Chicago Cubs: Pitching prospects are starting to show up

The Chicago Cubs have a multitude of young position players on the roster. Now, the focus shifts to acquiring and drafting pitchers

Before the Chicago Cubs made Brendon Little the 27th pick of the 2017 draft, the North Siders had not selected a pitcher in the first round since 2010. The pick that year was Hayden Simpson. To this date, Simpson has not pitched above Single-A and has not pitched professionally since 2013.

With a new front office in town, the Cubs focused their efforts on drafting young position players with the idea that pitching could be bought. So far, that has worked with Jon Lester and John Lackey representing that ideal. Now, however, with pitching becoming more and more expensive on the open market, the Cubs have gone back to stock up the farm system with young arms.

Even after trading Dylan Cease to the White Sox last summer for Jose Quintana, the Cubs have still retained some talented pitchers that could make an impact at some point in the future.

With Pierce Johnson, Dillon Maples and Jen-Ho Tseng having made their major league debuts in 2017, the message is clear. The Cubs’ front office is trying to develop young pitchers and get them to the majors to aid the young core of position players already in place.

Let’s take a look at some of the better pitchers in the Cubs’ system.