It feels like the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects attend a lottery before each day’s set of games, spinning one of those big baskets of balls, and randomly drawing a few to see who gets to hit homers that day.
On Friday, the balls belonged to Jorge Soler, Kris Bryant, and Addison Russell.
Jorge Soler won the distance competition with one he sent “deep into the night”:
That was crushed, and was way gone right off the bat. This guy is so, so good when he’s healthy. I’ve got goosebumps thinking about the possibility of what he could be for the Cubs next year in the outfield.
Bryant’s bomb to left:
You know how you know Bryant has insane power? When he hits a homer and the outfielder actually makes it all the way to the wall before giving up … you’re a little disappointed. They should all be the kind where nobody moves except the runners on base, and the guy in the parking lot chasing the bouncing ball. That’s totally unfair and silly, but that’s pretty much the point. That’s how much easy power Bryant has.
That was his 36th homer of the year. I am shaking my head.
And then there’s Russell, who is doing his best to show that he’s got plenty of power:
Russell is just the latest Cubs prospect to be crazy hot. And he’s got a really interesting swing – quick and short, at least on that homer. He got his hands inside and through the zone so quickly that it generated a ton of pull-side power (because that was a bomb, and it didn’t look like one off the bat). Totally groovy.
A little bonus: how about a walk-off win for the Smokies?