If you missed it, tonight Marquee will broadcast a whiparound show checking in on all four of the Cubs’ minor league games tonight, starting at 7pm CT. I am a nerd, and am therefore STOKED. We can treat this as our minor league Pre-Gamin’ thread, too, if you’re inclined.
While we wait, some other stray Cubs prospect notes …
Seriously, Pete Crow-Armstrong is so good in center field that it can make it slightly harder to evaluate Cubs pitching prospects. The range is absurd:
Bryan notes some of the big days yesterday:
One that really stands out are Pablo Aliendo, who is back to having an above-average slash line as a 21-year-old catcher in High-A. It’s a big deal, and he probably doesn’t get enough attention (but such is the reality in a system that has 10 legit prospects who deserve attention at every level).
Also, Walker Powell. Wow. What an outing for a guy who just keeps surprising this year as an older undrafted signing last year (he’s already 26), and has a 2.40 ERA and 3.48 FIP this season at Double-A after starting the season at Low-A. I’m not sure if there’s a prospect there, because of his unique situation, but he’s clearly getting results.
Elsewhere in the Tennessee rotation, 2019 4th rounder Chris Clarke is looking more and more interesting:
Bit of a slump for Kevin Alcántara and James Triantos, but at least one is looking like a bit of a BABIP illusion:
Undrafted free agent signing Grant Kipp is getting assigned to Myrtle Beach to take Luke Little’s spot on the roster:
Apparently it’s Cubbie Bear’s birthday – another August 12 anniversary! – so happy birthday to the mascot:
Appreciate Tommy’s thoughts here on how you could have such a huge spread among farm system rankings (recall, FanGraphs had the Cubs 4th, ESPN had them 18th), without there ACTUALLY being that big of a difference:
So, the primary rankers at FanGraphs and ESPN could actually ALMOST agree on the outlook for these prospects, and you could STILL see the huge difference in farm system rankings because of the way the future values and dollars sort out. The concerns about a lack of tip-top, clear impact prospects at the top remain. But when people say the Cubs’ farm system is “ranked 18th” without any context, there’s gonna be me handwaving that away. Like I said before, the 8 to 10 range feels right to me, but that’s really only based on a gut-level take on how valuable a system this deep should be.