Hello, readers. Welcome to another edition of “Young Cubs.” Today’s edition sees Addison Russell graduating from the top prospects list, vaunting Albert Almora to the top. Congrats, Albert! I know I say it a lot, but this Cubs system is truly amazing. Few organizations could have Kris Bryant, Russell, and Jorge Soler all graduate from the list and still have prospects such as Almora, Kyle Schwarber, and Billy McKinney topping their lists. It goes to show that the front office of this organization has been exceptional at acquiring impact talent, with wave after wave of talent currently rising on the farm. Anyways, with that out of the way, let’s begin, shall we?
BP Top 10 Update (Stats for 6/1-6/4)
- OF Albert Almora, Double-A Tennessee: 5-for-14, 1 2B, 1 BB, 0 K
- C Kyle Schwarber, Double-A Tennessee: 6-for-18, 1 BB, 3 K
- OF Billy McKinney, Double-A Tennessee: 2-for-11, 1 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
- RHP Pierce Johnson, Double-A Tennessee: 7-Day DL
- SS Gleyber Torres, Low-A South Bend: 2-for-11, 1 2B, 1 BB, 5 K; I’m not counting the completion of the suspended game (5/31-6/1) here.
- 1B Dan Vogelbach, Double-A Tennessee: 7-Day DL; There hasn’t been a ton of news about Vogelbach’s injury and a potential return for him, but if he Vogs himself is to be believed, he could be back very soon, which would be great news.
Monday can't come soon enough. Ready to be back on the field with my boys.
— Daniel Vogelbach (@DanielVogelbach) June 4, 2015
- LHP Carson Sands, Extended Spring Training: Extended spring training stats are difficult to come by, but if you’re interested, Arizona Phil at The Cub Reporter does some great work covering the team out of Mesa.
- RHP Jen-Ho Tseng, High-A Myrtle Beach: 5.1 IP, 10 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
- RHP Carl Edwards, Jr., Triple-A Iowa: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
- RHP Duane Underwood, Jr., High-A Myrtle Beach: Did Not Pitch; Welcome to the Top 10, Duane! With Russell’s graduation from the list, Underwood joins this group and he should be exciting to follow, as he may very well have the most upside of any pitching prospect in the system.
The Non-Prospects
Javier Baez: Javy Baez continued to hit the ball well, going 6-for-17 with an especially great game on Tuesday that saw him hit two home runs. Javy has made incredible changes to his swing that seem to be resulting in more frequent hard contact, and he has just been tremendous of late. Baez still swings through the ball sometimes, but he does this far less frequently now and is actively looking for a pitch to hit instead. All of that being said, the big news this week for Baez were his two starts at third base the last two nights. Many are going to find the timing of Baez moving over to third very conspicuous, given that Jorge Soler just went on the DL for the Cubs. There absolutely could be something there, but it could also just be a general desire to expand Baez’s positional versatility. I got a chance to watch him play third base and I must say that he looked like a natural at the position. He made several especially impressive plays Wednesday night, and he already seems to have proven that he can play third in the majors, if the need arises.
Arismendy Alcantara: Mendy continued to be really hot at the plate, going 8-for-16 this week with a home run, double, triple, and five walks. Additionally, he continued to show off his impressive base-running skills, stealing five bases in the last four games alone to bring him to 10-for-10 on the season. Mendy can play a solid center field, left field, second base, and third base, making him yet another member of the “Ben Zobrist Club.” No doubt, watching players such as Mike Baxter and Jonathan Herrera come off the bench for the Cubs has made fans yearn for a rejuvenated version of Mendy. There’s, of course, no guarantee that he’ll hit when he returns to the majors, but Mendy is proving that he deserves another shot and I suspect it won’t be long before we see him back up in the majors.
