We got the Nico Hoerner teaser already, but now the full Arizona Fall League rosters are out, and Hoerner will be joined by one of his fellow “top four” Cubs prospects: catcher Miguel Amaya.
At just 20 years old, and not having played above High-A, it’s really impressive nod to Amaya’s ability that he’s getting the call to the talent-rich and competitive AFL, as everyone else the Cubs are sending has already reached AA. We’ve been loving on Amaya for a while, and it’s fantastic that he’s going to see some more advanced pitching, even if he struggles. And he’ll get to CATCH some really advanced pitching, too. I love it.
It’s also really impressive that the Cubs feel like he’s ready for more competitive baseball at the end of a long season – remember, he wore down a bit as a young catching prospect last year in his first full-season league, but that hasn’t happened this year. I am so stoked about this guy’s future: a plus-defense and plus-receiving catching prospect who is currently posting a 127 wRC+ in High-A when he’s young for the league? And now he’s headed to the AFL? Tell me again that the Cubs don’t have significant prospects.
The other AFL participants from the Cubs:
Bryan will have more on these guys soon, and you can read his write-up on some of these guys who showed up in his projected AFL roster (well, not so much projected as the guys he thought should be sent).