Cubs Minor League Daily: Prospects Emerging Into the Next Wave

Thanks to trades and promotions, the Bleacher Nation Top 40 no longer contains forty names. And thanks to a rash of breakout performances across the minors, those remaining names are in very much the wrong order. Fortunately, the mid-season re-ranking is coming up just after the trade deadline. The early numbers are starting to come together for that re-ranking, and there are already emerging some prospects who we maybe haven’t talked enough about who could appear rather prominently on the new list.

For example, consider right handed hitting second baseman Jhonny Bethencourt. He just turned 20 in February, and in his first taste of the Northwest League is hitting .311/.404/.467 with a home run and eight steals. His strikeout rate is a touch high (22%), but his walk rate is very good (12%). Basically, everything we want to see from a young prospect he is showing. He is very far from the majors, but he is firmly on the prospect radar.

And then there is Vimael Machin. He is on the old side for A ball (he’ll turn 24 in September), but his .320/.371/.500 line in South Bend earned this left handed hitting shortstop a trip to Myrtle Beach recently. He actually played 14 games in Iowa last summer, and put up a line of .278/.480/.278 in 25 trips to the plate. Machin has consistently shown excellent strike zone judgement, but it looks like this year he became more aggressive and started to tap into his power. As a result, his walk rate was down a bit with South Bend (7.9%), but his ten home runs were the first ten of his career.

It is too early to say where these guys will land on the new ranking (or even if they will make the final cut at all), but they are representative of a group of players who are in the process of emerging.  The revised Top 40 will have plenty of room for these emerging prospects.

Triple A: Iowa Cubs
Colorado Springs 2, Iowa 1
After multiple days of rain outs, Iowa finally got in a doubleheader.

Williams Perez: 6 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K

John Andreoli: 2 for 3, SB

Jacob Hannemann: 1 for 3, 2B

Colorado Springs 5, Iowa 4 in eight innings.
Unfortunately, the Cubs were swept in that doubleheader.

Casey Kelly: 5 IP, 3 R, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 K

Pierce Johnson: 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K

Jacob Hannemann: 1 for 4, SB

Chris Dominguez: 4 for 4, 2B

Ali Solis: 2 for 4, HR

Double A: Tennessee Smokies
Mobile 6, Tennessee 0
The Smokies were the victim of a two pitcher, four hit shutout.

Adbert Alzolay: 5 IP, 3 R, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 K

James Pugliese: 2 IP, 1 H

Daniel Spingola: 1 for 3, 2B

High A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans

This game was suspended by rain with a score of 1-1 after four. We’ll cover the entire game here once it is completed (likely today).

Low A: South Bend Cubs
Cedar Rapids 8, South Bend 4
Sands showed some rust in his return to South Bend.

Carson Sands: 2 IP, 7 R, 4 H, 5 BB, 2 K

Tyler Peyton: 2 IP, 3 K

Marc Huberman: 3 IP, 1 H, 5 K

Andruw Monasterio: 2 for 5

Darryl Wilson: 1 for 3, 2B

Luis Ayala: 2 for 4

Short Season A: Eugene Emeralds
Eugene 5, Everett 3
Eugene still has their one game lead in the division.

Jesus Carmargo: 6 IP, 2 R (1 ER), 4 H, 8 K

Aramis Ademan: 2 for 4, 3B, BB

Gustavo Polanco: 2 for 5

Brandon Hughes: 1 for 4, 2B

Jared Young: 1 for 4, 2B

Jhonny Bethencourt: 3 for 3, 2 2B, BB, SB

Michael Cruz: 3 for 4

Rookie: AZL Cubs
Giants 6, Cubs 2
In an Arizona League rarity, the game was finished after eight innings due to rain.

Stephen Ridings: 2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 K

Ramsey Romano: 2 for 3

Yonathan Perlaza: 1 for 4, SB

Other Notes

Through five starts in June, Williams Perez had a monthly ERA of 2.81. Through three starts in July that figure reads 2.37. His season numbers are still ugly, but it really looks like this guy has turned a corner.

The notable thing with Carson Sands isn’t the results of his first start in South Bend this season, but that he made the start at all. He just had surgery this spring.

And then we have a music video starring a Sasquatch that is a probably parody of something someone else I don’t even know what’s going on. Regardless, it definitely has a dancing Sasquatch. In case you were wondering if Eugene would still be making entertaining videos this year, you have your answer.