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Not only that, but he's going consistently deep into games for a 21 year old. In his last 5 starts, he's gone 6, 6, 6, 7 and 6. Not bad. He's still got developing left to do, obviously, but as of now I'd give him an outside shot at becoming an MOR. If he can maintain a sub-3 ERA, a K per inning and less than a hit per inning as a 22 year old in AA, I'll feel a lot more confident.

That's 3 strong in a row for Kellogg. He joins a growing group of pitching prospects finishing strong this season as craig chronicled earlier. Just glancing at box scores, 3 is selling him short. He's had one kinda crappy start since May 27th, and even that is based on RS and Hs as it was a walkless outing with 4 Ks in 5. 2 HRs in 46.2 IPs during the second half of the season, as opposed to 6 in 67 in the first half - that's nice, as is the sub-2 BB rate and even the solid but unspectacular K rate. Overall the season numbers look more and more solid as he continues to pile up innings. He needs to finish strong and then the next step will be spring boarding from High A to at least some AAA next year or a successful AA run to be in line for ML time at 24. Not 3 strong period. Just 3 strong in a row. Wasn't selling him short. Was celebrating his recent excellent 3 game stretch.

That's 3 strong in a row for Kellogg. He joins a growing group of pitching prospects finishing strong this season as craig chronicled earlier.

Seriously...

You were probably just listing the guys that got hits tonight, and I suppose it depends on your definition of "showing a pulse", but I'd include Galindo on that list. He's got major swing-and-miss issues right now, but his .460 SLG with 9 doubles, 4 triples and 6 HRs qualifies for me.

Right now, our beloved John Lackey is the only Cubs pitcher without double-digit wins at 8-7. The last Cubs team with 5 double-digit win pitchers was 1993 when Greg Hibbard (15), Jose Guzman (12), Mike Morgan (10), Mike Harkey (10) and Jose Bautista, who got his 10th win in his final start of the season on September 27th. Two more wins for Shawn Estes (8-11) would've done it in 2003. One more win for Kevin Tapani (9-14) would've given them 5 in 2001. On the flip side, the Cubs didn't have single pitcher win double-digit games in 2012 or 2013, and only one, Jake Arrieta with 10 wins, in 2014. Man, things changed quickly around here. It's almost as if Theo and Jed had a plan. Of course, the Cubs (and most of baseball) didn't fully commit to a 5-man rotation until the late 70s. The Dodgers first used it in 1971 and 72. Dropped it in '74 but returned to it the next year and starters went a lot deeper into games back then, so finding 5 double-digit win seasons prior to that was slightly more difficult. However the Cubs would do it '72, '69 and '68. It was Fergie Jenkins (20-12), Milt Pappas (17-7), Bill Hands (11-8), Burt Hooton (11-14) and a rookie named Rick Reuschel (10-8) in 1972. Reuschel would go on to 9 consecutive double-digit win seasons after that. In '69, the Cubs had a masterful 4-man rotation of Jenkins (21-15), Hands (20-14), Ken Holtzman (17-13) and Dick Selma (10-8). But relief pitcher extraordinaire, Phil Regan, compiled a 12-6 record in 71 relief appearances to make it 5. In '68, it was Jenkins, Hands, Holtzman and Joe Niekro with Phil Regan winning 10 games and getting 25 saves in 68 appearances. Prior to that, you have to go back to 1945. So, if Lackey wins 2 more games this season, it will be the 1st time in 23 years that the Cubs will have had 5 double-digit win pitchers. That's long enough to be historic in my book. Come on, John...

He'd been edging closer to breaking thru all year, but this is the first sustained stretch. Nice to see. If he can keep it up, maybe he'll be the first Theo/Jed/Jason 2nd round pick to amount to something.

Yep! Since returning to South Bend: .267/.371/.367 in July with 3 doubles, 4 BB and 5 K in 30 ABs. .391/.481/.739 in August with 2 doubles, 2 HRs, 4 BB and 4 K in 23 ABs. Nice. Let's hope it's more than a hot streak...

Here's hoping Justin Steele can add another good performance to the 4 game run he's on. In his 1st game back after being sent down for 5 weeks to get things straightened out, he didn't fare too well. But since then, he's 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA with 20 K against 6 BB in 16 IP capped off by 5 shutout, 3 hit innings in which he struck out 7 while walking only 1 on August 1st. Steele's struggles in April and May in which he posted a 6.17 ERA and a WHIP of 1.94 were certainly uncharacteristic after compiling a 2.75 ERA in his previous 2 seasons. Many suspect, if he makes it to the bigs at all, he'll wind up a reliever, and that may well wind up being true. After all, there are more relievers than starters and only a one or two rotation slots are up for grabs on a major league team each season. Add in the plethora of veterans also competing for 5th starter spots, and it's not going out on a limb to say that about most any pitching prospect. But Steele still has time on his side. He just turned 21 less than a month ago and has decent size at 6'2", 195 lbs. We'll see how he does from here on out, but having Steele return to form would be welcome news for me. This organization has struggled to produce viable starting pitching prospects at the upper levels since Kyle Hendricks graduated in 2014. If Steele performs well the rest of this season, having a 21-year-old lefty in Myrtle Beach to hope on will be fun.

