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The star was shining bright early for these current Chicago Cubs players.
Is it a surprise to anybody that Kris Bryant and Javier Baez always had that star factor?
Probably not.
However, maybe because he didn’t come up in the Cubs organization seeing how good Jason Heyward was in high school might be a little bit of a surprise.
He was selected 14th overall in the 2007 MLB draft by his hometown Atlanta Braves who had secretly been scouting him for years while he was still in high school. He chose to go professional instead of accepting offers from baseball powerhouses such as UCLA, Clemson, and Georgia Tech.
Again, because he was in the Cubs system all along fans might remember how good of a prospect Albert Almora was coming up. He was one of the first high draft picks of the Cubs rebuild era.
Although he hasn’t panned out quite as nicely as the others (although doing that would be a tall order for any player), Almora has played over 450 games in a Cubs uniform. Having staying power in the MLB is an accomplishment in of itself and should justify where Almora went in the draft.
Kris Bryant:
Bonanza High School in Las Vegas, Nevada
USA Today All-USA Baseball First Team; Aflac and Baseball America All-American team selections, Nevada Player of the Year as a senior,
.489 batting average with 22 home runs as a senior
Attended the University of San Diego
Baseball Factory: #12
Perfect Game: #39
Average: 25.5
Javier Baez:
Arlington Country Day School in Jacksonville, Florida
According to an old MaxPreps.com profile on Baez, he hit .771 as a senior with 22 homers and 20 doubles with 52 runs batted in.
Baseball Factory: #13
Perfect Game: #9
Average: 11
Albert Almora:
Mater Academy Charter School in Hialeah Gardens, Florida
2011 USA Baseball’s Player of the Year; played on six national teams
Perfect Game: #9
Jason Heyward:
Henry County High School in McDonough, Georgia
Two-time Georgia State Champion.
Batted .520 as a senior in high school
Perfect Game: #2