Cubs Prospect Notes: Horton, Horton, Horton, Alcántara, Brown, Palencia, Rojas, More

Jun 08, 2023

Enjoy what there is to enjoy in a baseball season, eh? Some Cubs prospect bits …

His latest absurd start wasn’t even on the books when Baseball America offered up its re-ranked top 100, so you have to wonder how high Cade Horton (now 67 after a 21-spot jump) can climb. Can he become the Cubs’ first consensus top-50 pitching prospect since … Juan Cruz? Mark Prior? The Cubs have had an arm or two reach that level on a list or two, but a pitcher who is considered obviously top-50 by all the major services? I don’t think we’ve seen that from the Cubs in decades.

Bryan got way into Horton’s latest absurd performance this morning, so check that out if you missed it. A little more fun with the numbers:

Over his last 3 starts with High-A South Bend, Horton has a 1.38 ERA and a whopping 27 Ks in 13 IP.

He has a 55% (!!) strikeout rate in that span. https://t.co/WuBWE1FgMh— Tony Andracki (@TonyAndracki23) June 8, 2023

Just hysterical by any metric you choose to display that: pic.twitter.com/U7Xiilv6dS
— Brad (@ballskwok) June 8, 2023

Horton since joining the @SBCubs is now tied for the league-lead in strikeouts with 34 in 19.2 IP.

But more jaw-dropping is what he has done over his recent outings:

Last 2 starts: 9 IP, 0 ER, BB, 19 K 😳
Last 3 starts: 13 IP, 2 ER, BB, 27 K https://t.co/c5a4nBPJ63— Max Thoma (@MaxThoma) June 8, 2023

So, then, Horton currently leads all of minor league baseball in K-BB% for starting pitchers.

Also, he is 21. Every one of the relievers ahead of him is at least a year older, and has far fewer innings pitched this year.— Bleacher Nation (@BleacherNation) June 8, 2023

Have I mentioned that Horton, who was a two-sport athlete in high school, and then a two-way player in college, barely pitched in college? I have mentioned it. But I’m going to keep mentioning it, because it makes what he is doing right now all the more ridiculous.

Speaking of the BA top-100 re-rank, it was a mixed bag for the Cubs, with Kevin Alcántara falling all the way off from number 72, which is a little wild to me. What’s even more wild is that the reasoning BA gives is precisely the reasoning he SHOULDN’T be falling off: “Alcantara has always been a tooled-up player, but his future has always come with plenty of risk as well. He struggled early in the Midwest League—not uncommon in that kind of weather—and had yet to hit for much in the way of either average or power. Issues with complex swing mechanics and overall swing decisions might be leading to those issues and have led to questions among scouts dating back to his Yankees days.” I mean, a 20-year-old prospect playing his first April in a cold-weather spot in his life didn’t rake? That’s extremely normal. Heck, he’s been an above-average hitter overall even going back as far as April 25. Again, he’s a 20-year-old in High-A who can play quality center field defense, too. I don’t get it. If you believed in Alcántara back in March, there’s nothing that has happened that should change that, in my opinion.

Similarly, but in the other direction, you could argue that the rise for Ben Brown (from 99th to 68, just behind Horton) is awfully pronounced. Far be it from me to disagree with a strong ranking for a Cubs prospect, but that’s a huge bump for a pitching prospect based on a relatively small sample of dominance. Don’t get me wrong, I think Brown is a clear top-100 guy at this point. Just not sure I’d have him quite that high yet.

The only other Cubs prospect on the new top-100 is Pete Crow-Armstrong at 18. I really think Owen Caissie should be getting more back-end buzz.

Jed Hoyer on Daniel Palencia, now a full-time relief prospect at Iowa (The Athletic): “He’s up to 102 miles an hour. We kept him as a starter for a long time because he carries his velocity for a long time. But ultimately, having weapons like that in the bullpen is really valuable. We brought him up and simplified his mix a little bit when we put him in Iowa. Hopefully, that will continue to work. I’d love to see him here at some point if he keeps working hard.”

Glad to see the word “precautionary”:

The @IowaCubs are placing outfielder Brennen Davis on the injured list.

Davis came out of last night's game following an uncomfortable swing.

Hearing it is precautionary.— Tommy Birch (@TommyBirch) June 7, 2023

A reminder that the Injured List is used much more liberally in the minor leagues (because it’s only seven days, minimum, and there’s nothing to lose). Davis has obviously been struggling to reclaim his power this year after last year’s back problems and surgery, so the last thing he needs is any kind of injury related to that. No word yet on what the issue is.

Love to see some hype for Jefferson Rojas, who got assigned to full-season ball right out of the DSL at age 18. This is from Baseball America, who noted his big first game at Myrtle Beach: “If you want a buzz-worthy name, look no further than Rojas, who piqued scouts’ interest during extended spring training. Rojas signed with the Cubs for $1 million during the 2022 international signing period and posted an excellent debut in the DSL in 2022, when he hit .303/.391/.407 with one home run and 15 stolen bases. This spring, evaluators tabbed Rojas as a player with the potential to hit for both average and power while sticking up the middle.”

Welcome to the Pelicans, Jefferson Rojas!

The shortstop is 2-3 with two doubles in his debut, including this one that brought in two runs.

He’s just 18 years old (and only has been for a little over a month). #MBPelicans | #NextStartsHere pic.twitter.com/5ftwikQnLO— Myrtle Beach Pelicans (@Pelicanbaseball) June 8, 2023

Ope, wait, I have one more on Horton before I leave. This was a scout’s take even before yesterday’s dominant showing (The Athletic): “What I saw out of him was pretty impressive. He’s a sturdy-built right-hander who has the frame and size and foundation to continue in a starting role. It’s a very clean arm action and delivery. I tend to nitpick that, but he stood out as interesting. He has probably the cleanest arm and delivery I had seen all year …. He has a four-seam he can bully guys with. It has velo and life and rode up in the strike zone. It was a plus pitch, in the mid-to-upper 90s. The slider has really good shape. He’s inconsistent with how he uses it, but he can throw it for a strike and get whiffs outside the zone. It’s a plus pitch, too, and he’s throwing it 48 percent of the time. He’s working on a changeup, but he can get by against lefties with just the fastball right now. You’re talking about two plus pitches and a curve he doesn’t throw often but can land for a strike. So that’s three potential plus pitches in his arsenal.”

Featured Horton image via Rich Biesterfeld.

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

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Cubs Prospect Notes: Horton, Horton, Horton, Alcántara, Brown, Palencia, Rojas, More

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