Chicago Cubs: The final countdown to the top organizational prospects

Chicago Cubs: Brailyn Marquez, SP

While it would seem fitting to slide Brailyn Marquez to the tippy top of the list, he does come just in at number two of the top fifteen organizational prospects. Like Amaya, Marquez is only 20 years old. Signing with the team in 2015, Marquez has already swept his way through the pipeline and is making a significant impact.

Named the 2019 Minor League Play of the Year by Baseball America, Marquez dominated in his time in South Bend and Myrtle Beach. Spending the majority of this year in South Bend, Marquez pitched to a 3.61 ERA over 77 1/3 innings. He did an excellent job keeping his FIP and xFIP at 3.30 and 3.28, respectively.

While his walk rate was still too high for anyone’s liking at South Bend, Marquez did manage to carry a 30.7 percent strikeout rate. The 20-year-old lefty also did a great job in keeping the ball in the yard, finishing with a 0.34 HR/9 in his five starts at Myrtle Beach.

Regarding his line in those starts for the Pelicans, Marquez posted a video game-like 1.71 ERA with a 2.81 FIP and 3.40 xFIP. The strikeouts dipped a bit, and his walk rate rose slightly. However, Marquez did strand more runners on base and lowered his WHIP from 1.38 to 1.06.

Marquez’ best start of the season came on July 25 when he struck out a career-high 14 batters in six shutout innings. He walked only one in that start. From that start on until the end of the season, Marquez held a 1.17 ERA with a complete-game shutout. In that span, Marquez allowed opposing hitters to hit just .244 against him and posted a 1.94 FIP.

Likely to begin next season at Double-A, Marquez has an estimated arrival date of 2021. He could crush that and be in the big leagues by next September at the pace he is going. It should be a fun ride for the young lefty moving into the future.