SS Zack Short looks like the next Chesny Young. Another MIF who walks more or about as often as he Ks with a good hit tool taken in the mid-teens in the draft. Short was drafted in the 17th round. 5'10", 175 lbs. Hitting .313/.450/.417, 21 BB, 15 K in 96 ABs between Mesa and Eugene. Young was drafted in the 14th round. 6'0", 170 lbs. Hitting .294/.378/.377, 54 BB, 55 K in AA.

DJ Wilson is at it again. So far tonight 2-for-2 with a double and a HR and 3 RBI. In his last 42 ABs, he's hit .500, raising his average 100 points to .255. Through his 1st 27 games, he's was hitting .155 with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 HR, 12.3% BB, 24.8% K in 121 PAs. In his last 12 games (including tonight's unfinished one), he's .500 with 4 doubles and 2HRs in 48 PAs. In that span he's dropped his K% to 20.1%. This could just be a hot streak, but, damn! We'll see how he finishes the season...

Adbert Alzolay with his 2nd strong start in a row. 12 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K. Let's hope he's corrected something like Justin Steele seems to have. They both might wind up relievers, but adding those two to the list of viable pitching prospects would be nice.

De La Cruz and Cease pitching on the same day. I like to see that. Come on, guys, give me some hope...

Maddon says he likes the "funk", re Smith. Morrision isn't as low, I don't think, but he seems very funky/jerky/weird even for the low slot he's got. Seems like with these types of guys, Berg, Hendricks, etc., the command needs to be so fine. We'll see, obviously a "prove-it-every-step" guy. Will be interesting to see how location guys like he and Kellogg do when they reach AA next year. Yeah, AA is the proving ground. When Williams did as well as he did there at the end of last season, that's when I started thinking of him as an actual BOR candidate. If Morrison can become that, I'll be thrilled. Heck anything out of the 8th round (or lower half of the top 10 picks) is gravy. Definitely a prove it at every level guy like Hendricks was (another 8th round selection). Morrison's control numbers (BAA and BB/9) are pretty darn close to Hendricks' minor league numbers so far. The BAA is in some cases better. His BB/9 is a tick higher than Hendricks' was. A strong combo of low BAA and BB/9 usually means a guy is hitting his spots well. How well? AA and AAA will tell us more.

Is Preston Morrison a thing? This year's Ryan Williams? He doesn't throw hard (high-80s) but has excellent control, gets a lot of groundballs and has that deceptive sidearm delivery. It's working so far for him. Just turned 23 two weeks ago. He's got decent size (6'2", 185) and is consistently going deep into games. In his last 10 starts, he gone at least 7 innings 5 times, 6 innings 3 times and 2 outings of 5 1/3. He done well in 2 starts for Myrtle Beach since his promotion and took a no-hitter into the 6th last night. Career line of 11-5, 1.90 ERA, 127.2 IP, 110 H, 2 HR, 27 BB, 127 K, .228 BAA, 1.07 WHIP and a GO/AO of 1.95.

Yeah, interested to see what Zinn turns into. He actually got his first hit against Grienke in a rehab start a few days ago, but the game was called due to rain and it was deemed unofficial. But he made it official tonight going 1-for-4 with a single.

Diminutive Venezuelan LHP Eugenio Palma (5'10", 170 lbs.) has yet to have a WHIP above 1.00 in his 3 seasons as a pro. He's 19 and is doing very well in his 1st go around in the AZL. His FB is 90-92 (don't know anything about the quality of his secondaries) so he's not overpowering. His stuff may not play as well at the upper levels, but certainly someone to keep an eye on. Normally, when a young, unheralded IFA comes stateside, their numbers take a dip. But Palma's have actually improved, at least his K/9 and OppBA have. 2-0, 1.30 ERA, 27.2 IP, 17 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 HR, 6 BB, 27 K, .175 BAA, 0.83 WHIP in Mesa this year. 6-3, 1.75 ERA, 97.2 IP, 70 H, 23 R, 19 ER, 2 HR, 17 BB, 77 K, .196 BAA, 0.89 WHIP for his career.

