Chicago Cubs: Tyler Durna could spell the future at first base

Chicago Cubs: Off to the races

Following his selection last June, Durna quickly forced the team’s hand in promoting him quickly. After his successful final year at UC-San Diego, Durna found himself in the Arizona Summer League. He played only three games, recording 14 total plate appearances and slashed a whopping .364/.357/.455 with a .357 wOBA and 114 wRC+. It was good enough to get him sent to Low-A Eugene.

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The promotion to Low-A did not prove to slow Durna down a whole lot, despite the increased competition. His production did waver a bit, as he grew into the league, however, in 24 games Durna did slash .259/.333/.383 while putting up a .329 wOBA and still above-average 103 wRC+.

So far this season it is wheels up for Durna at Class-A South Bend. Earning another promotion, Durna has a substantial sample size under his belt with the increased level of competition. He has played 75 games this season for South Bend, posting an excellent .304/.385/.438 slash line, four home runs and 42 RBI. Of his stats, there are three which stand out the most: wOBA, wRC+, and K%.

Durna has so far posted a career-high .385 wOBA and 140 wRC+ while decreasing his strikeout rate 6.2% from last season to just a 12.5% rate. Durna has also managed to increase his walk rate, and it now sits at a healthy 10.1%. Throughout his past ten ballgames, Durna is slashing an insane .417/.512/.556 with a 1.067 OPS. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he also has a .496 wOBA and 211 wRC+ over the span.