NEWSLETTER
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel updated his top-50 prospect list to account for early season performances and scouting, as well as graduations.
For the Chicago Cubs, that means Pete Crow-Armstrong is off the list (graduation), Jordan Wicks is off the list (McDaniel previously had Wicks all the way up at 41 – I think this is a graduation situation, though it’s possible the injury could have bumped him outside the top-50), and a trio of prospects have moved around.
Paul Skenes, by the way, is now the top prospect in baseball, according to McDaniel, in a tier entirely his own. So, just in case you were wondering about those two starts against the Cubs. He’s good.
Anyway, the trio of Cubs prospects now in McDaniel’s top-50:
22. Owen Caissie, OF
26. Matt Shaw, 3B
32. Cade Horton, RHP
For Horton, that’s a move down a couple spots from the preseason ranking (more than that, really, when you consider graduations), as he has – in McDaniel’s view – been passed by some others. Not sure I entirely get/agree with that, but we’ll see in time just how high Horton’s big league ceiling is. Then again, with just five pitching prospects ranked ahead of Horton, maybe it’s just a matter of the prospect world being EXTREMELY position-prospect heavy right now.
Speaking of which, Owen Caissie and Matt Shaw move on up thanks to their early-season performances. Those performances have not been eye-popping, but you’re talking about a very young (Caissie) prospect and a very inexperienced (Shaw) prospect putting up lines 28% and 15% better than their league average, respectively. Each still has substantial offensive upside, and each is going to figure into the Cubs’ big league plans in the coming years.
