The first updated, post-season top Chicago Cubs prospect list is out, incorporating not only what came during the season, but also conversations with evaluators and scouts.
And it features a new top prospect for the Cubs, complete with some ga-ga praise:
Our Cubs Top 10 prospects for 2020 are here.
Does Chicago finally have its frontline starter of the future?
Plus fresh scouting reports on names like Nico Hoerner, Miguel Amaya and more. https://t.co/BzERyVwfTU pic.twitter.com/ELUALhWPbs
— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) December 2, 2019
That’s a treasure trove of information right there, and it’s an interesting – 2019-draft-heavy – top ten:
- Brailyn Marquez, LHP
- Nico Hoerner, SS/2B
- Brennen Davis, OF
- Miguel Amaya, C
- Chase Strumpf, 2B
- Cole Roederer, OF
- Ryan Jensen, RHP
- Ethan Hearn, C
- Riley Thompson, RHP
- Cory Abbott, RHP
Marquez is the new top dog, which is obviously a matter of his huge upside relative to Nico Hoerner’s higher floor. Brennen Davis, as expected, flies up the rankings, and with Miguel Amaya there at number four, the Cubs’ big four prospects are all going to be top 100 considerations on the various lists.
As for Marquez, he gets an incredible 80 grade dropped on his 100-mph fastball, which is a first for the Cubs in a loooooong time. And as a 60 grade prospect overall, the implication is that he will actually be in the top 30 or so when their top 100 comes out(!).
The 2019 draft accounts for 30% of the list, which is both a compliment to the picks – BA is higher on Strumpf than most will be, I expect, and they definitely buy Jensen’s fastball (70 grade) – and a question-raiser about the rest of the system.
I don’t want to give up too much on the scouting side, because this is premium content, but I would like to point out that, incredible, Brennen Davis is listed as the top athlete in the system, the top defensive outfielder in the system, AND the top power hitter in the system. That upside is star-level.