Cubs Prospect Notes: Kilian Coming? PCA Speed, Nwogu Fire, Mervis Power, Alcántara Hype, Leigh Back, More
It’s sounding more and more like, absent something crazy happening, we’re gonna see top Cubs pitching prospect Caleb Kilian up tomorrow to start one of the games of the double-header. I am quite excited, and I think it’s going to be a tremendously valuable experience no matter the outcome.
Nothing official from the Cubs. But I'm hearing that Caleb Kilian is the likely candidate to start in Chicago's DH against the St. Louis Cardinals tomorrow.
Kilian is in his first season with Triple-A Iowa. Cubs have pushed back his starts and he hasn't thrown since May 25.
— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) June 3, 2022
Cubs manager David Ross says team has decided on its starting pitchers for Saturday’s doubleheader, but he will wait to announce until after today’s game.
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) June 3, 2022
David Ross acknowledged Caleb Kilian "is a possibility" to come up start one of the Cubs' doubleheader games Saturday.
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) June 3, 2022
Other Cubs prospect bits …
⇒ I like so much about this scoring update from the South Bend Cubs:
Luis Verdugo plated 2 with a double.
PCA drives in 1 with a double.
Jordan Nwogu hits a sac-fly that scores Verdugo and OH BTW PCA tagged and scored from 2nd on said sac-fly….8-3 Cubs lead middle of the 10th.
— South Bend Cubs (@SBCubs) June 2, 2022
⇒ Immediately I was like, yup, Pete Crow-Armstrong just picking right up at High-A where he left off at Low-A and … wait HE DID WHAT? Admittedly, it’s not *quite* as thrilling as the tweet’s phrasing, but it was still an impressive display of PCA’s speed and instincts:
Super hustle for PCA pic.twitter.com/ufijD485f8
— Todd ⚾️🐻🦌 (@CubsCentral08) June 2, 2022
⇒ Bonus love for the, “Hey, no, no, the ball is right there, sir!”
⇒ Speaking of Nwogu, he also homered in the game and is on FIRE:
https://twitter.com/CubsCentral08/status/1532527859864051727
I know you're probably getting tired of hearing about MORE Cubs prospects who are breaking out (heh), but I think OF prospect Jordan Nwogu might be exploding.
After tough first week at High-A, he's gone .304/.383/.519.
Last two weeks, he's .366/.420/.634/181wRC+, 10%BB, 16%K
— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 3, 2022
⇒ Zac Leigh was a helium pitching prospect last year after being a late-round draft pick (a fifth-year senior out of Texas State) who seemed to add velocity in the fall. He’s doing multi-inning relief work for now, but it’s not too hard to imagine a future starter:
I just love to watch Zac Leigh pitch. Here are three pitches that he throws: a fastball, breaking ball, and a little Cutter type pitch. Today is his first day back in 2022 pic.twitter.com/Dx0bIecPNC
— Todd ⚾️🐻🦌 (@CubsCentral08) June 2, 2022
⇒ Already 24, if Leigh is going to be relief only, then he falls into that large group we’ve talked about before, where you see older/experienced guys dominating at Low-A/High-A, but there is so much attrition up the ladder as not only the hitters get much better, but the guys who were able to start at the lower levels begin shifting over into the bullpen at Double-A/Triple-A. Older relief-only guys pretty much HAVE to be dominant at this level to even stay on the radar. But, as I said, I’m not yet convinced that Leigh won’t slowly be stretched out because of the pitch mix. The delivery looks close to max effort, though, so I’m not sure.
⇒ Kevin Alcántara is still smoking the ball, and looks every bit a top 100 prospect to me.
Sahadev had some really nice things to pass along from people outside the Cubs’ org about Kevin Alcántara herein. https://t.co/5w9MLu9RDF
— Brad (@ballskwok) June 2, 2022
⇒ The short version was that observers outside the organization, looking at the Cubs’ cache of younger prospects before the season, said that *IF* one of them was going to become a monster, Alcántara was the one.
⇒ Matt Mervis just will not stop:
Matt Mervis ties the game at one apiece with his fourth home run the season! pic.twitter.com/SyuB7IJw7H
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) June 2, 2022
⇒ Mervis, 24, is hitting .294/.368/.588/145wRC+ in his first 14 games at Double-A.
⇒ I will admit I had pretty much written off outfielder Greg Deichmann as a bust, and I still think that’s unfortunately the most likely reality, but he’s hit .293/.333/.585/135wRC+ over the past three weeks, his first actual hot stretch in the Cubs organization.
Another day, another Greg Deichmann dinger on @WatchMarquee pic.twitter.com/H0gMll40zF
— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) June 2, 2022
⇒ This is nifty right here:
Double play, double fun! pic.twitter.com/MVuJEbwBA3
— Tennessee Smokies (@smokiesbaseball) June 3, 2022
⇒ Bryan got a chance to talk to utility prospect Levi Jordan, who quietly had the best offensive month of any prospect in the system.
Had a great chat about hitting with Levi Jordan, who has developed himself into a force of a hitter over the last few years. Exceedingly easy guy to root for that has put himself on the map with hard work and a willingness to learn and adapt.https://t.co/FZ24fcv75F
— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) June 3, 2022
