NEWSLETTER
I was at Wrigley last night for the Javy walk-off, so I have not had time yet to dive into Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia video beyond the highlights posted around Twitter last night. I promise there will be detailed thoughts on every prospect the Cubs acquire this week – including that duo the Cubs landed for Andrew Chafin – but I just need the time to organize some thoughts more nuanced from a re-hash of their FanGraphs or Baseball America scouting reports.
There is plenty of important stuff to touch on from recent minor league action otherwise, though …
⇒ Speaking of ex-A’s prospects, we need to talk about what Alfonso Rivas is doing in Triple-A.
In his first 5 games in Iowa, Alfonso Rivas went 1-14 with 1 BB and 6 Ks. Since then (23 games): pic.twitter.com/lNieqhoSqz
— Brad (@ballskwok) July 26, 2021
⇒ What a well-timed hot streak, and he’s doing it with better walk and strikeout rates than he posted in High-A in 2019. All the damage so far has been against right-handed pitching, and frankly, that might always be the case. But you just love the force he’s playing with this year, pulling the ball a bit more often and finding just enough power. He’s only had two starts this year in left field, with the rest at first base, where he’d have to be one of the least physical first basemen in the league. In a world where Anthony Rizzo is traded this week, this is the replacement. If he’s not, this still might be your left fielder, and we’re all just going to have to excuse the defensive growing pains.
⇒ Chris Clarke, the Cubs fourth-round pick in 2019 and my #27 prospect this offseason, made his full-season debut with South Bend on Sunday. He was super efficient, completing four innings in just 46 pitches and just absolutely pounded the strike zone. In his write-up in the offseason prospect rankings, I noted the Cubs had adjusted Clarke’s slider to be more horizontal and that “feel for circle-change is improving.” Both were on display in the start: Clarke’s slider offers frisbee-type movement without any sharp bite, and he has comfort throwing it as a front door offering to left-handed hitters. The changeup offers late sink (and a little bit of run) that pairs well with Clarke’s two-seamer, and I was impressed with how many he threw (even one to a RHH). Clarke definitely got BABIP-lucky in the start, with a few very hard-hit balls finding gloves, so he probably needs to be more willing to waste a pitch sometimes. We’ll see if the two-strike offerings are quite sharp enough as he moves up the ladder, though.
⇒ Speaking of full-season debuts, Tyler Schlaffer made his with Low-A Myrtle Beach on Friday, and it marked the first opportunity I’ve ever had to watch him throw. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, Schlaffer has a slight but athletic build and a quick-tempo delivery with a little violence to it. His arm speed is well above-average, allowing him to sit around 93 mph with a fastball that has some solid late life. But the big takeaway from the outing was the feel for a changeup which I think is already one of the best 5-8 in the system. The Homewood-Flossmoor product seemed more comfortable throwing the changeup for a strike than even the fastball, and while the movement profile isn’t elite, Schlaffer maintains arm speed with the pitch and throws it with such confidence. That was a nice surprise. The breaking ball still looks like a work in progress, I believe we saw mostly curveballs in this outing, but I’m not sure Schlaffer threw any for a strike. The break is sharp and impressive, but there was a horizontal movement that Schlaffer could not command. All in all, I came away really impressed and would classify Tyler as a sleeper in the system right out of the gate.
⇒ Over at The Athletic, Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney wrote a prospect piece with notes on all the Cubs top five prospects. I’ll pass along the bad news from the piece: Brailyn Marquez has apparently hit yet another snag in his return from a shoulder strain, and the likelihood of returning to the mound before the end of the minor league season sounds like a stretch. What a tough break for the 22-year-old southpaw that I think really just needed more and more reps. In the piece we also hear that Miguel Amaya is working back from a forearm/elbow strain and “the hope is now that Amaya, 22, will be able to get at-bats as a designated hitter before the end of the minor-league season.” Tough injury news for two of the Cubs’ top four prospects coming into the season.
⇒ Ben Leeper finally allowed his first hit in Triple-A last week: a home run during a save in Toledo. Then in his next outing, a tie game in Columbus, Leeper allowed another home run to the first batter he faced. So it was good to see Leeper bounce back on Saturday with two scoreless innings, where he struck out four:
Strikeouts by Ben Leeper (@Ben_Leeper5). Third one on a 96 mph fastball that appeared to cut away from the right hander. pic.twitter.com/Adg6u29ejW
— Political Pragmatist (@CautiousLefty) July 26, 2021
⇒ So if Leeper has given up the title of System’s Hottest Reliever, we need a replacement, and I’m giving it to Manny Rodriguez. In his first game this season on May 5, Manny had next to no feel and would give up a go-ahead three-run home run. Since then he’s on quite a run: 18.2 innings, 12 hits, 0 earned runs, 10 walks and 25 strikeouts. The short, stout right-hander has been hitting 100 mph in recent outings, and is doing it while throwing 70% strikes since joining the Triple-A level. With the Cubs likely in need of some leverage relief help next week, particularly guys already on the 40-man roster who are in the mix for next year’s pen, I expect Manny to get a shot.
⇒ Finally, let me shout out some the Myrtle Beach Pelicans offense for waking up from a season-long slumber recently. Jordan Nwogu has led the charge, hitting .274/.361/.548 during the month of July. He’s suddenly third on the team in OPS. Catcher Ethan Hearn has been getting it done as well, with a .925 OPS in his last 18 games, and looks more comfortable finding the pitches he can drive. Both players are still striking out too often, but the turnaround in the power department will certainly keep some hope in their profiles. I also recently tweeted out a scouting report on the Pelicans most consistent hitter this season, 20 year old Venezuelan catcher Pablo Aliendo.
Aliendo has played 36 games at catcher and one at third this year. He looks a bit more like an infielder, with a loose movement profile and slighter build that aren’t typical for the catching position. Should have muscle development left across entirety of body. https://t.co/6x5jcmesEF
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) July 21, 2021
