A smattering of Cubs prospect notes for your Thursday afternoon …
- Top Cubs prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong arrived at Triple-A Iowa this week:
- PCA’s wasn’t the only big move this week, though. First and third round draft picks Matt Shaw and Josh Rivera were bumped to High-A South Bend, an uncommonly aggressive first assignment even for college bats. By contrast, guys like Kris Bryant and Kyle Schwarber – extremely advanced college bats – spent 20 to 30 games below High-A before getting that assignment. Shaw and Rivera played just three complex league games before getting this assignment. Maybe some of that speaks to philosophical changes in the organization, but I’ve gotta believe it also speaks to how advanced the Cubs believe these two guys to be. (Note that Rivera was a four-year senior at Florida, who only just broke out offensively this past season, so being extra aggressive with him makes even more sense.)
- Bryan wrote up Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cade Horton, and Owen Caissie (his top three prospects) earlier today, if you missed it. Horton just made his Double-A debut:
- On the same night the Cubs’ 2022 first round pick was carving it up in his Double-A debut, the Cubs’ 2022 second round pick was showing off just how dominant he can be:
- Ferris, a high school pick who made his pro debut in full-season ball, is up to a 33.8% K rate on the season, with a 3.60 ERA and 2.91 FIP. Nobody down there can hit him. The bugaboo is the 14.6% BB rate.
- Cubs 9th rounder Jonathon Long made his pro debut and homered in the game:
- Cuban righty Darian Rivero has officially signed with the Cubs:
- When people talk about how good Luis Vazquez is defensively, this is the kind of thing they mean:
- Just throwing it out there as a reminder that Owen Caissie is a top 100 prospect in baseball, whether others recognize it or not: