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.

Adbert Alzolay, RHP

The Cubs signed right-hander Adbert Alzolay out of Venezuela in 2012. Alzolay made his professional debut at the age of 18 pitching in the Venezuelan Summer League. In 15 games (12 starts), Alzolay amassed a 1.07 ERA and struck out 61 batters in 67 innings pitched.

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After enjoying success in the summer league, Alzolay joined the Cubs’ minor league system. In 2014, the 19-year-old Alzolay made ten appearances (three starts), between rookie-level ball and Low-A.

Over 27 1/3 innings pitched, Alzolay went 2-5 with a 7.90 ERA. While his strikeout rate was impressive (9.2 per nine), Alzolay struggled with command, walking 12 batters in his body of work.

Alzolay rebounded nicely following the 2014 season. In 2015, at 20 years of age, Alzolay posted a 2.04 ERA and cut his walk rate almost in half.

Following a promotion to full-season Single-A, Alzolay came back down to earth. Over a career-high 120 1/3 innings pitched, Alzolay went 9-4 with a 4.34 ERA. While the 21-year-old cut down on his walks yet again, his strikeout rate fell from 24.5% in 2015 to 16.3% in 2016.

After proving he could handle an increased workload, Alzolay was promoted to Single-A Advanced in 2017. There, Alzolay posted a 2.98 ERA in 15 starts. In addition to that, Alzolay struck out 78 batters in 81 2/3 innings pitched.

Once again, Alzolay was promoted, this time mid-season. In seven starts at Double-A, Alzolay posted a 3.03 ERA and struck out 30 batters in 32 2/3 innings pitched.

In total, Alzolay amassed 114 1/3 innings in 2017 and posted a sub-3.00 ERA for the season.

Outlook and ETA

Alzolay has a solid fastball that sits in the mid-90’s and can be thrown for strikes fairly consistently. Alzolay’s off-speed pitches include a curve-ball that has been reported to be better than his change-up.

With two better than average pitches already, it would seem as if Alzolay would remain in the rotation at the major league level. In the lower levels of the minor leagues, Alzolay has proven that he can handle a starter’s workload, further assuring his role moving forward.

As Alzolay continues to move up the levels of the minors, his change-up will continue to get better, hopefully evolving into a reliable third pitch. If that happens, Alzolay could become a back-end of the rotation starter as early as late 2018, early 2019.

Jose Albertos, RHP

Albertos is another young arm for the Cubs. He was signed at the age of 16 and made his professional debut just a year later. While he worked just four innings at the rookie-ball level in 2016, Albertos struck out seven batters.

Following another 8 1/3 innings at rookie-ball in 2017, Albertos was promoted to Low-A. There, the 18-year-old made eight starts, posting a 2.86 ERA. In addition to that, Albertos struck out 42 batters in 34 2/3 innings pitched while walking 14.

In a total of 47 professional innings, Albertos has yet to yield a home run and is allowing just 5.9 hits per nine.

While Albertos has been impressive in his short professional stint, he has had some early troubles with staying healthy. So far, it has been nothing more than forearm tightness but the Cubs are being very careful with how much they use Albertos. That is, in part, the reason why the youngster has made just 11 starts in two seasons.

Outlook and ETA

Albertos continues the list of Cubs’ pitchers will live fastballs. The 19-year-old can run the offering up to 97-98 MPH while mixing in a better-than-average change-up.

What is currently missing from Albertos’ game is a breaking ball. Albertos has messed around with a slider, but it is nothing special and will need a lot of work if he wants to remain a starter at the higher levels.

Right now, it is too early to tell what Albertos’ role will be moving forward. The youngster will need to prove he can stay healthy before he worries about developing a third pitch. For that reason, it will likely be three-plus years before we see Albertos in the majors.

Jen-Ho Tseng, RHP

Jen-Ho Tseng was an international signing back in 2013 and made his professional debut the following season. In his first season in Single-A, Tseng appeared in 19 games (17 starts) and posted a 2.40 ERA. Along with that, Tseng walked just 15 batters in 105 innings pitched while striking out 85.

Following the 2014 season, Tseng was promoted to Single-A Advanced where he made 22 starts. In that time, the 20-year-old went 7-7 with a 3.55 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 119 innings pitched. Once again, Tseng was promoted, this time to Double-A.

There, at age 21, Tseng made 22 starts and recorded a 4.29 ERA. In addition to his lofty ERA, Tseng struck out just 69 batters in 113 1/3 innings pitched compared to 32 walks. That low strikeout total and increased amount of walks resulted in a 13.8% strikeout rate and a 6.4% walk rate for the 2016 season.

