NEWSLETTER
Today is the season opener for the Cubs’ new Northwest League Short-Season A affiliate, the Eugene Emeralds. Their color is green, their mascot is an awesome giant neon mash-up between a Sasquatch and a cartoon bear, their logo features a tree-toting Sasquatch, and their just-released roster is loaded with prospecty goodness.
Starting with the pitching, the two biggest names on the roster are probably Carson Sands and Justin Steele. These two lefties were two of the Cubs’ crop of million dollar arms from the 2014 draft, and Eugene will be our first indication of how their future could shape up. A couple of pitchers who have had success in the Caribbean Leagues are also worth noting, including Adbert Alzolay, Andin Diaz, and Greyfer Eregua. Jae-Hoon Ha continues his conversion to the mound in Eugene, and Dillon Maples continues his efforts to harness his very good stuff with more consistent control.
And those are just the highlights. I think this is the best class of SS-A pitching talent the Cubs’ have had since I have been covering their farm system.
The talent continues on the infield. Tyler Alamo was drafted as a catcher, but his potentially big bat now lurks at first base. The middle infield is a really interesting pairing of Frandy Delarosa at short and Ho-Young Son at second. Either, or both, of these have the potential to follow Gleyber Torres as the Cubs’ next great middle infield prospect. Adonis Paula, playing third, has already shown flashes of power. He is also well worth monitoring.
In the outfield we find the very talented trio of Eloy Jimenez, Kevonte Mitchell, and Ricardo Marcano. Jimenez will draw the headlines, but don’t forget about those other two. Mitchell is raw, but he appears to be coming along faster than expected and could yet develop into a very potent bat. The same could be said of Marcano. I’m not sure who plays center of that group (Mitchell, I suspect) but they should be fun to watch at the plate.
This outfield is likely to be reinforced in the near future by a certain couple high 2015 draft picks as well.
The Eugene Emeralds will become a part of the Minor League Daily starting tomorrow with the results of their season opener.
Scores From Yesterday
Iowa – Iowa allowed too many late runs in this 7-4 loss.
Tennessee – The Smokies broke open a shutout in the fifth and never looked back. They won 8-0.
Myrtle Beach – Myrtle Beach drew one step closer to their first half title with this 5-2 win.
South Bend – The Cubs had some chances, but could not cash them in. They lost 3-1.
Performances of Note
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