Down On The Farm: Arismendy Alcantara

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In our next installment of our series “Down on the Farm”, we’ll take a look at the Cubs #7 prospect Arismendy Alcantara. A rare combination of speed and power make this young man a very valuable commodity.

#7 Prospect – Arismendy Alcantara, 2B/SS

Arismendy Alcantara was acquired by the Cubs as an international free agent in 2008. Signed initially as a shortstop, Alcantara was slid over to second base when the Cubs promoted Javier Baez to Tennessee midseason last year. In his first few years in the Cubs system, Alcantara showed a great arm and above average speed. He put up solid numbers in his first few seasons, but a broken foot in 2012 slowed down his breakout campaign, but he still posted a line of .302/.339/.447.

2013 was the true breakout campaign as Alcantara opened the eyes of many scouts and moved up the scouting rankings. In 133 games at AA Tennessee, Alcantara continued his solid hitting with a line of .271/.352/.451, while also slugging 15 homers and knocking in 69. Add his 31 steals while only being nabbed 6 times and Alcantara showed his worth as a great overall prospect and earned a spot in the 2103 Futures game along with Jorge Soler.

The future of Alcantara is bright, but when it comes to Wrigley is yet to be seen. Much hinges on the play of our Current Cubs middle infielders. Bounce back seasons from Darwin Barney and Starlin Castro are must haves. Otherwise Baez and Alcantara will get their shot sooner than later.

In all likelihood he will pair with Baez in the middle infield in Iowa to open the year. My gut feeling is we could see him as a late call up, or if the Cubs stumble again and make some midseason moves. Otherwise he’ll likely get a full season at triple A to refine his skills and work on his defense at second, which could use a little clean up, but all the tools are there. If everything comes together as hoped Alcantara could be the opening day starter at second in 2015.