With his worst professional season behind him, Tseng set out to right the ship in 2017. Beginning the season at Double-A, Tseng made 15 starts at that level. In that time, Tseng posted a 7-3 record and a 2.99 ERA. Along with that, the right-hander struck out 83 batters in 90 1/3 innings pitched, returning his strikeout rate to 22.1%.

After posting a sub-3.00 ERA for much of the season, Tseng was promoted to Triple-A. There, Tseng continued his dominance, posting a 1.80 ERA in nine starts.

For his efforts, Tseng was further promoted, this time to the majors. At 22 years old, Tseng made his major league debut on Sept. 14 against the Mets. Tseng started the game, but was pulled after allowing five runs over three innings. In total, Tseng racked up six innings at the major league level in 2017.

Outlook and ETA

Even after making his big league debut, Tseng is still considered a prospect and a pretty good one. Going into the 2018 season, Tseng is ranked in the top ten on the Cubs’ prospect list.

While the three pitchers before Tseng in this article have plus fastballs, Tseng does not. Instead, the youngster features a fastball in the low-90’s, but uses a mix of three other pitches to get outs. Tseng’s fastball, cutter, curveball and change-up all seem to grade as average, leaving a lot of room for improvement.

As mentioned above, Tseng grabbed his cup of coffee with the Cubs in 2017. That sets him up to become a bigger part of the 2018 team. I could see Tseng being used as a bullpen option at points in the season, serving as a multi-inning reliever. In addition to that, I think Tseng will see some work in the rotation in 2018. With the lack of a fifth starter at this point, Tseng looks like as good an option as any to help fill that role.

Dillon Maples, RHP

Dillon Maples was a 14th round pick in the 2011 draft. Despite being just 20 when he made his professional debut, Maples spent five seasons trying to make it past Single-A. The problem for Maples included injuries and a prolonged problem with control.

Despite having a 100 MPH fastball and an above-average breaking ball, Maples has always had a problem controlling his offerings. In 2014 for example, Maples split the season between rookie-ball and Single-A, starting ten total games. Over 28 innings, Maples walked 26 batters compared to 23 strikeouts.

As Maples continued to develop, his control problem subsided slightly. In 2015, between Low-A and Single-A, Maples appeared in 18 games, logging 35 1/3 innings pitched. In that time, Maples walked 13 batters to 27 strikeouts, averaging 3.3 free passes per game.

After walking 17 batters over 32 innings in 2016, Maples began the best season of his professional career. Finally healthy, Maples appeared in 52 games across three different levels. Maples also saved 13 games and logged 63 1/3 innings pitched. While the 25-year-old walked 37, he struck out 100 batters, averaging 14.2 per nine.

With his sterling 2.27 ERA and 6-3 record, Maples finally earned the call to the big leagues. On Sept. 3, Maples worked a clean inning against the Braves.

Outlook and ETA

Maples has all the makings of a lock-down closer if he can keep his control issues in check. With two really good pitches, it seems as if Maples is destined for the bullpen.

That outlook is not bad considering the Cubs could use some pitchers to fill out the back-end of their bullpen.

Maples has not started a game since the 2014 season and has given up just seven home runs in 245 2/3 minor league innings. To me, that sounds like a perfect candidate to assume a role in the Cubs’ bullpen in 2018. I am not saying let’s hand the keys to the closer’s spot over to him yet. First, the Cubs need to make sure he has his control issues ironed out, something he has not proven in his first 5 1/3 big league innings (six walks).

The Cubs have pitching talent aplenty

With a World Series title back on the North Side of Chicago, the Cubs’ front office can afford to gamble with pitchers early in the draft. So many times, we see talented pitchers taken early in the draft that fail to reach the majors. That, in part, is why Theo and the rest of the front office took the approach of drafting position players with top picks.

Now that the pressure to win a title is off, the brass can return to developing pitchers.

The 2018 season will be the first full season that Cubs’ fans have seen home-grown pitchers make a difference on the field for quite some time. Jen-Ho Tseng, Dillon Maples and Pierce Johnson could all have huge impacts on the team moving forward.

In addition to those three, the pitchers listed in this article will be key to the sustained success of the Cubs in the near future.

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Yes, it was a great idea to target position players early in the draft for so many years. Now, however, that decision could potentially impact the long-term success of the club. Nevertheless, Theo Epstein has proven many times that he knows what he is doing and this occasion is no different.