NEWSLETTER
While yesterday was sure a disappointing one at Wrigley, the Cubs were gracious enough to donate a couple hundred tickets to my kids’ school. So both kids were in attendance with their friends, completely unaware of the score and plays behind it, completely consumed by the cotton candy in front of them. And both came home asking when they can go back. That’s a win in my book.
Let’s break down the day in the minors for the Cubs …
Honorable Mention: I don’t quite know what to do with Nick Madrigal success in Iowa, but he’s having it in the form of about two hits per game … After zero walks in his first nine games of the season, James Triantos has six in his last seven games. And he still just has the five strikeouts for the whole season, with now four times as many hits (20) … Zac Leigh and Bailey Horn, two of my top relief prospects in the system, had themselves a pair of very nice outings.
FIVE: CHRIS CLARKE
The I-Cubs pitched a 9-0 shutout victory in the second game of their doubleheader, with Chris Clarke leading the charge with three shutout innings. I figured the outing was a good time to update the scouting report on Clarke’s stuff, since he didn’t feature on the offseason rankings because he was then a member of the Mariners organization (having been a Rule 5 pick).
According to Statcast, Clarke is throwing six pitches: a four seamer, sinker, cutter, curveball, slider and changeup. He’s about 88-93 with the hard stuff, and they generate a lot of groundballs thanks to the tilt he pitches with. The slider is the pitch he’ll probably throw the most, it’s about 82-85 with a good 15-20 inches of horizontal movement. Clarke is a serviceable arm right on the MLB border, but that ability to keep the ball both in the zone and on the ground is something that will give him plenty of chances.
FOUR: PETE CROW-ARMSTRONG AND PABLO ALIENDO
We’ll leave the Aliendo praise for a standalone post soon, but I do want to point out he’s now already hit more home runs than he did all of last season (which was itself something a step forward in the power department).
With PCA, what jumps out is that his fifth homer of the season came off a lefty pitcher, after walking off the game last week against a lefty reliever. This is excellent news for someone that came in hitting just .200/.293/.286 off southpaws, and he’s doing a really good job of catching the ball out in front but not flying too open with his front shoulder.
Pete’s now up to .276/.336/.463 for the season. He’s coming.
THREE: CADE HORTON
The big development here, both in this start and his previous one, is the emergence of his curveball as a third decidedly plus pitch. You can see it in the video below at both the 0:33 and 0:47 timestamps (I checked the catcher signs to be sure):
However, the fact that I do have to check the catcher signs does tell you that this third pitch being so solid does create an important item on the developmental to-do list: make sure the slider keeps enough horizontal movement. The slider is his calling card pitch, the one that propelled his June move up draft boards in 2022, but at times it can lack the sweep and just be a pitch with fantastic late depth. That’s well and good, but the team won’t see the benefit of a third pitch if it’s too similar in shape to the other breaking ball. The best version of Horton’s slider will be something of a power slurve, with the bottom falling out as it skates horizontally, leaving the more up-and-down curveball as its own unique offering.
Also important to note that Horton hit 99 mph on the Fort Wayne radar gun, which is certainly a worthy first-round pick number. While I’ve been somewhat harsh in my Horton analysis this year, he’s getting graded on his own unique curve, and it’s helpful for me to step back and realize the stuff profile we’re talking about here is best-in-org type stuff.
TWO: NELSON VELÁZQUEZ, JARED YOUNG, AND CHASE STRUMPF DINGERS
The one to talk about is the Chase Strumpf blast in his absolute first Triple-A at-bat:
That right there is what I think of with Strumpf if I close my eyes: arms extended, getting backspin and pulling it 400 feet. 105.9 on the exit velo with a perfect 25-degree launch angle. He’s ready for this opportunity, and I’m excited to see how he adjusts to the change out of the Southern League.
ONE: MICHAEL ARIAS
We discussed the most underrated prospects in the system on the Cubs On Deck podcast this week, and Arias was one of my nominees. I’m not sure many followers of the system know him, and what I keep seeing is one of the more noteworthy pitching breakouts for the organization in the low minors. A fastball that explodes anywhere in the top half of the zone, consistent horizontal on the slider and really good feel for a changeup. Release point consistency seems to be an issue, and he carries a ton of reliever risk, probably precluding him from a spot in the top 30 right now. But the stuff is top notch, control has been better of late, and he just showed last night that he can go five innings without a drop-off in stuff. Know him!