Team Updates/Standings
South Bend Cubs, Low-A, Midwest League: 24-29, 7.5 GB of first place, seventh place in the Eastern Division
Myrtle Beach Pelicans, High-A, Carolina League: 31-19, first place in the Southern Division
Tennessee Smokies, Double-A, Southern League: 31-23, first place in the North Division
Iowa Cubs, Triple-A, Pacific Coast League: 28-25, 6 GB of first place, second place in the American Northern Division
Minor League Player of the Week: Christian Villanueva, 23, 3B, Iowa Cubs
We HAVE to talk about Villanueva. There are some weeks where I’m choosing from among several players who had good weeks, but not great ones. Then, there are the weeks where a player dominates and makes the decision easy. Villanueva’s performance this week defied even that latter description, as his OPS shot above .900. He largely accomplished this by homering in four straight games, which is just absolutely ludicrous. Villanueva has always had a good glove, although it has looked shaky at times this year, so the bat has always been the real question mark. He was already having a good season and cementing that he deserved a shot in the majors, but this week was just something entirely different. It is obviously a small sample size, but the accumulated stats are so mind-boggling, it’s simply hard to ignore them. Villanueva doesn’t have an immediately obvious role on the Cubs, if promoted, but I’m still inclined to say he should be called up, if only to bolster a scuffling bench.
Stats (6/1-6-4): 9-for-19, 4 HR, 1 3B, 2 2B, 1 BB, 2 K
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Player To Watch: Corey Black, 23, RHP, Tennessee Smokies
Black had been having a pretty decent season as a starter for the Tennessee Smokies, but he hadn’t necessarily distinguished himself from the Cubs crop of pitching prospects. Then, earlier this week, the news came out that Black would be transitioning to the bullpen for the Smokies. It has always seemed likely that Black would end up in the bullpen and with the major-league team’s relief staff in serious need of help, it’s no surprise to see a power arm make the move to the bullpen. The Cubs have already started using Carl Edwards Jr. and Armando Rivero as multi-inning relievers in a trend that seems designed to try and cultivate potential major-league relief help, so it was not shocking to see Black make his bullpen debut on Wednesday night with two perfect innings of work that featured three strikeouts and upped velocity from the young righty. Black is a pitcher to keep an eye on going forward, as he could now move fast and maybe help reinforce the Cubs bullpen by later this season.
Tweet(s) of the Week
A lot of Corey’s teammates had great reactions to his dominating debut out of the bullpen on Wednesday night, but the always irreverent Anthony Giansanti let a picture say a thousand words and basically told us what it was like to watch Black mowing hitters down.
@CblackCHC pic.twitter.com/U6SbVj6fZu
— Anthony Giansanti (@GianSanity) June 3, 2015
Best Promotion of the Upcoming Week
If you’ve ever been to a minor-league baseball game, you’re likely aware that the teams have some great promotions. They are sometimes fun, sometimes silly, sometimes downright bonkers, and they ultimately are a large part of what make the minor league experience so much fun. Here, I will highlight an upcoming promotion that stands out to me.
Tennessee Smokies vs. Chattanooga Lookouts, Friday, June 5, Back to the Future Night: A second straight game celebrating a pop culture phenomenon? Sign me up for that, I say. Yes, the Smokies just got done celebrating the game/movie Clue and tonight they are doing the same for the classic time travel movie Back to the Future. This should be a great deal of fun, as there will be movie clips, prizes, giveaways, and likely a fair share of people dressed as Doc Brown and Marty McFly. As a bonus, you get to see a baseball game featuring Schwarber, Almora, McKinney, Byron Buxton, and Miguel Sano. You know, in case you’re in to that sort of thing.
Game(s) To Look Forward To
Tennessee Smokies vs. Chattanooga Lookouts, Friday, June 5, 7:05 PM ET: Any time the Smokies play the Lookouts, this section becomes very easy for me to put together. The Smokies have an amazing lineup that is really only matched by the potency of the prospect-laden Lookouts, who feature top prospects in both Buxton and Sano, among others. Watching games between these two teams is just tons of fun, as it’s a great opportunity to get a look at a variety of guys who may end up being impact major leaguers within the next year or so.
Odds and Ends
- Shortly after being named the Cubs Minor League Pitcher of the Month, Ryan Williams was promoted to Double-A Tennessee. Williams had a 1.17 ERA with South Bend, featuring an insane 18.5:1 K:BB ratio. He definitely earned this and I’m looking forward to seeing how he handles the challenge of the upper minors.
- The Myrtle Beach Pelicans, beginning tonight, are going to be paying tribute to Ernie Banks in a really cool way. The club will be wearing special uniforms as part of an Ernie Banks Tribute Night, and as the article explains, they will be worn any other time the Pelicans play a doubleheader.
- Kyle Schwarber was named the Cubs Minor League Player of the Month, an honor he most definitely deserves. The young catcher continues to rake at Double-A, prompting many fans to take to Twitter to express their desire to see him in the major leagues.
Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports