Chicago Cubs: Five prospects who will play in Chicago this season

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Although the Chicago Cubs haven’t produced a ton of impact talent of late, 2020 will reverse course and help open a new era for the franchise.

Javier Baez, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Willson Contreras, Ian Happ. Those five guys all made their MLB debut for the Chicago Cubs sometime between 2014 and 2017. They have seven All-Star appearances, 475 home runs, a Rookie of the Year, an National League MVP trophy, and four of them own a World Series ring from 2016.

Pretty impressive, right? What’s more so is that all five of those position players were homegrown. Drafted or signed by the Cubs initially, they’re part of what was once considered the “young core” that also included Anthony Rizzo, Addison Russell and Albert Almora. Although this group is yet to fully realize their full potential and bring home another title, it’s been a pretty spectacular run.

Granted, there has been a bit of a lull in terms of the pipeline the last couple seasons, but with the graduation of all of that talent to the big league level coupled with the positions blocked and manned by said talent, how could there not be? Not to mention the fact that all that talk about the “lack of talent” and depleted farm system is a bit of a farce if you take a look at some of the pitching depth and top tier prospects pushing to get to Chicago in the next two years.

So, your question is, “which prospects will be up in those two years, and more importantly, this year?” You’ve certainly come to the right place, as that’s exactly what we’re here to address and reveal right here.

Chicago Cubs: Marquez in an NLCS showdown? Sign me up.

This is probably the farthest reach of any of the five prospects you’ll see on this list. If Brailyn Marquez makes his debut in 2020 for the big league Cubs, three fortuitous things have happened: the Cubs are in playoff contention, Marquez is healthy and young southpaw has continued his formidable work from 2019 into this season.

If all three of those things don’t happen, you won’t see Marquez at Wrigley this season. That’s your caveat. However, if all three do happen to align for the Cubs, there’s a definitive possibility that you could see the southpaw fireballer trotting out of the pen down the stretch and even in the playoffs.

Everyone knows the sheer potential of the 21 year-old Marquez, a left-handed pitcher who can hit triple digits, so a guy like that who is healthy and productive could be a welcome addition down the stretch on a contending team. It also would represent a huge success for the organization, as the failure to produce MLB-level pitching has been well-documented since Theo Epstein took over.

While Marquez hasn’t pitched above the high A level in pro ball, his success there last year (4-1, 1.71 ERA in his five starts there after a successful run in South Bend) should take him to Tennessee at some point during the 2020 season. If the Cubs are winning and Marquez can continue or improve upon his 128 strikeouts in 103 2/3 innings from a year ago, the rumors will be flying on a regular basis down the stretch in Chicago.

Whether he starts the year at Double-A Tennessee or not, Marquez could put himself in line for a promotion at the end of the season if the Cubs are in need and he proves himself worthy against some of the best prospect talent in baseball at the Double-A level. Let’s hope this is a decision the front office is tasked with in July or August.

Chicago Cubs: Where will Alzolay fit in with the 2020 big league club?

The range of possibilities for Adbert Alzolay in 2020 are as varied as just about anyone in baseball at the moment not named Mookie Betts. Well, maybe even more so, because at least Betts knows he’s going to be playing in the majors.

As a guy who made (and won) his big-league debut to much ballyhoo in 2019, Alzolay both delighted and disappointed in Chicago last season. In his first two starts, the right-hander showed exactly why he was promoted to such acclaim as he tossed 8 2/3 frames, striking out nine and giving up just two earned runs. Of course, he also gave up seven tallies in 2 2/3 innings in his third start in Pittsburgh, so Cubs fans have seen both good and bad from the young hurler.

Where does this leave Alzolay in 2020? Well, without Cole Hamels in the rotation and the uncertainty of who will be the fifth Cubs starter, there’s every chance it could be Alzolay. It also could be Alec Mills or Tyler Chatwood at the moment, but the spring will no doubt determine much of that decision for new manager David Ross and the front office.

If Alzolay looks like the guy who was mowing them down in his first two starts, it very well could be him. If not, he could be back in Iowa to stay stretched out or he could remain in Chicago in a bullpen role. He also could assume the Mike Montgomery/Eddie Butler/Chatwood role from the past couple seasons as well, manning the pen but also able to spot start or piggyback when needed.

