Baseball America recently published its top prospect list, and the Chicago Cubs had five prospects of their own make the top 100 with a couple of them just falling shy of making it.
Most of the Cub’s prospects like Matt Shaw, Kevin Alcantara, and Cade Horton are big-league-ready and could keep up with the Cubs by the middle of this season.
A few like Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie just need a little bit of tweaking around the edges before they are ready to join the Cubs.
With that being the case for those two, a few of their other teammates could be joining them at the Cubs Triple-A affiliate the Iowa Cubs for the start of next season.
Most of the Chicago Cubs’ top prospects to start the season in Triple-A
According to President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer when speaking to fans at Cubs Con the situation of why it wouldn’t be beneficial to have all their top guys riding the bench and not getting any consistent playing time.
Per Cubs Con from Mike Mcgraw of the Daily Herald
“We could build a really good bench with guys who are top 100 prospects,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think it makes a lot of sense for us to do that. They’re not going to play very much, they’re going to get stale, they’re not going to get the reps they need.”
This would make sense with all of them needing every day at-bats to further their developments and to see if they can replicate their production from last season. Matt Shaw is the only one of all the top prospects, other than Alcantara, to make his debut for the Cubs on Opening Day with him set to compete for the starting third base job in spring training.
As for Ballesteros, Triantos, and Horton, they all split their times last season between Double and Triple-A with Alcantara and Caissie starting the year at Triple-A and Alcantara the only one to make his Major League Debut last season.
How do some of them feel about starting in the minors?
Obviously, the goal is to break camp with the Cubs and be on the Opening Day roster, but with only 26 spots available and most of them already taken, there isn’t a lot of room left available. When asked about how he felt about possibly starting the year in the minors Owen Caissie took it in stride by saying at Cubs Con:
“I just want to play ball,” Caissie said at the convention. “So whether that be up in the big leagues or down in the minors, it doesn’t matter to me. Ultimately, it’s their decision. I can play good, but it’s their decision. I respect it. They’re trying to run a business.”
Cade Horton who was sidelined last season due to a scapular strain he has the best chance to make his debut with the Cubs sooner than the others. Horton who also spoke at the convention and was possibly on track on debuting last season before going down with the shoulder injury said:
“That was tough, because I’m always a guy that’s wanting to go until I break,” Horton said at the convention. “So having those people around me (was helpful) to be like, ‘No, let’s do the smart thing. You have a whole career ahead of you.’ It’s always tough getting hurt, but I think I learned more through this experience than I would have being on the field.”
This season will be exciting for sure
The possibility of having so much talent to build around from within the organization is something that should send excitement up and down fans’ spines.
Shaw will most likely seize the third base job and be the Cub’s Opening Day third baseman when they play the Dodgers in Japan which will be exciting to see.
All should possibly make their way to Wrigley at some point this summer with injuries always being a factor and when they do the youth movement will be all the rage in Chicago.
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