One of the bright spots in the Cubs organization this summer has been the pitching performance of Adbert Alzolay. The 22-year-old right-hander from Venezuela has a fastball that has been sitting 95 to 96 most nights. While his secondaries still need work, he is an intriguing starting pitching candidate beyond this year. With an ERA […]
Author: Todd Johnson
Prospect Update: Oscar de la Cruz Gets the Injury Bug Again
When I think about Theo Epstein’s “Plan,” there is really only one part of it that has failed. The Cubs have yet to develop any starting pitching from within. In both the draft and international free agency, the Cubs have so far struck out. But in the next two years, there are plenty of pitchers […]
A Year Removed, Grading the 2016 Draft
The 2016 Cubs draft class has to be the hardest class of the Theo Epstein era to evaluate. First, they didn’t have a first round pick. Second, it’s only been a year. And third, there are several prospects who have yet to even to play above Rookie Ball in Mesa. I think to get a good […]
Eloy Makes an Immediate Impact
The statline looks pretty impressive for Eloy Jimenez’s 2017 debut. He went 3 for 7 with three walks, two of them intentional, one a walk-off. The Cubs No. 1 prospect played in his first games in 2017 that mattered yesterday for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans after spending the first month and a half of the season recovering […]
Joe Martarano Moving to Baseball Full Time Might Be a Steal for the Cubs
The Cubs currently have four minor-league affiliates in season, with their Low-A Eugene squad set to begin in June. I might spend most of my time on MILB.TV checking out South Bend and Tennessee this summer, but what I am really looking forward to is seeing some of those prospects in Eugene, the Cubs’ short […]
Prospect Profile: Kevonte Mitchell Is Beginning to Find His Swag
When Kevonte Mitchell was drafted in 2014, many people scoured the internet to find some baseball related video. All that initially came up on YouTube were images of the 6’4″ and 195 pound prospect dunking on, over, and through people. But even in those first instances, one could clearly see what a great athlete the Cubs […]
The Reincarnation of Justin Steele
In early 2015, ESPN’s Keith Law clearly put an unintended target on the back of the Cubs 2014 5th round draft pick: pitcher Justin Steele. Law named Steele his sleeper prospect of the year for the Cubs. Steele, who was all of 19 at the time, had only pitched 18.2 innings in the lowest levels […]
Game 18 Recap: Reds 7, Cubs 5
What You Need to Know: Old. 78 combined years of age. Those were the first things I thought of when I saw who the starting pictures were going to be for today’s game. Cincinnati’s Bronson Arroyo is in his 16th year in the majors, despite missing the last two years. And as for the Cubs’ […]
Time for Cubs Pitching Prospects to Shine
While Jeimer Candelario and Ian Happ are dominating the headlines with the Iowa Cubs, starting pitchers are drawing rave reviews at Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. At this rate, there will be more pitchers than hitters on the top Cubs prospects lists by the end of summer. And based on the number of pitchers the […]
Dylan Cease Opens Up 2017 with a Solid Outing
Heading into South Bend’s home opener vs. West Michigan, I was looking forward to seeing Dylan Cease pitch for the South Bend Cubs. I wanted to see how much he improved since last September, when he was a member of the Northwest League champion Eugene Emeralds. Although Cease is known for throwing up to 100 […]