allen6510w

A few days ago, Arizona Phil listed 31 pitchers who are being stretched out for possible use as starters this year. Can you name them? 1. This well traveled journeyman has pitched for the Ishikawa Million Stars and Pericos de Puebla. 2. Drafted in 2022, Baseball America’s #34 Cub prospect this offseason, posted a 20/36 K/W when he debuted in 2024. 3. This oldster had a 0.168 BAA in 61 DSL innings spread over 2023-2024. 4. In 2021, he was unanimously named the Big 12 Conference Preseason Pitcher of the year. 5. He spent his Junior and Senior years in the Texas A & M bullpen. 6. This diminutive lefty started 16 games for VCU last year. 7. This 6’6” righty was the Southland Conference pitcher of the year in 2024. 8. This tall lefty missed most of his Junior year in college with arm trouble but impressed during three starts in the Cape Cod league this past summer. 9. This native of Venezuela was signed in January 2021 but has yet to pitch in a full-season league. 10. He signed for $25K out of a graduate school in Arizona. 11. After his senior year in college, two shut out starts in the Cape Cod league helped him get noticed. 12. After a slow start, this righty had a 1.46 ERA in his last 8 DSL starts last year. 13. He was named First-Team All-MAC in 2023 after finishing his senior year 5-3 with a 3.96 ERA and leading the RedHawks' staff in wins. 14. He was the only teenager at the Cubs Bridge / Instructs last August and he threw 30% more innings than any other pitcher there. 15. Signed out of Temple CC, In 2022, he pitched for Fort McMurray in the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), Canada’s pre-eminent summer baseball league. 16. He first touched 100 as a 16-year old. 17. This righty was named to the mid-season DSL all-star team in 2024, his second year in the league. 18. He was an ESPN 4-start football recruit as a senior in HS but quit football to focus on baseball after his freshman year in college 19. As a senior in HS, he would have ranked as the top prep prospect in Illinois if he hadn’t transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., 20. In 2021, he debuted in high-A but was promoted to AA after 4 starts, a 32/1 K/W and 1.25 ERA 21. The son of a famous Cardinal, he started lighting up the radar guns after spending time on the development list in 2024. 22. He was named the Oklahoma Gatorade Player of the year in Baseball despite playing in only 5 games. 23. A Yale graduate, he had just enrolled at Notre Dame for grad school when the Cubs called. 24. As a sophomore he and a fellow minor league starter on this list were the Friday and Saturday starters for Arkansas. 25. After failing to get drafted he struck out 44 batters in 24 innings for the Utica Unicorns of the United Shore League 26. He had perhaps the best stuff and the worst command of any Cubs ACL starter last year. 27. Working on a “splinker” this year; he started 36 games for South Carolina. 28. The “Cubs top DSL prospect of 2023” according to Arizona Phil, he earned a late season promotion in 2023 to the ACL and spent nearly all of last year in low-A. 29. His wife is a former UCLA women’s basketball player. 30. This Venezuelan native who went to high school in Florida played in the AFL in fall 2024. 31. This California native was named the Big West freshman pitcher of the year in 2022.

As you likely know, Brody is in the rehab group at minor league camp. I'm sure we'll know more soon.

Notes (mostly) from AZPhil Updated lineup scenarios that account for injuries to Christian Olivo, Ismael Mena, Brett Bateman, and Geuri Lubo. Michael Carico is catching - hopefully his injuries are behind him Jaylen Palmer is playing both OF and 3B this spring. Cole Mathis mostly (completely?) DH so far. Jose Escobar and Carter Trice are being giving opportunities to play OF

LHRP Daniel Brown 6’3” 200 Lbs (200210) [2023-16, Campbell $150K] In 2022, Daniel gave up 4 runs on 0 hits, 4 walks, 2 BB, and 5 wild pitches over two appearances without recording an out. In 2023, in 4 games (1.0 IP), Brown had 4 wild pitches, 9 walks, and 3 strikeouts while giving up 6 earned runs. Again, he did not give up a single hit... because no one ever really needed to swing against him. So why was Brown drafted? He touched 100 in an outing against Marshall. Daniel did not pitch for the Cubs in 2023. In 2024, he did not debut until the ACL Continuation Camp in mid-August when in his first appearance, he allowed three walks, one HBP, and five WP all while not recording an out; his FB topped out at 94. Daniel was released on March 3 of 2025 before appearing in an official Cub minor league game.

Versatile Jaylen Palmer (3B, 1B, and LF in 2024) signed with the Cubs a few weeks ago and could be given an opportunity to win the 3B job at Iowa. From 2020-2022, he was one of the Mets #15-20 prospects. Power, some speed, but many K's. It'll be interesting to see if the Cubs promote Robin Ortiz from the DSL, go with the older but less exciting Darlyn De Leon, or another option. Darlyn made the mid-season DSL all star team last year in his 3rd year in the DSL. Matt Thompson, who was hard to hit last year in AA but had marginal control, was released by the Cubs last week. Hopefully, the early release helps him find a new opportunity. Chris Flexen may have an opt out clause. Arizona Phil, who knows about 15x as much about baseball as me, put out a projected AAA starting rotation a few days ago SP: Pearson, Wicks, Brown, Kilian, Poteet, Noland, and eventually Assad, Horton, and Birdsell;

Yes, if he breaks camp with South Bend he will keep his status as a "dart". After thriving in the ACL (0.226 ISO), he became more passive at the plate and struggled after being promoted to Myrtle Beach last summer. Will be interesting to see if he settles in at a position (3B?) or continues to move around the infield.

Thanks. I'm sure you're right about the "quite a bit different" part. I also hope Horton will start the year in the AAA rotation but was wondering if they would hold him back a bit so that he is strong in September. Makes sense to also start Brown there too given the roster is full.

It'll be interesting to see if Cade Horton is stretched out as a starter or converted to the bullpen. Nate Pearson could also be stretched out as a AAA starter. Other possibilities include Walker Powell and Brad Keller. The health status or roster status (DSL or US) is in question (for me at least) for players in italics. Several of the possible starters could be converted to the bullpen of course. In fact, several of them are so wild it is probably more likely than not. Several projected rookie level starters and/or position players could end up spending 2025 in the DSL - again. We'll see.

With February a few hours away -

FWIW (not much) I currently have Bello ranked as the #23 Cub prospect. He was a low-A starter last year and has a low 90s FB with a lot of run and a good curve. 91/28 K/W in 89.2 IP with a 0.225 BAA and 5 HRA.

While Baseball America did have Zyhir at #52, they also list him as a candidate (6 were listed although I'm sure they have a longer list than that) to be #1 next year: "Similarly, Hope would have to have a MiLB Player of the Year-caliber season to vault to No. 1, but that’s not an implausible ask. He has massive power potential with a chance to hit for average as well. As a bat-first outfielder, he’d have to vault multiple levels while showing exceptional performance. Hope has the ability to pull that off."

... presumably the same Tadeo who debuted in the Mexican league last summer as a 15 year old ...

Rich Biesterfeld posted a picture of Fernando Cruz in Mesa yesterday. So .... that may answer the question as to whether Fernando will repeat the DSL this summer.

With Vidal Brujan being out of options, the Cubs may opt to begin 2025 with Luis Vazquez as the AAA SS.

Baseball America has released their depth chart for the Cubs. Thought this was interesting. The depth list for LHSP is 1) Drew Gray 2) Marino Santy 3) Evan Aschenbeck 4) Cameron Sisneros Their top 30 included Nick Dean at 27 (Depth starter upside unless he adds 3-4 mph to each of his 4 pitches - CU is bread and butter pitch), Sam Armstrong at 28 (throws both 2 and 4 seam FBs from 3/4 arm slot; slider works against both lefties and righties), Brett Bateman at 29 (no surprises here; 70 speed but 20 power; 55 hit tool is encouraging), and Kenyi Perez at 30 (70 FB 30 CTRL (better than expected?), the spin rate of his 4-seam FB was better than that of any ML pitcher in 2024).

The recent signing of Carlos Perez gives the Cubs the option of leaving Pablo Aliendo in AA to begin the season. Arm permitting, Cole Mathis could slide into the 1B position at low-A to start the season, with a mid-season promotion to high-A and shift to 3B possible. Drew Bowser and Matt Halbach are two recent draftees that could move into starting roles this spring with a strong spring if others falter. Fernando Cruz signed for a heck of a lot of money. Will he be given a mulligan for last year and given a shot to earn a starting spot in the ACL this spring?

As we await the signing of MiL FAs and additional trades, here is one possible arrangement of players. It'll be interesting to see when Cole Mathis is cleared to play IF and whether he starts at 1B or 3B.

Yes, AA is the most likely starting place for Cam.

With Alfonsin Rosario gone the Cubs need a new CF at the high-A level. The Cubs could go many ways here. In my relatively uninformed depth chart, I've shifted Wetzel to CF (he played a plurality of his games there last year), moved Ivan Brethower up from low-A (that would be a big challenge for him but he will be 22 in February), and moved Geuri Lobo into the OF rotation at low-A (he had a pretty good season in the ACL last year, adjusting to his new role as an OF). Of course, the Cubs could move Reggie Preciado from 3B to the OF, give Jordan Nwogu another chance, sign a MiFA, or other. What would you do?

The Cubs re-signed a couple of potential miFA that should compete for starting roles in 2005. Antonio Santos, a 28-year old who posted an impressive 80/25 K/W last year in 70 AA IP; he also had a good playoff start. Over the last few years he has pitched in the Dominican Republic, Japan, China, and the majors. ... and Kohl Franklin who was ranked as the Cubs 13th, 6th, 18th, and 29th best prospect by Baseball America between 2020 and 2023. He injured his forearm last April 13th and should return to action sometime next year Finally, as expected, the Cubs re-signed C Pablo Aliendo who begin 2025 in AA or AAA. In theory, any of these players could be plucked in the Rule 5 draft.

Thanks for the write ups! Ramirez's need to develop some power ( he had a 0.097 ISO last year) despite his small frame is reinforced by the fact that he played more 3B than 2B last year and did not play SS at all.

Yes, if the Cubs keep Rodriguez in high-A or move him to the pen, the Cubs could move Nahas back into the rotation. Other possibilities would include Chris Kashmir if he doesn't make the AAA roster, Manuel Espinoza depending on his free agent status, Walker Powell if he is healthy, etc.

Since it's quiet here, I though I'd list my starting pitching list, which is very similar to California Raisin's and an update on my latest thoughts wrt position player placement,

Matt ShawCade HortonMoises BallesterosCam SmithOwen CaissieJames TriantosKevin AlcantaraBrandon BirdsellJaxon WigginsJonathon LongJefferson RojasCole MathisAlfonsin RosarioCristian HernandezAlexander CanarioTy SouthiseneDrew GrayChristian FranklinPedro RamirezMichael Arias

Baseball America (Josh Norris) just posted a list of the top 31 prospects in the DSL this summer. No Cubs made the list but there were 4 players from the Orioles, 3 from the Guardians, 2 from the Brewers, Cardinals, Angels, Rangers, Twins, Red Sox, and Pirates and 1 from the Marlins, Rays, Dodgers, Astros, Nationals, Yankees, Giants, Rockies, Royals, and Reds.