For the prospect nerds among you, two big pieces of Cubs minor league news today (in addition to the return of Ed Howard!).
First, 2022 Cubs minor league pitcher of the year Luis Devers is ALSO back:
Devers, who just turned 23, dominated at Low-A and High-A last year thanks to a well-commanded fastball that started to tick up into the low-90s, and an overwhelming wipeout changeup. He dealt with a shoulder injury this offseason, which slowed his debut until now. My guess is this is kind of like a rehab assignment for him, with the Cubs hoping he’ll need only a few starts at South Bend to show he’s fully healthy and ready to head up to Double-A Tennessee.
Devers is a guy who is right there on the border of being a very notable prospect. His results last year might make you think he’s already there, but as we’ve seen before, the command-control/changeup-heavy/high-pitchability profile can have a whole lot of success at the lower levels, but doesn’t always translate as the hitters get more polished up the ladder. I expect Devers was maybe trying to add even more velo this offseason, and I hope it took. The difference for him at 93-94 mph consistently, versus 91-92 mph, is probably significant.
Meanwhile, the big surprise down in Low-A is 2022 IFA signee Jefferson Rojas skipping the Arizona Complex League entirely and heading to Myrtle Beach:
The 18-year-old infielder hit extremely well in his DSL debut last year (.303/.391/.407/119 wRC+), and was getting a whole lot of buzz in spring training. Bryan has been all over him from the start.
When Rojas played in yesterday’s ACL opener, I figured that would be the start of him getting in a month or two and MAYBE getting a surprising bump to Myrtle Beach from there. Turns out, he was playing yesterday in the ACL only because that was the only game being played! He was always Myrtle Beach bound.