want to hear more reports about how Hartshorn has looked in the OF. He's played some CF, and if you told me that he has the arm, vision, and enough speed to play all three positions capably, he's a Top 30 prospect in MLB and the #1 guy in the system.

If he's a 1B/LF, I'd put Rojas ahead of him, even if Rojas is more likely to end up at 2B/3B.

[Illiterate Scholar]

In terms of Rojas' future position, the amount of time he has spent not playing shortstop this season is telling to me. Yeah yeah positional versatility and all that, but if they truly thought he was a SS, learning other positions seems like it'd be more of a AAA thing for him when he's knocking on the door. And it's not like 3B is more "open" on the big league team.

 

[Bertz]

22 minutes ago, Illiterate Scholar said:

In terms of Rojas' future position, the amount of time he has spent not playing shortstop this season is telling to me. Yeah yeah positional versatility and all that, but if they truly thought he was a SS, learning other positions seems like it'd be more of a AAA thing for him when he's knocking on the door. And it's not like 3B is more "open" on the big league team.

 

Jed just knows that Dana Brown has a 3B fetish and Hunter Brown is likely to be the best non-rental SP available this deadline

[craig]

I don't know anything.  But my sense is that Hartshorn has a better chance of being an every-day RF than Rojas has of being an every-day SS. 

Two very good prospects.  Keep hitting, both of you!