A long, long time ago, way back in the pre-rebuild, pre-World Series, pre-new-CBA days of 2011, the Chicago Cubs (led by Jim Hendry) had a good draft. Javier Baez came from that draft, as did Dan Vogelbach (who helped land Mike Montgomery).
The best pitcher the Cubs took in that draft was a high school flamethrower who needed a whole lot of refining named Dillon Maples. He was planning to play football, but the Cubs lured him into the farm system and into the hands of their training staff. For a time he was a fixture on Cubs’ top prospect lists, but as time wore on and the injuries and inconsistencies piled up, Maples faded. Some gave up on him. Some forgot about him.
The Cubs still suspected his combo of plus fastball and plus breaking ball could turn him a Major League pitcher and kept working with him. And that patience may be about to pay off.
For the first time in his career, the now 25-year-old veteran minor reliever Dillon Maples has been promoted to Double A. In 31.1 innings with Myrtle Beach he complied a 2.01 ERA (2.84 xFIP) while striking out 12.64 batters per nine innings. Walks were a touch high (4.31 BB/9), but he offset that with a 64.7% ground ball rate that helped him hold batters to just a .188 average. High A was not much of a challenge this year.
Double A might be. Then again, it may not. If he handles Double A well, and that is a big if because Double A is a significant jump in difficulty, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Cubs go ahead and fast track him to the majors in September. The key thing to watch will be his control. If that hold up in Tennessee, Maples could turn out to be future set up guy for the Cubs.
Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Colorado Springs 7, Iowa 3
Two Cubs errors led to three unearned runs.
Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee 4, Jackson 2
The Smokies are back in first by half a game. Their magic number is ten.
High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Carolina 1, Myrtle Beach 0
The Pelicans managed just two hits in this one.
Low A: South Bend Cubs
Great Lakes 4, South Bend 0
The Cubs’ stay in a playoff slot tie lasted a day. They are back in third, one game out of punching a ticket to the postseason.
Other Notes