Ha! No, those were just the two I took the time to post. There was other evidence of Hatch's velo being generally lower. It's not important. Never mind, man. I'm not out to convince you of anything.

Some of this stuff was already touched on, but since this was in response to my comment... 1. As was referred to earlier, the injury concerns on Hatch stem from him feeling discomfort in his pitching arm and being shut down in the spring of 2015. Dr. James Andrews diagnosed a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament. Hatch redshirted and received a platelet rich plasma injection and didn't pitch again until this season. 2. I never said Martinez has a low ceiling. Don't know where you got that. I said his ceiling is a tad lower than that of Jimenez and Happ, in my opinion. 3. From what I've read and watched, Hatch's FB velocity sits more 90-92 while Clifton is more 92-94. These are a couple of a the things I read to make me think that. John Sickels from January of this year. [tweet] [/tweet]As I said in the comment you're responding to, I thought they were similar in profile but Clifton had a "tick or two more on his FB", is about 8 months younger and has an established track record in pro ball. For those reasons, I would have Clifton above Hatch right now, but as I learn more about Hatch, that could change. 4. I get what you're saying about Hannemann having the speed and defense to contribute off the bench in the majors and being the closest to the majors of the three, and I agree. For me, Dewees also possesses very good speed and has a much better hit tool while being 2.5 years younger. Wilson also has really good speed and is supposedly solid defensively as well. He's 5.5 years younger and performing pretty well in the NWL, a league he's a year young for. It seems we agree Wilson has more upside, and since I'm an upside/ceiling guy, I'd have him higher. One problem for me with your defense/explanation of your Hannemann ranking was you talked about throwing anyone in at that 10th spot. One, you ranked him 9th, and two, I think there are guys worthy of getting excited about in the 9-15 range on my lists. Granted, again, I am an upside guy. Everybody's a little different when it comes to these lists, and that's good. Some value floor and being close to contributing more than others. All good. I don't seek to change your mind on anything.

That's good. Has anyone seen a rendering of what the new ones will look like? Are there any?

My guess is because Myrtle Beach isn't in the playoffs and South Bend is. The Cubs FO has been quoted as saying they want their players to get post season experience, especially their top prospects.

I'm more of a ceiling guy when it comes to rankings. Obviously, high ceiling/high floor goes to the top, so we agree on Jimenez and Happ. Candy's and EJM's ceilings are a tad lower but the floor is still decent so I can understand where they're ranked. Track record and performance at the upper levels is important to me, and his track record is still fairly short. Putting him 4th isn't crazy by any means. I might go a tad lower, but if he hits the rest of the way like he has in the 2nd half (.328/.413/.500, 30 Ks/19 BB in around 150 PAs) while age appropriate for his level and providing solid D, then, yeah. If July turns out to be a hot streak, then he's a few slot lower. I don't know enough about Hatch to put him at 5. He could belong there. From what I have heard, (6'1", 190 lbs., low-90s fastball, funky-ish delivery, injury concerns) 5 seems high, but it's definitely an incomplete picture. He's a little over 3 weeks from being 22 and hasn't played pro ball yet. Since I don't know enough about him, I can't make a strong comparison, but that profile is similar to Clifton's. Roughly the same size. Clifton has a tick or two more on his FB. He'll turn 22 next May. The main difference is Clifton has a longer track record in pro ball with decent success in High-A. At this point, knowing what I know (and more importantly don't know), wherever I rank Hatch, Clifton would probably be in front of him. Of course, that could change quickly with more information. I'm not afraid of pitchers. I completely agree they can't be counted on to fulfill expectations due to injury, but until they crash and burn, they are what they are. I'm okay ranking a pitcher high on a list. It just comes with an asterisk because they could disappear in a moments notice. Clearly, I'm okay with dreaming on ceiling and being disappointed. After all, I grew up a Cubs fan! Some pitchers are more sturdy than others of course, but no pitcher in the Cubs org has the ceiling of Dylan Cease. De La Cruz also has quite a high ceiling. Those two are in the mix with EJM for me. They could be really good, but need more of a track record. We agree Zagunis' ceiling is lower than those previously mentioned. The fact that Caratini looks to stick at catcher and be at least average would put him above Zagunis for me like you have them. Hannemann doesn't make my top ten. Not really close either. True his periphs took a big step forward this season, but his walk rate and hit tool, especially for a guy with his speed, aren't all that great. Plus, he'll be 26 in April. As a .250 career minor league hitter, I can't put him in front of guys like Dewees or DJ Wilson.

Well, according to the OP, the deal was announced on the MIB network, so...

Nice!

i am already prepared for the trade to not be a thing. Yeah, it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all if this came to nothing. This.