On his third try, Hayden Wesneski found his groove. As the Cubs steamrolled the hapless Oakland Athletics Monday night, their rookie starter put some things together in game action for the first time.

As a new week is about to start in minor-league baseball, let's take a look back at the top performers in the Chicago Cubs minor-leagues last week. There are some familiar names, and others, you can jot down and get to know. In the end, you can vote on the Cubs Minor League Hitter of the Week and Pitcher of the Week. 

We’ve reached the peak of human excitement–or at least, the top of the North Side Baseball community’s top 20 Cubs prospect list. Today, we talk about one of the most exciting young outfielders in the entire sport.

Baseball doesn’t lend itself well to momentum. The closest thing, old heads will tell you, is the next day’s starting pitcher. For the Dodgers, though, not even a huge advantage in that department was enough. The Cubs won a game they had no business winning Sunday, and they’re starting to get a good vibe going.

There are many pitchers in the Iowa Cubs bullpen that are candidates to make their return to the Major Leagues. One of those guys is Tyler Duffey and he is making the most of his time with the I-Cubs on making his pitch mechanics and teammates better. 

The Cubs had chances to make themselves more comfortable Saturday night in Los Angeles, but they missed them, and the Dodgers didn’t make the same mistake when the door finally opened a crack for them.

There was a pivotal moment in Friday night's Cubs win over the Dodgers, not only for that game, but (perhaps) for the whole season. Justin Steele took the mound with a 3-1 lead, but gave up a home run to the first batter he faced. And then he kept going.

The great seat debate. Whether you’re going with friends, family, business associates, or even by yourself (I have done it)... one of the biggest decisions when going to a Cubs game is where to sit.

The Ian Happ extension might be viewed as more than the next step after the similar deal signed by Nico Hoerner earlier this month. Have the Cubs gotten around and ahead of the curve when it comes to contract extensions and their investments in players?

We’ve very nearly attained the summit in our climb up the Cubs’ farm system. Our community has voted on the top 20 players in the system, and today, we tackle the guy who came in second–presumably, because the voters hadn’t seen his first two starts of this season.

Just when it seemed safe to give up on the dream of an Ian Happ extension, the Cubs and Happ sprung one upon us. He’s now locked in through 2026, at a total cost of $61 million and with the added security of a no-trade clause, and the Cubs’ plan for the next half-decade is beginning to take a more definite shape.

As we climb another rung up the ladder in our countdown of the top 20 Cubs prospects of 2023, the air starts getting thin. The three remaining players all have risk of some kind, but their upside is real stardom, and they’ve made enough progress in that direction that such an outcome feels like more than a pipe dream. 

With just under three months left before the 2023 draft gets underway, you’ll see an increase in coverage. Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll be doing a series called “Personal Cheeseballs” which will take a closer look at groups of potential draftees.

The Cubs nearly took a second-round knockout at the hands of the Mariners Tuesday night. Instead, they forged one of the biggest and fastest comebacks in franchise history, and then quieted everything down and cruised to a delicious win.

As we near the top of the list of the Cubs’ top 20 prospects, the names will get awfully familiar. That doesn’t mean we will cover them any less intensively, though–especially when the player in question has as much dimension and variability as Brennen Davis.

A quick update on Cubs reliever Brandon Hughes and Seiya Suzuki, who both began their rehab assignments with the Iowa Cubs on Saturday, April 8, in St. Paul, Minnesota, against the Saints. 

The Cubs are over .500 after nine games, thanks (once again) to their dynamic middle infield. This team will have to win many close and difficult games to make noise in the NL, and for the first time this year, they did so.

We’ve reached the top five in our countdown of the Cubs’ top 20 prospects, as voted on by the North Side Baseball community, which means each player from here onward gets their own full post and deeper breakdown.