NEWSLETTER
The Cubs have a farm system full of potential middle of the order bats. Baez, Soler, Bryant, and Vogelbach all project nicely anywhere from the three to the six slot in most lineups. Leadoff hitters, on the other hand, are a little less certain.
Matt Szczur is certainly one candidate, but I’m still not certain he isn’t a good fourth outfielder when it is all said and done. Albert Almora would be a frequently mentioned candidate, and while I admit his name belongs in the hat at times I think he looks more like a two or seven guy (depending on how he develops) than a leadoff hitter. Zeke DeVoss and John Andreoli both deserve a mention, but in both cases there are concerns about their ability to hold down full time jobs at the major league level.
The best candidate of them all, I think, is Arismendy Alcantara. The switch-hitting second baseman has faded a little in the later part of the season (not surprising given he blew past his career high in games played three weeks ago), but he still boasts an OBP of .344 and a walk rate in excess of 10%. His strikeout rate is a touch higher than I’d prefer in a leadoff hitter, but that in turn is offset by his 13 home runs and 27 steals.
We will, of course, need to see him repeat numbers similar to those in Triple A next year before we can pencil his name into any major league lineup with anything other than very light pencil. I like his chances, though, and I like the idea of him hitting ahead of the likes of Castro, Baez, and Rizzo for the Cubs in the not so very distant future.
Scores From The Weekend
Iowa –
Friday – The Cubs were shut down after scoring in the first and ultimately lost 5-2.
Saturday – Despite seven hits Iowa was shut out 3-0.
Sunday – The Cubs stayed alive for sixteen long innings, but in the end they lost 4-3.
Tennessee –
Friday – A ninth inning rally set up this 8-6 win.
Saturday – On Saturday, though, the Smokies lost the finale against Chattanooga 6-4.
Sunday – Another ninth inning rally, this time on the road against a very good Birmingham team, resulted in this 5-2 Smokies win.
Daytona –
Friday – An efficient offense led the Cubs to a 5-1 win.
Saturday – The offense went cold in this 10-2 loss.
Sunday – But the Cubs bounced back with a big seventh inning in this 5-3 win.
Kane County –
Friday – Three errors and little offense dropped Kane County with a 5-1 loss.
Saturday – The bats found just enough to win this one 7-6.
Sunday – A ninth inning rally did not go far enough as the Cougars lost again, 4-2.
Boise –
Friday – Boise overcame a pair of errors to win this one 6-2.
Saturday – This game was just ugly. The Hawks were blown out 11-0.
Sunday – Boise’s pitching stumbled again in this 10-2 loss.
Arizona –
Friday – The AZL Cubs shut down the Padres with a 6-0 win.
Saturday – Saturday marked a rare road win for Rookie League team. The final was 9-7.
Sunday – This was a scheduled off day.
Performances of Note
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