While I’m rooting for Alzolay to grasp that fifth spot and hold on tightly for the entire season, it’s altogether possible that he will be a key cog in the pen for most of the year, able to give Ross multiple innings several times a week or ride the Iowa shuttle at times.

Chicago Cubs: Could he be the next Ryno?

In many ways, Hoerner has a similar storyline to Alzolay: already made his big-league debut in 2019, status uncertain for 2020, will hopefully make a big impact, fans hoping he starts.

I’ve already gone on the record for Team Hoerner. The man needs to start the season in Chicago and needs about as much “minor-league seasoning” as Kris Bryant did at the beginning of 2015. Not saying he will be as good as Bryant or have that same kind of impact as a rookie, but he could do a lot of the same things Bryant did in 2015, minus some of the power.

Hoerner is a reliable glove with a plus arm for second base (and he can also give Javier Baez a day off every now and then at shortstop), he’s a great contact hitter who won’t strike out a ton, and he’s already taken some of the same lumps Bryant took in his first season, but with the added bonus of having an offseason to adjust and work on those without having to wait nine months. As he wasn’t expected to be called up in 2019, Hoerner was already able to get some MLB seasoning, hammering big league pitching in his first few days in the show before the league adjusted to him a bit in late September.

If Hoerner was indeed able to make some adjustments and get himself prepared for the rigors of a full MLB season, you could see the same confident, smart, and heady ballplayer Epstein envisioned when he signed him out of Stanford in 2018 and when he became the first player from that draft class to make his big league debut.

Chicago Cubs: Steele could be a diamond in the rough for staff

While his numbers from last season certainly wouldn’t indicate that Justin Steele is on the edge of glory, there’s reason to believe the big right-hander could be just around the corner for a team that needs a few youngsters to step up and join the rotation in the next couple years. Steele, a 24-year-old left-hander originally chosen in the fifth round by the Cubs back in 2014, has always possessed the stuff to be a part of an MLB rotation. Harnessing that pure stuff, however, has always been the issue.

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If Cubs Insider and Bleacher Nation are to be believed (and they almost always are), there’s a very good chance that Steele suffered from some “bad luck” given his dominant repertoire and that he also could have learned a thing or two from fellow southpaw, Cole Hamels during their time together last Spring Training.

With a mid 90’s fastball that rides up in the zone and looks even faster than it is, Steele could be just as effective as Marquez going forward if he can harness his change and plus curveball.

If the Cubs could find a way to get any of Marquez, Alzolay, or Steele to stick as permanent fixtures in the rotation, that would be a huge win for the Cubs. That would allow the front office to round out the rotation without dropping tens of millions of dollars in free agency next winter.

Keep an eye on Steele during the spring and into the summer, and expect to see him at some point in 2020 getting some time out of the bullpen or maybe even spot-starting towards the end of the season.

Chicago Cubs: Bigger might be better.

It’s always neat when you walk off the bus and your team parades those 6’5″ guys out one after another. Okay, so maybe that’s more intimidating in high school basketball, but it seems as though the Cubs pitching staff is leaning towards exceptionally large human beings of late. Brad Wieck is a monster lefty coming out of the pen at 6’9″, fellow southpaw Kyle Ryan is 6’5″, Rowan Wick is a sturdy 6’3″, and recent Rule 5 swipe Trevor Megill is 6’8″.

Add those guys to a team that already features Jon Lester (6’4″), Yu Darvish (6’5″), and Alec Mills (6’4″) and you’ve got quite the squad strutting off the team bus.

Things aren’t much different down on the farm when you consider the Cubs have Marquez (6’4″) and Colin Rea (6’5″) also adding to the giant quota. You also have another guy the Cubs seemed high on for a while but exposed to the Rule 5 draft this past offseason. Dakota Mekkes, a guy who looked like he might have a shot to join the Cubs at some point during 2019, spent the entire season toiling in Triple-A Iowa where he posted a 5.29 ERA and issuing 34 walks in 49.1 IP.

Now an non-roster invitee, Mekkes will have to take the NRI route to the majors. If he’s able to grab one of those spots, the 6’8″ right-hander could make for an even taller bullpen and pitching room. Relying on deception more than pure velocity, which is a bit strange for someone that large, Mekkes will have to show that his extreme command issues were an aberration last year as well as gaining the trust of the new skipper Ross.

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While some of the guys on this list face a bit of a tougher path to Wrigley Field this summer, expect most of them to play a role if the Cubs are contending down the stretch.

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