2024 Prospect Previews: Jaxon Wiggins

Wiggins is the most underrated prospect in our system, IMO. I think people see the TJS and the college numbers and write him off as just a lottery ticket, but there was some real helium on his progress in the fall, and we never got to see it in the spring. In a draft that was pretty devoid of high-end-college arms outside of the top-20 or so picks, the Cubs got someone who had first round hype later in the draft. Add in that this was a Ty Nichols recommendation (he recommended Wicks and Horton!) and I'm all in on Wiggins. 

7 minutes ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Wiggins is the most underrated prospect in our system, IMO. I think people see the TJS and the college numbers and write him off as just a lottery ticket, but there was some real helium on his progress in the fall, and we never got to see it in the spring. In a draft that was pretty devoid of high-end-college arms outside of the top-20 or so picks, the Cubs got someone who had first round hype later in the draft. Add in that this was a Ty Nichols recommendation (he recommended Wicks and Horton!) and I'm all in on Wiggins. 

I agree, I don't think he'll rise as high and as quickly as Horton did, but maybe make a similar jump relative to the consensus from before he takes the mound professionally, if that makes sense.

1 minute ago, Transmogrified Tiger said:

I agree, I don't think he'll rise as high and as quickly as Horton did, but maybe make a similar jump relative to the consensus from before he takes the mound professionally, if that makes sense.

Agreed. I think he'll come a long a bit slower than Horton this year. With that said, if you told me Wiggins had a similar (although relative to his draft position) rise from a guy fans don't even include in their org-top-20's to being a top-50 guy league wide...I'd entirely buy it. Stuff jumps that much. 

The tools are all there, but my biggest concern is the same one I had on the day he was drafted. The Cub lab seems to excel at improving the stuff of pitchability guys. Finding them more velocity, better spin and shape, etc. Thus far, I don't recall anyone with severe control issues who they've managed to fix. In fact it was a major issue in the pen last year. 

9 hours ago, 1908_Cubs said:

Wiggins is the most underrated prospect in our system, IMO. I think people see the TJS and the college numbers and write him off as just a lottery ticket, but there was some real helium on his progress in the fall, and we never got to see it in the spring. In a draft that was pretty devoid of high-end-college arms outside of the top-20 or so picks, the Cubs got someone who had first round hype later in the draft. Add in that this was a Ty Nichols recommendation (he recommended Wicks and Horton!) and I'm all in on Wiggins. 

Thanks for reading/commenting. I have no skin in the game as a non-Cubs fan, but I am intrigued to see how this goes in 2024. As you say, college performance is a total non-factor for me. The only thing I'm interested in for Wiggins is health in 2024. I'd imagine it takes time to regain the stuff and some command (which was fringy in the first place), but there's little to lose. Sounds like the Cubs think there's potentially more there with some of his pitches too, particularly his curveball.

15 minutes ago, Jamie Cameron said:

Thanks for reading/commenting. I have no skin in the game as a non-Cubs fan, but I am intrigued to see how this goes in 2024. As you say, college performance is a total non-factor for me. The only thing I'm interested in for Wiggins is health in 2024. I'd imagine it takes time to regain the stuff and some command (which was fringy in the first place), but there's little to lose. Sounds like the Cubs think there's potentially more there with some of his pitches too, particularly his curveball.

Yeah, I love the gamble there. The control/command was always a bit...iffy in his profile. With that said, SEC Junior year is the big jump year we see for starters. Reports from the fall were that his secondaries took a big step forward on their own, so it'll be interesting to see how and if that continues to hold true. 

I'm pretty excited about him and was far more excited about him than the general fan. Positives: I was far more excited about Cade Horton, too! Negatives: I was far less excited about Kris Bryant on draft day, so my draft-day confidence giveth and it taketh haha. 

7 hours ago, Tryptamine said:

The tools are all there, but my biggest concern is the same one I had on the day he was drafted. The Cub lab seems to excel at improving the stuff of pitchability guys. Finding them more velocity, better spin and shape, etc. Thus far, I don't recall anyone with severe control issues who they've managed to fix. In fact it was a major issue in the pen last year. 

Daniel Palencia is one. I wrote about it in my top-20 list write up. It's small sample still, but he only walked six in his last 17 innings in the bullpen. There was some decent regression in Luke Little's walk rates last season as well. Both haven't done enough to where you can say "yeah, these guys are entirely, fully, 100% better" but there were some positive movements for both.