Today marks the beginning of the 2018 minor league season for Iowa, Tennessee, Myrtle Beach, and South Bend. Eugene, the two Mesa clubs, and the two Dominican squads begin in June. While spots may be limited—or even almost nonexistent—in Chicago for upcoming prospects, there are still several young players who could make a name for […]
Tag: Thomas Hatch
How Will Darvish’s Contract Impact the Cubs’ MiLB Starting Pitching?
When the Cubs signed Yu Darvish to a six-year contract, it filled a void in the starting rotation for 2018 and 2019. In addition, Darvish was given a two-year opt-out clause after 2019. Taking those two things into consideration, I began to think about how the signing and contract could impact several of the Cubs’ […]
The Double-A Test Is Coming for 6 Touted Cubs Prospects in 2018
Advancing to the Class AA Southern League is a huge test for many of the Cubs’ top prospects. It is a place where the prospects are a little bit more polished than the levels before. In the past 10 years, there has been a trend in the majors of players skipping Triple-A after success at […]
What Could Be the Top MiLB Storylines to Follow in 2018?
The top two storylines in 2017 for the Cubs’ minor league system were the trades of top prospects Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease to the White Sox and Jeimer Candelario and Isaac Paredes to Detroit. As a result, there was a dramatic shift in the tenor of the Cubs’ farm system. Now, the top prospects […]
Thomas Hatch – What Are the Keys to His Dominant Run?
I first saw Thomas Hatch pitch for Oklahoma State in the College World Series (CWS) in 2016. He pitched a complete game against the University of California-Santa Barbara and I really liked what I saw that game. He struck out seven but got a lot of ground ball outs using a three pitch repertoire of a […]
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 […]
South Bend Cubs Rotation Could Be Something Very Special
With just one week left in spring training, the rotation for the South Bend Cubs is pretty well set. It is mostly a collection of arms who pitched for the 2016 Northwest League champion Eugene Emeralds. Most Cubs fans might focus only on top prospect Dylan Cease, but there are other arms who are equally exciting […]
Getting to Know Thomas Hatch
Imagine having to follow in the footsteps of Kyle Schwarber, Javier Baez, and Kris Bryant. Try being drafted by a team where an top-tier talent in Albert Almora Jr. is still considered a possibility as opposed to a definite. That sounds like one tough world—a world where the expectations for the person entering it are very […]