NEWSLETTER
There was some legend at the Alternate Training Site in South Bend last year about the damage Patrick Wisdom was doing to pitchers there. One told me that they joked he was the Mike Trout of the ATS Cubs. I heard, and have no idea if it’s fact or fiction, that lefties gave up more home runs against him than they recorded outs. I took all the hype with a grain of salt, was pleased when he re-signed a minor league deal with the team, but really didn’t think we were looking at a likely big league contributor or anything. Credit to the Cubs front office for bringing him in last year for a look, and credit to Patrick for continuing to force his way into greater and greater opportunities. I love when it works like a meritocracy that way (and it doesn’t always).
Let’s break down the day in the minors for the Cubs …
Five Stars of Cub Farm, 8/28.
HM. Brendon Little.
5. Max Bain.
4. Yonathan Perlaza.
3. D.J. Herz
2. Cristian Hernandez
1. Ed Howard
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) August 29, 2021
Honorable Mention: Miguel Fabrizio and Felix Stevens had identical lines in the ACL: 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI. They also have near identical elite OPS numbers: .962 for Fabrizio, .961 for Stevens. Their breakouts have been overshadowed by the likes of Caissie and Preciado, and because both are a little old for the ACL, but they’ll also be Honorable Mentions on next year’s prospect list in part because of the patience/power combinations they have showed in Mesa …. Nice outings for the two Iowa relievers with the best chance at September call-ups (or, at least, 40-man spots in November): Ethan Roberts and Brendon Little. Roberts ended his five-out appearance with a well-executed 95 mph high fastball. And then Little came in, and he was just outrageously good over two innings, getting the fastball up to 97 and a wicked slider up to 89. This is a guy we want to get a Major League look, I’m telling you.
Five: Max Bain
His first start with zero walks this year, and I swear, watching Bain this month is like watching a completely different pitcher than early in the season. So much more efficient, so much more willing to come into the strike zone with the fastball. Everything is simplified. Here are the six strikeouts from the outing:
- Three-pitch strikeout to a LHH ending with a high fastball
- Froze a hitter with a low fastball coming after a breaking ball
- Froze a hitter with a breaking ball coming after a fastball
- Three-pitch strikeout to a RHH ending with a breaking ball
- Nice right-on-right changeup to the outside corner
- Nice slider on outside corner
Four: Yonathan Perlaza
This guy’s so good. Last 30 games: .352/.423/.602. The guys at Double-A Tennessee are going to be playing short-handed when they return to the baseball field, and so it seems pretty essential at this point to let Perlaza fill in one of those gaps. He’s ready for Double-A.
Three: D.J. Herz
Another good one for Herz, who pitched into the sixth inning for the first time all year (though he gave up his second hit and only run in the inning). I’m seeing much better feel with the curveball in recent outings, where he’s beginning to show the ability to throw it for a strike and, of course, as a chase pitch.
.@PitchingNinja, meet @DavidjohnHerz. ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/dwq1jCiu8Z
— Caleb Webb (@calebgwebb) August 28, 2021
Two: Cristian Hernandez
Four consecutive games with an extra-base hit, which has been enough to take the slugging percentage from under .300 to over .400. It does feel like a lot of Cristian’s best games have come when playing against the other DSL Cubs team, which is a regular occurrence on the schedule this year, but I’m not going to make anything of that. He’s an elite prospect, beginning to do elite baseball things regularly. You like to see it.
One: Ed Howard
I think we can officially call it a hot streak now, as we’ve reached 11 games with a .382/.463/.618 batting line. He’s walked four times in the last two games, and the strikeout rate during the hot streak is just 16.7%, so he’s clearly seeing the ball better than ever. We knew struggles would happen this year, and while they were more profound than we’d have guessed, what we really wanted to see was growth from May to September. And it’s happening.
As far as tools go, you still have to love Howard’s bat speed, which already translates to being able to pull inside fastballs a long way.
But wait there's more!
Howard's blast is the Crack of the Bat Play of The Game, obviously.
Crack of the Bat Play of the Game presented by @VinesPlumbingSC pic.twitter.com/pyymS9oOBI
— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) August 29, 2021
(Note: Kevin Made was scratched only a few minutes before this game. I failed in trying to get an explanation for this, but man, it would be quite cruel of the Baseball Gods to let Made get injured during the crazy hot streak he’s been on.)
