I’m not sure you can say “no surprise” to this month’s organizational player and pitcher of the month for the Chicago Cubs, but that’s a damn good thing, because it’s not like the “surprise” was from digging through the scrap heap of performances. The Cubs actually had a ton of deserving guys, but the awards go to Jorge Soler and Jen-Ho Tseng.
Soler also took the July award down for MLB.com, as a whole, because his July – as he came back from a third hamstring injury, mind you – was absurd. Since his July numbers basically mirror his season’s stats, I’ll just give you those: .360/.457/.744 in 42 games spread across AZL, AA, and AAA. He’s got 27 extra-base hits, 29 strikeouts, and 23 walks. Silly, silly numbers.
Similarly, Jen-Ho Tseng – whom the Cubs signed last year out of Taiwan for $1.625 million – has had a ridiculous year, which mostly matches the ridiculous July he just put up. On the year, as a 19-year-old making his professional debut in a full season league (that means it was already impressive), Tseng has posted a 2.56 ERA over 81 innings, with 71 strikeouts and just 11(!) walks.
Where Tseng falls in the pantheon of Cubs prospects is up for debate, but he’s pretty clearly one of the best pitching prospects in the system. And if he turns in another year next year like the one he’s having, he might be considered one of the better pitching prospects in baseball.