Chicago Cubs: Five college players Cubs need on their draft radar

The Chicago Cubs overhauled their team from farm-club to big-league under the careful tutelage of Senior V.P. of Scouting Jason McLeod.

Since Jason McLeod took over the Chicago Cubs scouting department in October 2011, the team has made a habit of going pitcher-heavy in the draft. In 2012, McLeod’s first draft, the Cubs selected 108 pitchers and only lost 32 to non-signings. He selected the franchise’s top pitching prospects, Pierce Johnson and Duane Underwood Jr., in consecutive rounds.  Currently 17 of the top 30 Cubs prospects are pitchers.

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As for position players, McLeod balanced these pitching draftees by snagging offensive names like Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ in the first rounds of the 2013-15 drafts.

However, 2016 was the least offensive draft the Cubs had since beginning their rebuild. The team selected just nine position players in total, including three shortstops and three center fielders.

The Chicago Way

Chicago has a 67 percent retention rate for position players acquired through drafting under McLeod, lower than the 71 percent rate for pitchers. This suggests that the Cubs were focused on gaining a solid pitching foundation before addressing any major positional needs.

The Cubs are in a great position now to leverage their surplus of talent to trade for pitching and top-rated prospects. Players like Matt Szczur and Tommy La Stella will surely be shipped off before season’s end simply because they won’t get the playing time their talent deserves. This leaves McLeod in a flexible position where they can focus on cultivating talent to replace some of the current senior members in the group down the road.

According to Baseball America the class of 2017 is “rich in pitching as both USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team and the Cape Cod League demonstrated over the summer.” With another strong pitching class on the rise, it seems very likely that the Cubs will grab a few bats and utility players before focusing in on a pitcher.

Here are some players the Cubs need to keep their eye on as draft day approaches.

Pavin Smith,1B/OF, Virginia

If there’s a player in this draft class that can make an immediate impact on both sides of the ball, it’s Pavin Smith.

Smith has been a model of consistency for Virginia since he began playing in 2015. In three years, he’s played in all 157 possible games, hit .317 with 23 home runs and 136 RBI. His OBP (.388) is over 100 points lower than his slugging percentage (.499), which suggests Smith has a very aggressive approach at the plate. Big league hitting coaches will surely tailor this approach, though Smith offers a very fallow foundation to begin working with.

Between first base and the outfield, Smith has a career .989 fielding percentage and is responsible for turning 81 double plays and 98 assists.

Smith turned down the Colorado Rockies’ draft-day offer to him coming out of high school in 2014 to attend the University of Virginia.

J.J. Schwarz, C, Florida

The Cubs already have a great offensive catcher in Willson Contreras, but Schwarz brings the whole package.

Last season, Schwarz slashed .290/.397/.456 with seven home runs and 60 RBI while committing zero fielding errors. This helped propel Schwarz to 2016 All-Tournament Team honors. Did I mention he also made the 2016 academic honor roll?

The most improved part of his game is his patience at the plate. In 2016 he recorded six more walks than the year before even though he played in less games.

In his two full-season career as a Gator, Schwarz slashed .311/.398/.543 with 25 home runs and 133 RBIs. In 2017, he’s on pace to match those numbers once again.

Kyle Nelson, LHP, UC Santa Barbra

This 5’11” freshman has had a stellar career so far for the Gauchos. In 25 total appearances last year, Nelson recorded a 3-1 record with two saves, 32 strikeouts and a 0.75 ERA. In his nine conference appearances, Nelson recorded a 10.2 K/9 ratio, and didn’t allow an earned run in 15 innings of work.

Nelson is just as good at home as he is on the road, which is something the Cubs are looking for in their pitchers. In 13 2/3 road innings, he gave up just one earned run while striking out 13 in eight appearances.

Nelson isn’t the offensive threat that McKay is, but he’s a solid bullpen option for any big league club. The Cubs have struggled finding reliable left-handed pitching, so it seems fitting that Nelson would wind up in Chicago.

J.J. Matijevic, OF/1B, Arizona

Matijevic may be the most consistent hitter the Cubs could have on their draft board. Last season, he played in 70 games but collected 75 hits, a .287 batting average and a .333 BAbip.

His power numbers and OPS from his first two seasons suggest that J.J. is a top-of-the-order batter, though his strikeout totals are a little disconcerting. However, J.J has already matched his totals in home runs (3) and RBI (27) from 2016 in just 27 games in 2017. His .211 ISO is something that Chicago will surely keep their eye on as the season progresses.

J.J. was drafted out of high school in 2014 by the Boston Red Sox, but decided to have a decorated Wildcat career instead. In the class of 2014, Matijevic was the second overall prospect, and the top-rated first base prospect in the country.

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