It has actually been over 2 weeks since I have said anything about the Cubs or White Sox prospects. Well, since we're getting to the home stretch of Spring Training, why not take a look at how some of the prospects have looked? Given, a lot of these guys have very small sample sizes that we're working with, but we'll look further than just into the stats into how they've actually looked (if I've actually seen them play) and to implications of what that could mean. That being said, the sacrifice is that I'm really only going to be looking at guys who are near the very top for each organization (around top 10) and have actually played in Spring Training games. There's a ton of prospects who have been in the minor league camp the whole time. Guys like Dan Vogelbach, who had a nice game the other day, won't get any more attention than what he just got there, because he's been in the minor league camp the whole time. Anyway, here we go.
Jose Abreu
In 39 at bats, Abreu has 2 home runs to go along with his .308 average. He's only walked once, which is lower than I had expected, but like I said above, the sample sizes here are small, and pitchers won't pitch around batters as much as they will in the regular season (not saying it doesn't happen, it just won't happen as much). To be fair with the whole walk thing, he's only struck out 6 times as well, which isn't a whole lot either. From the at bats that I have seen (only a couple), he's looked pretty refined at the plate. I didn't notice anything that we didn't already know about, and he really is a pretty big guy as well, just overall. He looks like he'll be a nice addition to that Konerko/Dunn platoon at 1B/DH.
Erik Johnson
Johnson's spring numbers have not been pretty, but as with other pitchers, you can't get too caught up in the numbers, especially when they're a bit high. After seeing what he did in his short time with the White Sox last season, I have no doubt that he will be able to come up and be a solid starter in the middle of that rotation. So while his ERA is 7.36 right now, let's look back a year further and see that his ERA was 5.23. Many pitchers often start settling down around this point of Spring Training, so expect to see that ERA to settle down and for him to be ready once the season is ready to go.
Matt Davidson
His numbers are actually not far from what Abreu's are. His average is .286 and he's clubbed a couple of home runs. He has 2 walks and 7 strikeouts as well, all in 35 at bats (well, I guess the 2 walks were not within those 35 at bats). When you translate it to the regular season it looks like he'll be a solid option for third, although it looks like he's going to have to battle for playing time with Keppinger and Gillespie.
Marcus Semien
Semien has been very good this spring. In 29 at bats he has a .379 average with 4 doubles. He also has drawn a very high 6 walks to give him an OBP of .486. Again, small sample size, but at the same time it's worth taking notice of those numbers. While he won't break camp with the club, we all know how much the front office likes to push guys it likes, so we'll see what happens in the early months of the season as far as his movement through the system.
Javier Baez
The most talked about prospect in all of Chicago at this point has to be Javier Baez. There were the windows he broke with his massive home runs, there has been all of the talk about how much fun he is to watch in batting practice, but what about his playing. Well, his numbers are very good. .297 average with 4 home runs and 3 doubles in 37 at bats. Anyone who watches him can tell that he's close to being ready. My only issue is with how he sometimes seems unable to contain how eager he is, like last night against the Rangers when he came up with the bases loaded and struck out, swinging at some pretty bat pitches that most other players, even free swingers, would have held up on, but he wanted that grand slam so badly. His swing is also very...I don't know....wild? He doesn't look like he has a lot of control over the head of his bat. However, if he's able to figure out how to improve on both of those, he's ready for the big leagues. I expect we'll see him sometime in June, at latest in July.
Kris Bryant
Bryant has put up some funny numbers. In only 14 at bats he has 2 hits, both home runs. He's also struck out 8 times. This is some evidence to many people that Bryant is in fact, not ready to play on the Cubs, as there were actually people out there who, despite knowing that Bryant hasn't played a game above A level in the minors, thought he'd be ready for the start of the season, and that it would just be Theo and Jed being difficult that would hold him back. Well, the sample size is very small, but there were a lot of clear holes with Bryant in the several at bats that I saw. He didn't look bad at all, the obscene power seems to be there, he just clearly is not as refined as a lot of people thought. I see him settling in at AA before going to AAA by the end of the season.
Albert Almora
Almora had a meager spring as well. He's had 13 at bats (and now being back at the minor league camp, doesn't figure to see a whole lot more), but in those at bats he had 6 hits, 1 of them a double. Considering he's only 19 years old, that's pretty nice to see. The talk that seemed to overshadow his playing ability was more about how good of a leader he was and how mature he seemed to be for his age. Other players were saying things like how they thought he seemed like he was a player in his 30's already. As much as the numbers do matter in baseball, and they do more than any other team sport that I care about (the big 4), having intangibles like that is always nice. I think he strong showing this spring will help the front office to put him in Daytona to start the season. I don't know if they had decided yet, but due to his injuries last season I could see them trying to decide between Daytona and Kane County, but I think it's easily Daytona now.
Mike Olt
Olt had a very real chance of capturing the Cubs starting third base spot out of camp, and he still looks like he has that chance, but nothing is certain. However, it looks like the vision issues may now finally be behind him. His average is modest at .258, but there is nothing modest about 4 home runs in 31 at bats. The power is as advertised, and at very least it looks like he could provide protection behind Rizzo as a serious power hitter. The 12 strikeouts are what really seem to be holding him back at this point. Sure, he hasn't actually played third yet, but that's more due to a minor injury, and he should be getting some starts there pretty soon. If his defense is as advertised, it may be time for him to get a good shots at the bigs.
Arismendy Alcantara
Alcantara had a very tough start to his spring, I don't have the numbers right in front of me, but I believe it was his first 12 at bats where he was held hitless before a 3 for 3 game. It was a tough stretch, but looked more like a bit of a slump to start things off, which is no fun. However, I really don't see any change at this point for him in the near future because of that. I think he still starts the season at AAA and gets his chances there, and if he's ready, he comes up late in the season.
Other Notes
I was going to put Jorge Soler in there, but he just didn't get enough time this spring to even say anything about it, and that's saying a lot when you consider how few at bats some of the guys I did include got. However, when it's less than 10 at bats, I'm not going to bother.
I thought Kyle Hendricks was fairly impressive this spring. He gave up 1 earned run in 2 innings his first time out, 2 earned in 3 innings his second time, then 0 in 3 his third time out. Considering that pitchers are usually the last to come around in spring, I'd say he did a pretty nice job, not all world, but I would have liked to see him get more time with the big league club. I think he could have a very solid career ahead of him.
So there you have it. There really isn't much to summarize, but as a whole the prospects are looking very solid. Even the ones with numbers that aren't as good have had good things said about them. For instance, supposedly an executive from another team said that Kris Bryant has 50 home run power. How's that for fun to hear?
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