A huge number of Chicago Cubs prospects have been in Arizona for a long time, so for many of them, the start of big league Spring Training this week doesn’t really usher in any kind of change to their routine – other than the ability to pick some more more brains.
To that end, top Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is using his time well.
“I can’t ask for anything much more, really,” Crow-Armstrong told Jordan Bastian of his first big league Spring Training. “I get to go play defense with Gold Glovers and I get to go hit with the best of them. So, it’s about to be good work for me and for everybody else. I’m just excited ….
“I want to take every little tidbit of information I can get,” Crow-Armstrong said. “I’d be foolish if I wasn’t here to learn. I think it’d be a big waste of my time if I didn’t use it the right way.”
Realistically, PCA won’t see big league action until late this season at the very earliest. More likely, he is on a path that would see him up in the big leagues sometime next year, after his second big league Spring Training. But use the opportunities you have available.
More from the world of Cubs prospects …
Including a long interview with PCA from the Cespedes Family BBQ crew:
PCA had some EXTRAORDINARILY high praise for Cubs lefty relief prospect Brendon Little:
Little, one of the Cubs’ two first rounders in 2017, was breaking out late in 2021 when a stress reaction in the fall shut him down. I can’t help but wonder the extent to which that impacted his 2022 season, when didn’t dominate at Triple-A, and only very briefly got a looksee in the big leagues. We know he’s got big league caliber pitches (always the first cutoff point), but we haven’t seen consistent command over a long enough period of time to say, yup, this is a guy who is going to make it.
Right now, Little is in that big group of lefty non-roster invitees, trying to win a job in the bullpen. And, frankly, given the enormous volume of quality relief options for the Triple-A Iowa bullpen to open the season, these guys are going to want to look good in Spring Training just to make sure they have a shot to be among the first guys called up in April or May when needs arise.
The MLB Pipeline crew took a guess at each organization’s top prospect in 2025 – so a couple years down the road – and for the Cubs, it was shortstop Cristian Hernández:
Some scouts considered Hernandez the best prospect in the 2020-21 international class, and he drew physical comparisons to Alex Rodriguez and Manny Machado before signing for $3 million out of the Dominican Republic in January 2021. He has the potential for solid to plus tools across the board at shortstop and slashed .261/.320/.357 in the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League during his U.S. debut at age 18.
For those of you who want to be able to watch a lot of these prospects’ games, good news: MLB.tv is now going to include MiLB.tv by default. It’s all just folded into one single app now. Or, if you just want minor league games or big league audio (no blackouts on audio), that comes paired for a much cheaper price. I always get both MLB.tv and MiLB.tv, so this is good news for me, at least.
Cubs prospects in action:
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