With the big league team off, I was following the minor league games a little more closely last night. In the process, the highlight clips people were sharing reached a volume where I was like, you know, other people might want to see these, too.
So this is me sharing some cool clips from a number of Cubs prospects …
Starting with Matt Shaw, continuing to scorch:
Shaw is now hitting .303/.376/.528/167 wRC+ since May 25, and I expect he is going to see Triple-A Iowa at some point this summer. We know there is still development to come defensively (really need him to turn a corner at third base, but he also plays second and a little bit of shortstop), but the bat has the chance to be special. I wonder if next month’s draft and trade season will create the shuffling that sees, among many other things, Shaw get the bump.
Down at Low-A Myrtle Beach, on the eve of his 20th birthday, Alfonsin Rosario homered again:
The strikeout rate is creeping down (but still way too high at 37.5%), but Rosario has huge power and can be a plus defensive outfielder. A whole lotta potential there for a guy in his first pro season. I wonder if he sees South Bend before the season is up.
Next, an outstanding defensive play from Moises Ballesteros (who also homered for the first time at Triple-A):
Jaxon Wiggins continues to show some really, really good stuff in his first professional month of action:
Wiggins, 22, has dominated at Myrtle Beach through three starts, and the control has been really strong for a guy returning from Tommy John surgery. Maybe he gets bumped to South Bend before too long?
Speaking of pitching prospects getting bumped to South Bend, Erian Rodriguez just made his South Bend debut after a great start to the year at Myrtle Beach. It went well:
Rodriguez, 22, was the Cubs’ 13th rounder in 2021, and it’s been a careful development process since then. He didn’t pitch in 2021 after the draft, and then pitched only a bit in the complex league in 2022. In 2023, he was at Myrtle Beach in the bullpen. This year, he’s started to stretch out, and it’s looking increasingly like he might be a guy to keep on the radar.
The conclusion in Tennessee, by the way, was pretty crazy – an attempted steal of home fails, and the Smokies win: