Chicago Cubs: Delvin Zinn is progressing nicely in South Bend

It was meant to be

Professional baseball can be a strange world. With so much happening in the public eye, there is still so much occurring behind the scenes. When it comes to the MLB draft, this is precisely the case with teams making their selections. It is also what happened with Zinn and the Cubs.

During the late rounds of the 2015 MLB amateur draft, Chicago selected shortstop Zinn out of Pontotoc High School in Mississippi. Zinn instead geared up for college and attended Mississippi State University before transferring to Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Mississippi.

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Failing to sign Zinn in 2015 did not stop the Cubs from giving it another college try. The very next year Zinn once again landed in Chicago’s lap, this time in the 23rd round. He signed for $100,000 and the rest, as they say, is history. Just kidding, it was only the beginning.

Zinn reported to the Cubs’ Rookie league as a 19-year-old in 2016. There, he played in 11 games registering 33 plate appearances and slashing an unimpressive .182/.206/.212 with a disastrous 35.3% strikeout rate. Nevertheless, the following season Zinn rebounded nicely seeing both an uptick in games and production.

During his second year at Rookie-level ball, Zinn improved across the board by slashing .228/.302/.298 while raising his walk rate and lowering his strikeout rate. He also saw a quick jump in both his wOBA and wRC+. That year, Zinn played in 40 games and registered 128 plate appearances, a sure uptick from the following season. Slowly but surely, Zinn was beginning to come on strong however the best was still yet to come.

Finding his groove

In 2018, Zinn earned a promotion from Rookie-level to Class-A South Bend. After a strong showing the year before, it was apparent Zinn was ready for the next level and he sure showed the club why it was the right call in giving him the promotion.

Following mediocre back-to-back seasons at Rookie-level, Zinn erupted last year at South Bend. He played in 59 games, slashing .286/.335/.323 with a home run, 21 RBI, and three stolen bases in 239 plate appearances. The most significant change for Zinn’s success was his much-improved strikeout rate, as it was down to just 15.5%.

This season has been even better for Zinn, and it has been fun to follow his progression as he continues to improve. Across the small 15-game sample size, Zinn has seen 52 plate appearances and has turned that opportunity into an impressive .333/.385/.458 slash line with a .394 wOBA and 143 wRC+. He also has swiped five bags, which is already a career high.

Striving to be the best

There have been many positive improvements in Zinn’s game, and he will hopefully continue to grow in his role and with the game overall. That being said, there are critical areas where improvement is a must for success at the big league level.

Most importantly, strikeouts need to decrease once again. Zinn has done such a fantastic job in improving tenfold in this category over the past few years. However, his K-rate is once again at a whopping 32.7% which is over double to how he finished last year. Zinn has been able to figure it out before, and there is no doubt he can once again return his strikeout rate to under twenty percent as the season continues.

Secondly, while Zinn has done a fantastic job in improving his ISO from his first year until now, it still sits slightly below-average. As someone who does not hit for power, Zinn can rely on his speed to find gaps for extra-base hits. The ISO will have to keep moving in a positive direction, however. Based on how this year has gone, Zinn should have no problem.

Zinn is a second baseman which is an attractive proposition for the future in Chicago. Currently, Javier Baez is outstanding at shortstop and will hopefully stay there for the long haul. Daniel Descalso is a proven veteran leader; however, he probably does not have much more time in the big leagues. That leaves Zinn, who could slot into a packed All-Star infield in the coming seasons. Wouldn’t that be fun?